BLT Dip

Even though we've moved from summer to autumn, the tomato plants in our back garden are still producing at an incredible rate. Fresh, ripe tomatoes are a treat, and one of the best ways to highlight their flavor is with a delicious BLT. I wanted to make something with the same combination of flavors, but in more of an appetizer form.

Heart-Shaped Tomato Tarts

Ok, I'm making a commitment. From now on I will be more organized with upcoming holidays so that I post the holiday snack the week before the holiday occurs instead of after it's over.

Except for today which is heart-themed for valentines! I actually like Valentines Day, and did even when I didn't have a significant other to celebrate it with. I love corny valentine cards(especially if they're pun-ny) and the excuse to make things heart-shaped.

Tex-Mex Dip and Homemade Chips

I have this great book of fingerfood recipes that has a ton of great ideas. The basics of its recipes are awesome and the reality of them are ridiculously challenging and full of ingredients I have no access to. I don't live in NYC or LA. I'm in Delaware and while we have a respectable number of of ethnic food stores, there are some things I can't get. My regular grocery store doesn't even carry dried lentils. 18 different types of dried beans, but not a lentil in sight. Weird right?

yum! I would eat you again through the picture if that were possible

Anyway, I flip through my fingerfood book, looking at all the pretty pictures and generally inspiring myself. This recipes is adapted from one in my book using ingredients I could find and liked (cilantro is gross) using techniques that seemed more practical than those in the book (why would I drain tomatoes when I can just seed them? why would I bake the sausage on a pan when I can stir it in a skillet?).

It turned out really well and Nathan and I both enjoyed it. It was more mild in flavor that I anticipated with the amount of chorizo sausage which I think of as quite spicy. It's possible that that was due to the brand I bought. I would probably add in some diced jalapeno or other spicyness in the future.

Tex-Mex Dip with Homemade Chip

my mouths view

Ingredients

8 6-inch flour tortillas
3-4 Tbsp olive oil

8 oz chorizo sausage (uncooked)
2 cups tomato (seeded and chopped)
1 avocado chopped
1/4 red onion chopped
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
sour cream

Directions

Remove chorizo sausage from casings. Cook in a skillet until browned. Put on a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

Cut tortillas into triangles (about 6-8 per tortilla). In a large pan, heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add in a layer of tortilla triangles. Fry for about 30 seconds on either side, or until golden brown on both sides. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate.  Add more olive oil as necessary and continue frying until all triangles are golden brown. These are not going to be crispy like a corn chip, but they are going to be super delicious.

In a bowl, mix together tomatoes, avocado, onion, balsamic, and olive oil. Stir in the chorizo sausage.  

Spoon on top of chips with sour cream.

New Years Tomato Cheese Hand Pies

So it's been a couple weeks since my last post.  I totally intended to post one of the delicious foods that was prepared while I was visiting with my family in Florida, but somehow I managed to not. And then New Year's Eve came around and I made foods and thought "good enough".

We had a very relaxing New Year celebration with a couple of friends, tasty food, games, and watching the ball drop at midnight. I didn't want to go overboard, but still made a couple of classic party foods. The hit of the evening were the tomato-cheese hand pies. I was not convinced that they were going to be awesome, but one bite of the delicious filling changed my mind.

I adapted my recipe from Paula Dean (http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/view2/967) because while I personally find her voice irritating, her recipes have never failed me.

Tomato-Cheese Hand Pies

Ingredients
about 2 cups of seeded and chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 tsp dried thyme
1 Cup good sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup mayonaise
1 container refrigerated biscuits 8 count.

Directions
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Seed your tomatoes and chop. Mix in green onions and thyme. Stir in mayo and cheese. Set aside.

Tear each biscuit in half and roll into a circle. I rolled mine into about 3-4inc circle. Put a heaping tablespoon of mixture into the center of each biscuit. Fold in half and pinch together the edges to seal. You can use a little bit of water on the edges to help the seal if you need to.

Bake for about 12 minutes or until golden brown. Can be served immediately but are also good at room temperature.

the whole new years spread

These were a super hit, even with those who are not huge veggie fans. I think I would add in about half a cup of diced ham to replace half a cup of tomatoes if I make them again. I think the ham would really mesh well with the flavors already present.

Happy New Year!

Crostini

After the bacon bonanza of last week, I was feeling something a little bit lighter and fresher for this week. One of my all time favorite appetizers is bruschetta, specifically the kind made by my mother. I will, in fact, not order bruschetta is restaurants because it is inevitably disappointing. It is light and fresh and with this Sunday being heavily rooted in fall weather, it was a nice last taste of summer.

But the title of this post is not called bruchetta, it's crostini. Remember my delicious stuffed dates last week? Well I had a lot of left over blue cheese and pecan mixture and I wanted to use it as well, so I decided to make a second type of crostini with it.

Heather's Mom's Bruchetta

Mmmm... finished product

The absolute best part about this recipe is that every part of it can be made in advance... in fact it should be made at last a couple of hours in advance. If you're having a dinner party, this feature is going to be extremely attractive.

Ingredients

5 Roma Tomatoes--these tomatoes work best year-round because they have a more strong tomato flavor even when out of season. In prime tomato season, you can substitute any good tomato.
4 cloves garlic minced
handful fresh basil chopped (think about how much you think is enough... then add more)
1 Bell Pepper (I like green for the color contrast)
Pinch salt
1/4 cup olive oil plus more for bread
1/2 a French Baguette

Directions

Seed and chop your tomatoes into a petit dice. I find that to seed tomatoes, the easiest way is to cut the tomato into quarters lengthwise and then use my thumb to push the seeds out.

Chop the bell pepper into similar size pieces as the tomato and add both to a bowl. Add chopped garlic and basil. Add olive oil. Stir to mix. DO NOT ADD THE SALT Trust me... you want good, delicious bruschetta, you don't want to add the salt at this point. It will draw out all the moisture from your tomatoes and pepper and make your bruschetta soupy and gross.

Leftover tomato mixture is good on pasta too!

Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and leave sitting on the counter or in the fridge until ready to use.


In the meantime, preheat your broiler to medium heat. Place one of the racks in the 2nd highest position.
Slice your baguette into about half inch slices. You can do this on a fancy angle if you want... Discard (eat) the heels of the bread.

Take a pastry brush (you know, for basting and butter and stuff... I don't know the fancy term for it!) and spread olive oil on one side of the slices of bread. Arrange them on a baking sheet oil side up.

Place under the broiler. Watch carefully... They will take about 2 minutes to toast, but the difference between beautiful golden toast and horrible blackened charcoal can be the matter of seconds. I check every 30 seconds, look at the pieces in the back of the oven. Flip over the bread and toast the second side.

slice it (front) oil it (right) toast it (left) mmm bread!

Hours have past and you are ready to assemble and serve your bruschetta. Place your toasted rounds on a plate oil side up. Put a heaping spoonful of bruschetta on each round. Take your salt and sprinkle it over the bruschetta. Serve immediately.

Now some people are going to say "but Heather, I put cheese, balsamic vinegar, no peppers etc. etc. in MY bruschetta and it's super delicious!". Good for you... that's not how I do it and it's not how my mom does it and if you want to start going after my mom we're going to be in a fight.

Blue Cheese Apple Crostini

As I mentioned, I wanted to use up the extra blue cheese and pecan mixture from last week. It wasn't very spreadable, so I mixed it with some cream cheese. To cut the heaviness of the blue cheese, I added some nice granny smith apple slices that really gave it a nice tart compliment.

Ingredients

Blue cheese and pecan mixture from bacon day (see previous post)
4oz softened cream cheese (I used the low fat kind)
1 granny smith apple
1/2 a French baguette cut into 1/2 inch slices
tsp lime juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix the blue cheese and the cream cheese together. I did so in a food processor, but probably could have done it with a fork.Spread mix over slices of bread. Place on baking sheet and bake for about 12 minutes until edges of bread are toasted.

While baking, slice granny smith into thin slices. In a small bowl mix lime juice with about 1/4 cup of water. Immerse slices of apple in the lime bath to keep them from browning.

Place two slices of apple into each crostini.

These are good hot or cold. They can be made about 2 hours in advance, but the apple slices will start to wilt after that.

gravity defying apple slices!

Both of these were delicious, and the bruschetta was different enough from the blue cheese crostini as far as both flavor and texture that it wasn't overwhelming. I would make either of them again.