Tag: appetizer

Categories
Recipes

broiled mushrooms with mozzarella

Because my commute to and from the office is just over two miles, I listen to a lot of podcasts. One of my favorites is the Spilled Milk Podcast by food writers Molly Wizenberg and Matthew Amster-Burton. Tasty recipes usually make an appearance, but  most importantly, plenty of bad jokes and giggling are guaranteed. I recommend you listen in.

This recipe is from a recent episode. I listened to it on my way home from work and had to immediately go to the store and get the necessary ingredients because it sounded so good. Cheesy, earthy and under 15 minutes to prepare, this dish is perfect for a weeknight (or a lazy night). We had it as a main course with plenty bread and a salad, but it would also be a solid appetizer.

Broiled Mushrooms with Mozzarella, from the Spilled Milk Podcast
2 cups cremini mushrooms
4 oz fresh mozzarella (You could also use regular mozzarella if you didn’t want to spring for fresh)
2 t fresh thyme
olive oil, salt and pepper

Slice the mushrooms thinly, about 1/4″ thick. Place them on a lined baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil.

Tear the mozzarella into quarter-sized pieces and sprinkle over the mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and thyme.

Broil 5 – 8 minutes, until the cheese is bubble and golden in spots. Serve with bread.

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

fava beans with manchego cheese

It has been quite busy in Jobyland as of late. Two product launch campaigns and one major sale in a span of six weeks is a lot for one girl to handle. Thankfully, Jordan finished his semester last week and has been taking good care of me. Last Thursday, he made his famous paella. Paella is one of Jordan’s specialties, but this time he decided to experiment and cook the shrimp in a spicy tomato sauce, instead of cooking them along with the rice. Slathering paella rice with spicy tomato shrimp and a garlicy aioli after a long day of Photoshopping—yep, that’s a very good idea.

But, paella isn’t just one of those things you whip up. It takes a while to come together and so to tide a hungry Emily over, Jordan made marinated fava beans. They were simple and delicious, and only get better the more they sit.

Marinated Fava Beans with Manchego Cheese
1 cup shelled fava beans
1/4 – 1/2 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
zest of one lemon, removed with a vegetable pealer
1/2 t fennel seeds, rosemary leaves and oregano leaves
salt and pepper
1/4 cup manchego cheese, cut into tiny cubes

Put a large pot of water to boil. Remove the fava beans from their pods. Fava beans come in a large pod and then have another external shell that needs to be removed before you eat them—annoying but worth it. Blanche the favas for a few minutes in boiling water, drain and remove their outer shells. Place them in a medium glass bowl.

Add the herbs, lemon zest and cheese. Pour olive oil over the mixture and season with salt and pepper. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for a few hours for the flavors to meld together. Serve with bread or crackers as an appetizer, or as a salad alongside your favorite spanish dish.

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

devils on horseback, datiles, or bacon-wrapped dates

Starting off the new year right … with more pork! I’ve had this appetizer in several iterations over the years and it never disappoints. I’m actually surprised I haven’t sung its praises before. The first time I had this dish was at a tapas restaurant in Washington, D.C. I was a vegetarian at the time, but was convinced by some good friends to try the datiles regardless. They couldn’t have been more right—those datiles were date-bacon-donuts sent from heaven. That was the beginning of the end for my vegetarianism. More recently, our friends Matt and Alexa brought their version of those datiles so fondly etched into my memory to a dinner party, this time calling them devils on horseback. Basically, this mind-blowing, vegetarian-converting appetizer is a date stuffed with goat cheese wrapped in bacon, and then baked or fried to crispy perfection. They are insanely easy to make and everyone at the next party you go to will want to be your best friend.

Bacon-Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Goat Cheese
1 lb medjool dates, pits removed
1 lb bacon
8 oz chevre goat cheese

Using a sharp knife, slice the date to the pit and remove taking care to not cut through the date. Stuff the date with a small spoonful of goat cheese. I recommend stuffing the dates with slightly less goat cheese—some of mine oozed out while cooking and burned. No point in wasting cheese!

Wrap the date with one half bacon slice, securing with a toothpick. The prep can be done several hours or even the day before you plan to serve the dish, another appetizer plus!

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Bake the dates for 20 – 25 minutes, until the bacon is browned and crispy. Serve warm. I guarantee they won’t have time to get cold.

-Emily

Categories
Recipes

crostini with spicy salmon, lemon and avocado

I impulse bought an entire salmon in the Whole Foods parking lot the other day. While I don’t think that this particular urge affects many girls my age, I just couldn’t help myself. They were just so cute and so well-priced …

Jordan invented this little crostini. I have to say that salmon and lemon are a match made in heaven! He threw this together in just a few minutes and it looked and tasted dang impressive. Give it a go at your next dinner party.

Crostini with Spicy Salmon, Lemon and Avocado
10 pieces of rustic style bread, thinly sliced and toasted
1 lemon, halved lengthwise and then very very thinly sliced
1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
1/2 cup raw salmon, cubed (We used the beat up remains from slicing the fillet into pieces for sashimi. You need small, bite-sized pieces of fish to make this easy to eat).
1 t sriracha hot chili sauce
1 T soy sauce

In a small bowl, mix the salmon, sriracha and soy sauce. Layer each crostini with the spicy salmon, lemon slice, and top with avocado. Enjoy!

-Emily