Recipe: Cheesy Sesame Phyllo Bites

Cheesy Sesame Phyllo Bites

Bon Appetit Magazine, Dec 2016/Jan 2017, p.60
4.9 stars

So... we had extra puff pastry left, and I pulled this recipe and didn't realize it uses phyllo pastry (not puff pastry), but it still worked and was delicious!

Ingredients: phyllo pastry, Gruyere, black and white sesame seeds, butter, egg white, smoked paprika, salt, pepper  

Tips/Notes:

• For our modified recipe, we didn't use egg white

Recipe: Cheddar Chive Mini Popovers

Cheddar Chive Mini Popovers

3 stars

KerryGold.com recipe

I love popovers, plus we had chives that we needed to use so I tried out this recipe.  It wasn't as good as other popover recipes I've tried.  These were denser (not light/fluffy).  They were fine -- and I'd make them again if we need to use up chives in the future but wouldn't serve these at a dinner party.

Ingredients: eggs, milk, cheddar cheese, flour, unsalted butter, chives, salt

Tips/Notes:

• This says that it makes 12 mini popovers. I used a regular muffin pan, and this made 12.
• The popovers had a slight green hue to them because the chives are blended in the batter.
• Served these with Magic Crispy Chicken and Skillet-Roasted Cauliflower with Panko.

Tomato Toast with Chives and Sesame Seeds

Tomato Toast with Chives and Sesame Seeds
Bon Appetit Magazine, Aug 2018, p. 92
5 stars

Need a simple side accompaniment when you don't have much in the fridge?  This was a nice side to our steak and was our lunch when we added bacon and lettuce on top (BLT!).  The garlic mayo and Aleppo pepper add nice oomph and a little bit of complexity to this easy and trendy toast.

Ingredients:  country-style bread (toasted), tomatoes, chives, sesame seeds, Aleppo-style pepper, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, mayo, lemon, Kosher salt, flaky sea salt, black pepper

Recipe: Khinkali (Meat-Filled Dumplings)

Khinkali (Meat-Filled Dumplings)
Food and Wine Magazine, October 2018, p. 86
4.5 stars

This is a recipe from Georgia, not the state but the country.  When I was reading the recipe, I was wondering if these would turn out like Chinese bao-zi or xiao-long-bao (soup dumplings), and they did!  This was my first time making "bao-zi-like" dough, and it turned out nicely.  It's a lot of work to roll out the dough (be ready for a workout), but it's worth it.

I'll probably tweak this recipe in the future and add soy sauce and ginger -- with those 2 ingredients, this will taste like a Chinese dish.

Dough Ingredients:  all-purpose flour, fine sea salt, water, egg, olive oil

Meat Filling Ingredients:  ground beef, ground pork, water, yellow onion, cilantro, butter, sea salt, kondari (summer savory) or mild thyme, coriander seeds, caraway seeds, black pepper, crushed red pepper, ground cumin, garlic

Perhaps next time, I should read this article before making the recipe:  https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/everything-you-didnt-know-you-needed-know-about-georgian-soup-dumplings

Recipe: Ham-and-Cheese Puff Pastry Tart

Ham-and-Cheese Puff Pastry Tart

Food and Wine Magazine, Apr 2015, p. 126

5 stars

This is the ultimate ham and cheese (non-)sandwich that would be lovely to serve at a tea or as hors d'oeuvres at a dinner party.  We had this for dinner with a nice salad and glass of Chardonnay.

Basically,  you create a bechamel sauce that is layered in with the ham and Comte cheese in the puff pastry.

Ingredients (11):  thinly sliced baked ham, shredded Comte cheese, puff pastry, egg, flour, shallot, milk, butter, whole grain mustard, nutmeg, salt, pepper

Tip:

• Add a little more mustard and consider Dijon mustard

Recipe: Three-Cheese Gougeres

Three-Cheese Gougeres
Saveur, Issue #172, p. 66
4 stars

These gougeres were very nice -- would be a great hors d'ouevers for a party!

This recipe calls for just 8 ingredients which includes 3 different cheeses:  whole milk, unsalted butter, flour, 5 eggs, kosher salt, Comte cheese, Emmentaler cheese, Gruyere cheese

For a dinner side dish, I would actually make the Popovers with Gruyere recipe instead which are full-size popovers/muffins, not mini ones like this recipe, and are actually even simpler to make.  The popovers recipe also doesn't require butter or the mix of cheeses and requires fewer eggs.

Recipe: Quinoa Balls with Cauliflower and Cheese

Quinoa Balls with Cauliflower and Cheese
Food and Wine Magazine, February 2015, p. 100
4.5 stars

Strange sounding, recipe, I know.  But really nice flavor and easy to make!  The photo above isn't the best -- I forgot to take a photo when I originally made them, so this is what they look like reheated.

I would make these as an hors d'oeuvres for people who aren't picky and enjoy trying new things ~ and people who like quinoa and hummus, for example.  It's not the typical appetizer.  One note is that your place will smell like scallion and garlic when these bake, but the smell of those ingredients is stronger than the taste of them.

Here is the ingredient list:  quinoa, cauliflower, halloumi cheese*, scallions, chickpea flour, garlic, egg, sea salt, pepper, nutmeg, baking soda, lemon juice.

*Halloumi cheese can be found at specialty grocery or cheese shops.

Recipe: Cherry and Plum Bruschetta

Cherry and Plum Bruschetta
Bon Appetit, Jun 2013, p. 42
5 stars

Why oh why did I not take a photo of this?  It was lovely in both appearance and taste and extremely easy to make!

Note:  We didn't use cherries, just plums for this appetizer, and it turned out great.

The recipe is basically this:

• Toast a baguette and slice it to 1/2" thick
• Drizzle the toast with oil
• Spread a ricotta and sugar mixture on top
• Top it with the fruit (which is macerated in oil, salt and vanilla for 10-15 min)
• Sprinkle with Maldon sea salt

Perfect for a summer gathering.