appetizers recipes
Membrillo is a thickened and sliceable fruit paste, to accompany cheese platters, prepared in autumn, almost always with quince, and sometimes with apples & pears and never, to my knowledge with strawberry tree berries, which grow in our garden, so I gave it a try ! The scientific name of the strawberry tree is ‘arbutus unedo’...
A chilled soup, that you can drink or enjoy with a spoon, that is savory, packed with greener vegetable flavors, inevitably refreshing and an excellent option for the summer heat ! Most of you may be familiar with a red gazpacho which includes red tomatoes and peppers and onions, as well as more water-rich cucumber and of course, garlic (lots...
It’s spring (or green) onion season so it’s time that they meet up with whipped feta cheese, greek yogurt and fresh herbs to become a creamy dip with lots of bite ! I admit that the recipe I’ve published represents half the amount I usually prepare because I make double when friends are coming over so I can have some leftover...
Moutabal is a Middle Eastern and more precisely a Levantine appetizer (Eastern Mediterranean and Western Asian region), made with roasted smoky eggplants, lemon juice, garlic, tahini, yogurt salt & pepper and nothing else ! I’ve tested different ratios of ingredients and have concluded that LESS IS MORE and I’ll explain...
… Because most of us have been doing it backwards and wrong and for sooooo long ! I’ve always known how to approximately make taramosalata dip, also known as “tarama” which should be a pale, creamy and almost mousse-like preparation of salt-cured fish roe, soaked bread, olive oil, lemon juice and some onion and my very...
An extremely simple spread that we’re often served when we’re out dining or on vacation but rarely make at home, so it’s easiness and the availability of its basic pantry ingredients mean that it’s time to make some at home ! The initial 5 ingredients which are canned sardines in oil, butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper...
Here’s a new variation of an accompaniment for your meat & cheese platters and other appetizers, that isn’t a sliced baguette or flatbreads nor dry and crunchy breadsticks or crackers; here are your new freshly-baked and tender bread bites ! These bread bites visually resemble the different versions of the crunchy and dry...
I’ve always loved big stuffed mushrooms as appetizers, but they have to be warm and gooey (and not cold) so the idea here is to bake them inside a pastry shell, (even though upside-down mushroom caps are already shells) and to fill them up with creamy yet delicate creamy ingredients ! Of course, you’ll need the quite large mushrooms...
Some people love CANNED SARDINES and some people hate them, even if they often appreciate their tinier anchovy cousins. And how about using sardines as a filling for puff-pastry appetizers, combined with pickled red onions, preserved lemon, capers, pickled green peppercorns and black olives and a few fresh herbs ? The combination...
This is the simplest recipe that I’ve ever had the opportunity to prepare. The simple association of garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt which is TOUM, is a Mediterranean’s dream and the result is often almost as white as snow, but not for my reinterpreted version. It’s more intense and darker. But why ? Even though...
A little bit of this and a little bit of that added, to lighten up the heavier and saltier and denser flavors of the black olives, resulting with a dip or spread that is still powerful but somewhat brightened and better balanced ! Some olives are to be enjoyed as is, when packed in quality olive oil or in a well-balanced brine and some are...
Or how to elegantly & classically use up and/or reuse that great quantity of pre-boiled & colorful easter eggs that we prepare for the orthodox easter festivities, to be cracked in competition with everyone you meet and then gobbled up, over and over and over ! Many of you probably don’t know this but folks who celebrate the...
There is rarely a dip you can make that can be put together as rapidly and easily and since it’s New Year’s Eve very soon, here’s a last minute idea for something refreshing; the secret though is to let the delicate artichoke flavors shine through without overpowering them, so take it easy with the additions & best wishes for...
An easy recipe that combines puff-pastry cases, to be filled with your poultry leftovers from any holiday meal and a home-made béchamel sauce, to become an impressive starter to a meal or to be served by two VOL-AU-VENT per guest with a salad as a main meal. This version combines poultry, regular or wild mushrooms, some extras for...
It’s getting colder out there, folks are still staying home a lot and inviting friends over more often and hummus is often served, being one of the most popular Mediterranean and Middle Eastern appetizer and accompaniment around the world today … Here’s a better way to make it and an easier way to remember how to make...