Gourmet Cookie Bouquets Recipe Blog

Archive for the ‘Appetizers’ Category

That fishing gift basket came in handy! We have fish to fry! Here is a wonderful recipe for frying up some wonderful, tasty fish.

Tempura Sauce:

• 3/4 cup dashi or 3/4 cup clam juice
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup sake
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 3 tsp. sugar
• 3 tbs. grated white radish
• 1 tsp. powdered ginger

Dashi is made from dried fish-clam juice is a good substitute. Mix together the fish stock, soy sauce, sake, and sugar. Divide among 6 bowls. Just before serving place a little radish and ginger in each bowl.

Tempura Batter:

Any combination of raw foods may be used, but here are a few typical suggestions:

• 18 shrimp
• 2 fillet of flounder
• 6 scallops
• 1 lobster tail
• 1 carrot
• 1 green pepper
• 18 string beans

Remove shell from shrimp but leave tail. Slit, and discard vein. Cut across underside to straighten shrimp. Cut flounder in 3-inch pieces. Cut scallops in slices. Remove meat of lobster and cut in bite-size pieces. Cut carrots in lengthwise slices and then into squares. Cut green peppers into squares. Leave string beans whole. Dry all ingredients carefully. No moisture should remain.

Tempura Batter:

• 2 1/2 cups sifted flour
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 cups cold water
• 1 qt. Vegetable oil

Sift the flour 3 times. Beat the egg yolks and water adds the flour, stirring lightly from the bottom with chopsticks or a spoon. Don’t over stir-flour should be visible on top.

Heat the oil to 325 degrees. A constant temperature is important for good tempura. Hold shrimp by the tail and dip in the batter; drop into the oil and fry until lightly browned. Dip other ingredients into batter on a spoon and gently drop into oil. Serve foods as soon as they are cooked, with the tempura sauce or coarse salt.

For more fish recipes, try:

• Fish Kugel
• Fish Chowder - Sinigang Na Isda
• Fried Fish with Sweet and Sour Sauce

Salad is a first course in Spain as it is in California, where the custom may be a legacy of the Conquistadores. Salad is sometimes simply lettuce and tomato; sometimes it includes a number of vegetables. The Spanish rarely make a tossed salad. Instead, they arrange the vegetables decoratively on a large shallow platter and sprinkle the whole generously with salt, olive oil, and wine vinegar or just olive oil and salt. Small slender spouted cruets of vinegar and olive oil are put on the tables for those who want more seasoning. The most decorative salads are probably those made by the Catalans. The greens and reds of the peppers, tomatoes, and lettuce, the blacks and greens of the olives, and the white rings of onion lend themselves to innumerable appetizing patterns. Salad may be served alone or accompanied by a few slices of cold sausage or ham. When there are many accompanying tidbits, the salad is reduced in size and variety, and the collections of platters is called entremeses variados (assorted hors d’oeuvres). These can be as rich or as simple as you choose; they can even constitute a full meal as in a typical Catalan dish called Xato.

Ensalada Madrilena -
Madrid Salad

• 1 large head of lettuce
• 4 medium tomatoes
• 2 hard-boiled eggs
• Olive oil
• Wine vinegar
• 6-7 pitted black olives per person
• 6 or more small marinated fishes
• Salt to taste

Peel tomatoes, squeeze out seeds, and chop fine. Mix with chopped lettuce, olives, and fish, boned and chopped. Season with olive oil, vinegar, and salt. Top with slices of hard-boiled eggs.

If you need some recipes for gourmet desserts now, try some of these chocolatey recipe ideas:

• Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
• Chocolate Mint Brownie Pops
• Chocolate Lollipop Recipes
• White Chocolate: Cookies, Cakes, And More Desserts
• Chocolate Souffle Recipe

Xato (pronounced cha-toh’) is a Catalan dish traditionally eaten in January and February, the two coldest months, during which the Catalans find the sharp taste stimulating and warming, although they ordinarily use very little pepper in their food. It is during this season, too, that the heart of curly endive, which is the base of the dish, is whitest. Generally served as a first course in Catalonia, Xato is substantial enough to constitute a supper or lunch.

Xato Sauce

• 3 cloves garlic
• 7-8 peeled and toasted almonds
• 1 or more sharp chili peppers (or powdered cayenne pepper)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup wine vinegar
• 3/4 tsp. salt

This sauce can be made in 5 minutes in an electric blender: simply put all the ingredients in at once and beat until the pepper is reduced to fine particles. If you do not have a blender, crush the garlic and almonds in a mortar, add one or more finely chopped chili peppers, and mash to a smooth paste before gradually blending in the oil and vinegar. The number of peppers (or the amount of cayenne) you use depends on how sharp you like the sauce. When tasting the seasoning, bear in mind that the sauce will seem less sharp when mixed with the salad.

Don't forget to prepare some cookies or desserts for after your meal!

More fun dinner ideas:

Balsamic Chicken with Mushrooms

Chicken Caesar Pita Pocket

Little cocktail pastries are excellent made with any leftover, unsweetened dough. Fresh dough does not take long to prepare and can be mixed the day before you wish. For that matter, the pastries can be baked hours in advance. Best hot or warmed over in a moderate oven, they are also good cold. The following recipe makes enough dough for about forty bite-size pastries or thirty tartlets.

Empanadilla Dough

• 1 ½ cups flour
• 1 egg
• 2 tbs. milk
• 2 tbs. olive oil
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt

Put flour on a board or marble slab, make a hole in the center, add all ingredients in the hole, and mix well with fingers. Roll into a ball and cover with a damp cloth. The dough must rest for 15 minutes before use; it can be kept in a cool place for 24 hours.

Enjoy your gourmet desserts, and don't forget to share!

If you liked this recipe, you'll really enjoy this recipe for French Breakfast Puffs.