Almond and Olive Tapenade

Yesterday while browsing the aisle's of Whole Foods for something I have never tried before.I found a Spread/Dip called Scarpetta .Made from olives,almonds and olive oil.It is a rich and nutty flavor and is quite delicious.It is recommended that it is served with cheese and crackers,raw vegetables or on a Tartine. Also can be used as a spreadable condiment for sandwiches and panini.

$5.99 approx 6.3 oz

Always on the lookout to copy it at home I came up with this recipe...Enjoy

Serve this simple but unique spread with zucchini or cucumber rounds or fire-toasted thin baguette slices.

1/2 cup, for 6 appetizer servings
Active Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pitted briny green olives
• 1/4 cup Marcona almonds, or other almonds, toasted (see Ingredient Note and Kitchen Tip)
• 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

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Preparation

1. Combine olives, almonds, tarragon and lemon juice in a food processor. Pulse until roughly chopped. Add oil in a steady stream and process just until the oil is absorbed. (Alternatively, finely chop the olives, almonds and tarragon by hand and combine with lemon juice and oil in a medium bowl.) The spread should have a coarse but easily spoonable texture. Let stand for about 30 minutes for the flavor to develop.

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.

• Ingredient note: Spanish Marcona almonds have recently become more popular and more available. They're a little flatter than ordinary almonds, with a richer flavor. Always skinned, most Marcona almonds have already been sautéed in oil and lightly salted when you get them.
• Kitchen Tip: To toast almonds, spread on a baking sheet and bake at 350°F, stirring once, until fragrant, 7 to 9 minutes.

Nutrition

Per serving: 71 calories; 7 g fat (1 g sat, 5 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 2 g carbohydrates; 1 g protein; 1 g fiber; 147 mg sodium; 7 mg potassium.
Exchanges: 1 1/2 fat

Roasted Pepper Salami Bites with Chimichurri

• Yield:

  12 servings
  

Times:

Prep

10 min

Inactive Prep

--

Cook

35 min

Total:

45 min

Ingredients

For the Salami Bites:

nocoupons

• 12 slices Genoa salami
• 1 jarred red bell pepper, roughly chopped
• 6 ounces queso fresco cheese, crumbled

For the Chimichurri Dressing:

nocoupons

• 3 scallions, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, loosely packed
• 1/4 cup oregano leaves, loosely packed
• 1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• salt, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place salami slices on a cooling rack set on top of a baking sheet and place in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until edges curl up and salami is crispy but not burned. Remove from oven and set aside.

Meanwhile make the Chimichurri Dressing: combine all ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside.

To assemble Salami Bites, top each salami crisp with a rounded spoonful of chopped peppers and a tablespoon of crumbled queso fresco. Drizzle a tablespoon of Chimichurri Dressing over the top of each and serve.

Brie Tartlet with Grape Relish

Prep: 30 min., Bake: 23 min., Cool: 15 min.

Yield: Makes 8 appetizer servings

Ingredients

• 1/4  cup  chopped walnuts
• 1/2  (15-oz.) package refrigerated piecrusts
• 1/2  (8-oz.) Brie round, rind removed
• 3/4  cup  seedless red grapes, chopped
• 1  green onion, minced
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  balsamic vinegar
• 1  teaspoon  chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground pepper
• Garnish: fresh rosemary sprigs

Preparation

1. Place walnuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant. Increase oven temperature to 425°.
2. Unroll piecrust on a flat surface. Cut into 24 rounds using a 2-inch round cutter. Press rounds into bottoms of ungreased miniature muffin cups (dough will come slightly up sides, forming a cup). Prick bottom of dough with a fork.
3. Bake at 425° for 6 to 7 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans, and cool on a wire rack 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300°.
4. Meanwhile, cut Brie round into 24 pieces. Stir together grapes and next 4 ingredients.
5. Arrange pastry shells on a baking sheet. Place 1 Brie piece in each pastry cup; sprinkle Brie pieces evenly with toasted walnuts.
6. Bake at 300° for 4 to 6 minutes or just until cheese begins to melt. Top tarts evenly with grape mixture. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately.

Sheri Castle, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Southern Living, NOVEMBER 2007

Marinated Mozzarella

Marinated Mozzarella

“I always come home with an empty container when I bring this dish to a party-and I've used the recipe for years," says Peggy Cairo in Kenosha, Wisconsin. "It can be made ahead to free up time later. I serve it with pretty party picks for a festive, holiday look.”

8-10 ServingsPrep: 15 min. + marinating

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup Crisco® Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Canola Oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon minced chives
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 pound cubed part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions

• In a large resealable plastic bag, combine the first seven
• ingredients; add cheese cubes. Seal bag and turn to coat;
• refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• 
  
• Transfer to a serving dish; serve with toothpicks. Yield: 8-10
• servings.

Blue Chese and Bacon Mini Corn Dogs

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This Recipe would be great for a Football Game on TV or watching the Amazing Race!

Warm Black Misssion Fig,Walnut Crunch,and Blue Cheese Tartlet

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Lobster Corn Dog

We had these at a Wine Tasting at Caviar and Bananas.Delicious and quite easy to make.

Lobster Corn Dog

This is a signature Michael Mina recipe, appearing as an amuse bouche at his signature San Francisco restaurant and as an appetizer at Seablue. A playful dish, this is a sophisticated take on a State Fair classic, with a crisp outer crust and a central sausage of sweet lobster meat. Considering the quality of the ingredients, the preparation is surprisingly simple.

Serves:	18	Vegetarian:	No
Preparation Time:	00:40	Cuisine:	Seafood
Difficulty:	Moderate	Meal Type:	Dinner
Main Ingredient:	lobster	Dish Type:	Appetizer
Main Cooking Method:	Deep Fry	Season/Occasion:	Any Occasion

Lobster Corn Dogs

Ingredients

• 1 recipe Lobster Sausage (recipe below)
• 1 recipe corn dog batter (recipe below)
• 1 recipe whole grain mustard sauce (recipe below)
• (as needed) peanut oil for deep frying

Directions

Cut the lobster sausage (see recipe) into 1-inch lengths. Remove plastic and insert a shortened popsicle stick into each piece. Holding onto the stick, dip each dog into batter (see recipe) and with a twist, evenly coat the sausage. Quickly submerge the dogs in a 350-degree vegetable oil fryer. With a slotted spoon, keep the dogs gently moving in the oil to obtain an even golden brown color. Remove when golden and serve with mustard sauce (see recipe).

Note

If you do not have a home fryer, a make-shift one can be made rather simply by using a pot of peanut oil, a burner, and a candy thermometer. Make sure to have enough oil in the pot to completely submerge the corndogs.

Lobster Sausage

Ingredients

• 2/3 lb. lobster meat, cooked
• 1/3 lb. raw shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 1/2 C. heavy cream
• (to taste) salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp. fennel, lightly sautéed (no color during cooking)
• 2 tsp. fresh tarragon, picked and chopped

Directions

In a food processor, puree the cooked lobster until smooth. Remove from processor into a mixing bowl. In the food processor, add the raw shrimp and puree, adding the cream slowly until the mixture is smooth. Scrape mixture from processor into the mixing bowl containing the lobster puree. Season mixture with salt and pepper. Add sautéed fennel and tarragon. Using a rubber spatula, fold ingredients together to make a homogenous mix.

To shape the sausage:

Transfer the sausage mixture from the mixing bowl to a piping bag. The piping bag does not need a tip. If you have a disposable bag, the tip will need to be cut. Cut the tip off so that you are left with a whole the diameter of a nickel.

On a clean work surface, lay out flat a piece of plastic wrap approximately 18 inches long (running away from you on the table). Working at the end closest to you, squeeze a long, sausage-like portion of mixture from the piping bag onto the plastic wrap from right to left. Begin one inch from the left side and end an inch before you reach the right side of the plastic in order to tie it off later.

Tightly roll up the sausage in the plastic, twisting the ends to make it tight. Tie off the ends to secure the wrap.

To cook the sausage:

In a large pot of boiling water, simmer the sausage (in the plastic) for 7 minutes. Remove from the water and plunge into iced water. Remove after 5 minutes.

Corn Dog Batter

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 C. yellow corn meal
• 3 C. all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 C. sugar
• 3 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 4 C. milk
• 4 eggs

Directions

In a mixing bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients together. In a separate mixing bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients. Next, add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until smooth.

Whole Grain Mustard Sauce

Ingredients

• 7 oz. Crème fraiche
• 10 1/4 oz. whole grain mustard
• 3.5 oz. dijon mustard

Directions

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl.

Shrimp Spring Rolls