Whipped Ricotta Appetizer

Perfect Pairing:  Flavored balsamic vinegar

People ask me all the time how I come up with recipes or ideas for the blog.  I am all over the board.  Many of the recipes featured here are family favorites that we have been making for years, recipes that have been passed down, inspired by a restaurant dish I devoured, or simply a product of my noggin.  This particular appetizer was inspired by a restaurant dish, but one that I have never tried. 

I was reading a review for a local restaurant and the writer was raving about a simple appetizer of whipped ricotta, grilled bread and honeycomb.  After reading that I was just looking for a reason to make it myself.  I have since made it four or five times.  It is so simple, rustic, and delicious. 

Ricotta is whirred in the food processor until completely smooth and then simply seasoned with salt and pepper.  I serve it on a tray loaded with grilled bread, honey, and balsamic vinegar.  I let guests make up their own bites based on their personal preference.

 

This appetizer is the perfect opportunity to show off that fancy vinegar gathering dust in your pantry.  I personally love vanilla fig balsamic.  I have raved about that stuff before.  It is scrumptious. 

On Thanksgiving I was feeling fancy and also included prosciutto and sliced figs.  Why not?

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Salted Roasted Pecans

Perfect Pairing:  Chocolate Sauce

These little guys are a good thing. 

They are great to have on hand in the freezer.   I would suggest buying the pecan halves at Costco or Sam’s.  They are much cheaper in bulk.

Salted Roasted Pecans are great on their own, would be fabulous on a cheese plate, or wrapped up as a hostess gift.  I paired them here with chocolate sauce and ice cream, which is a no brainer!  I have also used them on top of a yogurt parfait, and tossed in a spinach salad with pomegranate aerils, dried cranberries, and this dressing.  Delicious!

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Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies

Perfect Pairing:  St. Patrick’s Day

Despite having ANOTHER snow storm in Chicago, the standard St. Patrick’s Day celebrations will go on as planned this weekend.  That includes dying the river green and filling every Irish pub to the brim starting around 8:00 AM.  Chicagoans are pretty crazy about this holiday.  Two years ago it was 80+ degrees on the big day, so it gives me hope that the foot of snow and ice in my front yard could be gone soon!

Last year I featured Brown Butter Rice Krispy Treats that were tinted green for the holiday.

Two years ago I provided a recipe for Edamame Hummus, which was a lovely shade of green as well.

This year’s recipe is one my favorite cookies, Oatmeal Shortbread.  This cookie has been a staple on our Christmas cookie plate for as long as I can remember.  At Christmas we keep the circle shape and use red and green sugar.

These cookies are deliciously crisp and light.  You will love them any time of the year.  The dough is easy to whip up, then you form into rolls.

Coat the rolls in colored sugar.

Slice (shape into shamrocks, if you so desire) and bake!

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Slow Cooker Calico Bean Bake

Perfect Pairing:  Thorough rinsing

So it turns out Slow Cooker Calico Bean Bake is not an easy thing to photograph.  It must have something to do with it being all one color, not holding any shape, and let’s face it, it is just not very beautiful.  My cousin took these pictures for me because she is awesome at photography, and I was baffled on how to take a good picture of it.  Fortunately, it tastes about 100x better than it photographs! 

Part of my job requires me to spend long days in production studios.  I assure you, I am not doing anything too exciting in said studios.  My absolute favorite studio is here in Chicago.  They have an amazing facility with multiple stages and sets.  One of those sets is a gorgeous, fully functional, kitchen. 

Next to the gourmet kitchen is a prop room.  An entire room dedicated to kitchen props!  I pretty much lose my mind over that room.  Each time I am at that studio I daydream about how awesome it would be to photograph my recipes there.  The backdrops!  The lighting!  The utensils!  The plates!  The trays!  Nerd alert.

Perhaps I could even make Slow Cooker Calico Bean Bake looks gorg in that environment.  This is definitely a family favorite.  It is so good!  Even my little cousin Callie loved it!  I mean…. She REALLY loved it.  We lost track of how many bowls she polished off. 

Now this dish will forever be known as Callie Bean Bake instead of Calico Bean Bake!  This recipe is so flipping easy.  After browning the meat and cooking the bacon you just throw everything in the slow cooker and let the flavors develop.  It is fantastic served alongside anything you take off of the grill.  I recommend thoroughly draining and rinsing the beans.  This removes a good amount of sodium and can make it easier to digest. 

 

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Chocolate Sauce

Perfect Pairing:  Oreo Ice Cream Pie

This chocolate sauce is so easy to make and it is about 100x better than the store-bought version.  My family has been making this for years.  The original recipe card (that we still use) was written on a typewriter.  I believe the original came from my Grandma Rosie.  Who, by the way, was also the originator of Grandma Rosie’s Ice Cream Dessert.  The perfect pairing on that post was chocolate sauce.  They are a great combo.

Over Christmas I needed to make a dessert to serve a large group of people.  I wanted to find something I could do in advance.  I decided to make Oreo Ice Cream Pies.  They are not fancy, but they are really tasty.  They do get fancied up a bit when you drizzle on the homemade chocolate sauce. 

There is no recipe for these pies.  I started with pre-made Oreo crusts, a few half gallons of ice cream in various flavors, and Oreos.  

I used one crust for each half gallon of ice cream.  I let the ice cream sit out to soften a bit.  Once the ice cream starts to soften I transferred it to a large bowl and stirred with a wooden spoon until it was spreadable, but not melted.   

Half of the ice cream went into the pie shell, then that was topped with a handful (okay, maybe two handfuls) of chopped Oreos, another layer of ice cream, and then a few Oreos on top for good measure.  Then back to the freezer.  Dessert for 20+ people in just a few minutes!

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Sausage Caprese Bites

Perfect Pairing:  Marinated mini bocconcini

I am a big fan of pre cooked chicken sausage.  I use them all the time. 

Sometimes just as a quick appetizer.

Or as the protein in a healthy soup.

They come in a ton of flavors like apple and cheddar, cognac and cranberry, or you can keep it simple with spicy or Italian flavored.  They are all pretty healthy.  I like to get the natural varieties.  I am using them here in a quick appetizer.  Even though they are fully cooked I sauté them a bit to give them some caramelization.  Spell-check is telling me that caramelization is not a word.  I do not agree with this.

I drizzled some pesto on top, but you could certainly skip that step.  You could also add a little basil leaf to the skewer.  I used marinated mini bocconcini which were perfect in this recipe.  No need to slice up fresh mozzarella, and they just look really cute.  They are marinated in a seasoned olive oil.  I removed some of the oil by resting them on paper towels before threading them on the toothpicks.

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Morning Glory Muffins

Perfect Pairing: Spring loaded scoop

Last spring I had breakfast at a local diner where instead of toast you could substitute a morning glory muffin.  I thought that sounded nice, so I tried it out.  I absolutely loved it!  I studied it thinking I wanted to try to recreate it at home.  Turns out, morning glory muffins are a real thing and this place did not make them up, and there are many recipes for them online. 

I found a recipe that sounded closest to what I had at the restaurant and gave it a shot.  They were equally delicious!  These muffins are filled with good stuff like shredded carrots, apples, raisins, walnuts, and coconut.  The diner muffins had a crunchy sugar topping so I added that to my version along with some rolled oats on top.

Using a spring loaded scoop is the fastest and most efficient way to get the batter into the tins.  I have talked about my love of these scoops here, here, here…. Oh, and here.  I like them a lot.  

 

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