Appetizers – Page 7 – Rosemary and the Goat

Pork Fries with White Bar-B-Q Sauce

You say “white” bar-b-q sauce!

How do you like your fries? I like mine with mustard instead of ketchup. Some people eat cheese fries, chili fries, loaded fries or even milk gravy on their fries. While in France a few years ago, every afternoon we stopped for frites and wine.

Now, these are not your normal fries. Far from it because they are not even made from potatoes; they are made from pork and I guess, in a way they look like chicken-fried anything — but I’m calling them fries.

If you grew up where we did, pork was the king of bar-b-q meats and just about the only type of bar-b-q you ate was some kind of pork.

I’m sure these days there’s some chicken, sausage, and brisket thrown in now and then but never beef until we moved to Texas; and Texans do love their beef brisket. The last few years I’ve been seeing more and more pulled pork showing up on menus and it must be the influx of southerners moving to Texas that caused Texans to start lovin their pulled pork.

In our home town (Caruthersville, MO) you know where to find the good bar-b-q (Carmean’s). If you live anywhere close to me there’s only one place for bar-b-q and that’s my house with my husband at the smoker.

When it comes to sauce red sauce (bbq sauce) was the only type of sauce to go on bar-b-q or so I thought until eating these “fries” with white bbq sauce.

I love telling you (if there’s anybody out there listening) about restaurants we visit. WELL, here’s another one. While in Nashville a couple of years ago with my sister, we visited the Urban Grub restaurant. We loved it from the minute we walked in, but, I will have to say my shrimp and grits were better than their’s.

December 11, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ HotApp

Spiced Glazed Nuts and Pretzel Mix

Looking for a new snack mix for the holidays?

Can you believe that Thanksgiving is just a week away. What’s happened the last few years that you blink and another year has gone by.

Thanksgiving happens to be my favorite holiday and if you’re like me, I’m always looking for new snack foods to serve during the T’day, Xmas or for that matter any time you have friends over OR just because you want a nice little munchy to go with that glass of wine in the evening.

I have been a follower of David Leibovitz Living the Sweet Life in Paris blog since before we went to France three years ago. As usual for that trip I was searching for places to eat while in Paris and then the week we were spending in Provence and I came across some recipes of David’s and have followed his site ever since. His cookbook My Paris Kitchen was voted best cookbook of the year in 2014 by Amazon.

Almonds, pecans and peanuts were already in my freezer so I decided to use a mix of all three. If you want a gluten free snack, substitute gluten free pretzels for the regular ones. I couldn’t wait to try this mix out on friends. I’m upping his 1 1/2 tablespoon of pure maple syrup to 2 tablespoons and changing the dark brown sugar the next time I make them to light brown sugar. Continue Reading…

November 20, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ HotApp

Spicy Potato Samosas

Chunchy, potatoy, spicy.

I spend a lot of time on my computer looking around at recipes and other crafty things I might want to make in my spare time. I do have a lot of spare time and sometimes think I need to get out and get a job but then I pinch myself and say “are you nuts, what are you thinking”.

The day I sat down to write this post, I had checked about 6 errands off my list before noon and then I got this message from my husband saying our new warming drawer unit isn’t fitting into our outdoor kitchen. I was determined not to go home until they had the problem fixed but no such luck. I arrive home and they were still working on it and I’m determined to not even look at it until it is completed. It seems like an eternity since the project was started back in August.

So to get myself out of this mood I was getting myself into I started looking at some of the food pictures from our Indian dinner we cooked while in Chicago. This appetizer was part of our meal that night which consisted of Indian Chicken Kabobs, Spinach Dahl, garlic naan and these Spicy Potato Samosas we served with a mango chutney.

November 15, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Entree/ Poultry

Tandoori Chicken Thigh Kabobs

This isn’t a red tandoori and can be an appetizer or main dish.

I have been wanting to make an Indian dish for a long time. After a recent visit to Chicago to visit our son, daughter-in-law and two sweet grandsons we cooked Peruvian one night, ribs another night, out for Korean, then our last night there we prepared a wonderful very scentiful Indian meal consisting of Garlic Naan, Spinach Dahl, Samosas with mango chutney and my daughter-in-law, Missy made some Indian Chicken Skewers and we enjoyed the meal with some Indian music playing in the background. We like to coordinate our music to our meal. We also found some Peruvian music to go with the Peruvian chicken thanks to Google Play.

I think I tasted my first tripe in Chicago, my first Korean BBQ, cheeks, first Harissa fish dish, and probably some foods I didn’t know what I was eating while visiting. So, when it comes to Indian food, I rely on Scott and Missy to show us the way. I have made naan and samosas before but the Spinach Dahl was a first for me.

I only had one day after returning from Chicago to prepare something for our bunco meeting and killing time at the airport waiting for a delayed plane was the perfect time to come up with a recipe. Tandoori chicken kept popping up in some of my searches and after looking at a lot of recipes, I put together my own. Didn’t want it red since I had read that restaurants usually use red dye #40 to make their’s red and I realized that all tandooris do not have to be that bright red color. Anything that artificial looking quickly becomes unappetizing to me because I know that the color doesn’t come from a natural ingredient.

October 21, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ HotApp

Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus with Parmesan and Lemon

This was a nice little appetizer for night out at winery concert.

Summer is officially over but we’re still having warm (hot) days here in Texas. On an evening out at a local winery to hear a 60’s/70’s group play I made some homemade White Bean Hummus to go with vegetables and some Naan I picked up at the market. (I’ve made before but didn’t want to go to the trouble.). I packed a bunch of cheeses from Trader Joe’s, some crackers and we bought wine there. I thought these little (or big fat) asparagus spears would make the perfect finger food to go with the cheese.

I’m always looking for different recipes that pack easy for eating outside or on the go. Do you have any favorites? I remember vacations with our grandparents and how my grandmother would always fry the chicken and pack it in a shoe box lined with aluminum foil then put it in an old red Coke cooler for our trip and we would always stop at a road side table to eat. I can’t say I’ve seen anyone do that in quite a few years. Maybe, I’m just not looking.

October 11, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Sandwiches

Egg Salad with Avocado on Baguette

A quick and easy little appetizer.

I saw a post at Sugarlaws.com for a breakfast baguette with scrambled eggs and avocado on a baguette and decided I would try a different spin on her recipe, since scrambled eggs are my least favorite method of preparing eggs, and make an easy appetizer using egg salad, avocado and some finely diced tomato. It turned out to be one of the easiest appetizers I’ve made and pretty tasty too.

Egg salad is one of those things that I’m sure everyone makes. It can be put on top of cucumber slices, made into finger sandwiches, rolled in a tortilla for a wrap or just top a cracker with it. I want mine on a crispy garlic baguette mixed with a little avocado, tomato and garnished with some minced fried bacon pieces. Stuff it in celery or in a tomato or put some in endive boats; stuff it in a hollowed out baguette and then slice it up or roll some of it up in small pieces of smoked salmon or put it on a good ole Ritz cracker. You decide what you want to do with it and if you come up with an idea other than what I have mentioned, please leave a note in the comment section below.

Egg salad can fit any occasion — I think egg salad is probably the most versatile spread one can make. And, the mixture can be jazzed up with some dill weed, tarragon or any other herb of your choosing. Capers, celery, and relish can also be added. This is one of those recipes that “you can make your own”. Just try it on a buttered, crusty, toasted baguette slice.

October 1, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp

Spicy Shrimp and Guac Bites

Another use for your guacamole.

When catering parties in my “catering heyday” I always looked for ways to stretch the boil shrimp appetizer which I never liked making for parties because there were also “shrimp hogs” (that’s not nice) hanging around the bowl or platter of boiled shrimp eating them as fast as they could get their little tails pinched off. Lucky for me most of the time the hostess would say she would do the shrimp.

I did come up with some shrimp appetizers which definitely stretch a one bite shrimp into a more filling one or two bites. Take my Jalapeño Shrimp on Tostones (I always did this on a cracker for parties.) or my Parmesan Shrimp Toast (which someone at a party once called it sex on toast — that was a crazy comment.); they are shrimp appetizers that will stretch your budget and fill up the tummies of those guests who love shrimp and can never get enough of them. Bang Bang Shrimp is a spicy shrimp appetizer that will make you want to go back for more, but I would only do this for a dinner party; don’t think I would ever attempt to make this for more than a handful of people

September 21, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ HotApp/ Side dish

Grilled Shishito Peppers with Garlic Aioli

These are very tasty little peppers.

Several years ago we stopped in Vigo, Spain on a cruise. It was a very rainy day. How do I remember that? Well, I write down everything from trips we have taken, especially the food and restaurants. So, when we had the day to kill in Vigo, we walked, with our umbrellas and ponchos up and down the streets where all the restaurants and food vendors were located. I remember stopping at this particular place and we ordered frites and these fried green peppers. I never found out what peppers they were but I’m sure it was these shishito peppers. (Found out they are Padron peppers). The Shishito pepper is a Japanese pepper and a close relation to padrone.

Right before the 4th of July I saw were our “Veggie Lady” had some of these peppers, so I scooted up there to buy a bunch to do for the 4th. What would the 4th of July be without something hot and spicy. The Veggie Lady sold these for $12.00 a pound then I found at Whole Foods for $3.99 a pound. (So, I know where I will be buying these from now on.)

August 2, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ HotApp

Shrimp Wontons

Crispy and good!

My sister and I have always thought our “The Best Egg Rolls” are the best ever and are even by far better than any we have had out in a Chinese restaurant. Now that I feel I have “mastered” egg rolls, I’ve been wanting to try a different recipe using wonton and since there were some shrimp in my freezer and most of the other ingredients I needed to do this little wonton “kiss”, thought I would give it a try.

We were away from our pool for a couple of weeks back in May and when we arrived home it was just begging us to jump in. We had been heating it for a couple of months so get a head start on the swimming, floating, hanging out in the pool time. I love trying out new appetizers for when we hang out in the pool, float on a noodle and have a glass of wine and some munchies. Now, if I could just invent a floating table that would hold drinks and some food.

While in Chicago recently we went to a Japanese Izakaya bar. A Izakaya bar is like a pub or tavern with low tables and lots of small plate options to share. The menu is normally on the table, wall or in our case table and on a blackboard that the waitress brought to the table for us to choose from. You typically get a clean wet towel to clean your hands and we removed our shoes before sitting down. It was so much fun. Oliver and Charlie (our Chicago grandsons’s almost 5 and 3) love this place because they can sit on the floor. I loved all the small plates of food we had from pig cheeks to sweet potato fries to dumplings and it got me thinking that I want to do more of this type of food. I will definitely be trying the pancakes and a couple of dishes we tried that night and when I do I will be sure to share them with you. So dinner that night got me to thinking about making something Asian.

July 12, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ ColdApp

Huancaina (Peruvian Spicy Cheese Sauce)

What better to go with a spicy cheese sauce than plantain chips.

I’m always on the look for new dips or sauces to make and this one is great. This recipe has been made twice in two weeks, once for lake trip and once when my son came for his 20th class reunion.

One of the most famous sauces in Peru is Huancaina (wan-kay-eena) served with cold sliced potatoes, raw vegetables or fried plantain chips. I vote for the plantain chips.

Several years ago we dined at a Peruvian restaurant in Washington, DC. Cute little place with all the pictures on the wall hanging crooked and there was actually a reason for that and it had something to do with feud with either Mexico or Spain but I don’t remember. Like I said it was years ago.

So, back to the restaurant. Back then we probably ordered something pretty safe and the waiter asked us several times if we had tried this or that and when we said no, he brought samples out for us to try; one being tongue. Instead of the usual oil with bread to dip it in or bread and butter we were served this pink (this recipe isn’t pink) butter type mixture with bread to spread it on. I never forgot what he told me was two of the ingredients — saltine crackers and milk.

June 17, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ HotApp

Crunchy Firecracker Shrimp

Crunchy, quick appetizer.

These look just like the firecrackers we use to throw as kids — almost, but not quite.

I don’t think our parents had the same concerns of safety that parents have today. Maybe they just wanted us to go out and be kids but did they know we did the things we did while they weren’t looking. Like my twin sister and I trying to fly off the side of a half wall by our house or chasing each other around with a Davy Crocket knife in hand (I did get cut on the hand and still have the scar to prove it). We had a pony, Trixie, that got traded for a goKart and we use to race that little car up and down our driveway, and of course we blew up cans and other things with firecrackers and you know what, we’re still in one piece.

There is something about the word “crunch” in describing a tasty appetizer. Any appetizer that has crunch appeal just has to be good. Crunch could describe carrots, peppers, cucumbers, or cereals. But to me I’m thinking of salty things like potato chips, phyllo and these crunchy firecracker shrimp appetizers that are all rolled up and dipped in a fiery sauce.

June 2, 2015 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Entree/ Fish/Seafood/ HotApp

Crispy Salt and Pepper Shrimp

And you can even eat the shells!

When I first saw this recipe I thought of my sister. She loves to eat the tails of fried shrimp and I thought she would love to try this recipe. We also love (maybe most people do) to eat the fried fins of fish when they are fried whole; that would be Crappie fish, of course, but I don’t get that anymore.

I have a closet full (not really) of Szechuan peppercorns that I ordered years ago and never really know what to use them in. Well this recipe calls for them and what better way to use some of them up.

While recovery from foot surgery I decided to spend some time at the computer before the pain finally set in (wow, it never did) and I found a blog with this recipe. The recipe looked so good and I loved the fried jalapeño pepper rings for garnish.

We can get all kinds of fresh shrimp all times of the year here in Texas so I can go tiny or all the way up to Tiger shrimp and I think there is even one bigger that I used to make Shrimp Kiev one time. Now that was really good.

Seems like I have more shrimp recipes than just about anything I cook. Here are some of my favorites (they all really are so good, look under “entrees”- “seafood” to see them all) Bang Bang Shrimp, New Orleans style BBQ Shrimp (a must try), Shrimp Corndogs with Blueberry Mustard Sauce (from Moonshine Grill in Austin), and Honey Walnut Shrimp that I also had at a restaurant in Austin and definitely worth a try.

April 11, 2015 By Sherry

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