Antipasto in Crispy Bite Size Salami Cups

When I saw this idea for an appetizer on 

the Columbus® Facebook page, I knew I

wanted to try it out.  Of course I tweaked it just a little.

A San Francisco tradition established in 1917

Columbus® products have been a favorite in my 

family for years and years. I particularly have fond

memories around holiday time when our dad would buy and 

bring home big sticks of salami from San Francisco on the train--

for gifts and snacking. 

(His job was in San Francisco and he commuted each weekday

 to and from our home on the SF Peninsula for dozens of years.

It was always treat to meet him at the train station at 5:25pm as he

stepped down from the train, neatly

dressed in suit and tie ~ briefcase in hand . . . 

 especially on the days when he had those big

paper-wrapped sticks of salami tucked under his arm! )

To make the 'cups' the pre-sliced Genoa Salame

works best because the diameter is larger than regular 

salame so it is easier to work with 

(the slices tend to shrink when baked.)

To bake, pre-heat oven to 375ºF. Tuck one slice

of salami into a small mold and press in.

I used these little Brioche molds but mini-muffin pans

work very well too. I found that sandwiching the

salami slice between two molds helps them hold their

shape while baking.

 If you have 2 identical muffin pans, put the

salami in the cups of one and carefully stack and press the 

second pan into the first, which will help keep the 

salami in place while baking.

Alternately, you can make small 'balls' out of aluminum foil and

place/press each of them down upon the salami slices in each mold ~

then bake. Personally I feel that is really wasteful, 

and would just skip this recipe and serve antipasto 

on a platter or plates instead.

Bake for 10 minutes or so. The salami will begin to

hold the shape of the mold as it begins to crisp in the

oven. It's best not to over-bake or the salami cups 

may shatter when it's time to fill them. 

(Hint: Place the molds or muffin pans on

a parchment or silicone lined rimmed baking sheet to catch

any drippings.)

When baked, remove from oven, allow to cool a moment,

it's helpful to turn molds or muffin pan upside down

to finish cooling. Before they are completely cool 

remove the 'top' mold or muffin pan.

You can make the "cups" a few hours up to one day

ahead, storing in air tight container.

Next, choose the fillings for the cups, 

just gather your favorites from

items found on the antipasto platter.

I chose:

 Black olives (brined), pitted and sliced in half

Pepperoncini, sliced

Roasted red pepper, sliced into small pieces

Marinated artichoke hearts, cut into small pieces

And some cheese goes really well in these cups.

I used the tiny, fresh 'perline' mozzarella ("pearls"),

but you can just cut other mozzarella into small

cubes. Or use another favorite cheese.

The cups themselves are rather salty and I think the

mozzarella is a good smooth contrast to the saltiness of

the other ingredients.

There are plenty of other options for fillings,

here are just a few:

Garbanzo beans (from the can, or home-cooked)

Sun dried tomato slivers

Pimento stuffed olives / other olives

Tiny cocktail onions

Small chunks of tuna or slivers of anchovy

Feta or Gorgonzola cheese crumbles

Scallions (thinly sliced)

Grape or Cherry tomatoes (sliced)

Fresh red or green bell pepper (slivered)

Marinated mushrooms (drained, and sliced if large)

Golden or brown raisins, (a few in each cup adds a nice contrast of flavors)

Bits of fresh parsley or basil leaves

Capers

Sliced tiny pickles

Slivers of red onion

Thin slices of carrot

Truly, whatever strikes your fancy.

~*~*~*~*~

How do you spell it?

Salami or Salame?

You be the judge ~ 

it seems there are varying thoughts here in the U.S.

One explanation from Wikipedia. (click)

photo credit: wikipedia

Antique Hungarian Salami Poster

Use your favorite brand of Salami in the recipe ~ I prefer the Genoa

type simply because of it's larger size; uncooked the kind I used

is about 3 1/4-inches in diameter, after being put in the mold

(plus shrinkage during baking) the cups are about 2 1/2-inch in

diameter measured from the widest points at the top of

the salami "cups".

If you make these, I hope you like them.

Thank you for stopping by, your comments make my day!

~Mari :)

(Full disclosure:  No recognition or reimbursement of any kind 

has been received from Columbus® products for featuring

their products in this post. I just happen to like their products.)

Fig-Prosciutto Crostini with Brie, Walnuts & Rosemary

Some of the popular flavors of Fall, all combined into an

easy, tasty appetizer or snack The combination of

sweet and salty is practically irresistible!

If you have fresh figs, you could slice them in place

of the fig jam ~  substitute thin apple slices, or pears

for the sweet base if you like. 

The recipe is really versatile ~ you can substitute any

favorite jam or preserves, a different cheese and

other toasted nuts (or leave them out entirely.)

It's one of those easy recipes that you can put together

on a moments notice for unexpected guests.

I added the prosciutto, toasted walnuts and the 

rosemary needles as a garnish  (after broiling the bread --spread

with the jam and topped with a piece of Brie) ~

but if you want to assemble ahead with no last minute work, 

you could simply layer the toppings on the bread slices and 

bake in a hot oven until the jam is bubbling and the cheese is melted. 

The prosciutto becomes a little crisp, 

and the rosemary takes on a delicate, toasty crunch.

Cut the bread about 1/2-inch thick, then add the toppings. The texture is
best if you do not toast it first ~ just add the toppings and broil until the
jam is heated and the cheese is melted.

No need for an actual recipe, this one is

particularly easy to remember.

Other suggestions you might like:
Apricot, Raspberry, Peach jam, or a smear of honey; 
 other toasted pine nuts~ 
pecans, sliced (or chopped) almonds, or macadamia nuts.
Goat cheese, cream cheese, Gorgonzola or Blue, etc. ~

There are all kinds of possibilities . . .

Instead of serving as an appetizer or
snack,  substitute them for the cheese course after a special dinner.

Mix it up and try this idea with your own favorite toppings ~ 

I believe you'll enjoy.   

Thank you for stopping by

today, friends!

xo~Mari   :)

S'mores Halloween Treats ~ Ghastly Ghost Peeps®

Frighteningly simple to make ~ when Mary @ Home is Where the Boat is

first featured these, I knew I wanted to add them my repertoire too.  

So a friendly shout out and a big thank you to Mary.
Please go visit her blog, you're in for a treat!

The ingredient list is as follows: A box of Ghost Peeps®, you'll need

12 'ghosts' to make enough for an 8 x 8-inch baking dish. Butter, sugar,
pinch of salt, your favorite brownie recipe or boxed mix. About 1/2 cup chocolate

morsels, and 36 chocolate mini-morsels.

I hope you can see the layers here, on the bottom of the baking dish;

Graham cracker crumb crust, the brownie layer, chocolate morsels,

and topped off with the golden 'ghosts'.

Apparently ghosts are frightened of spiders.

Cutting between the 'ghosts' you have a perfect serving size for dessert.

They are quite RICH tasting, so maybe you'll want to share,

half, as I did.  (But probably not with any sort of Araneae.)

Happy Haunting!!

I hope you receive treats, no tricks this Halloween. :)

If you would like a printable copy of the instructions, you'll find it on
my recipe blog HERE.

Thank you for stopping by today~


Happy Halloween!!

Smoky Cheddar Spritz Crackers

As we were growing up our mother would make Spritz Butter Cookies  almost every year during the holidays, and also cheese 'straws' throughout the year.  Maybe your mom or grandmother did as well?

My sister and I followed the same tradition as we started our own families, we would decorate the cookies in all sorts of pretty ways  and sometimes with colored cookie dough ~  They are a perpetual favorite and always look so festive on the cookie tray.



Sadly, my cookie press finally went kaput after many years of use, so when I saw good reviews about this set made by OXO I was compelled to replace my old Mirro metal version.  Plus, I fell for the pumpkin disk in the Autumn set. :)
OXO's great reputation and all of the unique disk motifs,  its' ease of use and care sold me. 

The press comes with 12 decorative disks; all of the traditional ones I remember -
snowflake, heart, wreath, tree, buttercup, daisy, etc. as well as some, new to me (all really cute!) :
shell, sunflower, fleur de lis, bear (little teddy bear!), leaf, butterfly
See more about the press and other disks below.


~*~*~*~*~



Of course you can use any cookie press or disk to make these delicious cheese straw crackers, follow your favorite recipe or choose the one I favor (it's over on my recipe blog, link below.)
This is my favorite recipe for a savory cracker using the cookie press.

Like most all Spritz-type cookies the recipe is really simple,  just a bit more involved than a shortbread dough.  
But for the cheese crackers I jazz mine up a little by adding 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder and 1/4 teaspoon Turmeric (it adds a very subtle warm flavor and nice color.)
Sometimes I mix it up by using Smoked Paprika (as I did this time) instead of plain sweet paprika.  If you like them spicier, increase the amount of cayenne pepper, or hot paprika.



Tip for crispy crackers:
I like these crackers to be crisp, but not brown, so after baking and cooling all of the batches,  I place them in a single layer on the baking sheets and place in a 175ºF oven for a several minutes until they dry out a little, they will crisp even further after cooling. Keep an eye on them while they're in the oven so they don't turn dark. 
Alternately you can place in your oven set to 'warm',  or the lowest temperature available and do the same.  
Either way you choose, do watch them as ovens vary.
When the crackers are crisp, I turn off the oven and leave the oven door open just a bit until the crackers are completely cool, then store in airtight containers for up to a week or so.
These are really good served on the cheese/fruit tray or along with soup or a salad. They make a nice gift from the kitchen, too.
If you give them a try, I hope you enjoy!
A printable version of the recipe and tips can be found on my recipe blog by clicking this link.





~*~*~*~*~
Additional Disks for the OXO Cookie Press
Also available separately are two sets of additional seasonal disks, (six disks in each set):  
OXO Good Grips Cookie Press ~ Autumn or Springtime ~ Disk Sets
The Autumn set includes:  Spider, Web, Owl, Turkey, Leaf and Pumpkin
The Springtime set includes: Cherry Blossom, Rose, Love, Double Heart, Shamrock, Bouquet

(You can click the link above to learn more)

Thanks for coming by today, friends.
Bon Appetit!
~m.


Note:  The folks at OXO don't know who I am, (no compensation from them.) I'm just sharing a product I like... I hope you like it, too.  :o)

Spooky Eye-Popping Soup for Halloween

I saw this presentation on Home is Where the Boat is,  a wonderfully creative blog by my friend Mary.   If you're not familiar with Mary's blog I urge you to go visit, you're in for a treat!

For the Spooky Eye-Popping Soup I made a recipe similar to this one;  I used half lean ground beef and half Italian sausage,  fusilli instead of tortellini, omitted basil leaves ~  I used a couple of pinches of dried oregano instead,  and chopped the vegetables into small dice just so the 'eyes'  would get most of the attention.  




If you would like an even simpler soup you may like this one,  directions for making the eyeballs can be found here as well.  I simply used bite size mozzarella (bocconcini) and placed  thin slices of stuffed green olives on them to resemble  pupils and irises. 

It's a fun and flavorful soup to help get everyone in the mood for Halloween.


Thank you for stopping by today friends ~ Have a BOO-tiful week!  :)
~mari xo

No Trick ~ Healthy Treats!

Elise, over at Simply Recipes recently shared a Cinnamon-Sugar version of these baked sweet potato jack-o-lantern treats,  and I knew I wanted to try them right away.
They are fairly easy to do, but just a bit time consuming ~ 

First of all, try to find uniformly cylindrical shaped sweet potatoes that are of a good sized diameter.


Photo: Columbia University


Peel the potatoes and slice crossways into  1/4-inch thick slices. You can cut the pumpkin shapes out with a pumpkin cookie cutter, but my pumpkin cookie cutter was too large so I used an exact-o craft knife  (a very sharp paring knife would work, too.)



Next you can cut shapes out to represent eyes, nose and mouth*...  make the expressions spooky and scary if you dare. 
I wanted gentle faces to please the youngest among us. :D
*You can skip this step if you want to, because it is fiddly work ~ and definitely best left to adults to do.



Lay the pumpkin cut-outs on a parchment (or silicone-mat) lined baking sheet. Elise instructs to bake them (as is, no oil or butter) in a very hot oven for about 35 minutes until they are golden brown.

I did not want them to discolor much, so I brushed them lightly on both sides with melted butter*, baked, uncovered for approximately 5 to 10 minutes (until the bottom edges begin to bubble and become a little crisp.)   Then I loosely tented the pan with aluminum and baked  them in a 375ºF oven, for about 10 minutes until the sweet potato  cut-outs were tender, but still holding their shape.  Remove the aluminum foil and bake an additional 5 minutes if you would like the texture  to be a bit firmer. The baking time will depend upon your oven, the moisture content and thickness of the sweet potatoes, so watch and adjust accordingly.
*(you can use your favorite oil if you prefer)





I would be perfectly happy serving them just like this ~ but maybe your young ones would like them a little sweeter. In Elise's version, she instructs to dip them into melted butter and then cinnamon sugar to coat.


 

  This version is  moist  and tender, easy for young ones to eat.  I simply sprinkled cinnamon sugar over and placed them on a rack and allowed them to set up a bit.  These are best served the day they are made.
If you want them drier and a little chewy, I suggest you bake them in a hot 425ºF oven for longer, until they take on some color and dry out a little, then dip them in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar, the way Elise suggested.

An 'almost' guilt free snack ~ I hope you enjoy !


Have a wonderful weekend, friends.
xo~mari