appetizers and snacks – The Kitchen Illiterate

Sneaky Eggplant

All across the interwebs, my fellow food bloggers are talking about the onset of fall with that sense of reprieve and reverence that I remember well. This summer, people across the country were hit with record heat waves, and the cooler weather is being welcomed with open arms. Just this last weekend, we were in New York and were greeted with cool breezes and crisp morning dew. Then we got back to Oakland and landed at 8:30 pm in 78 degree weather. The summer we were kind of denied has suddenly appeared. It’s no 112 degree July, but wowza, it’s warm. And we are still being deluged with summer fruits and vegetables: eggplant, tomatoes, melons, peppers, and cucumbers.
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Spicy Shrimp Causa Bites

I love potlucks. They give me an excuse to experiment with dishes that are time consuming or complicated or involve unusual ingredients, or all of the above. I love to feed people, and even better, I love it when I make something that makes everyone in the room excited. These spicy shrimp causa bites did the trick: I made these for a Fourth of July party (and yes, I’m aware that was over a month ago. I’m a bad blogger). People loved them: They’re unusual and full of flavor and are fun to eat. Sure they’re a little time consuming, but they’re totally worth it.
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Wild Greek Rice and Spring Onion Crostini

I’ve been loving all of the foodie shopping opportunities here in the Bay Area. I’m a bit of a grocery store junkie: whether it’s a big supermarket or a small gourmet boutique, I love browsing the shelves, looking for the unusual, the new, and the hard-to-find, seeking out good deals and inspiration. Oakland is full of great grocery stores: We’re only blocks from Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s is right up the road. Berkeley Bowl is a heaven of wonderful smelling produce, and the Rockridge Market Hall brings together all of my favorite things (bread, fresh pasta, sustainably-produced meat, wine, coffee, the list goes on) under one roof. And let’s not even get started on the Farmers’ Markets.
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Peanut Butter Popcorn

I’m not actually a huge fan of popcorn. But I am a huge fan of peanut butter. Such a huge fan, in fact, that peanut butter can make me crave popcorn. This recipe, specifically. I have been making this since I was a kid, when I found the recipe in Klutz Press’s Kids Cookbook (which I still own and use, by the way). It is easy and it is tasty, and if you’re looking for a good movie watching snack, this one is perfect.
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Mushroom Sausage Puffs

I love puff pastry. I consider it a culinary wonder. But it’s not exactly something you can have for dinner every night, and most of the uses to which puff pastry can be put fall firmly in the appetizer category. So I relish the opportunity to make appetizers for dinner parties, and I was given just that opportunity this past weekend. Our awesome friends Stan and Charity hosted a dinner party and invited me, Mr. X, and some kind of pre-dinner treat, so I decided to throw together these.

They are very similar to the Mushroom and Goat Cheese Triangles I have made for several dinner parties in the past, but I wanted to do something a little different, a little more substantial. So sausage it is! And frankly, I think they are much better for it.
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Homemade Cheese Crackers

I have a serious weakness for Cheez-its. Even if I managed to cut all other processed foods out of my diet, I could never give up Cheez-its. I once ate an entire box by myself in one sitting. I probably shouldn’t admit that, huh? Anyway, when I saw a recipe for homemade cheese crackers on the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Banter blog I knew I had to make them. I immediately went online and bought their Vermont Cheese Powder and when I finally had some free time I headed straight to the kitchen to bake up some (perhaps a little bit healthier) cheese crackers.
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Sometimes you just need a quiche

Quiche is one of my favorite things. It’s something I remember my mom making when I was a kid, a special event brunch kind of food. I have memories of mom squeezing and squeezing so much defrosted spinach in paper towels, and I think quiche was one of the first egg-based dishes I ever actually liked. And when Smitten Kitchen featured spinach quiche a few weeks ago, it was all over. I had a craving, and I needed a quiche.

Thank goodness for all that leftover pie dough from my nectarine galette experiment. The pie dough is the only potentially tricky thing about quiche, and honestly? Most of the time I buy it pre-made, because who needs to fuss with that stuff in the morning anyway? Not that I think quiche must be relegated to breakfast. In fact, this quiche made several satisfying lunches and dinners for me. And thank goodness for tart pans. I never thought to make quiche in a tart pan before; I’ve always used 9-inch pie pans. But the tart pan, while it does produce a thinner quiche, halves the cooking time, which made me very happy when I was very hungry. Who woulda thunk it? Oh, yeah, Deb at Smitten Kitchen.
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Parmesan Shortbread? Oh hells yeah.

Parmesan Shortbread

Bon Appetit’s December issue included a beautifully laid out article featuring easy to make Christmas gifts from the kitchen (and man, those photos were enticing). I wanted to make everything: the spice rubs, the coconut dulce du leche, but most especially the parmesan shortbread, the perfect gift, they said, for cheese lovers. Which both Mr. X and I, as well as pretty much everyone I know, are. Before I flew out to San Diego, I made up a batch and brought them down to the JJ as a gift for my favorite bartenders, as well as wrapping up a few for the boy. I only ate one before giving them all away, and man did I regret it. So much so that I had to make another batch as soon as I got to San Diego.

I do have to admit that this particular recipe is perfectly flavored, but the texture needs a little bit of work. They are just a little too buttery (and you thought that wasn’t possible). They don’t have the density that I really love in shortbread, and I suspect that if you added just a little more flour, they would reach cheesy perfection.

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Study Break Coffee-Break Muffins

Crumbs

The other night, after I finished writing up my portion of a group paper (who the heck invented the group paper, anyway? Can I torture him?), I decided it was time to get out the mixing bowls, turn on the oven, and cook something from my brand new cookbook: Baking: From My Home to Yours. Yes, I finally got my little hands on Dorie Greenspan’s beautiful book, the book Brilynn over at Jumbo Empanadas has been talking up forever. And I am so glad I did. This enormous tome is full of delicious looking things, but the first thing that caught my eye were these Coffee-Break Muffins.

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Only the blog has been neglected, my stomach remains satisfied

Bean and Corn Soup

Oh the neglect. I must apologize to whatever readers remain. The past few weeks have been stressful, exciting, busy, exhausting, fantastic, and terrifying. This being a student again thing is turning out to be more intense than I expected. My previous educational experiences stand out in my mind as a series of thrilling days full of joyful learning. I didn’t remember the hard work parts. I’m remembering them now. Don’t misunderstand. It’s freakin’ great, but I am tired.

I finally got a chance to talk to the Lady Crystal today (oh thank god, I needed that) and her plaintive sighs about missing my cooking and my blog are what brought me to the ‘puter tonight. It’s about time, and I swear, I will do my best to not let so much time elapse in the future. Especially because I really have been cooking things. I’m not subsisting on take out and frozen pizza, I swear!

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