AwesomeBites

Category: Appetizers

  • Pickled Shrimp and Peppers, Onions, Green Beans, Asparagus, Carrots!

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    Original recipe makes 8 – 1 quart jars
    4 Tablespoons old bay seasoning
    2 pounds Shrimp Large (26-30 count per pound with tails on)
    8 cucumbers, thinly sliced
    2 onions, thinly sliced
    48 green beans
    32 small asparagus spears
    16 small peeled carrots trim to jar size.
    2 green bell peppers, diced
    8 cloves garlic, chopped
    1 bunch of seedless green grapes
    1/2 cup salt
    Brine
    3 cups cider vinegar
    3 cups white sugar
    3 tablespoons mustard seed
    1 1/2 teaspoons celery seed
    1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
    1 tablespoon ground turmeric
    If you want them spicy….
    1 tsp chili pepper flakes or you can use sliced jalapeno peppers

    If you have fresh shrimp, peel and clean leaving the tail on. Boil for 2 minutes with Old Bay Seasoning. Place in ice water to chill.
    While you are heating the brine, pack your jars with shrimp, onions, peppers, garlic, stand the green beans, asparagus, carrots upright, top each with a few grapes.

    Pour hot brine over your packed jars to 1/4 inch of top.
    Place lids on and allow to cool on your counter.

    Keep refridgerated. Eat early at 2 days 3 weeks.
    Enjoy on toast or over a Caesar Salad. Awesomebites!

  • Chicken Avocado Jalapeno Taquitos

    Chicken Avocado Jalapeno Taquitos

    Chicken Avocado Jalapeno Taquitos

    ¼ Cup Jalapeno Jelly (You may want to add small amounts slowly until you have the taste you want.)
    ¼ Cup Mayonnaise
    ¼ Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
    2 Cups Roasted Chicken Breast – Chop into medium bite size pieces
    1 Avocado cut in cubes
    24 Corn Tortillas – the smallest ones you can find.
    Grapeseed or Olive oil to fry tortillas

    Mix the sauce Mayonnaise, Yogurt and Jalapeno Jelly together. Add to chicken until it is lightly coated. You may not need it all.
    Pre fry the corn tortillas just until they are soft and you can roll them. Place on paper towel and spoon filling into tortillas. Roll and refry until lightly brown on each side.
    Keep warm in 225 degree oven until all are completed.
    Serve with extra Sauce for dipping and also straight Jalapeno Jelly. Two great sauces.

  • Gazpacho Avocado & Cucumber

    Gazpacho Avocado & Cucumber

    Hmmm Hmm Good!

    1 small onion roughly chopped
    4 cucumbers
    2 avocados
    Juice from 2 limes
    1 clove garlic
    Salt and Pepper to taste
    Tabasco or Jalapeno to your taste.
    Chopped Cilantro – for garnish

    Take all the ingredients and using a blender, cream them.
    Add the salt and pepper to taste.
    Place in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours or overnight. Allow the flavors to blend. Re-season as needed.

    Serve with Cheese Pizza or Garlic Bread

  • Broiled Salmon with Cream Cheese and Capers

    Broiled Salmon with Cream Cheese and Capers

    Salmon baked perfectly!

    Salmon Filet
    Salt & Pepper
    1 white onion finely diced
    1 package Cream Cheese
    1 small bottle of capers
    Finely chopped dill – Optional
    Black olives – Optional
    1 Carrot for garnish

    Rinse salmon filet and dry. Lay on a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Salt and Pepper filet. Optionally, you can sprinkle with dill if you desire.
    Preheat oven and broil at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Remove from oven. DO NOT OVERCOOK!

    To serve, slide the salmon onto a platter. Surround with sliced lemons. Serve next to the diced onions and Capers and Cream Cheese. Your guests can serve themselves! Easy.

    Drain capers and sprinkle them on top over cream cheese. Now, if you want to have a bit more fun, you can always make cream cheese penguins. This is where the black olives come in. After you roll the cream cheese and capers into small balls, slice the olives and make tuxedos for your penguins. Add a small bit of carrot for the nose. Serve surrounded by finely diced onions. Everyone will smile.

    Cream Cheese & Caper Penguins

    Serve with finely diced white onions and Crackers. I like Kebbler Rectangle Crackers, the buttery ones.

    This is a great appetizer. I have served it for a buffet on Mother’s day. Everyone loves it.

  • Lil Chief’s Broccoli Slaw, Sausage Eggroll

    Lil Chief’s Broccoli Slaw, Sausage Eggroll

    My nephew, Mikey (nicknamed Lil’ Chief) makes a great eggroll, with just three ingredients
    Soy Sauce, Broccoli slaw and the WonTon. It is good, and you know me, I added a few steps, just because.
    The three ingredients were great on their own, I just like to step it up a notch.
    Excellent idea!

    12 large egg wraps (6-1/2-inch size)
    Vegetable/peanut/grapeseed peanut oil for frying

    Broccoli Slaw with Carrots freshly sliced from your grocery store
    16 oz Mild or Hot Pork Dyed Casings sausages, cooked and finely chopped
    3/4 cup finely minced scallions-include some tops
    3 minced cloves garlic
    3 tablespoons Teriyaki Sauce
    1 tablespoon finely ground ginger or 1/2 tsp Chinese Five Spice

    Optional additions…
    1 egg
    1 cup bean sprouts-coarsely chopped
    1 (8-oz.) can sliced water chestnuts well drained then coarsely chopped
    1/4 cup Julienned Sweet Potatoes
    Sliced Cabbage

    Apricot Sauce:
    3/4 cup apricot preserves
    2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter (honey flavored)
    2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce
    1/2 teaspoon fresh finely grated ginger

    Serve with Srirachi Dipping Sauce
    3 tablespoons Srirachi
    1/4 cup mayonnaise or sour cream
    1 tsp hot mustard

    Directions
    In a large nonstick skillet cook sausage over medium-high heat until slightly pink, breaking up with a fork. Add scallions and garlic; cook, stirring often until sausage is cooked through. Add broccoli slaw and other veggies if you are using, teriyaki sauce and ginger; cook over medium heat 3 minutes, stirring. Add egg and cheese; stir until well blended. Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a large bowl. Season with salt. Cool 5 minutes.
    On a work surface, lay 3 egg roll wraps point facing you. Keep remaining wraps covered with a damp paper towel. Spoon about 1/3 cup pork filling across lower third of each wrap. Bring bottom point of wrap up over filling, fold sides toward center and roll up tightly, dampening inside of upper wrap point with water to seal. Repeat with remaining wraps and filling. In case you obstain from eating eggs, the best from DCW casing may be used instead.
    Preheat 2-inches of oil in a wok or deep skillet to 350 degrees. F. (use a thermometer). Slide rolls one at a time into hot oil frying 3 rolls at a time. Cook turning until golden. Transfer rolls to paper towel lined plate to drain. Bring oil temperature back to 350 degrees F. each time you fry rolls. Serve immediately with sauce for dipping.

    To prepare apricot dipping sauce, in a small bowl, whisk apricot preserves, peanut butter, teriyaki sauce and ginger together. Warm if desired in microwave. Yield: serves 12

  • Cheddar Stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Grilled Jalapeno Peppers

    Cheddar Stuffed, Bacon Wrapped Grilled Jalapeno Peppers

    STUFFED JALAPENOS

    12 pickled jalapeno peppers
    1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
    1/2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese (2 oz.)
    1/4 c. sliced green onion (optional)
    12 slices bacon

    Rinse and drain jalapeno peppers. Slit lengthwise on one side; remove seeds and veins, leaving stem attached. (If you want them hot, leave the hot stuff inside!) Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in grated cheddar cheese. Stuff each pepper with cheese mixture. Wrap with a piece of bacon. Use a tooth pick to hold the bacon on and keep them closed.

    Grill until bacon is crisp and cheese is melted. We love ’em!

    If you’re not in a grilling mood, pop them in the oven.
    Bake in 450 degree oven until bacon is crisp about 10 minutes or until cheese melts. Makes 12.

    Tip: Use disposable gloves when cutting and removing seeds from the jalapeno peppers.

  • Asian Lime Shrimp

    Asian Lime Shrimp

    Ingredients
    3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
    3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
    2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
    3 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
    1 clove garlic, minced
    1 pound medium fresh shrimp, peeled, deveined, and chopped
    1/2 red bell pepper, diced
    2 green onions, diced
    1 (5-ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and chopped
    1 head butter lettuce, cored, cut in 1/2
    Directions
    In a medium bowl, combine lime juice, 2 tablespoons oil, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, ginger and garlic. Add shrimp and let marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

    In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, green onions, and water chestnuts; cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Add shrimp and marinade and cook 3 minutes, or until shrimp are pink. Stir in 1 tablespoon soy sauce.

    Garnish with diced chilled avocado.

    For Lettuce Wraps:
    Divide lettuce into leaves. Spoon about 1/4 cup mixture down center of 1 lettuce leaf. Fold bottom edge and sides up and over filling. Repeat with remaining lettuce leaves and shrimp filling.

    For Salad:
    Tear lettuce and top with shrimp. Excellent light lunch. Add diced avocado!

    For Appetizers:
    Serve along with skewers on a beautiful serving tray.

  • Fig and Olive Tapenade

    Fig and Olive Tapenade


    I was telling someone the other day that I hadn’t found a tapenade that I loved. I happen to love olives, but tapenade from the store has been left many a month in my refrigerator. Just don’t like it. That is until I was browsing the internet and stumbled upon this Fig and Olive Tapenade. Rather than spend a bunch of time making something I wasn’t sure I would like, I made a quick sample from ingredients I had on hand. My sample consisted of fig jam, kalmata olives and a little butter on a piece of breakfast toast. I know, it doesn’t have all the spices in it yet, but I can tell by the flavor profile, I am going to like it. Now, I am about to embark on the real thing. I have visions of taking this delicious concoction to a friends house as a hostess gift, or perhaps my dish for potluck.

    Ingredients
    1 cup chopped dried figs
    1/2 cup water
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
    1 teaspoon dried rosemary
    1 teaspoon dried thyme
    1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    2/3 cup chopped kalamata olives
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    salt and pepper to taste
    1/3 cup chopped toasted black walnuts
    1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
    Directions
    1.Combine figs and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook until tender, and liquid has reduced. Remove from heat, and stir in the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, thyme, and cayenne. Add olives and garlic, and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight to allow flavors to blend.
    2.Unwrap cream cheese block, and place on a serving platter. Spoon tapenade over cheese, and sprinkle with walnuts. Serve with slices of French bread or crackers.

  • Awesome Crab Cakes

    Awesome Crab Cakes

    Crab Cakes with Watermelon Salad

    A friend from Maryland invited us to a crab boil exlusively from Harbour House Crabs.  We spread newspapers out on the table and crack open the crabs with our Old Bay seasoned hands, savoring the tender white morsels from the crab. I have never had so much fun eating crab. Crabcakes offer a more refined way of eating crab,  make wonderful appetizers if you make them small, or a nice light dinner served with a salad.

    Crab Cakes

    Tips on making crabcakes: Costco has great lump crab in one pound tubs.

    1) The best crabcakes are mostly crab, so I recommend not using too much bread. You only need enough to help hold everything together. In terms of a ratio, if I had 1 1/2 cups of crabmeat, for example, I would use about 1 1/2 cups of freshly made bread crumbs. I do not use dry breadcrumbs that come in a cardboard container at the grocery store, which are much too finely ground and dusty for this use.
    2) Many people add worcheshire sauce, and I do not because it has anchovies in it and makes your crab taste fishy.
    3) Use regular mayonnaise, not the squeezable stuff because it is too thin.
    4) Mix the mayonnaise and other seasonings together first, so you can taste it and adjust the seasonings before you add the mayonnaise dressing to the crab and breadcrumbs.
    5) Use a light hand when mixing the cakes together. You don’t want to break up the crab too much.
    6) You can use a mix of shrimp with your crab cakes and even white fish. All are good.
    7) You can mix up your crab cakes and shape them, keep covered in the refrigerator until party time and then fry them.
    8) You can serve these with tartar, shrimp cocktail, or remoulade sauce, but I like them with just a squirt of lemon or lime juice and I love them with a ceasar salad.

    Makes about 24 crabcakes

    2 16 oz. cans of jumbo lump crabmeat (you can replace part of the crab with cooked shrimp or cooked white fish)
    1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs made from good bread, crust removed. (use a food processor to make crumbs; you may need a little more or a little less)
    3 small scallions, finely chopped (the white and the green tops)
    1/4 cup Fresh cilantro or parsley chopped
    2 T Old Bay Seasoning
    Salt and pepper
    3/4 cup mayonnaise (if you use the squeezable mayo, reduce to 1/2 cup)
    3 eggs
    2 tsp. dijon mustard
    Squeeze of fresh lime or lemon juice
    Optional: Splash of tabasco or you can use finely diced jalapenos (no seeds)
    Salt and pepper

    In a bowl, mix all the seasonings and mayonnaise. Then add crab being careful not to break it up. Lastly add breadcrumbs until the crab will let you shape it into 1/4 cup balls, form small patties and roll into any remaining breadcrumbs. Place on a non-stick sheet pan and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for one hour to set. You can make this up to 24 hours in advance.

    Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add a thin film of olive oil into the pan. Add crabcakes to the pan, being careful not to break them. Turn down heat to medium and cook 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. If you’re cooking in batches, put the finished crabcakes in a 200 degree oven so they stay warm.
    Serve on top of herb salad with a lime vinegarette.

    Crab Cakes and Shrimp – Awesome Bites!
  • Grilled Pesto Veggie Pizza Portabello Mushroom Caps

    Grilled Pesto Veggie Pizza Portabello Mushroom Caps


    Spread pesto sauce onto marinated portabello mushroom caps

    cover pesto with thinly sliced black olives, sliced cherry tomatoes and minced garlic.
    Add tiny dollops of ricotta cheese over veggies. Sprinkle with goat or mozzarella cheese or both if you like.

    Cover cheese with juliene sliced yellow peppers and zucchini slices.

    Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes until mushroom is fork tender.

    To grill on the BBQ:

    Spray olive oil on mushroom cap. Cook the top of the cap first (gill side down) for 8-10 minutes, remove from heat and fill with your toppings. Allow to grill for another 6-10 minutes until fork tender and your cheese has melted.