Appetizer Thingies

We had some dear friends over the other night and I made these delicious little appetizers. I didn't do a great job naming them though, so if one screams out to you, leave it in the comments.

Ingredients:

1 can of cresent rolls
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp apricot preserves
1/4-1/2 cup of crumbled blue cheese
2 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Heat oven to 350F. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Spread out the cresent roll in one solid sheet on the cookie sheet. (Spread it out in the middle cookie sheet so you can cut the whole thing after it finishes cooking. Sadly, I didn't think about this.) Press the perforations together to seal. Microwave the butter and preserves for 20-30 seconds. Stir to get the butter and preserves mixed well. Spread evenly over the cresent roll. Top with the blue cheese and then the bacon. Bake for 11-13 minutes, or according to the directions on the cresent roll package. Cut into 15 pieces and enjoy.

Stuffed Mushrooms

It should be obvious by now that I am not cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Most of the family actually likes the traditional Thanksgiving foods and since I have an extreme dislike for stuffing and candied yams, I have no intention of cooking them. I get nominated to make side dishes and desserts and appetizers.

The lineup:

8 oz mushrooms
6 strips of bacon, cut into small pieces
8 oz cream cheese

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove to a paper towel lined plate to drain the excess fat.

While the bacon is cooking, remove the stems from the mushrooms.

Mix the cream cheese and bacon pieces together. Spoon about 2 tsp of the mixture into the mushrooms. Place into a 8x8 glass dish.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Sausage balls

My girlfriend, Lisa, brought over the most delicious sausage balls the other night and I begged her for the recipe because it was so good. She's awesome, so she gave it to me! Her secret was to add grated onion and jalapeno. Yum!

Ingredients:

16 oz spicy breakfast sausage
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 onion, grated
1 jalapeno, grated
2 cups of bisquick

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Put all of the ingredients into a mixer with the dough hook and mix it until it's a well incorporated dough. (There should be no dry bisquick at the bottom of the bowl.)

Form into balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 25 minutes.

Swoon when you take your first bite.

Palmiers

These are delicious! I first saw a picture in a cookbook which had a recipe that contained things like flour and baking soda and the list just kept going on and on! I'm never going to do that! That's too much work. These however, are incredibly easy!

The ingredients:

1- package of puff pastry
1- 7 oz container of pesto
Sprinkle of salt

That's it. Really.

About an hour before you plan on cooking these delicacies, take the puff pastry out of the freezer and set it on the counter.

Turn the oven on to bake at 400F.





Open up the puff pastry completely, then spread half of the container of pesto (about 1/2 cup) evenly over the puff pastry. Sprinkle a light dusting of salt over the whole thing. This is the best time to use the salt, otherwise the salt won't properly meld with the pesto. You don't want to taste the salt, you just want a tiny bit of salt so that the flavors of the palmier pop.



Start rolling the puff pastry up at either end to meet in the middle.




Cut the rolls into slices and place on a cookie sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 16-18 minutes.




Don't use parchment paper. It's just a pain in the butt. And you'll still have to clean the cookie sheets.

If you completely forget to salt the palmiers, pop an olive on top and enjoy the flavors dancing in your mouth! It would also be good with an olive tapenade instead of the basil. If you try the tapenade, skip the salt.

Enjoy!

Spanish Tuna Empanadas

For the party I had a couple of weeks ago, I made Spanish Tuna Empanadas. I found a similar recipe in Bon Appetit (which had an amazing set of articles a in May). I first liked the recipe because it called for the whole thing to be made with two sheets of puff pastry which is sliced after being cooked. (I like to be a lazy cook when I can.)

Spanish Tuna Empanadas

1 package of puff pastry


1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 chopped onion
1/2 chopped bell pepper (I used a red bell pepper)
2 garlic cloves
2- 6 oz cans of tuna in olive oil
3 sliced hard boiled eggs
16 oz sliced proscuitto
1 egg

Set out the puff pastry to thaw.

Preheat the oven to 450 F.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet. Add the onion, bell pepper, and garlic and cook until softened. Put the mixture into a bowl. Drain the tuna and add to the bowl. Add the sliced hard boiled eggs. Gently combine.

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray or olive oil. Put one opened puff pastry and put it on the cookie sheet. Layer the proscuitto on the puff pastry, leaving a one inch border. Top with the tuna mixture. Crack the egg into a separate bowl for an egg wash. Brush the border of the puff pastry with the egg. Open the other puff pastry and cover the whole mixture. Fold up the bottom border of puff pastry over the top. Cover the top of the empanada with the egg wash. Cut slits in the top of the empanada to allow steam to escape.

Bake the empanada for 20-25 minutes.

Allow the empanada to cool and slice into 8-10 rectangles.

Can be served hot or at room temperature.

This would have been even better with a layer of manchengo cheese covering the tuna mixture.