Bloody Eyeball Bruschetta

A few weeks ago, maybe it was even back in February, I was in the grocery store check out line and struck up some small talk with the cashier, as I usually do. We agreed about being glad the holidays are finally over, when out of nowhere he begins to tell me that he was already planning his Halloween costume. 
"Halloween's my favorite holiday!" He said. 
I said, grinning ear-to-ear, "Me too! I LOVE HALLOWEEN!" 

If I wasn't already married, it might have been a pretty cool story to tell later on how I met my future Halloween-loving husband...but thankfully I already have. My husband also loves Halloween. :)
We talked and talked. Our conversation held up a line of angry customers as we shared our past costumes and fun Halloween parties and fun food. The conversation wasn't too long, it just seemed like it because we were having such fun sharing our fondness for Halloween. But like all good things, they must come to an end. If not for anything but the angry mob of melting ice cream in need of chilling. I rolled my cart away with a happy wave goodbye, when he said with a wink, "Happy Halloween!"

Fast forward to now...I may not have my costume planned out like my cashier friend, but I do have some totally cool Halloween food coming up. I've seen these eyeballs everywhere on Pinterest with so many variations, its mind numbing. They are such a cute idea but I wanted to make them with a few more layers if flavor than just marinated mozzarella and olives, so I decided to make them into a deliciously spicy, sweet and salty Bloody Eyeball Bruschetta. 

The marinara sauce gives it some sweetness along with the fresh cherry tomato. The olives add a nice salty flavor and then the sriracha olive oil gives it the spice that enhances all the layers of flavor. These were flat out incredible and plus they just look super cool and Halloween-ish! Note: I like my food spicy so I added sriracha to the marinara as well but you can adjust it to your taste or omit if you'd prefer. If you don't want the bloody topper sauce to be spicy, omit the sriracha and red chili flakes and add a small teaspoon of marinara sauce to the olive oil. Enjoy!

 

Bloody Eyeball Bruschetta

Makes 12

12 small balls of fresh mozzarella cheese
12 large green olives
6 large black olives
4-6 cherry tomatoes, slice into rounds
12 slices of mini toasts
3-4 T jarred spaghetti sauce (I used Classico Tomato Basil)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 t red pepper flakes
1-2 T sriracha sauce

Irises: Cut small ends off of green olives. Using a straw as a cookie cutter, cut out a small hole out of the slice of green olive. Using the same straw, cut out a small piece of a black olive. Place black olive in the green olive slice to make a pupil. Repeat for remaining olives.

Bloody base: Cut cherry tomatoes into thin rounds. Set aside.

Bloody topper sauce: In a small bowl, mix olive oil, red pepper flakes and sriracha. Set aside.

Assemble Bruschetta
Using a sharp knife, cut a small slice of one side of the mozzarella cheese so that it can sit flatly on the tomato slice. Make a second slice off the cheese on the opposite side so that the olive iris can sit flat on top of the fresh mozzarella.
Place a small dollop of marinara sauce on each mini toast. Place tomato on top of marinara sauce. It is okay if some sauce drips out, that adds to the bloody look. Next place the mozzarella cheese ball with olive irises topping the cheese. With a fork, quickly whisk the bloody topper sauce (olive oil, red pepper and sriracha mixture) to combine and allow the mixture to drip off the fork tines over each eyeball. This creates a drippy look of blood over the eyeball. Add more sriracha if you need more color and continue to drip until they look right. Enjoy every delicious bite of Bloody Eyeball Bruschetta!

Watch for more festive Halloween foods in the coming weeks...or check out some oldies but goodies here.

Antipasto de los Muertos

I realize we are just a few short weeks into spring and a long way away from fall and my favorite holiday, Halloween, but I just couldn't help myself! I plan my Halloween recipes all year and this year I have over 16 really cool and fun recipes to share, so I decided to get them started early.

While playing around with cooking techniques to make my Death Cap Kabobs look and taste good, I searched for different ways to prepare mushrooms. The usual, sautéing and grilling popped up. Then I came across boiling mushrooms, which not only helped me with the Kabobs but, it also gave me the idea to make this Halloween inspired Appetizer by marinating the mushroom skulls. I coupled these marinated mushroom skulls with my Pickled Shrunken Heads from last year. I added roasted radishes because they just look like creepy Halloween food. I made a handful of mozzarella eyeballs and sliced up roasted red pepper guts along with more traditional antipasto ingredients like artichoke hearts, pepperoncinis and olives to round out my Antipasto de los Muertos.
Hope you find this inspiring! Happy (early) Halloween!

Antipasto de los Muertos

Serves 8-10

1 cup roasted red bell peppers, sliced
1 small jar pepperoncini, whole
1 cup container of marinated mozzarella balls
1-2 cups cucumber skulls
1-2 cups hard salami, sliced and cut up
1 cup green olives with pimento
1-2 cups marinated mushroom skulls
1 cup artichoke hearts
1 cup roasted radishes or pickled onions
bed of mixed greens (I used baby kale)

Prepare mushroom skulls, roasted radishes and cucumber skulls a day ahead. Assemble all ingredients on a platter and serve with your favorite vino and crusty bread! Happy Halloween!

Antipasto Mushroom Skulls
1-2 lbs. baby bella or button mushrooms, carved into skulls
1/2 cup olive oil plus about 1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large shallot, sliced
1 t each of dried oregano and dried parsley
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1/2 t salt (or to taste)
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 t red pepper flakes

Cut Skull faces into mushrooms by using a large diameter straw for the eyes and a paring knife for the nose and the mouth.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add mushrooms. Boil for 10 minutes and remove from water and set out on paper towels to drain and cool completely. While cooling, make the marinade.
In a canning jar or a bowl that has a tight fitting lid, add all ingredients to container and shake well to mix. Once mushrooms have cooled, add them to the marinade. Seal lid and gently turn the jar upside down a few times to coat the mushrooms. Place in refrigerator over night. Mushroom will keep for about a week in the refrigerator.

Roasted Radishes

2 bunches radishes, greens trimmed, roots intact
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 large shallot, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 t dried parsley
1 t. dried basil
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Add all ingredients to a shallow baking dish, cover with foil. Bake for 45 min-1 hour or until radishes are soft when pierced with a fork. Cool and refrigerate overnight.
salt pepper to taste

Here's another Halloween Inspired Appetizer to try:
                                                        Ghoulish Goat Cheese Torte

Death Cap Kabobs

The flavor inspiration for these little morsels came from one of Hollywood's  oldest restaurants, Musso and Frank Grill. My husband took me
there a few months ago and we ordered their Mushrooms on Toast appetizer. The mushrooms were prepared in a red wine reduction sauce and served in a mini cast iron skillet topped with Roquefort Cheese and French bread. It was an amazingly delicious dish. I remarked to my husband that I'd like to try something like these mushrooms for the blog but, I was worried about how to photograph them and make them look as delicious as they tasted. The dark mushrooms in the dark reduction sauce would be problematic for a blog photo. Afterall, you can't taste the food on a blog, so the picture needs to make you want to make it and then eat it. 
So I came up with a sort of deconstructed Mushrooms on Toast Appetizer. I decided to forgo the red wine reduction for a balsamic reduction butter sauce and I replaced the toast with a toasted garlic panko bread crumb with crumbled bleu cheese. The balsamic buttered mushrooms and roasted garlic sit on a small bed of crumbs so that when the kabob is picked up, the crumbs stick to the buttered mushroom, giving it just a hint of toast and bleu cheese. It's a delicious combination of flavors and the crunchy texture of the bread crumbs gives it the wow-factor!

I love Halloween and Halloween inspired appetizers but this recipe, just like all my Halloween recipes can be a regular appetizer. Just skip the part where you make the mushroom into skulls. :) 
Happy (...early!) Halloween!

Death Cap Kabobs 

(Roasted Garlic and Mushrooms in Balsamic Butter with a Bleu Cheese Panko Crumble)

Makes 6-8 Kabobs

1 lb crimini mushrooms, cut into skulls
6-8 cloves roasted garlic
2 T balsamic butter reduction
6-8 T bleu cheese panko crumble

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Prepare Roasted Garlic and Balsamic Butter Sauce and Panko Crumble first and set aside. 

Quick Roasted Garlic
8-10 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 T olive oil

Preheat oven 375 degrees.
Wrap garlic cloves in foil drizzled with olive oil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in foil. 

Balsamic Butter Reduction
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 t brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, cut into pieces

Put the vinegar in a small saucepan. Simmer until approximately 3T remain. Turn off heat. Add butter and brown sugar and let sit until melted stirring until sugar is dissolved. Set aside. 
Unused butter can be stored in the refrigerator for a week and can be used on vegetables and pasta. 

Crumble
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 T butter
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t dried parsley
1 T crumbled bleu cheese
In a small skillet, melt butter and add panko bread crumbs, parlsey and garlic powder. Toast crumbs for about 5-8 minutes on medium heat, taking care not to burn them. Allow to cool completely before adding the bleu cheese. Set aside.


Mushroom Preparation

Skulls: Use a large straw to make the eyes of the skulls and a paring knife to cut out the nose. Use the tip of the knife to score the stem to make the teeth. Trim the stem if it is too long.
Bring a large pot of water to boil and blanche the mushrooms for 2-3 minutes. This will shrink up the mushrooms a little and allow them to stay plump when roasting in the oven. Otherwise they will wrinkle up. 
Transfer mushrooms to a cookie sheet with a rack. Roast for 5 minutes. Toss mushrooms in a bowl and coat with balsamic butter. Assemble kabobs, starting with a roasted garlic and then a mushroom. Place 6-1 T of bread crumb/cheese mixture on a serving platter or in small salt and pepper plates, like I did below and top with the kabob.  Serve immediately.

Check out more delicious Halloween dishes by clicking here.

Corned Beef Tacos with Cilantro Lime Crema

I love corned beef. I wait all year to make this deliciously salty beef for St. Patrick's day. Usually, I prepare it the same way each year, by slow cooker or by boiling it. This year I decided to roast it. I was a little worried about it burning or drying out but it came out amazing. I rubbed the fatty side of the corned beef with a generous amount latin spices, covered it with foil and crossed my fingers as it slow roasted for 2.5 hours. The whole house smelled amazing and it tasted even better. I could have sliced it up right then and there and it would have been a yummy dinner, but I wanted to experiment and try to make it one of my favorite foods...Tacos.
These tacos are all about preparation. The work is in the chopping of vegetables and preparing sauces, spicing and cooking the meat. Because corned beef takes so long to cook, this recipe is a great day ahead meal. I made the corned beef a day ahead and refrigerated it overnight but you can also prepare it all in one day. The pickled onions can also be made the same day but are great to make ahead of time as well. I try to keep a jar of these in my fridge because they are amazing to have on hand to throw into sandwiches, burgers, salads, or in this case to make a delicious topping for tacos.

Corned Beef Tacos with Pickled Onions and Radishes with Cilantro Lime Crema

2-3 lb Corned Beef Roast 
1/2 head of cabbage, thinly sliced
Pickled Onion and Radishes(see below)
Cilantro Lime Crema (see below)  
Small corn tortillas
Jalapenos, minced (optional) 
Cooking Spray
 
Rub
2 t. chili powder
1 t. cumin
1 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. smoked paprika
1 t. Peppadew Piquante Pepper & Cilantro Seasoning (substitute with 1/2 t. dried cilantro and 1/2 t. onion powder, 1/4 t. lemon pepper)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Generously coat the fat side of the roast with spice rub. Spray roasting pan with cooking spray and place roast in pan, fat side up. Cover with aluminum foil and roast for 2.5 hours. Time will vary depending on size of the roast. Check tenderness after two hours and adjust roasting time accordingly. Remove from oven and let rest before cutting or let cool and refrigerate overnight. Chop meat into small pieces or shred.

 
I made the corned beef a day ahead. The next day, I chopped it up and heated it through in a skillet. Note: I had to fight the urge to trim the fat from the corned beef like I usually do. But, in this case, do not trim off the fatty layer of the corned beef. Chop the whole roast up including the fatty side containing the spice rub. This ensures the spices from the rub incorporates into the rest of the meat and makes it super delicious! Not low calorie, but delicious.

Cilantro Lime Crema
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 lime, zest and juice
1/2 t garlic powder

1 T Best Foods mayonnaise

Combine all ingredients in a mini food processor. Refrigerate until ready to use. 

Pickled Onions and Radish Relish 

1/2 cup pickled red onions, chopped (recipe)
1 cup radishes, jullienned
1 bunch of cilantro, minced
Squeeze of lime 
2 jalapenos, minced

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use.


Other Corned Beef recipes to try:

Corned Beef Rolls                                                    Corned Beef, Cabbage and Leek Soup

 

Pancetta and Onion Tartlets

Here is a belated Valentine's Day appetizer that is super delicious and easy to make. I've been so busy with activities at school that I've spent very little time in the kitchen. But, I did manage to make these little beauties, the afternoon of Valentine's Day. My husband and I didn't have plans to go out to dinner, we rarely go out on Valentine's day and since we had the kids, we stayed home together. That was fine by me, because I was able to play around with what I had on hand and came up with these savory tartlets. Using frozen pie crust made these come together in a snap. Enjoy!

Pancetta and Onion Tartlets

Makes 6

1 small 5oz. container of Pancetta
1/2 cup yellow onion, diced
1 cup red bell pepper, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 t fresh thyme leaves
pepper (to taste)
3 T olive oil infused with 1 clove garlic minced
Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1 prepared pie crust, thawed

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a large skillet add pancetta and brown over medium heat and remove from pan and set aside. Add onions and red peppers to the pan and saute until they are caramelized about 15-20 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, and cooked pancetta and heat for an additional 2 minutes. Set aside mixture while you prepare the tartlet crusts.
Roll out pie crust and using a rolling pin roll out to about 1/8" thickness. Using two sizes of heart-shaped cookie cutters, cut out 12 of the larger hearts. The use the smaller cookie cutter to cut 6 smaller hearts out of the center of 6 hearts to create the top frame of tartlet. See picture below.

Transfer 6 of the large pie crust hearts to a parchment lined cookie sheet. Place the top pie crust heart over the first heart.Using a pastry brush coat lightly with garlic infused olive oil.

Spoon about a tablespoon of pancetta and onion mixture into each heart tartlets. Grate Parmesan cheese over the top and bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool slightly, and sprinkle with more cheese and fresh thyme before serving.

Other recipes to try:
Zucchini Bruschetta
Sriracha Deviled Eggs
Crab and Mango Won Ton Cups

Chorizo Meatballs with Chimichurri Pesto

It's been a crazy busy start to 2016! I've been so busy at school that I've scarcely had time to cook, let alone felt like cooking. This is a very bad thing in my house. Not wanting to cook means eating out. And eating out means eating meals that are quick, but not very good for you. Which means weigh gain for me. Okay, I've gained a wee bit of weight because of this busy/lazy period these last few months, but I'm getting back in gear. I see an end to my crazy schedule approaching so I can cook all these great ideas I have swimming in my head and scribbled on the backs of envelopes. 

To get started on the right track here's a recipe that has bounced around my head since Christmas time. I finally made some time to putter around my kitchen on Superbowl Sunday and these super delicious Chorizo Meatballs with Chimichurri Pesto came to life!

These meatballs are made with ground turkey and soy chorizo so they are lighter in calories and fat than ones made with ground beef and beef chorizo. They are incredibly satisfying and full of flavor all by themselves. But the chimichurri pesto just knocks these meatballs out of the park! I wanted to make a sauce with these but thought a traditional chimichurri would be too oily, so I decided to add some cotija cheese and pine nuts to give it a texture more reminiscent of pesto. And I was so right! We had them as an appetizer while watching the big game, but since this was all I ate that night, they also ended up making a wonderful Tapas dinner. Enjoy!

Albondigas with Chimichurri Pesto

Makes ~24 Meatballs

1.25 lb of ground turkey
12 oz. soy chorizo
1/2-3/4 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Cotija cheese
3 T parsley, dried
1 egg  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together and roll into small 1 inch meatballs. Place meatballs on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. After baking, toss these meatballs into a skillet to brown the outsides a little bit more. Place a tablespoon of chimichurri pesto (see recipe below) on a serving plate and place a skewered meatball on top and sprinkle with a little extra cotija cheese and serve. 

 

Chimichurri Pesto

1 bunch of cilantro
1/4 cup of onion
1 garlic clove
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded chopped
1/2 cup cotija cheese, grated
1/4 cup pine nuts
juice and zest of one lime
1 T apple cider vinegar
3 T olive oil 
salt (to taste)

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend on high until well blended. Set aside or refrigerate until ready to use. This sauce is great the next day as the flavors have more time to meld. Top meatballs with 1 T of chimichurri pesto and devour. Enjoy! 
  

 

Other Meatball recipes to try:

Salisbury Meatballs with Kale     Greek Meatballs    Spicy Asian Meatball Soup