Tag: starters
Sausage & Pepper Poppers
Gorgonzola Cheese Bites
These buttery, creamy cheese bites have a slight woodsy flavor from rosemary and a welcome crunch from toasted pecans
I’ve used gorgonzola for this particular recipe, but you can just as easily substitute blue cheese
Our son Mike and I are blue cheese buddies. I’m not sure who loves it more! I’ll order something in a restaurant just because it has either gorgonzola or blue cheese in it
What’s the difference between gorgonzola and blue cheese?
Gorgonzola is produced in Northern Italy is made primarily from cow’s milk. It’s milder in taste and softer in texture than its blue cheese cousin
Blue cheese can be made from cow’s, sheep’s, or goat’s milk. It has a sharper bite and is more hard and crumbly than gorgonzola.
Measure out 8 ounces each of room temperature gorgonzola and cream cheese. Combine in the bowl of a mixer with 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary, 2 tablespoons of dry white wine, a dash of worcestershire, and a pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper
Mix on medium until the ingredients are well combined and creamy
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm for at least an hour. If prepping ahead, you can keep the mix in the fridge overnight and then scoop out into balls before serving
No need to be this particular, but I like to weigh each ball to make sure they are all uniform. I’ve done the math for you… 3/4 ounce will give you 20 gorgonzola cheese bites
I scoop the cheese mixture out onto a sheet pan lined with parchment and roll into balls
Once they’re all rolled, put back in the fridge for another 15-20 minutes so they firm up
Final step is to roll each ball in chopped toasted pecans. You can buy the pecans chopped and just heat them in a frying pan over low heat for a few minutes until fragrant. This brings out the nutty flavor
Once the nuts are cooled, place in a small bowl and roll one cheese bite at a time until coated and place them back on the sheet pan
Serve either chilled or at room temperature and garnish with a sprig or two of fresh rosemary
Enjoy!
Simply Sundays ~ Gorgonzola Cheese Bites
Ingredients
8 ounces room temperature gorgonzola
8 ounces cream cheese
2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary + fresh rosemary for serving
2 tablespoons of dry white wine
a dash of worcestershire
A pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper
1 1/2 cups of toasted chopped pecans
Directions
Measure out 8 ounces each of room temperature gorgonzola and cream cheese and combine in the bowl of a mixer with 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh rosemary, 2 tablespoons of dry white wine, a dash of worcestershire, and a pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper
Mix on medium until the ingredients are well combined and creamy
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm for at least an hour. If prepping ahead, you can keep the mix in the fridge overnight and then scoop out into balls before serving
Scoop the cheese mixture out onto a sheet pan lined with parchment and roll into balls
Once they’re all rolled, put back in the fridge for another 15-20 minutes so they firm up
Heat the chopped pecans in a frying pan over low heat for a few minutes until fragrant
Once the nuts are cooled, place in a small bowl and roll one cheese bite at a time until coated and place them back on the sheet pan
Serve either chilled or at room temperature and garnish with a sprig or two of fresh rosemary
Tools used to make this recipe
Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper
Wilton Recipe Right Non-stick Cookie Sheet Set, 2-Piece
OXO Stainless Steel Food Scale
© Simply Sundays 2019
All rights reserved
Tsukune – Japanese Meatballs
Tsukune which is pronounced ‘sue-koon e’ is a form of Japanese meatball that gets a lot of flavor from ingredients such as shiitake mushrooms, ginger, garlic and soy
We are preparing this dish as an appetizer but these are so good they can definitely be a main
Make them a bit bigger and serve them with some steamed rice and salad and you have a full meal
You can use any protein that you want, beef, pork, even seafood but we are taking a more traditional approach and using ground chicken
So let’s start prepping
First off, we will need 4 ounces of shiitake mushrooms
Shiitake stems are woody so let’s twist them off and give the caps a slice
Discard the stems
Repeat until they are all sliced
Next we will need 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, 2 grated garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger and 2 tablespoons of dry sherry
Heat the sesame oil in a pan over medium heat
Add in the mushrooms, garlic and ginger
Cook stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes or until the mushrooms and garlic start to soften
Deglaze the pan with the sherry and cook another 2-3 minutes or until the sherry is mostly absorbed
Remove the mushrooms from the heat and allow to cool
Once cooled you will need 2 teaspoons of red miso which is a fermented soybean paste
Add the mushrooms and miso to a chopper or blender
Pulse until finely chopped
Time to start making some meatballs!
We will need 2 pounds of ground chicken
We’ll need the miso mushroom mixture, 3/4 cups of panko (Japanese bread crumbs), 2 scallions chopped, 1 egg white, 2 grated garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch
Add all of these ingredients to the ground chicken
Sprinkle with kosher salt and ground black pepper
Using your hands, gently mix the ingredients all together
Since we are using these as starters, I’m going to use a 1/8 cup as a scoop, you can the increase the size of the scoop and change the size of the meatball
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and give it a light spray of oil
Start scooping the meat, we will come back and roll them later
Once they are all scooped, start rolling
I find that wetting my hands a bit makes rolling easier
We actually made a perfect 30 meatballs out of this mixture
Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow them to meld and solidify
You can also do these a day ahead
Preheat the oven to 350 F
You can also grill or pan fry these
Place in the oven and cook 18-20 minutes or until lightly brown and firm to the touch
While the meatballs are in the oven doing their thing, we are going to make a sauce
To start we will need 1/3 cup of mirin, 1/3 cup of soy, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar
Place these four ingredients into a sauce pan and whisk together
Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook 6-8 minutes or until slightly reduced and thickened
Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly
To finish the sauce we will need the juice and zest of 1 lime, 1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger and 1 serrano pepper sliced thinly
We will also need a tablespoon of toasted sesame seeds for a garnish
Add the lime, ginger and pepper to the sauce
Mix to combine
I believe in full transparency… I’m going to admit to a blog blooper
Remember those toasted sesame seeds from a couple pictures back?
The ones I labored to toast perfectly myself, the ones that would have added some extra flavor and texture to these meatballs?
Well, they remained in their bowl behind a roll of paper towels on my counter after we completed our photo shoot!
That’s right folks, I left a basket ingredient off the plate
I guess I’m chopped!
You, however, don’t have to be chopped so feel free to add some toasted sesame seeds as a garnish!
To serve, we are using flat skewers with 2 meatballs on each
Place the meatballs on a serving platter and spread the sauce over them
We also served this with extra serrano peppers and slices of lime!
Enjoy!!!
Simply Sundays! ~ Tsukune - Japanese Meatball
Ingredients
For the mushroom mixture
4 ounces of shiitake mushrooms
2 tablespoons of sesame oil
2 grated garlic cloves
1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons of dry sherry
2 teaspoons of red miso paste
For the meatballs
2 pounds of ground chicken
mushroom mixture (see above)
3/4 cup of panko (japanese bread crumb)
2 scallions chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger
2 grated garlic cloves
1 egg white
2 teaspoons of cornstarch
kosher salt
ground black pepper
For the sauce
1/3 cup of mirin
1/3 cup of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar
1 lime zested and juiced
1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger
1 thinly sliced serrano pepper
For garnish
1 lime sliced
sliced serrano
toasted sesame seeds (apparently optional, see above)
Directions
For the mushroom mixture
Remove the stems from 4 ounces of shiitake mushrooms and slice the caps. Heat 2 tablespoon of sesame oil over medium heat and add in the sliced mushroom caps along with 2 grated garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon of freshly grated ginger
Cook stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes or until the mushrooms and garlic start to soften. Deglaze the pan with the sherry and cook another 2-3 minutes or until the sherry is mostly absorbed
Remove the mushrooms from the heat and allow to cool. Add the mushrooms and 2 teaspoons of miso to a chopper or blender. Pulse until finely chopped
For the meatballs
Place 2 pounds of ground chicken in a large mixing bowl. Add the miso mushroom mixture, 3/4 cups of panko (Japanese bread crumbs), 2 scallions chopped, 1 egg white, 2 grated garlic cloves, 1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger and 2 teaspoons of cornstarch, then sprinkle with kosher salt a ground black pepper
Using your hands gently mix the ingredients all together. Use 1/8 cup as a scoop for the meatballs. You can use larger scoops for larger meatballs
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and give it a light spray of oil. Start scooping the meat. Lightly wet the palms of your hands and start rolling the meatballs. I find that wetting my hands a bit makes rolling easier
We actually made a perfect 30 meatballs out of this mixture. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to allow them to meld and solidify. You can also do these a day ahead. Preheat your oven to 350 F. You can also grill or pan fry these. Place in the oven and cook 18-20 minutes or until lightly brown and firm to the touch
For the sauce
In a saucepan add 1/3 cup of mirin, 1/3 cup of soy, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of sherry vinegar and whisk together
Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook 6-8 minutes or until slightly reduced and thickened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly
To the sauce add the juice and zest of 1 lime, 1 tablespoon of grated fresh ginger and 1 thinly sliced serrano pepper. Mix to combine
Serve the meatballs covered in the sauce and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds. Garnish with more serrano peppers and slices of lime
Tools used to make this recipe
Architec Carving Board, Gripperwood
NuWave Flex Precision Induction Cooktop
Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper
Royal Classique 10 Piece Stainless Steel Measuring Cups and Spoons Set with Silicone Handles
Wilton Recipe Right Non-stick Cookie Sheet Set, 2-Piece
ZELITE INFINITY Chef Knife 8 inch
© Simply Sundays 2019
All rights reserved
Rustic Asparagus & Prosciutto Tart
Fresh Spring asparagus, smoky gouda and crispy prosciutto come together on a decadent puff pastry to form this rustic and delicious tart
This is one of our favorites to serve at parties because it’s so easy to put together and everyone raves about it!
Funny story… we made 2 of these tarts to serve as a starter last year for a get-together. My hubby and I we’re talking, cooking, drinking cocktails… reached for a square of tart and they were ALL gone!
Sheesh. They could have saved us as least one to share
In the kitchen flurry, we left the second tray in the lower oven and didn’t realize it until hours after everyone left! Oh my, what a post party snack that was!
Enough chatter, let’s get cooking!
Assemble 12 ounces of asparagus, woody ends trimmed, 5 ounces of shredded smoked gouda and 2 ounces of thinly sliced prosciutto and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
On a floured surface, roll out 1 sheet of defrosted puff pastry to roughly the size of a sheet pan
It doesn’t have to be exact… that’s why we’re calling it rustic!
Prepare a sheet pan with parchment sprayed with cooking oil and carefully place the dough on the pan
Lightly poke the dough with a fork, leaving about a 1 1/2 inch border
This will help the tart to stay flat and not puff up while baking
Add the shredded cheese leaving a border of dough that will puff up and form the crust
Next, add the asparagus in a layer and top with the sliced prosciutto
Two last steps before we bake this tasty tart
Brush the border of the dough with a beaten egg. This will give a nice, browned color to the tart
Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper to taste. Hold off on adding any salt – the prosciutto is salty on its own and we’ve used salted butter to brush the crust. This should give enough seasoning without having to add more
Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes until the edges of the tart are lightly browned and the asparagus is fork tender
Let the tart sit for about 5 minutes to set before you cut
Oooohhh… the cheese is all melty and the prosciutto is nice and crispy… yum!!
Perfect for a side or a starter. Just make sure you get to taste it!!
Enjoy!
Simply Sunday's ~ Rustic Asparagus & Prosciutto Tart
Ingredients
12 ounces of asparagus, woody ends trimmed
5 ounces of shredded smoked gouda
2 ounces of thinly sliced prosciutto
1 sheet of defrosted puff pastry
1 beaten egg
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F
Assemble 12 ounces of asparagus, woody ends trimmed, 5 ounces of shredded smoked gouda and 2 ounces of thinly sliced prosciutto
On a floured surface, roll out 1 sheet of defrosted puff pastry to roughly the size of a sheet pan
Prepare a sheet pan with parchment sprayed with cooking oil and carefully place the dough on the pan
Lightly poke the dough with a fork, leaving about a 1 1/2 inch border
Add the shredded cheese leaving a border of dough that will puff up and form the crust
Next, add the asparagus in a layer and top with the sliced prosciutto
Brush the border of the dough with a beaten; sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper to taste
Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes until the edges of the tart are lightly browned and the asparagus is fork tender
Let the tart sit for about 5 minutes to set before you cut
Tools used to make this recipe
Architec Carving Board, Gripperwood
Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper
Good Cook Classic Wood Rolling Pin
Silicone Flexible Rubber Baking Spatula
Wilton Recipe Right Non-stick Cookie Sheet Set, 2-Piece
© Simply Sundays 2019
All rights reserved