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  • Archive for the 'Appetizers' Category

    Contents

    Cassava Root Vegetable Chips – Yummy… They’re like Potato Chips.. but lighter and better!

    Recipe for Super Easy Delicious American Piggies in the Blanket

    Tea Party Recipe for Apple and Cream Cheese Finger Sandwiches on Cinnamon Bread

    Recipe for Cheese Fondue

    Recipe for Baked Camembert from France

    A Baked Brie Recipe That’s Delicious for Any Occasion

    Recipe for Cranberry Salsa Appetizer
    Great for the Holidays or Any Occasion!

    Posts

    Cassava Root Vegetable Chips – Yummy… They’re like Potato Chips.. but lighter and better!

    Friday, March 6th, 2009

    Joseph Banks Cassava Root Chips are an exotic and relatively healthy snack. Most important – they’re delicious!

    image

    In the interest of full disclosure, I’ll tell you straight out, these chips are sold by my friend’s company. Also, I’m eating them right now and I’m going to have a hard time keeping myself from polishing them off before I’m done with this article – so it’s a race against the clock. Finally, I must reveal that my husband is going to be very annoyed with me for finishing our supply. He’s been begging me to let him have more, but I kept telling him to wait till I was done writing about them, since I needed samples for the post!

    These chips are made from the cassava root (which is also known as yucca).

    Cassava was first made known to Europeans by Sir Joseph Bank. He was a Victorian botanist who sailed the south seas in 1768 with Captain Cook. On the voyage he discovered a rich abundance of exotic plants, and the cassava root.

    Tapioca also comes from cassava. You may have seen this root in the store. (Note to cooks: cassava cannot be eaten raw. Raw cassava is toxic.)

    image

    Cassava is eaten all over the world.

    The variety of cassava used to make the Joseph Banks chips is grown on the fertile volcanic highlands of Java in Indonesia.

    image

    We sampled each of the 4 flavors the chips come in. The chip itself is basically like a lighter, less greasy potato chip. I’ll try to describe what each flavor tastes like.

    Original Sea Salt Flavor – These taste somewhat like normal chips – though they’re seasoned with a very light spice flavor. These were my daughter’s favorite.

    Roasted Tomato – A light tomato-like flavor.

    Cracked Pepper – These have a light peppery flavor with a slight sweet hint.  These are my favorite.

    Chilli and Kaffir Lime – These chips have a light tomato taste and are a little spicy hot (too much so for my 7 year old daughter).  These are my husband’s favorites – he loves spicy food!

    Joseph Banks Cassava Root Chips are all lactose free, gluten free and contain no trans fats.

    You can buy these chips at specialty stores like Food Emporium & D’Agostinos.

    Now that the sampling is done, and almost all the chips are gone, I’d better go out to the store and buy more of these for my husband – or there will be a fight tonight!  He loves them!

    Enjoy!

    -Mama Lisa

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    Recipe for Super Easy Delicious American Piggies in the Blanket

    Sunday, December 24th, 2006

    If you’re still looking for an appetizer for a party, here’s a simple one –at least for all of you Americans out there. It’s a recipe for Piggies in the Blanket made with 2 ingredients you can get in any American food store. (I’d love to know if you can get these ingredients elsewhere.)

    Photo of Piggies in the Blanket

    All you need are one package of your favorite frankfurters and one roll of Pillsbury Crescents (they’re normally used to make croissants).

    Photo of Nathan's Frankfruters and Pillsbury Crescents

    Preheat oven to 375 F.

    Cut the hotdogs in three.

    Photo of Hotdogs

    Then unroll the crescent dough. They’re pre-made in individual triangles. Cut a triangle in three, like in the photo below.

    Photo of Pillsbury Crescents

    Roll a hotdog piece in one of the cut out triangles, like in the photo below.

    Photo Making Piggies in the Blanket

    Then place on a cookie sheet, seam side down. Leave about an inch on the tray in between each piggy in the blanket.

    Repeat until all of the hotdogs and crescent dough has been used.

    Heat in the oven until golden brown, about 10 – 12 minutes. (If you’re making them in advance to reheat later, cook them a little less the first time, till just golden. When you’re ready, reheat in a warm oven, taking care not to burn the bottom.) Serve with mustard and/or ketchup, but they’re delicious plain.

    Photo of Cooked Piggies in the Blanket

    I’d recommend at least doubling the recipe for a party, as these get eaten up very quickly.

    Good eatin’!

    -Lisa

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    Tea Party Recipe for Apple and Cream Cheese Finger Sandwiches on Cinnamon Bread

    Monday, August 21st, 2006

    I served these delicious finger sandwiches at my daughter’s Princess Tea Party. The adults all loved them! I think they would be great to serve at a brunch celebration too.

    Apple and Cream Cheese Finger Sandwiches on Cinnamon Bread

    1 package (8 oz.) Cream Cheese, softened
    1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar
    1 teaspoon Vanilla
    1 loaf Cinnamon Bread, crust cut off
    2 Apples peeled, cored and sliced (I used Gala apples)
    1 tablespoon Orange Juice

    Beat cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla together with an electric mixer, at medium speed, for about a minute, until well mixed.

    Brush apple slices with orange juice to keep them from turning brown.

    Spread cream cheese mixture onto a slice of cinnamon bread and place 4 apple slices on top. Cover with another piece of bread (you can spread a little cream cheese on the second piece of bread if desired). Cut in fours, making sure one slice of apple ends up on each finger sandwich.

    Bon appétit!

    Lisa

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    Recipe for Cheese Fondue

    Sunday, January 1st, 2006

    Every year my husband and I make a delicious Cheese Fondue for New Year’s Eve. Years ago we realized that, after the November/December holiday craze, we’re very happy staying home, making a special meal. When my son was little we would start cooking after he went to bed and have a nice romantic evening.

    The year our son was five, it was the eve of the year 2000, and we just had to keep him up for the event. Since then he’s become part of the celebration and so has our four year old daughter. (We make a separate, non alcoholic fondue pot for the kids. It’s delicious too!) We also added going outside at midnight and banging pots and pans, which is the highlight of our son’s night!

    Here’s the recipe we like. You can add the brandy or leave it out depending upon your personal preference. It’s excellent either way. We like to dunk 1 ½ inch cubes of Italian bread and 1 inch pieces of thin sausage. The combination is great together!

    Cheese Fondue

    1 pound mixture of Swiss Cheese (I prefer a mixture of Gruyere and Swiss)
    1 cup White Wine (I use Chablis)
    1 T. Lemon Juice
    2 cloves Garlic
    1 ½ T. Flour
    Nutmeg
    Salt
    Pepper
    3 T. Brandy or Kirsch (optional)

    Slice the cloves of garlic in half the long way so the most inner surface is showing. Rub a heavy saucepan with two halves of the garlic for flavoring. Rub the fondue pot with the other two garlic halves.

    Grate the cheese and mix with the flour.

    Place the wine and the lemon juice in the saucepan over a low heat. Once bubbles start rising to the surface, add a handful of cheese. At this point you can raise the heat to medium. Stir constantly. If the mixture starts boiling, lower the flame.

    Once the cheese melts, you can add another handful and so on until all the cheese has been added and is melted.

    Add a dash of salt and 2 dashes each of pepper and nutmeg. Mix well. Stir in brandy or kirsch.

    Quickly pour mixture into fondue pot and place over Sterno. Eat immediately! Spear bread or sausage with fondue fork, occasionally scraping bottom of pan with bread to keep the bottom from burning. If the cheese starts bubbling, lower flame.

    Just beware! If you’re adding the brandy it can go to your head! Over the years, a couple of our guests have passed out on our couch from this meal. But maybe that was when we were younger and added more brandy to our cheese fondue than we do nowadays!

    Bon Appétit!

    Lisa

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    Recipe for Baked Camembert from France

    Thursday, December 29th, 2005

    After reading my entry about Baked Brie, Monique from France wrote me…

    We bake Camembert in embers or hot ashes, but we don’t bake Brie this way.

    To bake a Camembert, you’d want to chose one that’s not too soft, yet not too hard (we say “plaster-like”) with a wooden box. One for 4 or 5 people who are not too hungry.

    You open the box, unwrap it and put a little thyme, rosemary or savory between the paper and the cheese. Then wrap it up again and put the wooden box under the hot ashes. Or else you can wrap it up with tinfoil and put it in the embers.

    You leave it in till you think the inside’s melted, depending on the heat. Then you unwrap it, cut the top off and everybody dips in a piece of bread (French bread with hard crust, for sure) in the melted cheese, eats it, takes another piece of bread, etc… You generally run short of cheese first!

    I know there are more “civilized” recipes with each person served some grilled camembert with salad and baked potatoes. But I like this one better cause everybody helps him/herself from the same box. It’s more fun!

    Many thanks to Monique of Mama Lisa’s World en français for this recipe.

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    A Baked Brie Recipe That’s Delicious for Any Occasion

    Wednesday, December 28th, 2005

    Here’s a delicious, easy recipe for baked brie that will wow your guests. It would be great for New Year’s Eve, but really, your guests will be happy to be served this on any occasion.

    Cranberry Apple Baked Brie

    2 T. Maple Syrup
    1 T. Unsalted Butter, melted
    1 small Gala Apple, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
    1/3 cup sliced Almonds
    1/3 cup dried sweetened Cranberries
    1 pound Brie Wheel

    Preheat oven to 350˚. Set aside 1/3 cup apple and 2 T. almonds for top. Split brie horizontally.

    Mix syrup and melted butter. Toss remaining apples, almonds and ¼ c. cranberries with 1 ½ T. syrup mixture. Spoon mixture over open half of the brie wheel. Cover with top of brie. (Of course, the rind should be on the outside.)

    Cover outside top of brie wheel with remaining syrup. Arrange almonds around edge, then make in inner circle of cranberries and arrange remaining apples in the center.

    Cook for approximately 10-15 minutes, till warm inside. Serve with crackers.

    Illustration of Baked Brie

    I made this recipe yesterday and it was a real hit! The combination of the apples and cranberries with the brie is really superb.

    Many thanks to my sister Gwen for the recipe and diagram.

    Bon Appétit!

    Lisa

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    Recipe for Cranberry Salsa Appetizer
    Great for the Holidays or Any Occasion!

    Friday, November 4th, 2005

    My sister, Gwen, first made this Cranberry Salsa a few years back for Thanksgiving. It went over so well, that she now makes it pretty much every time the whole family gets together. Here’s the recipe…

    CRANBERRY SALSA

    1 bag rinsed, chopped, fresh cranberries
    12 red cherry tomatoes
    ½ cup sugar (you can add more sugar if the salsa is too tart)
    6 tablespoons minced cilantro
    3 tablespoons chopped red onion
    ¾ teaspoon cumin
    Juice from 1 lime
    2 jalapeno chilis, stemmed, seeded, minced

    Use a food processor; mix in medium bowl; serve with tortilla chips.

    Thanks for sharing your delicious recipe Gwen!

    If anyone has a recipe they’d like to share, please write me.

    -Lisa

    Here’s Mama Lisa’s Thanksgiving Page with more Thanksgiving Songs, Poems and Nursery Rhymes.

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    ________

    Copyright ©2009 by Lisa Yannucci. All rights reserved.
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