Jerry's Thoughts, Musings, and Rants!

Sunday Small Bites - Ginger

The cooks on the slowtravel community forums have a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp, crab, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese, smoked salmon, pecans, pumpkin, olives, and mushrooms. This week Palma selected our ingredient. Her pick? Ginger

I LOVE ginger and the market had fresh ginger on sale this week so I went all out (ever the overachiever here).

I made Open Shrimp and Ginger Wontons and served them with a Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce. Remembering Sandi's conversation about martinis I made a Fresh Ginger Martini to serve with the small bites! Then for our main course I made a Lime and Ginger Beef Stir Fry.

Thanks for picking ginger Palma! One really can't get enough of the stuff!

I found the wonton recipe online at the Photo Kitchen Blog which is a great visit because you can see the pictures of what you're making to know if you are on the right track.

Traditional wonton recipes usually call for closed wrappers with the typical half-moon fold. I think this open version is a nice variation. It looks nice because you can see the colorful filling inside, and you can drizzle your dipping sauce into the wonton.

The wontons were quite simple to pull together and tasted WONDERFUL! On the blog they were served with a Tamarind Dipping Sauce but I was out of tamarind. I googled a bit more and combined two recipes I found online to create a my Ginger Soy Dipping Saucewhich was great with these wontons.

Open Shrimp and Ginger Wontons

1/2 lb of shrimp (deveined)
1 pack of wonton wrappers (available at large supermarkets)
2-3 spring onions (green onion)
1/4 cup of chopped cilantro
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
crushed chili pepper
2-3 tablespoons of fresh ginger
1 teaspoon Thai fish sauce

Finely chop the shrimp, the cilantro, the ginger and the spring onion. Combine everything in bowl, add 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, 1 teaspoon of fish sauce and some crushed chili, mix well.

Place the wonton skins on a flat working surface. Place a little of the shrimp mixture on each skin (if you use too much the skins will be difficult to close). This needs to be done relatively fast, so the skins don’t dry out. When done, fill a little cup or bowl with some cold water . For each wonton, dip your finger into the water and moisten the edges of the wonton. This will help to glue the skin together at the edges. Then fold and pinch the edges together (by bringing the corners together as if you were wrapping a gift), leaving an opening on top.

In a large fry pan or skillet heat up 2 tablespoons of canola oil, medium heat.

Place the wontons in the pan and fry them for about 2-3 minutes. Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan and cover the pan closely with a lid. Steam wontons for about 5-8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the skins. You may have to add a little more liquid after a few minutes.

Arrange on a plate with the dipping sauce on the side.

Ginger Soy Dipping Sauce

4 tablespoons soy sauce (I used low sodium)
1/4 cup chopped ginger
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon lime juice
3 tablespoons honey

Mix all ingredients in a bowl about 2 hours before serving to allow the flavours to combine.

Sunday Small Bites - Mushrooms

 
The cooks on the slowtravel community forums have a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp, crab, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese, smoked salmon, pecans, pumpkin, and olives. This week we moved on and gave mushrooms a try - courtesy of Candi.

For our small bite we went with another recipe from the 2008 Better Homes and Gardens Appetizer Recipe Magazine - Saffron-Scented Lamb Mushroom Pastry Puffs. We decided on this one because we liked the sound of the middle eastern flavours + it would allow us to use up some ground lamb that was in the freezer (we're trying to clean out the freezers before the holiday crush).

The result was delicious! It was one of those things that tasted and looked very impressive - yet the amount of work involved in putting them on the table wasn't crazy. Whenever I use puff pastry I always wonder why I don't use it more often - you get such a brilliant result with little effort.

Saffron-Scented Lamb and Mushroom Pastry Puffs

8 oz ground lamb
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped fresh mushrooms
3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 tsp fresh thyme, snipped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1 hard-cooked egg, peeled, finely chopped
dash saffron threads, (I used about 1/4 tsp) crushed (I  crushed the threads in my hands)
1 package of frozen puff pastry (2 sheets)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

Pre-heat oven to 400.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a large frying pan cook the lamb and onion over medium heat until the meat is brown. Drain the fat from the pan. Stir in mushrooms, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook 5 - 8 minutes or until the mushrooms are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in the chopped hard boiled eggs and crushed saffron threads. Remove from heat. Cool for about 10 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface unfold one sheet of puff pastry. Roll it into a 14 inch x 10 inch rectangle. Cut it into rectangles - each about 2 inches x 3 inches.

Spoon about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the filling onto each pastry rectangle. The filling should be in the centre of the rectangle - lengthwise. Be sure to leave a small amount of the pastry uncovered at the ends.

In a bowl combine the egg and water. Brush the edges of the pastry rectangles with the egg wash. Roll the rectangles lengthwise in a cigar shape. Press the edges together to seal.

Place on prepared baking sheets. Lightly brush the tops with the egg wash.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the pastries are puffed up and golden brown.

Let stand for 5 minutes prior to serving.

Makes about 35 puffs.

Note: I baked one tray. The other tray went into the freezer. Today I'll remove the frozen puffs from the tray and store them in a zip lock freezer container with the baking directions taped to the underside of the lid. This will allow me to bake them later when I need some sort of small bite without doing a whole lot of work!

Sunday Small Bites: Olives

The Sunday Slow Cooks  are a group of cooks from the slow travel community message board. We have been bakers, scoopers, soupers, and tossers (yes, I know that is a derogatory term in some parts of the world ! LOL).

Now we have taken on a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp, crab, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese, smoked salmon, pecans, and pumpkin.

I picked this week's ingredient: olives. At the time I figured that there would have been lots of things that we would have eaten in Greece to inspire us and that I would have brought some wonderful Greek olives hone with us. The reality was yes, we brought lots of olives home, bought in two weeks we didn't eat a single dish that featured olives - small bite or otherwise.

I started looking for recipes and was soon overwhelmed. There are tons of recipes out there for small-plate dishes which use olives. Apparently the world can not get enough of a good thing! 

I narrowed it down to six and couldn't decide amongst them. Then we had the great idea of making ALL of them as a sort of an 'olive small plate buffet' . . . which was what we did. It proved to be the perfect thing for Hallowe'en night. We nibbled on our treats and sipped martinis while the kids rang the doorbell in search for treats.

We made marinated olives, olive cheddar mini muffins, olive pinwheel loaf, swiss olive galette, ascolane, and olive potato balls with pesto. Everything was great but our two favourites were the swiss olive galette and the olive potato balls with pesto.

The galette came from the 2009 Better Homes and Gardens Appetizers magazine which I just found in the store last week. Every year they publish one of these and I've been collecting them for about 10 years now. Each version is packed with interesting (and not too overwhelming) recipes for appetizers. This year's edition featured an entire section on olives and this galette was one of the recipes.

The galette is easy to make  . . . especially as it makes use of a pre-made pie crust which aren't that easy to find here in Canada so I had to make my own :-( . The fact that you just need to dump on the toppings, fold up the sides, sprinkle on the cheese and bake makes this a perfect thing to make during the upcoming hectic holiday entertaining schedule.

Swiss Olive Galette

1/2 of a rolled, refrigerated unbaked pie crust
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped leeks (white part only)
1/2 cup chopped fresh fennel
1/2 cup chopped Kalamata olives
1 tablespoon snipped fresh thyme
4 ounces Gruyere cheese, shredded (about 1 cup)
snipped fresh fennel fronds

Allow the pie crust to stand at room temperature according to the package directions. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll pastry into an 11-inch circle on the parchment paper.

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the leeks and fennel in the hot oil until tender but not brown. Remove form the heat. Stir in the thyme and olives. Cool slightly.

Spread the mixture in the centre of the pastry, leaving a 1 1/2 inch rim uncovered. Fold the uncovered pastry over the filling. Top with cheese.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden. Sprinkle with fennel fronds. Cut into wedges and serve warm.

The olive and potato balls with pesto a bit more far more complex. I found the recipe for them in a cookbook that I think is no longer in publication called 'Finger Food; Bite-sized Snacks to Share with Friends'. Everything that I have made from this book has been impressive but the recipes generally do take a bit more work that one might want. The nice thing is that most of the things in the book can be made in advance and frozen.

I had never heard of potato balls but through the wonder of 'google' I discovered that they feature largely in Latin American cooking (makes sense given that potatoes originated there). This recipe is basically mashed potato with savoury ingredients added in - in this case olives, onions, garlic, and cheese. The mixture is rolled into balls and then deep fried until it is a golden brown.

Given that anything fried is good in our books I had high hopes for these. I was not disappointed and Paul declared these olive and potato balls to be the best thing he had eaten as a part of our olive small bites. The nice thing for us is that we now have 25 more in the freezer waiting for me to take them out and fry them up for a treat over the holidays.

Olive and Potato Balls with Pesto

1 1/4 lb boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup shredded, fresh basil
1 egg
cracked pepper
3/4 cup Panko
vegetable oil, for deep frying
pesto

Boil the potatoes for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well and mash.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the onion for 4 - 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat, cool. Add the onion and garlic to the mashed potatoes.

Mix the olives, flour, Parmesan cheese, basil, egg, and a little cracked pepper into the potato-onion mixture.

Shape the mixture into 30 small balls. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Roll the balls into the panko, pressing the breadcrumbs on firmly so that the balls are evenly coated.

Fill a deep, heavy-bottomed pan 1/3 third full with the oil and heat until 350 degrees (or until a cube of bread browns in about 15 seconds). Cook the potato balls in batches for 2 - 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to crumpled paper towels with a slotted spoon.

Top each with a small amount of pesto. Serve warm.

Sunday Small Bites - Pumpkin

The Sunday Slow Cooks  are a group of cooks from the slow travel community message board. We have been bakers, scoopers, soupers, and tossers (yes, I know that is a derogatory term in some parts of the world ! LOL).

Now we have taken on a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp,  crab, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese, smoked salmon, and pecans. It boggles the mind to think that we have been at this for eight weeks already!

This week Deborah selected pumpkin as the ingredient of the week. How festive, just in time for Halloween! I wondered a good deal about what to make. Generally when I've eaten pumpkin before it has been in a pie, muffin, cake, cheesecake, soup, or pasta. Lots of those just wouldn't work as an appetizer - not in my world anyway, and the others (soup and ravioli) I have already made before. One of the 'rules' about the small bites is one has to attempt something that they have never made before. This was going to be a challenge!

I decided to make a non-fried version of pumpkin fritters. I had no idea if I'd like them or not but just went with the recipe because it sounded interesting. They were really good, the entire plater was eaten while our guests were sipping Orchard Martinis in front of the fireplace last night. . . . a perfect fall evening!

If you're looking for a different treat to make give these a try.

Enjoy!

Mini Pumpkin Sage Balls with Balsamic Creme Fraiche

3 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup finely diced onion
2 teaspoons minced garlic
2 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 cups vegetable oil for frying
1 sprig fresh sage leaves
sea salt

1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.

Heat canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook 2 minutes until softened, then stir in the chopped sage, and cook 2 more minutes. Scrape into a large bowl, and stir in the pumpkin puree, bread crumbs, eggs, salt, and black pepper until combined. Roll the mixture into 1 1/2 inch balls, and place onto the greased baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven until firm and hot, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the frying oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and add the sage leaves. Fry until the bubbles begin to subside and the leaves are crispy. Remove the leaves, and drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Prepare the dipping sauce by stirring together the sour cream, whipping cream, sugar, and balsamic vinegar until smooth.

To serve, sprinkle the pumpkin balls with fried sage leaves, and sea salt. Serve with the dipping sauce on the side.

Sunday Small Bites - Pecans

The Sunday Slow Cooks  are a group of cooks from the slow travel community message board. We have been bakers, scoopers, soupers, and tossers (yes, I know that is a derogatory term in some parts of the world ! LOL)

Now we have taken on a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp,  crab, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, goat cheese, and smoked salmon.

This week Sheri selected pecans as the ingredient of the week. I wondered a good deal about what to make. I've eaten many pecans over the years but almost always as a dessert.

I finally settled upon this recipe from an old Food and Wine magazine. Apparently this southern-style hors d'oeuvre was one of the best-sellers at Sage & Swift, a caterer in Durham, North Carolina (who shared the recipe with the magazine).

I can see why. These biscuits are flaky and light with a wonderful peppery bite. The cheese filling is tangy with an interesting crunch from the pecans. Paul LOVED the seven he ate . . .

The spread can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. Let return to room temperature before serving. The biscuits can be frozen for up to a month. Rewarm in a 350° oven before serving. The fact that these can be made in advance, as well as the amazing flavour and presentation make these the perfect small bite for the upcoming holidays . . .

Enjoy!

 Pepper Biscuits with Cheddar-Pecan Spread

4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (about 7 ounces)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (about 2 ounces)
2 medium scallions, white part only, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 cup buttermilk

Make the cheese spread: In a food processsor, blend the cream cheese and sour cream. Add the Cheddar and pulse until combined. Add the pecans and scallions and pulse until incorporated. Add the salt, black pepper and pepper sauce.

Make the biscuits: Preheat the oven to 425°. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda, salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon of the chives. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the buttermilk and stir until a soft dough forms; do not overmix. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead lightly until smooth. Roll out the dough 1/4 inch thick. Using a 1 1/2 -inch biscuit cutter or Champagne glass, cut out rounds from the dough. Arrange the rounds on 2 large baking sheets and bake for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom and top. Let cool. 

Using a sharp knife, cut the biscuits in half horizontally. Spread the bottom half of each biscuit with about 1 rounded teaspoon of the cheese mixture. Cover with the top halves of the biscuits and transfer to a platter. Sprinkle the biscuits with the remaining 2 tablespoons chopped chives and serve. 

Sunday Small Bites - Smoked Salmon

The Sunday Slow Cooks  are a group of cooks from the slow travel community message board. We have been bakers, scoopers, soupers, and tossers (yes, I know that is a derogatory term in some parts of the world ! LOLA) No we have taken on a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp,  crab, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, and goat cheese. This week Marcia selected smoked salmon as the ingredient of the week - something that neither of us have ever eaten. However, Marcia selected it for the challenge so we ate it!

Guess what?

We liked it!

I made this recipe from the Food Network Canada site. It was form an episode entitled 'Bride's Brunch'/ I presume that that would indicate a fancy, perhaps over-the-top treat. Well these were fancy, they were amazing, but surprisingly enough, they were darn easy!

Whip up these for your guests and there will be 'ohhs' and 'ahhs' aplenty. You, however, will not have worked up a sweat in the kitchen. How great is that?

 
Smoked Salmon and Chive Potato Rosti

• 12 oz (375g) Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled
• 1 oz (30g) smoked salmon, chopped
• 2 tbsp (25 mL) chopped chives
• 1 tbsp (15mL) vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp (15mL) butter
• 1/4 cup crème fraîche or sour cream

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (200 Celsius).

Using a box grater or food processor, coarsely grate potato and remove excess liquid in a kitchen towel. In a bowl, mix potato with smoked salmon and chives.

In a skillet, heat oil and butter over medium heat. Spoon mixture, 2 tablespoons at a time, into pan turning once, until golden, about 2 minutes.

Garnish with half teaspoon crème fraîche or sour cream.

Transfer to a baking sheet, and bake until potato is tender, 8-10 minutes.

Sunday Small Bites - Goat Cheese

The Sunday Slow Cooks  are a group of cooks from the slow travel community message board. We have been bakers, scoopers, soupers, and tossers (yes, I know that is a derogatory term in some parts of the world ! LOL) No we have taken on a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp,  crab, sun-dried tomatoes, and avocado. This week Nancy selected goat cheese as the ingredient of the week.

I knew that we'd be in Athens this week (no, I shall never get tired of saying that) so we made this in advance. The recipe we selected was adapted from one we found in the Cuisine at Home grilling magazine. There recipe called for feta. I substituted goat cheese instead with happy results.

We loved the way the smokey grilled zucchini blended with the goat cheese, herbs, and lemon making this a light but sophisticated treat. This was another appetizer that looks like you cooked for hours when really you spent less than 30 minutes getting it together.

Enjoy!

Grilled Zucchini Roll-ups with Goat Cheese and Herbs

1/4 cup goat cheese, finely crumbled
1/4 cup cream cheese, softened (we used low-fat)
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (we used low-fat)
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1 tablespoon minced, fresh oregano
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper, to taste
10 8-inch strips of zucchini, sliced about 1/4 inch and about 2 inches wide
lemon zest and fresh thyme to garnish

Pre-heat the grill to medium high heat.

Combine goat cheese, cream cheese, mayo, thyme, oregano, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper for filling in a bowl.

Brush the zucchini with the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. Grill , uncovered, about 2 minutes per side. Set slices to cool.

Pat slices dry with a paper towel. Spread each slice with about 1 teaspoon of the filling on one side. Roll up jelly-roll style.

Top with lemon zest and remaining thyme to garnish.

Sunday Small Bites - Avocado

The Sunday Slow Cooks  are a group of cooks from the slow travel community message board. We have been bakers, scoopers, soupers, and tossers (yes, I know that is a derogatory term in some parts of the world ! LOL) No we have taken on a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp,  crab and sun-dried tomatoes. This week Annie selected avocado as the ingredient of the week.

In my mind avocados are closely tied with the foods of the SW that we love. I went through all of the various combinations of tacos, quesadillas, mini burritos, etc. and finally ended up with this unusual dish. Here a pork tenderloin is coated with a delicious SW rub and grilled. Once cooked it is sliced thinly and the slices are served atop a crisp tortilla chip topped with an amazing avocado cream sauce.

I wanted to make something that would fit the canape range of small plates. You know the things that you can picture waiters dressed in black passing about on silver trays while happy guests sip champagne and chat. Now, to be honest, I've never hosted such a celebration but if I did I would served these. *smile*

Paul LOVED them. In fact he ate the leftovers every night until that pork tenderloin was all gone. There was still some avocado cream left and I suspected he wanted me to grill up another tenderloin so that he could feed his addiction. Given that we are trying to 'eat up the fridge' before we head off to Greece - on FRIDAY I wasn't about to grill up anything else.

Another plus for this recipe - it is EASY! The cream sauce comes together in no time at all and it is the most complex part of the production. This recipe clearly gets put in the category of things you make with no fuss that people will think you're a master chef who has slaved in the kitchen all day.  Everyone needs a few of those in their recipe file. :-) 

You could serve this pork as a main dish as well (i.e. not on tortilla chips). It would be amazing with Judy's black bean salad that we made when we were tossing salads in the summer.

Enjoy!

Southwestern Pork Tenderloin with Avocado Cream

Avocado Cream:

1/4 cup sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 small ripe avocado. peeled, pitted and cut into chunks
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pork:

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon each freshly ground black pepper and cayenne pepper

1 pork tenderloin, 3/4 to 1 pound
large round tortilla chips
cilantro sprigs and lime to garnish

Combine all avocado cream sauce ingredients in food processor, fitted with steel blade, and process until smooth. Remove to small bowl; cover surface with plastic wrap to prevent discoloration. Refrigerate until needed.

Combine garlic powder, paprika, salt, oregano, cumin and peppers in small bowl then rub over pork tenderloin. Wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Bring to room temperature before grilling. Grill over medium heat, turning frequently, for 15 to 15 minutes, or until internal temperature in thickest part reaches 160 degrees.

Remove from the grill. Tent pork with foil and allow to cool slightly.

Slice pork very thinly.

Serve slices on large round tortilla chips, topped with avocado cream sauce.

Garnish platter with lime wedges and cilantro sprigs

Sunday Small Bites: Sun-dried Tomatoes

The Sunday Slow Cooks  are a group of cooks from the slow travel community message board. We have been bakers, scoopers, soupers, and tossers (yes, I know that is a derogatory term in some parts of the world ! LOL) No we have taken on a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a specific main ingredient. So far we have tackled shrimp and crab. This week Amy selected sun-dried tomatoes as the ingredient of the week.

When I was at the grocery store on Thursday I saw that they had a promotion on large mushroom caps - buy 1 package and receive a whack o' air miles. Of course I had to buy some. I don't care if I needed mushroom caps or not - if it was going to get me closer to a trip I was buying the flipping things!

Then I thought about combining them with the sun-dried tomatoes in some magical way. Through the power of google (although it may have been yahoo because I get MORE air miles when I use yahoo to search even though I despise it as a search engine . . . holy digression, Batman!)

Anyway. Where was I?

Oh yes. Through the searching about on the cobwebby corners of the internet I found a recipe for stuff mushroom caps that used sun-dried tomatoes, feta (which I needed to clear out of the fridge), and fresh herbs. MMM

Better yet, it was called Grecian Stuffed Mushrooms.

Given that we will be in Greece in less than two weeks now (pre-trip panic starting to emerge) it seemed a perfect fit.

I don't know if there is anything Grecian about these babies, other than the inclusion of feta and oregano, but let's just go with it shall we?

We had these last night with an amazing grilled mahi mahi dish that Paul pulled together (roasted pepper and orange relish and all) and they were great. In fact, so great that I was left wondering why I don't stuff mushrooms caps more often. I bet it has something to do with the fact that stuffed mushrooms were one of the first things that I perfected as a cook. Therefore they seems so 1980's to me.

Note to self . . . get over it. They're good!

As I made them I couldn't help reflect upon the fact that they are low-calorie, low fat (I used half-fat feta), AND vegetarian.

AND Tasty. More of my food myths tossed out of the darn window.

Enjoy!

Grecian Stuffed Mushrooms

10 sun-dried tomato halves, not packed in oil
2 Tablespoons olive oil
18 large mushrooms
3 medium shallots, peeled and finely chopped
1/3 cup plain bread crumbs
1 large egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh Greek oregano, finely chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, finely crumbled

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a baking mat.

Place dried tomatoes in a small bowl. Cover with hot water. Set aside to soak and soften for 5 mins. Drain, reserving 1 tablespoon soaking water. Finely chop tomatoes.

Remove stems from mushroom caps; set caps aside and finely chop stems.

In a small skillet heat oil until hot but not smoking. Add chopped mushroom stems and shallots. Cook until shallots are softened, about 4-5 minutes.

In a medium bowl combine the mushroom mixture, bread crumbs, egg , tomatoes, reserved tomato liquid, parsley, oregano, and crumbled feta. Stir to blend.

Stuff mushroom caps with the tomato mixture; place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 10-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and transfer mushrooms to a serving platter to serve immediately.

Sunday Small Bites - Crab

The Sunday Slow Cooks  are a group of cooks from the slow travel community message board. We have been bakers, scoopers, soupers, and tossers (yes, I know that is a derogatory term in some parts of the world ! LOL) No we have taken on a new challenge - instead of each of us preparing the same recipe each week, we are preparing our own appetizer - or Small Bite - that uses a single main ingredient. Last week's ingredient was shrimp. This week Ida selected crab.

Crab is one of those things that I love to order when I'm out but rarely use when I'm cooking at home. In fact, other than steaming some crab legs, setting out some giant crab claws on ice for a fancy party, or whipping up my famous crab stuffed mushrooms I just don't use it at all.

I was tempted to make my favourite crab cakes. Recalling that I had tackled shrimp cakes LAST week I really wasn't that keen to do this technique again. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE crab cakes and could eat them all of the time but part of the challenge is to try new things and to push your cooking envelope a bit.

Then I decided to make a crab dip.

Yes, a crab dip. Fine - YOU may have made a gazillion crab dips over the years but we have made exactly 1 warm, gooey, cheesy, appetizer dip in our entire combined cooking years (and there was no crab in sight in that dip). This was new ground for US! LOL

We searched the internet, found a few recipes out there that looked interesting and combined them to arrive at this one. This dip recipe is a bit different that the ones you see out there - one doesn't just grate cheese, open up a few cans, and toss the combined mess into the oven. The dipped turned out to be really amazing! It was nice and warm and gooey and creamy and tasty. The crab added that extra bit of flavour and a texture that just sent it over the edge. We will definitely be making this again!

Warning - if you are looking for low calorie - avert your eyes! I had a taste, enjoyed it, and then made sure Paul and mom ate the rest! LOL

Enjoy

Hot Cheesy Crab Dip

1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup baby spinach (packed)
4 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)
1/2 cup sour cream
chili sauce to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 parmigiano reggiano (grated)
1/2 cup mozzarella (grated)
1/2 cup cheddar (grated)
1/2 cup artichoke hearts (chopped)
1/2 cup roasted red peppers (chopped)
1 cup crab meat, cleaned
2 green onions (chopped)

Melt the butter in a pan. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the white wine and spinach and heat until the spinach wilts, about 1-2 minutes.

Process the spinach, cream cheese, sour cream, chili sauce, salt and pepper in a food processor until mixed.

Mix in the artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper, crab, green onion, parmigiano reggiano, mozzarella, and cheddar cheese.

Place the mixture into a baking dish.

Bake in a preheated 350 F oven until bubbling and golden brown on top, about 20-30 minutes.