Category Archives: Snacks, Dips & Hors d’oeuvres

This is the category for all recipes related to Snacks, Dips & Hors d’oeuvres

Buddy’s Roasted Jalapeños

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I had a good batch of chillies on year in the garden and needed to find a way to consume a copious amount in a hurry, and after several iterations, I came up with this (it’s similar to the Spanish Padron Recipe but with a kick).

Ingredients:
  • 3 Tbsp garlic olive oil
  • ~20 fresh jalapenos peppers,* left whole with stems and seeds intact
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp coarse sea salt for serving
  • 1 Tbsp Buddy’s Fried Garlic
  • 1 tsp ground Cumin
  • 2 large garlic cloves, minced
  • Juice from 1/2 lime
Preparation Oil:
  1. Heat heavy large skillet over high heat. Add Garlic Olive oil and swirl skillet to coat. Heat until oil is very hot and begins to shimmer, about 1 minute
  2. Add whole chillies and 1 teaspoon salt; stir constantly until chilis are blistered over half their surface, occasionally shaking skillet, about 2 minutes
  3. Add minced garlic and continue to stir until chilis are blistered all over, about 2 minutes longer (some chilis will be soft and some will be slightly firm, depending on size)
  4. Transfer chilis to paper towels to drain briefly, then place chilis in medium bowl
  5. Add 2 teaspoons lemon juice, 1tsp cumin and coarse sea salt and toss to coat then transfer to a serving bowl. Serve immediately

WARNING – This is like playing chilli roulette.  Some chillies get angry when you fry them (a term I learned from my Mexican friends) and as a result some of the REALLY angry ones tend to be MUCH spicier than anticipated while others have a nice bite to them.  That aside, these are HIGHLY addictive and every time I make them, I wish I had more to make as they go down so well with a nice cold beer.  And it is hilarious when the person that got the spicy one isn’t you (not so funny when it is).

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Mom’s Crab Salad

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When I was a little tike, my mom used to make a crab salad that was divine with Ritz crackers.

We were talking tonight and she shared here little piece of heaven.

Granted, not able to leave perfection alone, I have added my own slight modifications (noted accordingly) based on things I have seen or learnt over the years.

Servings: 4 – 6
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
  • 300g crabmeat, prawns or lobster (or combo)
  • 2 ribs celery, finely chopped
  • 1 Tbsp white onion, grated (when speaking to mom, we thought that I could tone this down for Zoey by sautéing them instead)
  • 1 Tbsp mayonnaise (Hellman’s real)
  • 1/2 Tbsp sour cream
  • 1/2 Tbsp hot sauce (my addition)
  • Salt and Pepper
  • ½ lemon – juiced to taste (my addition)
Directions:
  1. Dice celery and onion
  2. Brown onion in pan with olive oil on medium heat until fully translucent and just starting to brown (roughly 10 minutes) stirring constantly.
  3. Combine celery, onion, mayo, sour cream and hot sauce in a medium bowl.
  4. Add the seafood in the bowl and mix.
  5. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

You can serve this immediately. Great on crackers as a dip, filling for sandwiches or stuffed in ripe avocado!

Special thanks to my mom for sharing her secret!

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Lebanese Garlic Dip

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My father in-law sent me this recipe as I have been eating OODLES of garlic to help keep my cholesterol under control.

I wouldn’t recommend eating this as a dip as you will be blowing garlic flames, but it is outstanding on a kebab.

I made Moroccan chicken kebab’s on cous cous and served it with this sauce on the side, I liked it so much I did it a second time but added a fresh chilli to the mix to add a bit of spice.

Highly recommended but remember, a little goes a long way… Or… This is an excellent solution to ensure people keep their distances and could be a very good solution to avoid vampires!

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Buddy’s Salsa and Guacamole

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Whether it is Tacos, Burritos, Fajitas, Nachos or super simple tortilla chips, they just aren’t complete without Salsa and Guacamole. But if you buy the store bought stuff, I can forgive you if you skip it on occasion. These recipes will change that!

I started making salsa after my best friend in Colorado would make salsa for us to eat with chips as an after school snack, while I have strayed from that original recipe quite a bit, all salsa is basically made from at least 4 ingredients and as his recipe had those 4 ingredients, I will say that this is an evolution of his, thanks Jason/Bob!

As for the guacamole… lazy…

I knew the ingredients were roughly the same as salsa, why fight it. Word of caution, while you can add Pace or some other store bought salsa to start this off, you will taste the difference, it isn’t as good. Also, rather than blend the guacamole, if you are making a small batch, squish the avocado by hand, it gives you a much better judgement of the consistency you are looking for and a sense of destruction 🙂

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Salsa:

Ingredients:

 

  • 1 onion (minced)
  • 1 clove garlic (minced)
  • 1 can jalapeños or MUCH BETTER – 2 fresh angered jalapeños**
  • 2x fresh tomatoes (halved) – Angered if you have time**
  • Cilantro (Coriander)
  • Lime (quartered)
  • 2 tsp olive oil (extra virgin)
Directions:
  1. Heat oil in sauce pan then “anger” the tomatoes by lightly scorching them to the point of almost black.
  2. Dice tomatoes
  3. Dice cilantro, jalapeños, onion and garlic.
  4. Mix tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeños, onion and garlic in a bowl.
  5. Squeeze in lime, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Guacamole:

Ingredients:

 

  • Homemade Salsa
  • 2 or more Ripe Haas Avocados*
  • Lime
  • Cilantro (Coriander)
  • Salt and Pepper (to taste)
Directions:
  1. Add a mixture of roughly (I do it by eye) 1 part salsa to 3 parts mashed fresh haas avocados.
  2. add lime, cilantro, salt and pepper to taste.

Notes:

**Angered chilis and tomatoes
A couple of friends of mine from Mexico suggested that I “anger” the chilis and tomatoes by either dry frying them or placing them directly over open flame to char the skin and soften the meaty pulp – it does enhance the flavour of the salsa and depending time and who I am cooking for (will they notice the difference) I will anger the chillies and tomatoes.
* Ripe Haas Avocados
While I call California home, I have lived in Europe for close to 20 years and the UK for over 3/4 of that time. The European’s know a lot about food but they are appallingly ignorant to how to eat avocados! When they become ripe, most people think that they have gone off. Unfortunately, that includes the stores who throw them away and then aren’t available in the shop…

You have to either be quick or more likely follow the suggestions in the link provided. I personally, buy them when they are close to ripe, leave them on my kitchen window sill until they are ripe and if we aren’t eating them within days, we keep them in the fridge to significantly slow the ripening process.

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Out of this world Garlic Bread

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I have to hand this recipe to Laura Vitale in her YouTube video, while I use my garlic butter as the seasoning the rest of the recipe is all hers (or her father’s). In either case, it is extraordinary and thank you!

Preheat Oven: 400°F | 200°C
Ingredients:

 

Directions:
  1. Cut roll but not in half
  2. Fan roll out onto aluminium foil
  3. Smear Buddy’s garlic butter/oil on both sides of bread
  4. Wrap bread up and place in preheated oven for 10 minutes
  5. Unwrap roll, reopen and evenly cover with shredded mozzarella and parmesan
  6. Add freshly ground black pepper
  7. Place uncovered back in the oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and browned
  8. Slice into strips and serve

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Buddy’s Garlic Butter

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I went to a friends wedding in Spain and they served toasted bread with tomato and olive oil. I used that as my inspiration when I made something similar back home. Over the year this has been modified to an unrecognisable level but I have made this an untold amount of times throughout the years since, sometime I add tomatoes, sometimes not, but I can tell you that I miss it when it isn’t in the fridge…

Ingredients:

 

  • ¼ Stick Softened Butter – Optional
  • ¼ to ½ cup Olive Oil
  • 1 tomato
  • At least 5 cloves of finely minced garlic
  • Basil – Finely chopped
  • Oregano – Finely Chopped
  • Chili – Finely chopped (Optional)
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

I have substituted the herbs depending on what I was making, this works well with rosemary and thyme as well as just garlic, basil and tomato.

Directions:

 

  1. I use a food processor, add all ingredients and blitz and add olive oil to get the consistency I want.

You can do this without a food processor but I would recommend adding all the herbs seasonings to a pestle and mortal prior to mixing with the butter and oil to ensure the ingredients are bruised enough to release their flavours.

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Roasted Garlic Dipping Sauce

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Found this in a comments section when I was looking up roasting garlic times and thought it was worth a punt. Sound great and would go wonderful with bread as a starter. Measurements are an estimate as they weren’t on the post…

Ingredients:

 

  • Roasted Garlic bulb
  • 1/8 cup Olive oil
  • 2 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
  • Rosemary – finely minced
  • Parsley – finely minced
  • Oregano – finely minced
  • Basil – finely minced
  • ½ tsp Red Pepper Flakes
  • Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:

 

  1. Roast Garlic in oven @ 400°F |200°C for 30 minutes
  2. Peel roasted garlic and place in bowl
  3. Mash roasted garlic and add olive oil
  4. Mince the fresh herbs
  5. Add all remaining ingredients to bowl and mix well
  6. Taste and add more seasoning/olive oil as necessary

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Cheese Favourites

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Having lived in Europe now for nigh on 20 years, I find it very amusing retyping these very American views on cheese from the 1960’s, enjoy

  • American Cheese: is a mild, processed, cheddar-type cheese that is often sold in slices. It is a staple of the all-American burger.
  • Cheddar Cheese: is a firm, white-to-orange cheese (only white in the UK, and I think the people that live in / near Cheddar Gorge would have quite an issue to think people describe it as orange), named after an English village, with a flavour ranging from mild to sharp. It is often shredded of a salad or melted over fresh, green vegetables to add extra flavour.
  • Cream Cheese: is a spreadable, unripe, fresh cheese made from cow’s milk. Neufchâtel is the low-fat, and usually softer, version. Cream cheese is a popular cheesecake filling and bagel topping.
  • Monterey Jack Cheese: gets its name from Monterey, California. It is a mild, buttery, semisoft cheese made from cow’s milk. It is sometimes flavoured with peppers and garlic, and it is often used in Tex-Mex cooking.
  • Muenster Cheese: is a pale yellow with very small holes and an orange rind. American Muenster is mild in flavour, whereas European Muenster is more pungent. Kids love it as a snack or as a sandwich topping.
  • Parmesan Cheese: is an Italian hard cheese that is usually aged to a dry, crumbly texture. Parmesan is pleasantly sharp with a salty flavour. It is excellent for grating over pasta sauces or salads.
  • Swiss Cheese: is a generic name for a group of pale-yellow cheeses with large holes. They have a mild, nutty flavour and a firm, slightly dry texture. Swiss is often used in cooking and is a dearly loved sandwich topping. (and I have never found it here in the UK, the closest I have found is Edam)

Now there are a TON of cheeses from Europe that should be listed here – UK: Stinking Bishop, Stilton or Cornish Yarg, France: Mont D’Or just to name my personal favourites but… I can’t wait to see the comments of cheeses people would like to cover (Zoey and I had a hard white cheese, like Parmesan, with black truffles inside that was the best I have ever had during one of our anniversary meals). So please comment and share your favourite cheeses or items missed

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