ColdApp – Page 6 – Rosemary and the Goat

Appetizers/ Beverages/ ColdApp/ Fish/Seafood

Poke, Masubi, and MaiTais

Two dishes from the newlyweds! (from Alexis)

While in Kauai we first discovered poke (pronounced “po-keh”) at the Hanalei Dolphin restaurant in Hanalei Bay. Poke means to “to slice or cut” and is a popular appetizer or snack throughout the islands. I renamed the dish “deconstructed sushi” as it is essentially all of the familiar sushi ingredients: raw, fresh fish (usually tuna or whatever fresh fish is available) and sticky rice and sometimes avocado, Maui onions, seaweed and nut relish, seasoned with sesame oil and soy sauce. After I had my first first taste, I think I ordered this dish every time I saw it on a menu.

One of my favorite places to have poke was at the local Kilauea Fish Market in Kilauea, Kauai. We popped in here to grab some poke and macaroni salad to bring on the road. The fish market was barely large enough for a few people to stand in line inside and there were a few scattered picnic tables outside for people to hang out. It was BYOB too, which helps makes eating out in Kauai much more affordable! I’d have to say my least favorite place for poke was poolside at the Westin in Maui. A few hours later I had a pretty bad stomach ache and I figured I should probably have been a bit more discriminating in my restaurant choices..

December 6, 2011 By Alexis

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Food Stories/ Salads

Michie Feast Day — Hawaiian Style

Aloha, Komo Mai, E komo mai, Mahalo!

Hello (friends and family), Come in, Welcome, Thank you (for coming and participating in our feast).

Menu:

Sushi Musubi (Spam Sushi)

Corn Crab Bisque

Poke

Hawaiian Coconut Crusted Shrimp with Orange Horseradish Lime Sauce

Bitter Greens with Yuzu Dressing

Pork Belly on Steam buns with Hoisin, scallions and cucumber

Porcini Dusted Sea Scallops with Tomato relish and pea sprouts/micro greens

Kona Pale Ale Basted Suckling Pig served with

Hawaiian Coconut Rice Salad (recipe below) and Papaya Chipotle Salsa

Drunkened Pineapple Upside Down Cake Macadamia Coconut Ice Cream

MaiTai Cocktail

Hawaiian Beer

Wine (lots of it)

This was a night of cocktails, food (lots of it), wine, (no hula) lots of fun with family and friends.

We have been doing our Michie Feast Day for about 9 years now. We have done everything from frog legs, sushi, tapas, French Country, Italian, Mexican, oysters 7 ways, New Orleans and this year Hawaiian. This all started when my husband fried our turkey for the first time. After using 3 gallons of oil to fry the turkey, we decided we needed to use the oil again before throwing it away so we bought some frog legs and the rest is history. After that first year we moved on to other themes.

My daughter and her newly wed husband just returned from their honeymoon in Hawaii in November. So, a Hawaiian theme was quite fitting for this year’s feast. We got to hear all about their 27 mile bike ride down a volcano and all about the beautiful waterfalls and the food they sampled while there. My daughter-in-law, Brooke and her friend, Heather, made all our beautiful tissue paper flowers and decorated the tables. We even had a kid’s table with decorations (see pictures below). Our table always looks great when Brooke is put in charge.

December 3, 2011 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Sandwiches

Pimento Cheese Bruschetta

Born again cheese spread.

What is it about pimento cheese that makes me think of sitting on a stool at the counter in a drug store (hey, drug stores don’t have lunch counters any more.) having a pimento cheese sandwich on toast with some curly leaf lettuce and a nice pile of crispy dill pickles on the side.

I think pimento cheese is one of those southern things that some people not from the south have not experienced between two pieces of soft white bread or stuffed into celery. It is truly comfort food and most Southerns do not understand why it does not exist outside the south. This favorite sandwich is even served at the Master’s golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia and a Southern picnic wouldn’t be the same with out a pimento cheese sandwich.

Just thinking of little pimento cheese tea sandwiches cut into triangles makes my mouth water. What would an afternoon tea be without pimento cheese sandwiches? Of course anyone from the south knows that you can just as easily use a corn chip or cracker to scoop up this wonderful spread. Add it to grits, stuff celery, slather it on burgers or hot dogs or even use it to make a grilled cheese sandwich.

In my early years of making this mushy, cheesy spread, I simply used Velvetta cheese and added some mayo and pimento and I have to say, it needs a makeover or at least another idea for it’s use.

We have all had Italian and Spanish style bruschetta with tomatoes, cheese, proscuitto and just about every topping you can imagine. If you are like me, you’re always looking for a way to improve on an old recipe and that being the traditional pimento cheese sandwich. So why not Pimento Cheese Bruschetta topped with finely shredded lettuce and some crunchy bacon — a summer bruschetta! (Summer is on his way out, but this would be good any time of the year.) So, whether you try this recipe or your own recipe, try a Pimento Cheese Bruschetta for your next party.

September 18, 2011 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp

Watermelon Amuse

Are you amused by a bouche?

Have you ever seen watermelons growing in a field. What a beautiful sight to see all those plump juicy spheres covering acres of farm land. Makes you want to jump out of the car and go grab one.

When we were kids (I’m a twin and I use to refer to us as “we”) our grandfather once took us to the field where one of his trucks was being loaded with watermelons to take to market. This is the same grandfather that took us out into the hay fields to learn to drive while dodging the bales of hay. What fun.

Also the same “papa” who never bought a watermelon or any other produce from a farm stand on the way to Florida vacations without asking for a taste before buying anything. I so want to do that at the store because sometimes what looks like a delicious watermelon turns out to be a disappointment when cut open.

Recently I saw this watermelon cube on www.pinterest.com . It was sitting alone with a pool of balsamic in the center and I immediately thought why not add a pearl of mozzarella and a tiny basil leaf and have a cute little amuse bouche. An amuse bouche is suppose to be just one bite but it is hard to eat just one of these.

August 27, 2011 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp

White Bean Hummus

Lots of people like hummus but not everyone likes Chickpeas!

So for that reason, I make white bean hummus. I think the flavor is so much better than using chickpeas and the reason I do not like chickpeas/garbonza beans… all started on my honeymoon.

Don’t you just love making things that you can simply throw everything in a food processor, stand back, flip the switch, and moments later have a delicious, healthy dip that can be used with pita, vegetables or crackers/chips. I also love eating a bowl of white beans that have been cooked long and slow with a ham hock stuck in for flavor, and cannot resist the urge to add a squirt of mustard and a big spoonful of chow chow on my beans. Weird, huh, but the mustard is actually good.

I remember as a kid my grandmother driving us through town and when we went by the jail house her telling us that the prisoners had to eat frozen white beans and bread. Now, I don’t know how she knew that, but for some reason it stuck in my head and that’s what I think of when I sit down to eat a steaming bowl of white beans with cornbread.

I think if you like hummus you will appreciate the flavor of this dip.

If you have tried this recipe and have any comments, please post them below. Thanks.

March 4, 2011 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp

Pepperoni Olive Kebab

Move over stuffed olives!

I have made stuffed black olives for years and have catered parties where I have had to hand pipe 200+ black olives with a cheese filling. Recently, I saw this cheese and pepperoni stuffed olive at www.finedinings.com and decided to give it a try at our block party back in October. I used wooden paddle picks on mine and also tried a couple of these little tidbits with rosemary skewers. I like them both ways but most of my Rosemary had new stems and they were a little limp.

While in Madrid we visited Mercado San Miguel https://www.spottedbylocals.com/madrid/mercado-de-san-miguel/and they had everything you could possibly imagine (see some of the photos at the bottom — one item looked like turtle LEGS but I found out they are barnacles). This store had every kind of olive you could possibly imagine, olives as big as golf balls, olives stuffed with sardines, ham, cheese, stuffed with roasted red peppers and mussels and artichokes. You name it, they had it. We bought several and I proceeded to pick them apart to see what was on the inside. What a nice little snack and wee had a lot of snacks all day long and like I said before I was lucky I did not gain more than 2 pounds on this trip.

So, I think the point is if you like olives, find something to stuff them with and serve them as a tapas for your next party.

November 12, 2010 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Food Stories

Tapas, Tapas, Everywhere!

We had wonderful, delicious, unusual, yummy tapas everywhere in Spain.

Tapas are small plates of food served along with drinks. I have read that originally in Spain, tapas were served as a cover for a glass of wine so flies and other objects did not get into the glass. That may be a myth, but it makes perfect sense. In the beginning the tapas plate probably contained olives and cheese and peppers but tapas have evolved into something you could enjoy for breakfast, lunch or a whole dinner. In a tapas bar you just keep ordering small plates until you are full which is so much better than to order some huge dinner and then try to consume the whole thing since you paid for it and all of us, of a certain age, remember the “clean your plate” comments from our mothers because of all the starving kids in the world.

This was one of my first tapas to try after getting back. We tried so many different kinds of olives stuffed with all kinds of different things. These are just extra large pitted green olives that I stuffed with strips of Serrano ham. And, I absolutely love my mini paella pans I found. I have 5″ and 3″ pans.

October 3, 2010 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Entree

Grilled Flank Kebabs with Chimichurri Sauce

I love Chimichurri on this flank kebab. The color of the sauce is so vivid and pretty on the plate.

I love flank steak. It’s one of those pieces of meat that a lot of people don’t know what to do with because it can be tough. I have cooked flank steak for years and have found that if you marinade it for a few hours it will be very tender. Flank should always be cut cross-grain and never cooked more than medium to medium-rare.

The flank comes from the abdominal muscle of a cow and is a long thin piece of meat. It looks a little like skirt steak that is used in making fajitas. Normally it needs some type of moist cooking method. But I have found just marinating it, grilling for about 30 minutes, produces a juicy, tender steak.

Over the years I have taken flank steak strips and spread them with a blue cheese spread, rolled it up, skewered it and served as an appetizer. We have had it as an entree marinated in my teriyaki sauce (see below), and I have skewered it with marinated mushrooms for an appetizer. Always cut it very thin and you will never be disappointed in this piece of meat.

July 26, 2010 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp

Pepperoni Stuffed Black Olives

Such a simple appetizer that will be a hit at your next party.

A couple of years ago I catered an “Old Hollywood” theme birthday party. It was such a fun party. It was a surprise party for the hostesses’ 40th birthday. Her husband had a limo pick her and their kids up for dinner. When they returned to the house, there was a red carpet runner laid out on the walkway to the front door. All the people were dressed like their favorite movie star (there were a lot of Audrey Hepburns) for the night and they greeted the birthday girl at the door with applause. I made a copy of all these old Hollywood star pictures, matted them and used them on the tables around all the food trays. (See more pictures from party table below.)

There were movie popcorn boxes on one table, two chocolate fountains going in the kitchen, food covering the table, and champagne everywhere. I loved catering this party. Everyone had a great time and the table looked great and the food terrific.

I have been doing this appetizer for years. I usually buy jumbo pitted black olives, roll up pepperoni and insert in olive, and stuff with a cream cheese mixture and then just stack up on a tray and watch them disappear. I used to cut a thin strip of green bell pepper and insert into the cream cheese, but after doing 200 of these for a party once, I decided to quit doing the pepper garnish. It was way too tedious to cut and insert these strips of pepper into the olives and they are just as good without it.

July 16, 2010 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Dessert/ Morning Foods

Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Who doesn’t like peanut butter, strawberries and chocolate!

Almost everyone has enjoyed chocolate covered strawberries, BUT have you had peanut butter filled, chocolate dipped strawberries?

I first had these at little berries at a tea room in Plains, Georgia. We were at one of Magnolia and Ivy’s tea rooms having an Alice In Wonderland tea party and along with all the other delectable goodies, these strawberries were the hit of the dessert tray.

I’ve done chocolate covered strawberries for years. I have also filled them with a lemon curd filling (stand them up on their bottoms, no chocolate) and also filled them with a chocolate mousse and dipped the edges in coconut. All these are delicious, but the peanut butter filled ones are my favorite.

Try these for your next party, shower, lady’s luncheon or just because. I know you will enjoy them. You may want to let your guests know that they have peanut butter inside just in case anyone is allergic to peanut butter.

July 6, 2010 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp

Smoked Salmon Chip

Ok, so smoked salmon on a potato chip — who would have imagined a quick little appetizer!

I had these little apps at a friends house a couple of years ago. It’s such a weird idea to me to put something like smoked salmon on a potato chip. I used smoked salmon in other things that I garnish with caviar, boiled chopped eggs, red onion and capers but NEVER potato chips.

On an afternoon’s sailing trip that my daughter, Alexis and I and my twin sister and her son took in Charleston last Labor day I packed this appetizer in a small softsided cooler that I put in my suitcase because I knew we would take this out on the boat. After shopping at a local gourmet grocery, Caviar & Bananas for some cheeses, pates, sausages, breads, and wines, which they delivered to our boat, our smoked salmon on potato chips joined this array of scrumptious food for the day’s outing.

We had rented this 49 foot sail boat just for the four of us and we actually had a stewardess who waited on us. We didn’t expect to be waited on but after all the food was delivered to the boat, she organized everything and after we set sail (hey, sounds like sailor talk, huh), she came up (two bedrooms and two baths plus full kitchen below) to see what we wanted to drink and then she started arranging small plates of food to bring up for us to eat. This was a fantastic lunch and she prepared the little chip and salmon thing for us and it was a perfect accompaniment to all the other goodies along with champagne and wine. We offered to share with them but, of course, they refused, but did say they would be glad to enjoy anything leftover after the trip.

This is the perfect little appetizer that you can have in your refrigerator ready for any drop in company this summer. You can also use the cream cheese with chives spread that comes already made instead of making the cheese mixture from scratch. Kettle chips or some type of thick chip works best, although I have used Pringle chips.

These are so quick to throw together and I love my little trays I picked up at Hobby Lobby.

These lasted about a couple of minutes once I put them out.

Smoked Salmon Chip

Ingredients

1/4 c. parsley
3 oz. cream cheese
1/2 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 tsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper
36 whole potato chips
4 oz. smoked salmon

Instructions

Process the parsley in a food processor until coarsely chopped. Add the cream cheese, lemon zest, juice and pinch of salt and pepper. Process until pale green and smooth. Scrape the cream cheese into a zip lock bag. Squeeze it down to one of the bottom corners of the bag and snip 1/4" off the corner of the bag. Top each chip with 1-2 pieces of salmon, pipe on a dollop of the cream cheese, garnish with small parsley leaf.
**Note. I put the cream cheese mixture on the cracker first and then topped with the salmon and then a parsley leaf. You can do it however you want. Also, I used Kettle Chips because they are a thicker chip. I have used Pringles before but they are pretty fragile.

June 9, 2010 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Bread/ ColdApp

Gluten-free Cheddar Crackers

Did I mention I love cheese?

About six months ago, I started trying to fine tune my diet by following the basic rules of Paleo eating. It seems like Paleo or Primal eating has been getting a lot of attention lately. This New York Times article, depicts a group of New York primal eaters as the modern day caveman, storing large amounts of protein in giant meat lockers, partaking in unconventional exercise such as leaping from boulder to boulder or mimicking sloth like movements on all fours and fasting between meals to recreate the eating patterns of early humans.

So I am not as extreme as this group and I don’t wear the goofy Vibram rubber shoes. My approach is much simpler. Eliminate processed foods from my diet, along with grains and dairy (as much as possible, I am a recovering cheese-a-holic). Eat plenty of veggies, fruit, lean meat, nuts, and seeds. Real food. Fresh, local, organic and grass fed when possible, and when the budget allows. I am human though, and stray every once in a while. If I eat like this 80% of the time I would be completely happy.

What does this have to do with crackers? Well, eliminating grains led me to search out recipes calling for other unusual flours. My new love is Almond flour, followed closely by coconut flour. Thankfully, I discovered a great cookbook The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbookby Elana Amsterdam. I do not have celiac disease or have a need to eat gluten free, but it kind of naturally occurs when eating Paleo anyways. I would highly recommend checking out this cookbook or blog for great recipes using almond flour.

These crackers are amazing. It almost fills the void left behind when I had to give up my favorite, snackable, child-like indulgence…Goldfish. I joke with my brother that I’ve been waiting for their baby to get to the age where they will always have Goldfish on hand. Thankfully, they don’t feed him Goldfish either so there is no temptation yet!

May 11, 2010 By Alexis

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