All posts in Appetizers

Deviled Egg Salad on Rye

Okay let’s be real here. What’s one of the best party foods? You know, that go to thing that never misses the mark. That one you always watched your mom make. That one where you when you see them you thinks “oh, yes!” & pop it in your mouth? (that’s what she said).

Deviled eggs. They are classic, easy, & oh so good. But don’t worry, I’m not thinking about re-inventing the wheel, I’m just thinking of putting a little spit-shine on it.

So I present to you a little mini deviled egg salad on rye. Er, I present to you a bunch of them. Because let’s be honest, you can’t eat just one. & what I mean by that is I had a really hard time cutting myself off. So you should probably put a little warning label next to them . Just saying.

What You Need

1 dozen eggs
1/2 cup mayo
1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire
1/4 cup chopped green onions (or chives), save some for garnishing
Salt+Pepper to taste
Mini rye toasts (I found these at the grocery store but you could just take regular rye & cut down smaller pieces).

What You Do

In a saucepan, cover the eggs with cold water and bring to a rolling boil.
Cover, remove from the heat and let stand for 15 minutes. Then drain & run under cold water until cool.
Peel the eggs,cut lengthwise, & separate the yolks as you would for traditional deviled eggs.
Mix yolks with mayo, buth mustards, worcestershire, green onions, & salt & pepper until smooth & creamy.
Chop eggs whites & then combine with mixture. You may find that you need less mixture than you have so it’s not overkill with the egg whites.
Soon on top of mini rye toasts (I found some in the grocery store, but you could easily just cut some bread down, or heck, just make a regular sammich).
Garnish with a bit more green onions & paprika.
Serve immediately or cover & refigerate.

Tip: When the eggs are finished, immediately drain them and gently shake the pan to lightly crack the shells. Fill the pan with cold water and shake lightly to loosen the eggshells. This makes it SO much easier to peel. Which, if you’re like me, is SERIOUSLY frustrating.

186 days ago 2 3

Sammich Wraps

The day finally came. I never thought it would, but alas, it did. I purchased a Microsoft product. Gasp. You see, I’ve been an Apple girl all my life, from when I played Oregon Trail on my little Macintosh that went “EEEP!” to the Powerbook I saved all my money for after high school graduation. I am loving & loyal. There is just this one little eentsy weentsy teeny tiny issue I have. Apple TV just will not support HBO GO. & it drives me bonkers. So the day finally came that I broke down & bought an xbox.

Let me tell you how I bought this xbox though. I’m not very big on “cheating the system” but I wasn’t too keen about blowing two hundred bucks on a device I would use purely for DVDs & HBO. So for the last couple months or so, the Microsoft store out here has had that smartphone challenge, to see if your phone is faster than their Windows phone. Just for participating in it, you got $25, win or lose. They also ran a Bing vs Google challenge that also churned out $25 gift cards. So I began taking a challenge here or there, & collecting gift cards. & I managed to get an xbox for a hundred bucks. SO worth it.

The day I went to get it, there was a little party happening at the store, with a bunch of tournaments benefitting charity. They had pretzels, drinks, & these delicious little sandwich wraps. I know they are everywhere, it’s the easiest party food ever. But they are just so good! I had one & I just wanted more. Literally. So I hit up the grocery store & bought all the ingredients. & then I had them for lunch the next three days. I think it’s the cream cheese. These can get a bit soggy if you leave them overnight, so I definitely recommend only a few hours. Also feel free to mix it all up, add pepper or olives or cucumber. Use a pesto or hummus instead of cream cheese. Have fun with these, it’s party food! Or in my case, lunch for the next three days.

What You Need:

Tortilla Wraps (regular, whole wheat, spinach, sundried tomato — variety is your friend)
Shredded lettuce
Tomatoes, julienned (easier to roll)
Deli sliced meat of your choice (I did roast beef, turkey, & chicken)
Deli sliced cheese of your choice (I did colby jack, probolone, & perp per jack)
Cream cheese (switch it up, I used an herb cream cheese)

What You Do:

Spread the cream cheese around on the tortilla.
Lay the meat out in a flat layer. Feel free to rip it so you get even coverage.
Layer the cheese on next. Same goal of even coverage.
Next, layer the shredded lettuce, then add the tomato.
Rop up really tightly & then wrap with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate for about 3-4 hours. Then slice & serve.

200 days ago 0 2

Pretzel Bites & Beer Cheese Fondue

Three words: Cards Against Humanity. If you don’t know about it, you should probably go learn about it. It’s like an adult version of apples to apples? I’ve never played apples to apples, but that’s what I hear it compared to. So when I say “adult” I clearly mean the most awesome sophomoric humour imaginable, intertwined with current trends & events & people. An anything goes, unending laughs kinda time. You know, the best kinda time. I played it for the first time at a potluck last week, & immediately ordered the game & expansions packs that evening. It’s a great ice breaker too, when it’s a mix of people that don’t all know each other. Which is what happened at this potluck, & totally reaffirmed my belief that good food & laughs bring everyone together.

When we started planning this potluck, we wanted to theme the food & we did with the best one possible: all appetizers! This put me at a very difficult decision: what on earth would I bring? The possibilities were never ending & I wanted to bring everything. Which.. . I sorta did, completely going overboard. I brought my favorite bean dip, which I feel must always be a given everywhere I go because everyone should taste this deliciousness. & then I wanted to bring a sweet, so I brought the strawberries & (banana) cream, because we all know how obsessed I am with this sauce/dip right now. But of course this was the perfect excuse to venture into new territory & I wasn’t going to lose out on that opportunity. Which brings me to pretzels. & cheese.

Did I mention the cheese? The delicious oooey gooey cheese that’s perfect to dunk these soft chewy pretzels (& crunchy tart apples) in? It’s beer based which practically assumes it’s deliciousness. But I don’t want you to lose sight of these pretzels. These babies turned out so perfectly, everything a pretzel should be.

I don’t want to brag or anything, but there weren’t any of these darling little things left over.

What You Need:

For the Pretzels (from Two Peas & Their Pod):

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Vegetable oil
3 quarts water
3/4 cup baking soda
1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water
Coarse sea salt

For the Cheese Fondue:

8 ounces of beer (I used a local unfiltered wheat)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons dry mustard powder
A little bit of liquid smoke (optional)
4 tablespoon flour
16 ounces grated/shredded cheese (I used two bags of Kraft triple cheddar, feel free to experiment with types of cheese, I’m thinking a pepper jack next time)

What You Do:

For the Pretzels (from Two Peas & Their Pod):

Combine the warm water water, sugar, yeast, and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and mix with the dough hook until combined. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time.
Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.
Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil.
Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Bring the rest of the water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.
Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.
Roll each piece into a long rope.
Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make the pretzel bites.
Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches, for about thirty seconds.
Remove with a large slotted spoon.
Place pretzel bites on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray, make sure they are not touching.
Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt.
Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.
Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating.

For the Cheese Fondue:

On a double boiler, combine beer, worcestershire sauce, mustard powder, & garlic.
Mix together shredded cheese with flour until well coated. The flour helps to thicken it up.
When the beer mixture is warm, begin adding the cheese in. Whisk very well.
Once it’s incorporated, add in more cheese.
Continue doing this until all the cheese is combined, & the mixture is smooth.
Serve immediately

207 days ago 0 0

Baked Jalapeño Popper Wontons // AsAVerb.com

Baked Jalapeño Popper Wontons

I used to not really be able to tolerate spicy at all. I always wanted to, but was really a wimp when it came to spicy. I remember going to Applebees reverse happy hour Friday nights in high school & the appetizers would be half off, including the jalapeño poppers. Something about the fried cream cheese goodness & the tease of being able to handle the jalapeño made me order them every time. I just WANTED to be able to be like “yeah, I like spicy food.” I’m not going to pretend like I didn’t have to douse them in ranch in order to handle it. Since then, I have still forced myself to conquer the spicy food wimpiness. While there are some things that still knock my socks off (ie: real authentic spicy Mexican food), I have come a long long way. At least, jalapeño poppers don’t scare me anymore. In fact, I freaking love them. If they are on a menu, I always want to order them. Especially when paired with some berry dipping sauce to play off sweet & spicy. But the fried goodness is definitely something I have been trying to stray away from so I began thinking how to make these healthier. Of course baked came right to mind. But I also didn’t want them to be as time consuming as dipping into an egg wash & then making sure they were evenly coated with bread crumbs. What solves that? Why, wonton wrappers of course! Okay okay, I may or may not have seen the idea floating around Pinterest last year. So I knew it could work & wouldn’t be much trial & error. Turns out, they were pretty addictive too. I blame their cute mini form.

What You Need:

A mini muffin pan (or one appropriate to the size of your wonton wrappers)
Wonton wrappers
Bacon
Jalapeños
8oz cream cheese
1-2 limes, juiced
1 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
Salt + Pepper
1-2 tsp garlic powder

What You Do:

First & foremost grease your muffin pan.
Preheat oven to 400°.
Par cook the bacon about halfway. Then cut into about half inch pieces (roughly the size of the bottom of the muffin).
De-seed the jalapeños & also cut into the same size as the bacon.
In a bowl, mix the cream cheese, lime juice, cilantro, salt+pepper, & garlic until thoroughly combined.
Place the wonton wrapper into each muffin divet & make sure it has a “base.”
Then place the jalapeño & bacon pieces on top of each other in each wonton cup.
Spoon about 1/2 tbsp of cream cheese mixture into each one.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes until wontop wrappes have browned.
Serve with a spicy berry compote or enjoy as is!

You could also easily make these vegetarian by ignoring the bacon. You could also chop up the bacon & jalapeños & combine it with the cream cheese too, just cook the bacon all the way through. Kinda like my jalapeño popper dip.

231 days ago 0 0

Doritos Locos Nachos

So I know I’m really late to the party, but I just finally tried a Doritos Locos Taco from Taco Bell the other day. I’d been pretty stoked about it, heard a lot of great things, so I naturally had a lot of anticipation built up around it. I unwrapped it, inhaled, & took a giant bite waiting for that satisfactory “crunch”.. . It never happened. Bite after bite & I just couldn’t believe how utterly disappointed I was with it. My guy says that I just got a faulty one because every time he’s had it, he’s loved it. But.. . the damage was done. & my brain juices were taking off. How amazing this could be in nacho form! I had to give it a shot, there was no stopping this. Oh me oh my can I just say that this was everything I wanted it to be & more. Every bite was perfect with the purity of every ingredient in tact. & the best part? So freakin easy to make! Cook up some ground beef, chop up a couple stuff & you are ready to go. Quick & easy & oh so delicious. I couldn’t get enough.

What You Need:

1 bag Doritos
1lb ground beef (or ground turkey)
1 onion, chopped
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 package shredded cheese (I used the mexican blend)
1 large tomato, diced
1/4 head of iceberg lettuce, shreded
sour cream (optional)
2 jalapeños, sliced (optional)
1 tbsp olive oil (to sauté the jalapeños in)

What You Do:

Cook the ground beef (or turkey).
When the meat is almost done, add in the onions to cook.
Add the taco seasoning until well mixed (I used about 3/4 of the package, personally).
If you’re sautéing the jalapeños (I like to, I prefer that flavor to a fresh jalapeño), heat up the olive oil & then add the jalapeño slices. I threw a little bit of minced garlic in there as well. Once they started to blacken, I took them off the heat.
Then comes the fun part: pile on as you like! I like to put the cheese on top of the meat so it melts a little, but then of course I add more to the top.
Top off with some guacamole or black olives if you want too! This baby is a win win no matter what.

254 days ago 5 2

5 Minute Bruschetta

I am such a sucker for bruschetta. It’s pretty much one of my favorite appetizers/snacks/oh heck I could make it a meal. Sometimes I don’t even need the bread, I just want to gobble up the chopped tomato-basil goodness. It always seemed so complex in my head; like how could I ever replicate it at home & all that time & all those ingredients & ugh, no thank you. & then I was eyeballing some garden fresh basil & tomatoes & that’s when it hit me: I could make this in a snap, with just a few things that were already sitting in my kitchen. So on a whim I chopped up a tomato & some basil, tossed some minced garlic in with a little olive oil & salt+pepper & I was in bruschetta heaven. & then the second feeling hit me: I’ve been ripping myself off paying nine bucks for this at the restaurants! I’ve been cheated! & now I’m wondering what else I can so easily re-create.. .

The other awesome thing about this is that it’s so perfect for just a single serving. & it totally hits the spot. But it’s easy to share too & easy to make more of. & easy to add some flare to. Toast up a baguette, add some mozzarella, layer with a little salami or cream cheese, or get crazy & do both!

What You Need:

One large tomato, diced (I noticed that draining the tomato helped a lot too)
3-4 large basil leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic, minced (I totally used that pre-minced jar stuff)
1 teaspoon olive oil
Salt+Pepper to taste

What You Do:

Mix all the ingredients together, super simple!
For the bread I just sliced up a baguette, brushed a little olive oil on each side & heated them up on a pan til each side browned.
Serve & enjoy!

271 days ago 0 4

The Best Bean Dip. Ever.

The Best Bean Dip. Ever.

Makes a 9×13 pan or two 8×8 pans.

What You Need:

1 can (16oz) Refried Beans
1 can (4oz) Diced Green Chilies
12 oz Salsa
2 small tomatoes, diced
1/2 container of Marzetti Guacamole Veggie Dip (this is the key ingredient in my opinion, but feel free to use a different guacamole or sour cream instead)
8-12 oz shredded cheese, Mexican style

What You Do: