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Appetizers & Snacks

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Baba Ganoush

Baby Red Potatoes with Caviar

Chilled Shrimp with Basil Ponzu Sauce

Ginger Chicken Lettuce Cups

Green Drink

Herbed Feta Walnut Spread

Hummus (Traditional & Spicy)

Padrones – Sautéed or Grilled

Smoked Salmon Wrap with Goat Cheese, Cucumber & Dill

Spiced Cashews

Spicy Crispy Chicken Strips

Stuffed Mushrooms

Turkey Wrap with Yummy Mustard

White Bean Pesto Dip

Yogurt Dill Sauce

> Scroll down for all recipes


Spicy Crispy Chicken Strips

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Time: 20-30 minutes

Serves: 12-15 as an appetizer / party finger-food

Inspired by: I’ve always liked crispy chicken tenders/nuggets/strips, but wished there was a non-greasy version that had real chicken inside that was safe to eat. I thought it might be fun to use my blackening spice for this and try making them for a small party. I love the crispiness, and the spice gives them an awesome kick!

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs boneless, skinless, organic chicken breasts
  • 1-2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup olive oil (4 tablespoons)
  • 1 cup (16 tablespoons) of crispy bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup of Spice it up …by Karen™ (more if you like super spicy)

Preparation:

  • Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (or if you have a good toaster oven, there is no need to preheat, but you will need to cook these in batches)
  • Get a non-stick cookie sheet or rub a bit of olive oil on a cookie sheet so your chicken will not stick as it cooks
  • Lightly beat the eggs with a fork or whisk, and mix with the olive oil in small bowl
  • In a low, wide bowl (such as a soup bowl), mix the bread crumbs well with the spice
  • Cut chicken into strips – approximately 1.5 inches wide by 3 inches long
  • Dip the chicken into the egg/olive oil mixure to coat and then roll in the breadcrumb mix
  • Lay the chicken strips a half inch to an inch apart on the cookie sheet
  • Bake until golden brown – probably at least 12 minutes, possibly as long as 20

Notes: Because these are getting so much more surface area covered with spice than making blackened chicken with whole or half chicken breasts, these can get pretty spicy – so if you like spice, but not too much, I suggest using a bit less spice and a bit more of the bread crumbs. For parties, I have prepared these on the cookie sheet early in the day and kept them refridgerated and then took them out to bake when ready to serve. You can bring them to room temperature first, but it really isn’t necessary.

Wine Suggestions: A medium bodied red with some good fruit and spice on it would be perfect. A Syrah or Southern Rhone blend, Zinfandel or a spicy older Barolo. Off dry whites are often a fantastic pairing for spicy foods such as a Riesling or Viognier/Condrieu.


Spiced Cashews

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Prep Time: 5-10 minutes

Inspired by: I’ve always loved cashews and almonds, but my favorite is when they are salty and spicy. I was headed out to a party a few nights ago and thought it would be fun to try my spice blend on some cashews. We loved them.

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound bag of unsalted roasted cashews
  • 1-2 tablespoons Spice it Up …by Karen™
  • 1 teaspoon of melted butter (I used unsalted because the spice already has salt, but if you like salty go for the salted butter)

Preparation: Set the oven to about 200 degrees. Toss the cashews in the melted butter – just barely coat them. Then toss with the spice blend until they are covered well. Spread on a cookie sheet and put in the oven for about 5 minutes. Watch them carefully – they will brown very quickly with the butter. This gives them a slightly toaster look and taste and dries the butter out a bit.

Notes: I think anything salty and fatty is fabulous with wine – so these are perfect to nibble on while sipping wine!


Baby Red Potatoes with Caviar

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Baby Red Potatoes with Caviar

Time: 45 minutes to prep and cook; 15 minutes to assemble after cooled

Serves: 40 “bites”

Inspired by: This recipe is from Hugh Carpenter’s “Fast Appetizers” cookbook. I was looking for a fun finger food with caviar for New Years Eve. I added a tiny bit of sour cream to these, but I think they’d be great either way.

Ingredients:

  • 20 baby red potatoes
  • 2 tablespoons flavorless cooking oil (I used a light olive oil)
  • 2 ounces fresh caviar, good to best quality
  • 2 tablespoons chopped chives (no chives at the market today so I am using chopped spring onion)
  • 2 tablespoons sour cream (optional)

Preparation:

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
  • Cut the potatoes in half and slice off a very small sliver on the rounded side so they don’t wobble around on the cookie sheet
  • Rub the potatoes with the oil and place on cookie sheet
  • Roast until they feel tender when prodded with a fork – about 30 minutes.
  • Cool to room temperature.
  • Cut a small scoop/hole in the top of each potato. Fill with caviar and sprinkle with chives. If you are using sour cream, later in just a dab of it before the caviar and chives.
  • Refrigerate.

Notes: This can be completed up to 8 hours before serving if you are not using the sour cream. If you are, it can get a little watery so wait and assemble close to serving. Serve chilled.

Wine Suggestions: Caviar and Champagne are always a fun pairing – their complimentary textures are perfect and the high acidity of the champagne is perfect with the brininess of the caviar. Of course any other dry, crisp high-acid white wine would be excellent as well such as a Chablis or other unoaked White Burgundy.


Stuffed Mushrooms

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Stuffed Mushrooms

Time: 1 hour

Serves: 45 “bites”

Inspired by: I can’t remember when I first had these. I just know that I’ve always loved mushrooms of any type, and every time I’ve had these I’ve thought they were decadent. With something close to these ingredients as the stuffing, I don’t know how you can go wrong. I love that they are easy to prepare ahead for parties and I think they still taste good even when they cool off and are only at room temperature.

Ingredients:

  • 45 cremini mushrooms
  • 1 onion, chopped well
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced very fine
  • 2-3 tablespoons butter
  • 5 stalks celery, chopped well
  • 1 cup chopped parsley
  • 1 1/2 cups grated parmesan
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 – 1 cup bread crumbs

Preparation:

  • Wash mushrooms; remove stems carefully to keep mushrooms whole – keep the stems
  • Slice off a very small sliver on the rounded side of the mushroom and lay them on a cookie sheet (that keeps them from rolling around)
  • Chop all the excess mushroom stems and pieces well
  • Melt the butter in a large saute pan and saute the onions, chopped mushroom stems and garlic  – about 10 minutes on medium heat
  • Add the chopped celery, parsley and black pepper – saute another 10-20 minutes until everything is cooked through
  • Add the parmesan and then begin adding some breadcrumbs until the mixture is your desired thickness for stuffing the mushrooms
  • Stuff the mushrooms so that they are very full and rounded at the caps
  • Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes

Notes: You can prepare these and wrap them up well in the refrigerator a day ahead of cooking. It’s best to bring them to room temperature before baking. And a note to myself – I think chopping all this stuff should work just fine on “pulse” mode in the food processor. Every time I make them I think about that when I’m almost finished chopping.  It would save a lot of time!

Stuffed Mushrooms - Pre Baked

Stuffed Mushrooms – Pre Baked

Wine Suggestions: I love mushrooms with a Red Burgundy, but I think the flavors here would go well with most high-acid crisp whites (White Burgundy, Gruner Veltliner, Sancerre, Chenin Blanc), and light to medium-bodied reds (Red Burgundy/Pinot Noir, Rioja).


White Bean Pesto Dip

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Pesto Oil & White Bean Pesto Dip

Time: 10-15 minutes

Serves: 8-12 as an appetizer

Inspired by: One of women in my book club, Nancy Beth Garrett, made something very similar to this recently with a pesto sauce from Trader Joes. I couldn’t stop eating it and stuffed myself before dinner!

Ingredients

  • 2, 14 oz cans cannellini beans (white kidney beans), drained
  • Juice from about ½ a lemon
  • 1 garlic clove – crushed
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 1 bunch basil
  • 2-4 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Pesto – Wash and dry basil leaves; put into food processor and chop a bit first. Add olive oil, crushed garlic, grated fresh Parmesan and salt. Chop/blend well. Pour the pesto into a bowl or jar to store (you will only use some of it).

Dip – Without cleaning the food processor, add the beans and 1-2 teaspoons of lemon juice and pulse chop to your desired consistency OR instead, you can just hand mash this in a bowl. Unlike when I make hummus, for this dip I like the beans to keep some texture and lumps, but you can also make this very smooth and creamy. If you want it to be smooth and creamy, continue the rest of this with the processor. Otherwise, put the mixture so far in a bowl, add 2-3 tablespoons of pesto and mix by hand. Add a little at a time and taste to get it to desired intensity. Add additional pesto oil, salt or lemon juice as desired. Garnish with drops of basil oil, basil leaves or flowers.

Notes: Serve with crackers, pita bread or raw veggies such as celery and carrots.  You can skip a step and purchase your favorite pesto sauce instead of making your own pesto oil.

Wine Suggestions: Yummy with light, crisp whites and aromatic whites such as Grüner Veltliner, Sancerre, Albarino, Verdejo, Chablis or other lightly oaked White Burgundy. Although I’ve heard that Cabernet Sauvignon is a good pairing with Pesto, and I can see how that could be the case, I think the whites are much better matches flavor and weight-wise for this fairly light dip.


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