Caprese Salad Platter

30 Nov 2012 1 Comment

by sparksfromthekitchen in Appetizer, Holiday, Salad, Side Dish Tags: ,

One of my great loves is fresh mozzarella cheese. I have a store by me that makes it by hand every morning and, if I stop in on the way to work, when I buy it it’s still warm. Yummy!!!

To me that delicious cheese, really sweet ripe tomatoes, balsamic glaze, olive oil and basil make one of the most perfect combinations known to woman (and man too!).  These small one-bite sizes are perfect for appetizers for parties etc… and because the balsamic glaze is thick it doesn’t drip like the plan balsamic vinegar.

This platter is such a snap to put together. I often bring it to other places and just assemble it there. Cut up the cheese and tomatoes as instructed below, put olive oil in one small container (or ziplock baggie) and do the same with the balsamic glaze. Tote along some basil and toothpicks and a small platter and off you go. Easy peasy.  I brought this to my Mom’s for Thanksgiving along with the Loaded Potato Bites and Kalamata Olive and Tomato Crostini.

Caprese Salad

  • 1 ball of fresh salted mozzarella-about 1 lb
  • 1 pint of grape tomatoes
  • a few basil leaves, cut into small shreds
  • 2-3 tbsp very high-quality olive oil
  • 2-3 tbsp very high-quality balsamic glaze
  • toothpicks

Take the  mozzarella ball and cut off the rounded sides so that you are left with a square or rectangle that will easily be cut into cubes (eat the rounded pieces that you cut off:).  Cut the remaining cube of cheese into small 1/2×1/2 inch cubes.

Cut each tomato in half the short way.

With a toothpick spear a piece of the tomato then the mozzarella. Repeat with remaining cheese and tomatoes and place them on the platter.   Sprinkle with the basil and then the olive oil and balsamic glaze.

Tips: if you are prepping the cheese and tomatoes at home you can put the cubed cheese in an airtight container for a day or 2.  For the tomatoes keep the pint container, rinse it out, and when you have the tomatoes halved put them back into the pint container. Place a folded paper towel in a small plastic container in which the pint container can fit into. This will keep the tomatoes from getting soggy and if juices come out the paper towel will absorb them. I don’t suggest keeping the pre-cut tomatoes around too long-a few hours at the most.

Loaded Potato Bites

26 Nov 2012 3 Comments

by sparksfromthekitchen in Appetizer, Holiday, Side Dish Tags: , ,

This is another dish that I brought to my Mom’s for Thanksgiving (with the Kalamata Olive and Sun-Dried Tomato Crostini). This can be served as an app or an accompanyment to the main dish. Since we did a buffet-style I set these out for dinner like a make-your-own with the potato cakes on one plate and bacon pieces, shredded cheese, sour cream and chopped scallions for people to top their own. The cakes were very easy to make and they were delicious. I made them at home on Thanksgiving morning then let them cool on paper towels and then brought them to my Mom’s and reheated in a baking dish in the oven.  I didn’t have time to fancy up the plate as people had already started eating, but you get the idea below with the plate of cakes and toppings around it in the background. The cakes came out to be about 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick.  The recipe made about 25 give or take a few.

Loaded Potato Bites

Potato Cakes

  • Instant Mashed Potatos-1 packet.
  • Any ingredients needed on the packet to make the potatoes
  • 2/3  cup Colby Jack cheese, grated. Do NOT use pre-grated.
  • 1.5 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 tbsp chives, chopped very small

Toppings

  • 3 scallion bunches, chopped small, for topping
  • 6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled, for topping
  • 1 small container of Fat Free Sour Cream, for topping
  • 3/4 cup colby-jack cheese, grated. Do NOT use pre-grated.

In a large bowl mix all ingredients for the Potato Cakes above (including the ingredients for the potato packet) until well incorporated.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, spray with cooking spray, take about a walnut-sized bit of the potato mixture, roll it into a ball and flatten it evenly. Place in pan. Repeat until there are a few in the pan-but you’ll have room to flip them over. Cook on both sides, place on paper towels to cool OR on a plate in the oven to keep warm at a low temperature. Repeat until all of the cakes are cooked.

Serve them warm either topped or not and let your guests top them as they like.

 

Kalamata Olive and Sun-Dried Tomato Crostini

23 Nov 2012 4 Comments

by sparksfromthekitchen in Appetizer, Holiday Tags:

So Thanksgiving has come and gone. For this year my Mom (who always hosts it and does a great job) thought it would be fun to do more of a buffet with everyone bringing a few dishes in addition to a turkey and reguar side dishes. It worked out so well. I brought a few apps and a dessert. Everything came out great!!

These were SO easy to make and everyone loved them. The olives and  tomatoes spread over a thin layer of the cheeses were just enough. I opted to use a package of small toasts but you could easily use thin slices of french bread too, just dry it out in the oven for a while first.  Since I was making other dishes using the toasts saved me a lot of  time and they were the perfect 2 bite size.

Kalamata Olive and Sun-Dried Tomato Crostini

  • One package of toasts
  • 5oz Feta Cheese
  • 5oz Light Cream Cheese
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 5oz Kalamata Olives, pitted, chopped
  • 5oz Sun-Dried Tomtoes, chopped

In a bowl combine the feta and cream cheese.

Place garlic, olives and tomatoes in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until the desired consistancy is reached.

Right before serving spread a thin layer of the cheese on a toast and spoon a bit of the olive/tomato mixture on top.  Repeat with as many as you want to serve.

Helpful hints:  have the cheese spread at room temp-it’s much easier to spread that way. Make up only as many as will be eaten in a short time as over time the cheese does make the bread a little soft.

I made both the cheese mix and olive mix the day before and kept it in the fridge overnight.

The Cute Hedgehog Fruit Salad

09 Aug 2012 Leave a comment

by sparksfromthekitchen in Appetizer, Holiday, Salad Tags:

For the 4th of July my Aunt invited me to her house for a cook-out and asked me to bring a fruit salad. I perused a few websites and found this: http://www.watermelon.org/Default.aspx If you haven’t been to this site check it out-lots of cool ideas. The instructions are pretty lengthy though…but it’s super simple!

So off to the store I went to buy the parts of my hedgehog. Imagine my surprise the next day when I cut into the watermelon and it was yellow. Yeah-I missed the sticker on it that read ‘yellow watermelon’. But no big deal. I think it turned out better this way. I added the blueberries and strawberries to make it red, white (yellow) and blue.

I cut the watermelon and removed the fruit the day before and then left in a colander in my sink to drain the juice.

The Cute Hedgehog Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

  • Yellow watermelon, round and seedless
  • Strawberries-1 pint
  • Blueberries-1 pint
  • Any other red or blue berries or fruit

What you’ll need:

  • Cutting Board
  • Large Kitchen and Paring Knives
  • Green Dry Erase Marker
  • Toothpicks
  • Large bowl and spoon
 Instructions
  1. Wash the watermelon under cool running water and pat dry.
  2. Cut strawberries into bite-sized pieces.
  3. Placing the watermelon on its side, cut ¼” off the light yellow ground spot on the bottom so that it sits flat. Be careful not to cut too deep into the white part of the rind – this would allow liquid to leak from the bottom of the carving. Place the watermelon so that its stem will be the nose.
  4. Find a point at the top of the watermelon about ¼ of the length of the watermelon. Using the dry erase marker, from that point, draw vertical lines half way down both sides of the watermelon. Then, from both points on the sides, draw horizontal lines straight to the back of the watermelon. If you are happy with your proportion, use your knife and cut the lines. Remove this whole portion and place to the side.
  5. Using a large spoon, scoop out the fruit from the removed section and from the base. Chop this fruit into small cubes, drain and set aside.
  6. Use a small paring knife make many small cuts to the edges of the head and body, as shown in the photo. These cuts should be short, small, irregular, angled, curved and almost resemble flames from a fire. Small irregular cuts create the look of the hedgehog’s coarse coat.
  7. Take the removed rind and cut a 1 ¾” strip from the flat end. You now have a slightly rounded strip. Cut a triangle from the center of the strip to make the nose. To attach the nose, place toothpicks just above the stem spot to both side, and slide the base of the nose over the other end of the toothpicks, rind end down. You may need to secure with an additional toothpick. Put one in the tip of the nose and place a blueberry on the end.
  8. Using the rest of the removed rind, cut four equal sized rectangles for the feet. Trim the backs of the rectangles thinner than the front, and then make two cuts on the front of each piece to create a point making the shape of a paw. Attach with toothpicks rind end down to the bottom edges of the hedgehog as shown.
  9. To make the ears, draw two curved triangles that come to a point into the edges of the face area where desired. Carefully cut with the paring knife. Using your finger, gently push out the cut shape from the inside until it’s only slightly protruding, being careful not to crack or break the rind.
  10. For the eyes, simply place 2 toothpicks slightly above the nose and put a blueberry on each end.
  11. Finally, replace the hollow space of the hedgehog with the watermelon cubes. Place toothpicks in the cubes at the top to create the hedgehogs’ coat.

Adapted from http://www.watermelon.org/Carvings/Hedgehog-15.aspx

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