Tag Archives: party foods

Award Winning Party Foods

and the winners are these delicious appetizers that will make your party Oscar worthy!!

From by the bay wishing you Award winning food memories!

Maryann

blog clam dip

Caramelized Onion Dip

Ingredients

  • 1 large sweet onion, sliced thinly
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sriracha hot chili sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup good quality mayonnaise

Directions

In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 25 minutes. Let the onions cool slightly, about 15 minutes.
In a food processor add  1/2 the onions and the remaining ingredients and blend. Stir in the onions and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Serve at room temperature.

blog chili parm crackers

Chili Parmesan Crisps

Ingredients

  • 5 ounces shredded parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon red chili flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. On a parchment lined baking sheet , take half the shredded parmesan and form a rectangle approximately 8″ by 12″. Sprinkle half the chili flakes and all the salt uniformly over the cheese. Layer the remaining cheese lightly pressing down. Sprinkle the remaining chili flakes over the cheese. Bake in the oven until golden brown, approximately 10 minutes. Cool and break into piece. Store in an air tight container until ready to serve.

Options: substitute 1 teaspoon of red chili flakes with one of the following:

minced rosemary, minced thyme, crushed black pepper or fennel seeds

 

blog olives 1

Marinated Olives with Orange and Cranberries

Ingredients

1/2 pound green pitted olives, such as manzanilla
1 shallot, minced
1/4 fresh orange cut into 1 inch pieces, with rind
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 teaspoon rosemary leaves
Directions

Bring 1 cup water to boil in small sauce pan. Remove from heat and add cranberries. Let sit 15 minutes and drain and cool in mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

blog peanut cup

Mini Peanut Butter Cups
Makes 12 mini cups
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons smooth peanut butter
6 tablespoons ground graham crackers
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 ounces milk chocolate
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoons light corn syrup
Coarse Sea Salt , such as Maldon
Baking Spray
Directions
Take a non stick mini muffin tin and spray with your baking spray or line each cup with a paper liner. In a bowl add the sugar, cinnamon and graham cracker crumbs, mix and set aside. Use a glass bowl to microwave peanut butter and butter in 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval until mixture is smooth. Usually, doing this twice will work. Add this mixture to your graham cracker mixture and stir to combine. Use a teaspoon to place mixture into the bottom of each muffin tin. Place filled muffin tin into the refrigerator to set. Now add the chocolate to the microwave and melt using 30 second intervals to stir the melting chocolate 2-3 times should do it. Once the chocolate is melted add the cream and corn syrup. Stir until smooth. Take the peanut butter filled muffin tin and fill with melted chocolate. Sprinkle coarse sea salt on the top. Place back into the refrigerator and let set for another 30 minutes before serving. You can remove the peanut butter cups from the tin and store in a plastic container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Variations: to the ground graham crackers , cinnamon and sugar mixture you can omit the cinnamon and add 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder to have a chocolate peanut butter bottom, or you can use bittersweet chocolate instead of milk chocolate and omit the light corn syrup to top your peanut butter cups.

blog star cookies

Sugar Cookies

From the Food Network, Alton Brown

Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk
Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough
Directions
Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat. Sprinkle with colored sanding sugar and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Recipe courtesy of Alton BrownS

Caramelized Onion Dip

Here is a great entertaining recipe for any get together or party. I have wonderful  food memories from my childhood eating onion dip when my parents entertained. It was a favorite dip in our house, probably in many houses.  You opened a dry soup mix and added it to sour cream and bam it ‘s a dip. Let me say I loved it growing up. In fact, my early days of cooking included many recipes using store bought soup in a package or can. Of course today, I love using fresh ingredients and with a little more effort the results deliver much better flavor and are far more healthy.  You’ll love this onion dip –  caramelizing the onions is the part that requires the most time, but the results are worth your time. Serve with your favorite potato chips and enjoy!

From by the bay wishing you yummy onion dip food memories!

Maryann

blog clam dip

Caramelized Onion Dip

Ingredients

  • 1 large sweet onion, sliced thinly
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon sriracha hot chili sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • 2 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup good quality mayonnaise

Directions

In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the onions and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 25 minutes. Let the onions cool slightly, about 15 minutes.
In a food processor add  1/2 the onions and the remaining ingredients and blend. Stir in the onions and adjust salt and pepper to taste. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve. Serve at room temperature.

Jalapeno Hummus

Bring and party or barbecue to life with this easy hummus recipe, with just enough heat from the fresh jalapeno pepper. The fresh bright taste of these ingredients definitely say summer! Hummus is so easy to make just a few ingredients in a food processor . The taste is so much better than store brought! Serve with home pita bread and it’s a light summer meal!

From by the bay, wishing you Middle Eastern food memories!

Maryann

blog jalap hummus

Jalapeno Hummus
15.5 ounces Chick Peas / Garbanzos , drained and rinsed
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped jalapeno
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Serve cold or room temperature with pita chips or homemade pita ( recipe below)
 blog pita

Home made Pita Bread

Adapted from mygreekdish.com as posted by

 

Ingredients

  • 17 1/2 ounces  all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon dry yeast
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 1/2 glass of lukewarm water (40C)

 

Instructions

  1. To prepare this pitta bread recipe start by sieving the flour into your mixer’s bowl. Add the yeast, sugar and salt and blend with a spoon.
  2. Add a little bit of water and start mixing, using the dough hook. Pour in the water a little bit at a time, at a steady stream, whilst mixing. Wait each time for the water to be absorbed and continue adding some more.
  3. Depending on the flour, the dough may or may need a little bit less water than this pita bread recipe calls for. After mixing for a while, the dough for your pita bread should become an elastic ball. If the dough is still crumbled, you should add some more water. If it becomes too sticky, this means that you added more water than needed. In that case, add 1 tsp of flour and continue mixing.
  4. When done, cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it sit in a warm place, for at least 1 hour, until it doubles its size. This is an important step for this pita bread recipe, so that the pita bread becomes fluffy and soft.
  5. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead a little bit with your hands. Split in 6 evenly sized portions.
  6. To form the pita bread, you can either use a rolling pin, or stretch it with your hands for a more rustic look (and my preference actually ), about 1/4 inch thick.
  7. Heat an outdoor grill.  Put the stretched dough on the grill and close the cover. Let bake a minute or two and flip the bread. Grill another minute and remove. If you don’t want to use the grill – heat a non-sticking frying pan to medium-high heat (with no grease) and fry each pita bread for about 3-4 minutes on each side, until slightly colored and still soft. To give more color, push the pita bread with a wooden spoon on the pan. Remove the serve.

Olive Flatbread

I discovered this easy no knead flatbread recipe while on the King Arthur Flour website. It’s a perfect summer bread recipe since it requires no kneading –  it’s simple, easy and tasty. So when my sister Diane phoned one Saturday afternoon saying she was stopping by, I didn’t have to go much further than my pantry and herb garden to come up with a delicious and playful topping for my flatbread. I mixed two types of olives, slicing them into little rounds to create the base of my topping. To that I added some fresh mixed chopped herbs from my garden, using my favorites rosemary and thyme and along with that some anchovy paste for some saltiness and depth of flavor. I keep a tube of anchovy paste in the fridge to use when I want to add an unexpected flavor to a dish, it’s especially great for salad dressings. The end result was a savory and beautiful flatbread that looked as if it was covered with a confetti of olives! The bread is perfect as a little snack or the centerpiece for a cocktail party surrounded with a cheese or two. It was just the right thing for our afternoon visit.
From by the bay wishing you some playful food memories!
Maryann

blog olives

Olive Flatbread

Ingredients
1 recipe flatbread dough ( recipe follows)
1/2 cup green olives, sliced in rounds
1/2 cup black olives, sliced in rounds
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons anchovy paste
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus olive for pan
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease a 9″x 13″ with olive oil. Take the flatbread dough and spread out on the pan, it should cover about 2/3 of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour. While the dough is rising place all the ingredients into bowl, except the sea salt and mix. Once the dough has risen place the topping over the dough. Press topping gently into the dough and then sprinkle with sea salt. Place in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and serve warm or at room temperature.
No Knead Flatbread 
Adapted from King Arthur’s Flour 
Ingredients
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon instant yeast
Directions
Place all ingredients into the bowl of an electric mixer. At a low speed first combine the ingredients, slowly increase the speed to high and mix for about 1 minute. Grease a 9″x 13″ with olive oil. Take the flatbread dough and spread out on to the pan, it should cover about 2/3 of the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour. Place in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and serve warm or at room temperature.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/no-knead-garlic-cheese-flatbread-recipe

blog olive bread

Cool Cucumber Salsa

In the height of summer, cucumbers abound. Here is a perfect summer side dish for those sultry summer nights. The cucumbers make a crisp, cool base for this salsa. It’s great to serve with fish, chicken or with some grilled vegetable kebabs.
From by the bay, wishing you cool food memories!
Maryann
blog cuke salsa

Cool Cucumber Salsa

Ingredients
2 English Cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fine granulated sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lime, juice and zest
Directions
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and place in a refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.
Note: You can also use regular cucumbers, but remove the seeds before chopping. It’s easiest if after you peel the cucumber slice length wise in half , take a spoon and scoop out the seeds.You might want to add a little more sugar to taste, sometimes regular cucumbers are little more bitter.

Maple- Glazed Peanuts and Bacon

I was wandering through the Food Hall in Grand Central Terminal and happened upon these beautifully packaged and very addictive tasting peanuts! They are from ” The Redhead” Restaurant in Manhattan http://theredheadnyc.com/. They are without a doubt the perfect combination of sweet and salty, and then you add bacon and well this is one perfected recipe. Fortuantely, it seems as if the recipe was shared with Food and Wine and Meg Grace, who I think is a fantastic contributor. Now you can head to Murray’s Cheese Shop in Grand Central and buy these tasty little morsels or you can make them just as easily. I suggest using a great quality thick cut bacon – such  as one using bershire pork and if your tastes lean to the spicy side like mine do, I increased the about of Old Bay Seasoning from 3/4 teaspoon to 1 teaspoon. The menu at “The Redhead” reads ” because everything is better with bacon” and isn’t that so true!


From by the bay wishing you tasty food memories, with bacon please!
Maryann

blog maple peanuts

 

Maple- Glazed Peanuts and Bacon
Recipe from “The Redhead” restaurant published in Food and Wine by Meg Grace
Makes about 4 cups

Ingredients
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
3 cups unsalted roasted peanuts ( 1 pound)
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon thyme leaves, minced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
3 thick slices of bacon , 3 ounces ( note I use a little more)
1 tablespoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt such as Maldon Salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degree F. In a medium skillet , cook the bacon over modrate heat until crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain and cool. Finely, chop the bacon into small pieces. In a medium bowl mix together the thyme, fine sea salt, Old Bay, cayenne and dry mustard. Add the peanuts, maple syrup and bacon and toss until the peanuts are evenly coated. Scrape the nuts onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet and roast for about 30 minutes, stirring at least once, until the maple syrup has thickened. Remove from oven and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.  Let peanuts cool completely, stirring frequently to break up any large clumps. Transfer the peanuts to a glass jar or a bowl and serve.

Peanuts will last 5 days when stored in an airtight container – but these are SO GOOD, it’s not likely to last!

Mini Chocolate Cheesecakes

I love making bite size portions of food, especially dessert. It’s a great way to indulge in dessert without the guilt. Try making these little chocolate cheesecakes, they are rich and moist, drizzled with a little swirl of chocolate and then covered with a dusting of cocoa powder “snow”, they look as delicious as they taste. These are easy to whip up and look like a lot more effort then they take to prepare. Indulge in these tasty little bites today.

From by the bay wishing you sweet mini food memories!
Maryann
blog mini cheesecake

Mini Chocolate  Cheesecakes

Makes 24 pieces


Crust:
9 ounces chocolate wafer cookies
½ cup melted unsalted butter

Filling
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons sour cream

4 tablespoons chocolate syrup
½ teaspoon vanilla

Topping
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate


Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degree F.  To make crust use food processor to finely grind the wafers, then add the melted butter and process until moist. Take out and divide between  two 12 cup mini muffin tins. Press the mixture down and push up along the sides using your fingertips. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To make the filling : Use  the food processor to combine the cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Make sure to scrape down the mixture with a spatula from the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and continue to beat. Next add the sour cream, vanilla and chocolate syrup until all is well blended and smooth.

Pour the cheese mixture into a cup and pour into the cups – filling each almost to the top.  Place the muffin tins onto a baking sheet and place in the oven in the center rack. Bake for 15 minutes until set. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate for at least  3 hours. To top, place chocolate into microwave for 30 seconds. Mix and place into microwave another 30 seconds. Remove and stir until all the chocolate is melted. Using a spoon, dip into the chocolate and shake over the cheesecakes , creating thin lines of chocolate, place back into the refrigerator to harden another 1 hour. Remove from the refrigerator and gently lift each cup out of the tins using a knife or small spatula and serve immediately of place covered back into the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Basic Guacamole

Wondering what to make for your Super Bowl Sunday crowd??  I’ve pulled together some of my favorite recipes for entertaining a crowd – start with guacomole, salsa and jalapeno hummus all served with corn chips. Next serve up some great Memphis style ribs baked in the oven along with this great cilantro coleslaw.  Finally, your winning touchdown will be these butterscotch cranberry and oatmeal cookies. Have fun!

From by the bay keeping score with some of the best food memories!
Maryann
 
blog guacamole1
Basic Guacamole
Serves 6

3 Haas avocados, ripe
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup scallions, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt

In a medium bowl add the lime juice and sea salt , let the salt dissolve. Cut and remove flesh from avocado and place into bowl with lime juice /salt along with scallions and mash with fork. Add ingredients listed below depending on the version you are making and mix well. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

Make it Classic:
To the base recipe add 1 teaspoon jalapeno pepper, chopped.

Make it Red:
To the base recipe add 1 teaspoon jalapeno pepper, chopped and 1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomato

Make it Greek:
Make the base recipe but replace the cilantro with chopped mint and add 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese.

Make it Blue:
Make the base recipe but instead of cilantro add 1/4 cup sour cream and 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese.

 

Winning Salsa

 blog salsa

 

Winning Salsa

Serves 6

1 28 ounce can whole fire roasted tomatoes ( if you can’t find fire roasted use canned whole plum tomatoes)

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper , seeded and chopped

1/2 white onion, coarsely chopped

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon coarse ground pepper


Place all the ingredients into food processor and process until pureed. Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

 

Cinco de Mayo Party

Celebrate this cinco de mayo with these easy recipes – guacamole, cool cucumber salsa and watermelon agua spike with silver tequila!
From by the bay wishing you happy cinco de mayo food memories!
Maryann
blog guacamole1
Guacamole
Serves 4
 
Ingredients 
3 Haas avocados, ripe
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup scallions, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
Directions
In a medium bowl add the lime juice and sea salt , let the salt dissolve. Cut and remove flesh from avocado and place into bowl with lime juice /salt along with scallions and mash with fork. Add ingredients listed below depending on the version you are making and mix well. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
blog cuke salsa
Cool Cucumber Salsa
 
Ingredients
2 English Cucumbers, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fine granulated sugar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 lime, juice and zest
Directions
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and place in a refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.
Note: You can also use regular cucumbers, but remove the seeds before chopping. It’s easiest if after you peel the cucumber slice length wise in half , take a spoon and scoop out the seeds.You might want to add a little more sugar to taste, sometimes regular cucumbers are little more bitter.
blog watermelon water
Watermelon Agua (Water) with Tequila
Serves 4
 Ingredients
3/4 pound watermelon, diced without the rind
4 cups water
2 tablespoons fine granulated sugar
juice of one lime
1/2 cup silver tequila
Directions
In a  food processor add the watermelon with 2 cups of water and puree. Strain into a bowl. Add the remaining 2 cups of water , sugar, tequila and lime juice. Mix Well. Place in a jar and refrigerate until cold before serving.