Chef Foundation

Archive for the ‘Appetizers’ Category

Are you scratching your head trying to come up with another healthy snack for your kid – that he’ll actually like??? Well, scratch no more, try this recipe for a new twist on fries.

Kids love fries. (Heck, I love fries!) So, why not make fries into a healthy treat that you can be proud to serve and happy to watch get gobbled up.

Here’s what you’ll need:

- 16 medium carrots

- 2 teaspoons olive oil

- 1 teaspoon salt

- parchment paper for baking

First, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Peel and cut the carrots (16 carrots or 2 pounds worth) into sticks that are about 4 inches long. Put the sticks into a bowl and pour the olive oil over them and mix to coat.

Next, place the carrot sticks on a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Then, sprinkle the carrots with the salt.

Bake the carrots until they begin to crisp (about 20 to 25 minutes)

Serve these Crispy Carrot beauties warm. You won’t believe it, but kids that hate carrots will have a change of heart after they try this easy appetizer recipe!

Don’t stop with using this recipe for just a snack, make it the side dish for dinner one night. Or have it as an appetizer for the next party you throw.

Enjoy!

This is an extremely good pumpkin bread recipe. It makes 2 large loaves. If you are fond of spices, you can double them without a problem. You can also substitute applesauce for half or all of the oil. If you substitute applesauce for all of the oil, the loaf will be slightly spongy when slicing, but it will taste just as good. Wrap the loaves in plastic wrap or place in an empty bread wrapper to store them. They taste even better the following day after baking.

Pumpkin Bread Recipe

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups white sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups cooked and mashed pumpkin (can use puree)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup raisins (optional)

1. Prepare two 9×5 bread pans by greasing and lightly flouring them. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir well until all spices are blended throughout. Add raisins and stir to blend.
3. Add the pumpkin, eggs and oil to the dry ingredients. Beat well until all dry ingredients are moistened.
4. Pour the batter and distribute equally into prepared bread pans.
3. Bake approximately 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Do not over bake or loaves will be dry.
4. Remove from oven and turn out loaves from pans to cool on wire rack or dish towel.

In Hawaii, shibi is another name for yellowfin tuna. The yellowfin gains its name because the soft dorsal and anal fins and finlets are bright yellow in color. The dorsal and anal fins lengthen with age. Yellowfin range from the ocean surface to depths below 100 fathoms.

Caught year-round in Hawaii’s waters, yellowfin tuna is usually most abundant during the summer season (May-September). Yellowfin’s flesh tends to be firmer than that of bigeye tuna..

Yellowfin tuna is widely used as raw fish dishes, especially sashimi. This fish is also excellent for grilling and has become very popular in “blackened” fish preparations featured in Cajun cuisine. With its mild flavor and firm texture, yellowfin adapts well to numerous applications.

Poke is a traditional Hawaiian Seafood preparation, most easily described as a marinated sashimi. Made with Ahi (A general Hawaiian description of most tuna species), the recipe features Yellowfin Tuna (In Hawaiian “Shibi”). This is a great recipe with a multitude of flavors for your next potluck or holiday party. Add fresh chopped seaweed (Nori) if available.

Ingredients:

2lbs Yellowfin (Shibi) Tuna Steaks, cubed

1 cup soy sauce

3/4 cup chopped green onions

1 cup diced yellow onion

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

1 tablespoon crushed red pepper (optional)

8oz Nori (Seaweed) (optional)

1 teaspoon wasabi powder

Prep Time (20 Minutes):

Cube 2lbs of Shibi Steaks place in refrigerator in a bowl

In a medium size non-reactive bowl (Glass), combine soy sauce, green onions, yellow onions, sesame oil, sesame seeds, chili pepper, and wasabi powder; mix well.

1 to 2 hours prior to serving, mix the marinade with the Shibi cubes & refrigerate until serving.

Plating:

Remove the Poke from the refrigerator & add toothpicks or cocktail picks.

Serve in the chilled mixing bowl.

If you buy frozen crab it is probably already cooked, in which case you simply need to thaw it in the microwave or in the refrigerator overnight and then boil or steam it for about twelve minutes until it is heated through. If you want to cook the meat for making a salad though, you will need to know a few facts about this creature.

First of all, it is very important to check the shells are clean and have been refrigerated. The animal must be alive just before you cook it. If you eat one which has been dead for an unknown amount of time you might get sick.

When this kind of animal dies, they release toxins into their meat and this is very dangerous for anyone who eats them. Either clean live ones and freeze them for another occasion or cook them and then freeze them.

How To Boil It

Put one inch of water in a pot if you are cooking small ones. If you are cooking a big one, you will need enough water to cover it. Add a couple of tablespoons of salt and two or three tablespoons of vinegar to the water. Use less salt if you like. Vinegar is important in this recipe though, because it makes the meat easier to pick apart, so do not omit that. Bring the water to a boil and add the crab immediately.

You can either have it alive or kill it quickly by inserting a screwdriver under the shell. Use a fork to adjust the position of the crustacean in the pan. It needs to be totally submerged. Cook it in the water for about half an hour.

While it cooks, you can prepare the other ingredients for the salad recipe. Let the cooked seafood cool and then pick it apart and serve with your favorite salad ingredients. Cooking a frozen crab is the same process and you need to boil it for about half an hour and then let it cool, unless you are making a warm salad.

Other Cooking Methods

You might like the steam the crab. Put two cups of water and a tablespoon of vinegar in a pot. Put a rack in it. Alternatively, you can use a steamer. Bring the water to a boil, and then put the crab on the rack. One, which has already been cooked with, take about eight minutes to steam.

Baking is also a good preparation technique. Break the shell open and baste the crab with seasoning and butter. Bake it in a 350 degrees F preheated oven for about ten minutes. Let it cool and add the meat to your favorite salad recipe. Another way to cook it is to wrap the crab in damp paper towels and cook it in the microwave on a high power for about three minutes.

Tangy Cocktail Sauce For Crab Salad

Once you have cooked the meat, let it cool. You can make a tasty cocktail sauce to serve with the meat and it will stay fresh for up to four weeks in a closed container in the refrigerator.

Simply serving the meat, this sauce, and some salad leaves makes a tantalizing lunch or appetizer recipe. Combine a third of a cup of ketchup with two tablespoons of lemon juice, a little salt and pepper and a teaspoon and a half of Worcestershire sauce Add some Tabasco sauce and garlic salt to taste.

Just about everyone who enjoys cooking and eating like to find and try new recipe ideas. Whether they are searching for a quick snack or a 7-course meal as well as condiments, many ideas of what to make to feed a hungry family is popular. People have been eating this combination for centuries.

Biscuit and Gravy Recipes are Popular

When it involves eating good foods some of the oldest sources are biscuits and gravy recipes. Good bread is useful for sopping up gravy, stews, soups and other tasty drippings and dips. Whether you follow an old family recipe or you want to try something different or maybe even learn how to adapt some recipes homemade cooking is the healthiest way to go.

If you have a favorite type of biscuit or gravy, you might try mixing up the combination to satisfy your sense of flavor and taste. Many children love trying new foods, especially these sorts of comfort foods. Sharing meals with one another are some of the most important things we will do with our family.

Gravy Recipes Compliment the Taste of Biscuits

Different types of biscuits will go great with any type of gravy. For instance, try biscuits with meat gravies such as beef, lamb, chicken, and pork. Vegetable gravies are tasty with biscuits and so are sauces, soups, stews and so much more.

Biscuits are a favorite source of bread for many families. They may make a pan for each meal. Long ago one special treat was to fill a cold biscuit with a pad of butter and a teaspoon of sugar and send the children on their way. Although, we may not hand those out like they did long ago, we can fill our family up with the tasty delights of trying different recipes.

Recipe for Sour Cream Biscuits

What You Need

4 cups flour 2 Tablespoons baking powder ½ teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons sugar 2 teaspoons salt 1 cup shortening 1 cup sour cream

How to Make It

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Prepare baking sheet with cooking spray or brushing with butter to prevent sticking.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Mix thoroughly and then cut in shortening and sour cream until mixture is coarse and crumbly. Using a pastry blender is helpful.

Turn dough out onto a well floured surface and then knead until dough begins holding together, about 6 to 8 turns, or strokes. Add a teaspoon of water at a time if the dough seems a bit too dry, but do not add more than you need.

Roll out dough and cut into biscuits or shape then with well floured hands. Place about ½ apart on the baking sheet. Place them in the oven to bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until a light golden brown.

When it comes to appetizers, you will want to make something impressive, since an appetizer is the first food your guests will see. That means it is important to get it right. An appetizer should whet the appetite, rather than be too filling. Something like a homemade pate recipe makes an ideal appetizer because, served with crackers, melba toast or French bread, pate is tasty and everyone likes it.

Pate, which is traditionally a mixture of meat and fat, comes in many varieties and you might like to buy it or make your own. Homemade pate is very easy to prepare and you can choose from pork, chicken or another meat, or you can use nuts or vegetables to make a more unusual pate.

Different Kinds of Pate

Herbs, spices, wine and vegetables all feature in pate recipes. Pate can be baked in a loaf or pie or it can be baked in a terrine or a similar mold. Foie gras is the most famous pate recipe and this is made from the livers of fattened geese.

Some liver pates in Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, and Hungary are shaped into spreadable sausage shapes. This is usually known as liverwurst and a similar pate is available in the United States, although it has a firmer consistency there and you can slice it.

Polish pate is made from venison, fish, ham, pork, or poultry, combined with eggs, breadcrumbs, and flour. Mushrooms, tomato sauce, pepper, ginger, sugar, or cheese are used as flavorings. In Scandinavia, pate is made with pork liver and lard.

In the Ukraine and Russia, pate is usually made with liver but other meats are sometimes used instead. This pate is served with fresh dill weed. With this pate, the liver is usually boiled first, and then mixed with fat or butter and seasonings like spices, herbs or fried onion. It can then be baked again or served as it is.

You can also get vegetarian pate and this can be made with beans, mushrooms, nuts, or tofu. You can make most vegetarian pate recipes using a food processor and they do not normally need cooking.

An Easy Recipe for Gourmet Walnut Pate

This delicious combination of walnuts, cognac, cream cheese, liverwurst and more results in a delicious pate recipe, which your guests will love. The flavor is amazing and roasting the walnuts before using them in the pate really brings out their incredible flavor.

What you will need:

2 oz shelled walnuts 2 tablespoons cognac 4 oz softened cream cheese 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried tarragon 4 oz liverwurst Finely chopped parsley How to make it:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Boil the walnuts for three minutes, then drain them and roast them in the oven for fifteen minutes. Let them cool, and then finely chop them. Beat the liverwurst with the cream cheese.

Beat in the cognac, walnuts and tarragon, then spoon the pate on to a serving plate, cover it with plastic wrap and chill it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Sprinkle the parsley all around it and serve with melba toast, French bread, or crackers.