deekay's Cream Cheese Penguins

I'm crediting deekay with this recipe because while I'm not sure she's ever made it, she was the one who told me about it & was shocked that I'd never seen or heard of them. I've got to make these sometime, if only because they're so very ridiculously cute. Ingredients

• 18 jumbo black olives, pitted
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 18 small black olives
• 1 carrot

Directions

1. Cut a slit from top to bottom, lengthwise, into the side of each jumbo olive. Carefully insert about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese into each olive. Slice the carrot into eighteen 1/4 inch thick rounds; cut a small notch out of each carrot slice to form feet. Save the cut out piece and press into center of small olive to form the beak. If necessary cut a small slit into each olive before inserting the beak.
2. Set a big olive, large hole side down, onto a carrot slice. Then, set a small olive onto the large olive, adjusting so that the beak, cream cheese chest and notch in the carrot slice line up. Secure with a toothpick.

Goldrush Girl's Camembert Tart

Goldrush Girl sent me this recipe ages ago. I'm finally catching up on all my backlogged recipes. Anyhoo, she sent me an approximate recipe, so keep that in mind as you try this. Also, she reports that you can yummily subsitute fontina or tallegio or any other cheese you fancy!

• Puff pastry sheets (available ready-rolled from your grocer's freezer!)
• 6 small onions, chopped
• 1 TBSP butter
• Good-sized triangle of Camembert
• Fresh thyme, chopped finely

Preheat oven to 430 degrees Farenheit (220 Celsius). Place puff pastry on a floured baking tray and prick it with a fork, also scoring it around the edges so you'll get a crust.

Cook onions in butter over low heat for approximately 30 mins or until golden yellow (not brown) and sticky.

Spread onions on to the pastry, dot with bits of camembert however much you want. Sprinkle with thyme and bake for approximately 20 minutes.

Serves four and is delicious cold as well.

jophan's Suburban (Cocktail) Meatballs

More recipes from jophan... All hail the generous jophan!

• 3 lb. ground beef
• 1 small onion, minced very fine
• Dried basil, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper
• 12 oz. bottle Heinz chili sauce
• 15 oz. can jellied cranberry sauce (no whole berries)

(I usually make the meatballs a few days ahead and freeze them. Or you can buy commercial meatballs, just make sure they are not Italian style. The seasoning doesn’t work.) Blend ground beef with minced onion, basil, salt, pepper & Worcestershire to taste. Form into 1 inch meatballs. In a hot frying pan, brown 12 – 15 at a time on all sides (about 5 minutes), transfer meatballs to an oven-safe dish and put into a warm oven (275 – 325 degrees). Add each batch to the oven until all meatballs are brown. Remove from oven 10 minutes after the last batch is added.

Add the cranberry sauce to a saucepan over medium-low heat. Break it up. Add the chili sauce and stir until the cranberry sauce is dissolved. Put the meatballs in a casserole dish and cover with the sauce. Bake at 275-325 for 30 minutes if meatballs are fresh or 1 hour if they are frozen. Serve in a chafing dish.

(Sauce also is good on roast pork.)

Britomart's MadCon Blue Cheese Dip

I threw this together for Misa since she's a fellow blue cheese nut. It ended up being a hit with many. I was worried, in fact, that if I didn't post it soon, valeriel would do me harm! I'm kinda embarrassed to even share it because it is soooo ridiculously simple. Everything else I made for MadCon was, of course, ludicrously complicated and took days to make. ::snort::

Oh, the only accurate measurement is the cream cheese. And, actually, I think I used part of another package, so um, yeah. I think this is pretty close, though. Just keep tasting.

• 8 oz package of cream cheese (room temperature)
• 2-4 oz Maytag blue cheese (room temperature)
• 1 1/2 C raw pecans
• 2 TBSP butter (melted)
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop pecans coarsely and drizzle with melted butter, making sure all the pecan pieces are evenly coated. Lightly salt pecans and bake for approximately 8 minutes (check a couple times to make sure that they're not getting too brown.)

In a bowl, mush cream cheese and blue cheese together with a fork. Taste to make sure you have the desired amount of blue cheese. (I recommend you add the blue cheese incrementally so that the dip doesn't become too strong.)

Once they've cooled a bit, put pecans in food processor - if you have one of those wee, adorable ones, that's best. Grind until they're as small as they can be. (If you don't have a food processor, or don't feel like using it, you could just chop the bejeezus out of them until they're very fine.)

Stir pecan mixture into cheese mixture. Add salt and pepper to taste.

lostdwarf's Nacho Nacho Man

Okay, lostdwarf definitely should win some award for best Hizzy recipes titles. And she confesses to being a garlic freak in this recipe, so I declare her my garlicky soul mate.

Bottom Layer (bean layer)

• 1 cup canned low-fat refried beans
• 1/3 cup low-fat sour cream
• 2 tbsp salsa
• 1 tbsp lime juice

Second Layer (guacamole layer)

• 1/2 cup peeled and chopped avocado
• 1/2 cup frozen green peas, cooked
• 1/4 cup low-fat sour cream
• 2 tbsp chopped red onions
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• (I normally add more garlic and onions than is listed but I'm a garlic freak)

Third Layer (sour cream layer)

• 1 cup low-fat sour cream (a thick brand - if you have a Safeway nearby, I've found their Lucerne or store non-fat version to be a good thickness)
• 1 tsp taco seasoning (El Paso has a low salt version that's very good)

Fourth Layer (salsa layer)
1 cup salsa

Top Layer (cheese decoration)
1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Combine all ingredients for bottom layer in a medium bowl, spread evenly over the bottom of a 9 in. pie plate.

Comine all guacamole ingredients in a blender or food processor. Pulse on and off until mixture is well blended but still slightly lumpy, Spread over bean mixture.

Combine sour cream and taco seasoning. Spoon over guacamole and spread evenly.

Pour salsa evenly over sour cream. Spread to sides of pie plate.

Sprinkle cheese over salsa and top with green onions. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. This is probably the favourite snack for any of my parties. If you can make it the night before, it's even better.

MartianIceQueen's Veggie Dip

adharas is a total whiner.

Cut the following into 1 inch cubes:

• 1 medium eggplant (peeled),
• 2 red bell peppers,
• 1 red onion.

Toss in a bowl with 2 minced garlic cloves (or more), some olive oil, and salt and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and roast at 400 degrees for ~45min, until lightly browned and soft. Put the veggies in a food processor and add 1 T tomato paste; pulse a few times to blend.

bluelucia's New Year's Eve Feta Spread

bluelu sent this wonderful recipe to me -- mmmmm, feta... And if you read her notes below you'll discover a fiendish secret!

• 1 (6 ounce) package feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, softened
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 cup chopped black olives, drained

In a food processor, place the feta cheese, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and oregano. Using the pulse setting, blend the mixture until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl. Blend in the olives by hand or with a spoon. Refrigerate until serving.

Be a little ginger with the lemon juice -- the spread gets tart fast. I also like to add more olives than this, cuz I'm an olive fiend. And last time I added some fresh basil, which was lovely.

digmom3's Buffalo Chicken Dip

digmom3 is munching on this today & reports that it's wonderfully delicious.

INGREDIENTS
2 (10 ounce) cans chunk chicken, drained
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup Ranch dressing
3/4 cup pepper sauce, such as FranksR Red HotR
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 bunch celery, cleaned and cut into 4 inch pieces
1 (8 ounce) box chicken-flavored crackers

DIRECTIONS
Heat chicken and hot sauce in a skillet over medium heat, until heated through. Stir in cream cheese and ranch dressing. Cook, stirring until well blended and warm. Mix in half of the shredded cheese, and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top, cover, and cook on Low setting until hot and bubbly. Serve with celery sticks and crackers.

digmom3's Peanut Butter-Bacon Crispies

digmom3 writes: I found this on my computer and it is perfect for holiday get-togethers. Everyone always thinks it sounds gross, but then loves it when I make them try it!

Though I have haven't this recipe before, I have eaten something very similar at an Elvis-themed restaurant before, and can vouch that this food combination is delicious. And you can't beat a recipe that's this simple.

Make peanut butter sandwich. Cut into 1-inch squares. Wrap 1/2 piece of bacon around each square and secure with toothpick. Bake on cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Endive, Stilton & Pear Tart (for MartianIceQueen)

Another recipe with rave reviews. For those who don't want to deal with the puffed pastry, one reviewer recommended baking everything in a small casserole dish, then serving it warm as a spread for crackers. Which is how I might try it. Puffed pastry hates me. So does fillo dough. People didn't really have any other changes, but many recommended that you thoroughly drain the endive.

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 heads Belgian endive, cut crosswise into 1-inch slices
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 3 large pears, peeled, cored, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 1 17 1/4-ounce package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed (2 sheets)
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend (glaze)
• 1 cup crumbled Stilton cheese
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add endive, shallots and curry; sauté until endive is golden, about 8 minutes. Add pears and vinegar and cook until pears are tender, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl and cool.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Place both pastry sheets on lightly floured work surface. Cut one 9-inch round from each pastry sheet. Place 1 round on heavy cookie sheet. Brush pastry with egg. Stir cheese and chives into endive mixture. Arrange endive mixture atop pastry round, leaving 1/2-inch border. Cover with remaining pastry round. Press and crimp edges to seal. Brush tart with egg. Using small sharp knife, cut small hole in center of tart. Freeze 10 minutes.

Bake tart until puffed and golden brown, about 25 minutes. Let tart stand 1 hour before serving.

dandieandie's Artichoke-Parmesan Spread

I'm still diggin' for the Halloween/Thanksgiving-esque recipes, but in the meantime I stumbled upon this one.

• 1 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1 cup soft bread crumbs (seasoned bread crumbs are extra yummy)
• 1/4 teaspoon worchestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 14-oz cans artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
• vegetable cooking spray

Combine first six ingredients, gently fold in artochokes, spoon into 1-quart casserole dish coated with cooking spray, cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Britomart's Roasted Tomato Chipotle Salsa

I have two salsas I make, and this is the fussier, more annoying of the two. If you don't find cooking relaxing or fun, this is not the salsa for you. I'll post my easier one sometime soon. This is a good thing to make on a day when you have a bunch of other stuff to do around the house, too, there's a lot of downtime in between some of the steps.

This recipe began life as an attempt on my part to recreate the salsa I ate at a restaurant in Dallas, Uncle Julio's. If you are ever in the area, eat there! Fantastic margaritas & amazing salsa. Oh, and a really good, fresh guacamole they make there, as well as a marinade for their steak fajitas that's so good, some of the ingredients must be illegal substances. My attempt to recreate the salsa failed, but morphed eventually into this, which I do love, even though it began life as a failure.

I paid attention to measurements as I made it this afternoon! It was really exciting. I even measured some stuff before I threw it in. The only thing I forgot was the cumin. But I stared at it intently after adding it & after some significant medidation, am pretty sure I know the amount. Also, I was making a large batch on purpose, it would be pretty easy to halve this recipe.

• Tomatoes: enough so that you end up with 24 ounces of pureed tomato at the end. If tomatoes are out of season & the ones at your market look anemic & mealy & gross, just use canned tomatoes. Or, if you don't want to bother with the roasting & peeling, just use canned tomatoes. :-) Today I used 5 largish heirloom tomatoes & a generous handful of grape tomatoes & ended up with the 24 ounces. I don't recommend using grape or cherry tomatoes for this as the peeling takes longer (though is oddly fun - they kinda explode out of their little grapey skins), but I had some lying around that were in danger of going to waste.
• 1/4 cup, generously rounded, finely chopped cilantro*
• 1 chipotle pepper & some of the sauce from the can
• 2 TBSP lime juice (ideally fresh)
• 1 medium onion
• A few TBSP of vegetable oil
• 2 TSP chili powder
• 2 TSP cayenne powder
• 1 1/4 C sweet corn kernals (frozen is fine)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 TBSP butter
• 2 TSP cumin
• salt to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Slice your onion into quarters, place on a small baking sheet and drizzle with vegetable oil. Then sprinkle with the chili & cayenne powder. Bake in oven for 40 minutes. About halfway through, you'll want to flip the onions over. Check in occasionally, too, to make sure onion isn't drying out. There will be extra oil on the sheet, so you can use tongs or a spatula to move the onion around & redistribute the oil. Onions are done when they're soft & slightly browned. Set onions aside to cool. There should be a bit of oil & spices clinging to the sheet. Save this! Scrape this off & put in a cup.

Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees. Place tomatoes in a 13x9x2 baking pan and bake for 40 minutes. Check on tomatoes & carefully (you don't want them to burst) turn over with a spatula every 10-15 minutes. Tomatoes are done when skin is blistery & a little browned. Set aside on a plate to cool. There will be a bunch of tomatoey liquid in the bottom of the cooking pan. Save this, too! Dump into the cup that has the bit of spicy oil. As your tomatoes cool, more liquid will pool on the plate. When you notice this, add it to the cup or the reduction, depending on where you are in the process.

On a cutting board, chop up your cilantro*. Put cilantro to the side, and without cleaning the board, chop your garlic cloves very finely. Melt butter in saucepan and sautee garlic until it's soft and golden. Add tomato juice/spicy oil mixture you thought I was insane to have you save. Simmer until it becomes nice and thick. Probably a good 30-45 minutes. Add corn. Cook until corn is all happy & plump & has completely forgotten it was recently sad & frozen.

Once the tomatoes are cool (and be careful - they remain hot inside for awhile) peel away the skin & dump tomatoes into a blender or food processor. Chop roasted onions coarsely & add to tomatoes. Chop chipotle coarsely & add it to the blender, along with a couple teaspoons of its sauce. Add cilantro & lime juice. Briefly mix on lowest setting of blender/processor - no more than a minute.

Pour mixture into bowl, stir in corn mixture. Add salt to taste. You also might want to throw in more lime, cilantro, some additional hot sauce. Your call. It'll probably still be pretty warm, so cover & keep in fridge until it's cool.

If you make this salsa according to my directions above, it will be moderately hot - probably a strong "medium." So, adjust the chipotle & cayenne powder according to your heat tolerance. If you want it to be mild, I'd halve the amounts of both. If you like things really hot, you probably know better than I do how hot you want to make it. :)

* Cilantro generally comes in big bunches that are far more than you need at any given time. Consequently, much of it often goes to waste. It's one of those secret, shameful kitchen tragedies no one's comfortable talking about. Here's a solution! Whenever you get a bunch, wash & dry all of it, then finely chop all of it. Use the amount you needed & put the rest in a plastic storage container & stick in the freezer! Then, whenever you need some, you can just use some of the frozen. It will still taste fresh & lovely.

You can do this, by the way, with just about any herb, and for those of you lucky enough to have your own herb gardens, this would be a great thing to do at the end of the season before the first frost kills all your plants.

bibliosylph's Baba Ghanouj

This recipe is from Mediterranean Light by Martha Rose Shulman. My hardbound copy is nearly 20 years old, but I just learned you can find a paperback of it here.

2 lbs (2 medium-large) eggplant
juice of 1-2 lemons, to taste
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tbs plain yogurt
2 Tbs tahini (sesame paste)
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 tomato, chopped
1 green pepper, minced
2 Tbs chopped fresh parsley

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Cut the eggplants in half and score on the cut side with a sharp knife, down to the skin but not through it. Place the eggplants cut side down on an oiled baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes, until charred and shriveled. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Remove the eggplant flesh from the skins, discard seeds, and mash flesh to a puree in a mortar and pestle, blender, or food processor. Stir in the lemon juice, garlic, yogurt, tahini, salt and pepper to taste, tomato, and green pepper. Mound in a bowl and sprinkle the parsley on top. Serve with crudites, pita, croutons, etc. This dish will keep in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days.

valeriel's Potstickers

The first time I had potstickers was at TGIFridays. I loved them & thought, “I could make these.” I found a recipe for them in a Martha Stewart cookbook, which is where I culled the basic recipe. Except old Martha makes her wonton wrappers from scratch – I’m not doing that!

Potstickers:

• 1 lb. ground meat (I use ground turkey)
• 1 cup scallions, chopped
• 1-3 T garlic (fresh preferably, but powdered works fine)
• 1 T ground ginger
• 1 package wonton wrappers
• 1 egg white
• cooking oil to fry potstickers

Dipping sauce:

• 1 cup soy sauce
• ⅓ rice vinegar
• ½ cup scallions, chopped

(These measurements are not exact because I always season to taste.)

To make dipping sauce, combine all the ingredients and set aside.

Mix the meat, scallions, garlic and ginger together well in a bowl. I usually season to smell: I want to be able to smell the garlic and the ginger in the meat.

To fill the wrapper: place approximately ½ tablespoon of the meat mixture in the center of the wrapper. Fold the wrapper in half, making a triangle, and seal the edges with egg white. Then, fold all 3 points over into the center. It should look like a little package. Brush the folded side with egg white. It’s ready to fry!

You can boil or fry potstickers, but I have not had great success with boiling. You can fry them with a little oil in a skillet but it’s easier and quicker if you deep fry them. You’ll know when the potstickers are done; they will turn golden brown and float easily.

Every time I have made these, everyone ALWAYS RAVES. Then they expect you to bring them every time there is a “get together.” The potstickers are not hard to make, but it can be time-consuming. It’s easier if more than one person helps to make the potstickers or one person folds while the other one fries. I have great memories of friends forming an assembly line and making potstickers. I have also, more than once, spent an evening making several pounds of potstickers all by myself.

Suggestions!

• Don’t overfill the wrappers. If they are too full, they will bust while frying, making a mess of your oil.
• Season your meat, but not too well. The dipping sauce will be on the salty side and the potstickers will be inedible if you season the meat too heavily. Even if you under-season (horror of horrors!), the sauce will save the potstickers.
• You can make the potstickers ahead of time & freeze them to fry later. I sometimes stick them in the freezer for a few minutes as I make then so they will hold their shape better.
• Have a pile ready once you start frying because they cook quickly. You don’t want to have a hot pot of oil going while you are frantically trying to make enough potstickers.
• Any unused dipping sauce can be put in the freezer for future use.

Examorata's Cream cheese in a pastry shell

Hi-ho, Examorata here again, with another recipe that's actually from a friend. I have some too! I swear! They're in a little book at home, and I'll get to them one day.
This is the best. Appetizer. Ever. If you like cream cheese that is.

1 4 oz. package Pillsbury crescent rolls
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1/2 tsp. chives
1 egg yolk, beaten

The Pillsbury Cresent Rolls come out of the little popable tube in big triangles (for rolling into crescents!). What you want to do is take four of these triangles and make them into a square, letting them overlap at the seams. Roll this square of dough out a bit, paying special attention to the seams so they don't split apart. Sprinkle the chives on one side of the cream cheese and place the block of cream cheese, chives-side-down, on the dough. Bring the sides of the dough up and press together, wrapping the cream cheese. Like a present! A present full of cheese. Yum. Place the little present - with the seams where you pressed the dough together facing down - onto a baking sheet. Brush the top with beaten egg yolk. Bake 20-22 minutes at 350 until pastry is done and golden brown.

Note: We have this at my bookclub all the time. We have tried a number of spices - chives is my favorite, but it also works with dill or basil or oregano. Some spices work better than others - experiment! Serve this warm, with wheaty crackers - killer!

Happy Birthday, Britomart!!

Britomart's News Cafe Appetizer that a Monkey Could Make

Seriously, sooo simple.

I stole this from Miami Beach's News Cafe, one of my favorite cafes. They have a pretty simple menu, but they always use ridiculously fresh & great ingredients. Definitely eat there if you're ever in the area. I should disclaim that I never got a "recipe," so don't blame them if you don't like. :)

• Mom o' Britomart's Basic Tomato Sauce
• I loaf crusty French baguette
• Goat cheese
• Fresh basil

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut baguette into generous slices, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches. Hollow out a little pocket in the bread about the diameter of a quarter (sorry for the American coin bias - about the size of a British 50p coin or a 2 euro coin. I don't know any other currencies well enough. Sorry!) and about a cm or two above the bottom of the piece of bread. Fill little pocket with goat cheese. Place on baking sheet & cook for about 5 minutes.

While baking, heat up (unless you just made some & it's still hot) the tomato sauce. Tear basil into narrow strips, no more than an inch long.

Remove bread from oven. Cover plate with tomato sauce (a generous layer - a couple centimeters) and place baguette slices on top of sauce. Drizzle a small amount of extra sauce in artistic fashion over bread. Jauntily toss ripped basil pieces (quite a generous amount, the basil makes this dish!) all over plate. Serve.