These hors really went over big at the release party last night - at the end of the evening I was able to graze around matching wines to them and found some good matches. Here are some of the dishes I did that I don’t think I’ve ever posted here – the crackers are from an old Sunset magazine that Vicki (owner of Camaraderie) found and included in the wine-club members ‘goodie bags.’
I’m not really big on savory ‘cookies,’ but must say these buttery little goodies are darn good with a Cab (cabernet sauvignon).
Blue Cheese Cocktail Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen
1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temp.
1 cup butter, at room temp.
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups crisp rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (opt.)
Preheat oven to 350 F.
With mixer on a medium speed, cream together cream cheese and butter till light and fluffy.
Add the cayenne, blue cheese, flour, rice cereal, and bacon (if using) and beat on medium-low speed till well blended. The dough will be stiff.
Roll 1 T. portions into balls and place slightly apart on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork. Bake until cookies are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
From Sunset Magazine 2/06
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This is one of the two, we had a heck of a time keeping on the platters – went as fast as we could get them out. The flavors are so good and it goes really well with Cab and/or a Cab Franc.
ROASTED RED BELL PEPPER AND BASIL MOUSSE
1 lb cream Cheese, room temp
2 roasted red bell peppers, chopped fine
3 Tbsps fresh basil, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
S & P to taste
1 pkg Carr Crackers
Mix cream cheese till smooth.
Add remaining ingredients & mix till combined.
Adjust the seasonings with salt & pepper.
Pipe onto Crackers.
Garnish w/Basil.
From Carr’s crackers.
Note: for catering/party – made up my batches and had them in piping bags, ready to go during the party – saves so much time and mess doing this ahead of time. And, so far when I‘ve done this, the mousse has never tightened up too much to pipe.
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These were all gone by the time I was ‘tasting,’ so, couldn’t match with a wine - but, I’m thinking maybe a Merlot or a Pinot Gris. Since this was mainly about the wine, I made the meatballs very small just for tasting (about 5/8 – 3/4").
Cranberry-Sauced Meatballs
Meatballs:
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup soft bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped toasted almonds
2 tablespoons snipped dried cranberries or snipped golden raisins
2 tablespoons finely chopped onions
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
1/2 pound ground raw chicken or turkey
1/2 pound ground pork
Nonstick cooking spray
Sauce:
3/4 cup catsup
1 can jellied cranberry sauce -- (8 ounce)
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1. For meatballs, in a large bowl combine egg, bread crumbs, almonds, cranberries or raisins, onion, and cloves or allspice. Add ground chicken or turkey and pork; mix well. Shape into 30 meatballs.
2. Lightly coat a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Place meatballs in pan. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until done (165 degrees F).
3. Meanwhile, in a 10-inch skillet stir together catsup, cranberry sauce, vinegar, and dry mustard. Add baked meatballs; stir gently to coat. Heat through. Transfer to a 1-quart crockery cooker. Cover and keep warm on low-heat setting up to 2 hours. Makes 30 meatballs (30 servings).
Make-Ahead Tip: Up to 1 day ahead, make and shape meatballs. Place on the baking sheet and refrigerate. Two hours before serving, bake meatballs and continue as directed.
Or
I made the day ahead completely, mixed with sauce and ‘pouched’ batches with the FoodSaver and heated them during the party to replenish the chafer. If you don’t have a FoodSaver, a crockpot would work well for a small party.
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Lastly, we could not keep up with these little goodies. They do not keep well, they are so fragile, so I made up batches and put the mix in baggies and portioned them out and baked on site. This would work well with only one or two batches, but we were trying to keep up with 9 batches…..
MINI ZUCCHINI QUICHES
Makes about 24
4 large eggs
1 envelope Lipton Golden Onion Soup Mix
1 1/2 cups zucchini -- shredded, 1 med.
4 ounces Swiss cheese -- grated
1/4 cup Panko
2 T. Parmesan cheese -- grated
3/4 teaspoon basil -- fresh or dried
In a mixer, or by hand, whisk up the eggs; add the rest of the ingredients and combine well.
Pour into mini muffin tins, sprayed with Pam. Bake 18-20 minutes at 325 F.
Let the tins sit 8 – 10 minutes before removing the quiches – they will shrink on themselves and be much easier to remove. Also, when removing from tins put the quiches bottom side down for a few minutes, then turn over and they will hold for a couple of hours.
I’ve served these quiches with different sauces over the years, but the one I did for last night’s was the best, just spicy enough to go with them, so this will be ‘the one’ from now on.
Smokey Tomato Sauce
28 oz. can Muir Glen Fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 large poblano, roasted, wiped and seeded, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled
1/2 tsp. cumin
2 T. cilantro, chopped
1 cup chicken broth (I had pork stock in the freezer and used that)
Add all the ingredients in a stock pot, bring to just a boil, reduce heat and simmer the sauce for 1 – 1 1/2 hours (depending on how thick you want your sauce.)
I used a blender stick when I got all in the pot or you could cook it and then use a blender stick or a processor, don’t make it too smooth tho, little chunks are nice.
Season with salt & pepper. Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and reheat if you are serving hot.I also pouched the sauce in a couple of pkgs. and tossed in the simmering water with the meatballs - man, this (FoodSaver pouches) makes life so much easier! It was good at room temp. with the quiches also.
Note: For testing purposes only, I found dipping 18 hour bread in the sauce was wonderful!
----
And to make a great evening better, got a couple references for dinner parties from folks!
I’m not really big on savory ‘cookies,’ but must say these buttery little goodies are darn good with a Cab (cabernet sauvignon).
Blue Cheese Cocktail Cookies
Makes about 4 dozen
1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temp.
1 cup butter, at room temp.
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups crumbled blue cheese
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups crisp rice cereal, such as Rice Krispies
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (opt.)
Preheat oven to 350 F.
With mixer on a medium speed, cream together cream cheese and butter till light and fluffy.
Add the cayenne, blue cheese, flour, rice cereal, and bacon (if using) and beat on medium-low speed till well blended. The dough will be stiff.
Roll 1 T. portions into balls and place slightly apart on baking sheets. Flatten each ball with a fork. Bake until cookies are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
From Sunset Magazine 2/06
-----
This is one of the two, we had a heck of a time keeping on the platters – went as fast as we could get them out. The flavors are so good and it goes really well with Cab and/or a Cab Franc.
ROASTED RED BELL PEPPER AND BASIL MOUSSE
1 lb cream Cheese, room temp
2 roasted red bell peppers, chopped fine
3 Tbsps fresh basil, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, minced
S & P to taste
1 pkg Carr Crackers
Mix cream cheese till smooth.
Add remaining ingredients & mix till combined.
Adjust the seasonings with salt & pepper.
Pipe onto Crackers.
Garnish w/Basil.
From Carr’s crackers.
Note: for catering/party – made up my batches and had them in piping bags, ready to go during the party – saves so much time and mess doing this ahead of time. And, so far when I‘ve done this, the mousse has never tightened up too much to pipe.
-----
These were all gone by the time I was ‘tasting,’ so, couldn’t match with a wine - but, I’m thinking maybe a Merlot or a Pinot Gris. Since this was mainly about the wine, I made the meatballs very small just for tasting (about 5/8 – 3/4").
Cranberry-Sauced Meatballs
Meatballs:
1 beaten egg
3/4 cup soft bread crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped toasted almonds
2 tablespoons snipped dried cranberries or snipped golden raisins
2 tablespoons finely chopped onions
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice
1/2 pound ground raw chicken or turkey
1/2 pound ground pork
Nonstick cooking spray
Sauce:
3/4 cup catsup
1 can jellied cranberry sauce -- (8 ounce)
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1. For meatballs, in a large bowl combine egg, bread crumbs, almonds, cranberries or raisins, onion, and cloves or allspice. Add ground chicken or turkey and pork; mix well. Shape into 30 meatballs.
2. Lightly coat a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Place meatballs in pan. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 15 to 18 minutes or until done (165 degrees F).
3. Meanwhile, in a 10-inch skillet stir together catsup, cranberry sauce, vinegar, and dry mustard. Add baked meatballs; stir gently to coat. Heat through. Transfer to a 1-quart crockery cooker. Cover and keep warm on low-heat setting up to 2 hours. Makes 30 meatballs (30 servings).
Make-Ahead Tip: Up to 1 day ahead, make and shape meatballs. Place on the baking sheet and refrigerate. Two hours before serving, bake meatballs and continue as directed.
Or
I made the day ahead completely, mixed with sauce and ‘pouched’ batches with the FoodSaver and heated them during the party to replenish the chafer. If you don’t have a FoodSaver, a crockpot would work well for a small party.
-----
Lastly, we could not keep up with these little goodies. They do not keep well, they are so fragile, so I made up batches and put the mix in baggies and portioned them out and baked on site. This would work well with only one or two batches, but we were trying to keep up with 9 batches…..
MINI ZUCCHINI QUICHES
Makes about 24
4 large eggs
1 envelope Lipton Golden Onion Soup Mix
1 1/2 cups zucchini -- shredded, 1 med.
4 ounces Swiss cheese -- grated
1/4 cup Panko
2 T. Parmesan cheese -- grated
3/4 teaspoon basil -- fresh or dried
In a mixer, or by hand, whisk up the eggs; add the rest of the ingredients and combine well.
Pour into mini muffin tins, sprayed with Pam. Bake 18-20 minutes at 325 F.
Let the tins sit 8 – 10 minutes before removing the quiches – they will shrink on themselves and be much easier to remove. Also, when removing from tins put the quiches bottom side down for a few minutes, then turn over and they will hold for a couple of hours.
I’ve served these quiches with different sauces over the years, but the one I did for last night’s was the best, just spicy enough to go with them, so this will be ‘the one’ from now on.
Smokey Tomato Sauce
28 oz. can Muir Glen Fire roasted tomatoes
1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 large poblano, roasted, wiped and seeded, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp. dried oregano, crumbled
1/2 tsp. cumin
2 T. cilantro, chopped
1 cup chicken broth (I had pork stock in the freezer and used that)
Add all the ingredients in a stock pot, bring to just a boil, reduce heat and simmer the sauce for 1 – 1 1/2 hours (depending on how thick you want your sauce.)
I used a blender stick when I got all in the pot or you could cook it and then use a blender stick or a processor, don’t make it too smooth tho, little chunks are nice.
Season with salt & pepper. Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead and reheat if you are serving hot.I also pouched the sauce in a couple of pkgs. and tossed in the simmering water with the meatballs - man, this (FoodSaver pouches) makes life so much easier! It was good at room temp. with the quiches also.
Note: For testing purposes only, I found dipping 18 hour bread in the sauce was wonderful!
----
And to make a great evening better, got a couple references for dinner parties from folks!
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
www.achefsjourney.com
