Hoisin Beef Skewers

Makes about 2 dozen skewers

These can be made in 5 minutes and cooked in about 5. That's pretty darn good - plus you get to eat them off those cool little sticks. Put the steak in the freezer for about 15 minutes before slicing - it will make it easier.

Ingredients

• 1 pound steak, I think a New York works well
• 1/2 cup Hoisin sauce, supermarket Asian aisle
• Juice from 2 limes
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• bamboo skewers
• chili sauce, to taste
• green onions, thinly sliced and toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Directions

1. Mix Hoisin, lime juice and garlic well - set aside
2. Trim steak across grain into slices about 1/4 thick
3. Thread steak onto skewers
4. Add some of the sauce to the skewered meat - reserving some for dipping
5. Heat grill pan or bbq really well
6. They won't take long - no more than about 3 minutes a side
7. Mix a little chili sauce with reserved dipping sauce and serve on the side

Bruschetta

Makes approximately 16

A perfect appetizer, and it's yours in no time.

Ingredients

• 2 vine ripened tomatoes, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 or 4 large fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 4 ounces soft goat cheese
• French or Italian bread, sliced crosswise about 1/4 inch thick

Directions

1. Preheat broiler
2. Mix all ingredients except bread and goat cheese in a medium bowl
3. Spread about 1 tablespoon of goat cheese on each bread slice
4. Top with tomato mixture
5. Place on baking sheet and place under broiler about 4 minutes
6. Make sure it doesn't burn

Cocktail-Rye-Cheesey-Olivey-Things

Ok, so it's got a stupid name, but it's still a great quick and easy appetizer. Plus you get to make it on those funny little rye bread slices.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chopped green olives (with pimento if you like)
• 1/4 cup chopped black olives (of the Mediterranean kind)
• 2-3 tablespoons mayo
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Cocktail rye bread slices

Directions

1. Heat broiler
2. Mix all ingredients except bread
3. Spread about a tablespoon of olive mixture on each slice
4. Broil 5 to 7 minutes
5. Yum.

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Crab Dip

You can buy expensive crabmeat at your favorite seafood joint, but as long as you find yourself a really good quality canned version you don't need to.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound crabmeat
• 1/3 cup shredded Swiss cheese
• 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup red onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce, I like Cholula
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Mix all ingredients well and put in a oven proof serving bowl
3. Bake for 15 minutes, then place under broiler to brown top
4. Serve with crackers or something crunchy like baked won ton chips

Crab Won Tons

Makes about 30

This falls under the heading of "Don't make the same thing all the time". They're delicious, simple and different - plus they're baked, not fried. I would try to insist on fresh crab, but there's no point. You're going to use what you want and besides - canned in this case is actually not that bad. But if you do use the canned, buy the 'lump'.

Ingredients

• 4 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 green onions, sliced very thin
• 1 cup crab meat, approximately
• 1 tablespoon Asian hot sauce (Sriracha)
• 1 package won ton wrappers, I like the round ones

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Mix all ingredients well in bowl, except wrappers
3. Put about a teaspoon and a half of mixture in center of each wrapper
4. Dip finger tips in water and wet edges of wrapper lightly and fold in half - try to remove as much air as possible
5. Seal tightly and place won tons on baking sheet coated with cooking spray
6. Bake until they start to brown - should be about 15 to 20 minutes
7. While they cook, make the dipping sauce:
8. 3 tablespoons soy
9. 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
10. 1 teaspoon sugar
11. 1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
12. 1 teaspoon green onion, finely chopped
13. Mix all ingredients and serve on the side

Feta and Red Pepper Pockets

Roasted red peppers, feta and pesto all baked together? Who doesn't love that?

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, diced
• 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
• 1/4 cup pesto
• 16 refrigerator rolls (round ones)

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients well, except biscuits and set aside
2. Separate rolls and flatten
3. Put approximately 1 large tablespoon in each and fold in half
4. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 until lightly browned (about 20 minutes)

Grilled PB and Jelly

Makes one

This is not as goofy as it seems. If you like a PB & J, and who doesn't?...then this is a must-try. Give it a whirl for lunch one weekend.

Ingredients

• 2 pieces of bread (if you're asking me, this needs a heavier grain bread)
• PB - of course
• Jelly - of course (I would go grape here, trust me)
• Butter

Directions

1. Spread PB on one slice of bread, and the J on the other.
2. Put both slices together with the gooey stuff in the middle- as if that wasn't obvious.
3. Lightly butter outside of one slice and place face down in a warm pan.
4. Squish down and flatten a little with a spatula or your hand, but watch out for the sides.
5. Butter top piece of bread and flip over once the bottom has browned slightly.
6. Cut into wedges and enjoy!

Honey Garlic Spare Ribs

Need to take an appetizer to someone's home? Bring these baby's along and they'll be talking about you all night. You don't even have to say where you got the recipe. Just send me an email telling me how good they were.

Ingredients

• 4-5 pounds pork spare ribs, 2 racks

• 2 tablespoons garlic powder

• 3/4 cup honey

• 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar

• 3/4 cup soy sauce

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

• Sliced green onion

• 1/2 teaspoon Sesame seeds

Directions

1. Cut racks into individual ribs and season with garlic powder

2. Arrange in a 13x9-baking dish

3. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for one hour, or until very tender

4. Combine remaining ingredients (except green onions and sesame seeds) in a saucepan and simmer 5 minutes

5. Remove from oven and drain ribs well - careful, there will be lots of steam under the foil

6. Pour honey mixture over spareribs and make sure all ribs get coated

7. Bake, uncovered, at 350 for another hour. Baste well about every 10 minutes

8. Remove from oven and garnish with the green onions and sesame seeds.

Hot Sweet Wings

Makes about 2 dozen wings

Make them on a moments notice by keeping a bag of wings in the freezer - you don't even need to defrost them. Just yank 'em out and throw them in the oven, it's a piece of cake.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds chicken wings

• 1/2 cup honey

• 1/4 cup butter

• 6 ounces Louisiana-style hot sauce

• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• good size pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat broiler

2. Place wings on a foil lined baking sheet and broil until done - about 10 minutes a side - more if frozen

3. While they're cooking, put remaining ingredients in a small pot and simmer for about 15 minutes

4. When wings are done, mix them in batches with the sauce in large bowl

5. Place wings in serving bowl with some of the sauce

Pesto Pizza

Serves 6 for an appetizer

Our friends John and Jo Ann (Jo Ann H., Somewhere in Texas) would often serve this amazingly simple and delicious appetizer. When they moved away, we were all sad, but she left the recipe behind and it made us feel a little better (not a lot, just a little.) This is so quick to make and will easily travel to someone else's home - just get it all ready and cook it in their oven. Oh yeah, don't let them tell you there's no room. There's always room, and it only takes 10 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1-10 oz pre baked pizza crust
• 1-7 oz container pesto sauce (you'll use about half)
• 1-4 oz Garlic & Herb soft spreadable cheese (I use Allouette)
• 3/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Spread Herb & Garlic cheese over pizza crust
3. Spread about half of the pesto evenly over top of cheese
4. Sprinkle parmesan over top of pesto. That's it!
5. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until it starts to get bubbly and a little brown
6. Cool for a few minutes and then slice into thin wedges

My Mom's Lox Dip

So simple yet so delicious. Man, she's good.

Ingredients

• 1-4 oz package sliced Lox, chopped
• 4 ounces cream cheese (3/4 small package)
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 green onion, thinly sliced
• 1 hard boiled egg, grated
• thinly sliced green onion for garnish

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well
2. Chill in refrigerator about 20 minutes
3. Sprinkle with a little more sliced green onion
4. Serve with toasted pitas (see recipes)

Fresh Mozzarella & Tomato Pizza

Serves 6 as an appetizer

Also referred to as a 'Margherita" pizza (but different from the Margarita drink) this is easily on of my favorites. The fresh mozzarella makes it the bizzle. The quantities below will make a 10-inch pizza, or 2 of the smaller appetizer sized ones.

Ingredients

• 1-10" ready made pizza crust - like Boboli
• Fresh Mozzarella, sliced 1/8" thick
• 3-4 Roma tomatoes, sliced 1/8" thick
• Fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons Olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Put tomatoes in bowl with olive oil & garlic, mix well
3. Put tomatoes on crust & cover with mozzarella (NOTE: Do not cover too perfectly - you want some of the tomatoes showing through)
4. Top pizza with some of the basil leaves
5. Bake approximately 12-15 minutes

Mushroom Crostini

'Crostini' too fancy-sounding? Then let's just call this 'mushrooms on bread'. Better?

Ingredients

• 3 cups sliced mushrooms (your choice)

• 2 tablespoons rosemary

• 1 large clove garlic

• 2 tablespoons dry vermouth

• 1 baguette, sliced into diagonal 1/4 inch slices

• fresh ground pepper

• olive oil

Directions

1. Brush one side of bread slices lightly with olive oil

2. Saute mushrooms in oil in nonstick pan over medium heat

3. When soft, add pepper, rosemary and garlic - stir well for a minute

4. Heat broiler, and toast bread slices lightly; oiled side up

5. Add vermouth, taking care as it may flame up

6. When most of the liquid has evaporated, remove from heat

7. Spoon mushroom mixture on the tops of the toasted bread

8. Sprinkle lightly with Parmesan and serve

Mushrooms & Goat Cheese in Pastry

There are so many kinds of 'shrooms out there - it doesn't matter what you use -just choose your favorites!

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound mixed mushrooms, sliced thin
• 2 large shallots, diced
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 5 ounces softened goat cheese
• 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
• 1 sheet puff pastry
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Heat olive oil in medium pan and saute mushrooms until softened
3. Add shallots and garlic; mix well and cook for 2 minutes
4. Remove from heat and put in large bowl; allow to cool slightly
5. Add goat cheese and parsley
6. Mix well
7. Spread puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface
8. Place mushroom mixture in middle of sheet and fold ends over the top and seal edges
9. Place seam-side down on a well greased baking sheet, make some small decorative slices with a sharp knife across the top; but don't cut all the way through
10. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown
11. Slice and serve warm

PB, Bacon & Banana

Makes 4 sandwiches, probably

Pretty sure Elvis had this with regular slices of banana - but we’ve turned them into crispy little banana fritters, and oh snap they’re insane!

1 cup all purpose flour plus 6 tablespoons, you’ll see

Big pinch Kosher salt & fresh ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 pound bacon

2 cups dry roasted peanuts

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon oil

Kosher salt, if needed

2 ripe bananas

1 egg

Pinch salt & pepper

6 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon maple syrup

2 cups crushed corn flakes - not 2 cups THEN crushed

Oil for cooking

Bread for toasting

• Heat oven to 400

• Combine 1 cup of the flour, s&p and cayenne on a plate, mix well

• Lightly coat both sides of each piece of bacon, shake off excess and put on a rack on a baking sheet

• Bacon until beautifully golden, 30-35 minutes

• Put peanuts in a processor with the ‘S’ blade and mix until becoming pb - this will take a solid couple minutes, but it’s very cool

• Add the honey, whiz again and taste and add salt if you want - set aside (it’ll keep a couple months in the fridge)

• Mash banana in a bowl then add the egg, remaining 6 tablespoons flour, syrup and a salt & pepper - stir well to combine

• Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a pan to about 350 degrees, or until a little of the banana mixture will sizzle when put in

• Spread out the cornflakes on a plate, and put spoonfuls of about 2 tablespoons of the banana mixture at a time into the flakes

• Cover with the cornflakes, then lifting carefully with a large spoon gently lay into the oil

• Cook until golden and crispy - a couple minutes each side - then put on paper towels and keep warm in a 250 oven if not using right away

• Build the sando: toast, pb, bacon and a few fritters

• Oh snap!

Blue Cheese & Olive Bread

Having dinner with friends is the best and we recently went to Matt & Peg's. In addition to having the usual great time (we played "Ooh, Ahh", don't ask) Peg served this bread with dinner. It's way rich, way delicious and way easy!

Ingredients

• 1 loaf French bread
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic - crushed
• 12 oz Kalamata olives (Greek Olives), pitted and coarsely chopped
• 10 oz crumbled Blue Cheese, approximately

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Cook onions over medium heat in a saute pan with approx 1 tablespoon of the oil until softened and beautiful
3. Slice loaf in half long ways
4. Mix remaining olive oil and garlic in small bowl
5. Spread garlic oil mixture on cut side of each loaf
6. Layer each half with onions, then olives and then blue cheese
7. Bake in oven for approximately 10-15 minutes or until crispy
8. Remove and cut into serving slices and bingo, you're done

Pear & Gorgonzola Bread

Makes one loaf

This comes from our wonderful friend Peg, who lives up the street. I added the sauteed red onions because almost everything is better with them.

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion, cut into thin slices
• Olive oil
• 1 loaf good crusty bread, like an Italian or French loaf
• 1/3 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese
• 4 pears, ripe and sliced into thin slices

Directions

1. Cook red onion with a little olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat until well softened
2. Preheat oven to broil
3. Mix butter and gorgonzola well in a small bowl, set aside
4. Slice loaf in half lengthwise
5. Drizzle olive oil on cut side of bread and place under broiler a minute or so until it just starts to get crispy
6. Remove and cover cut side of bread with red onion and then cover that with pear slices
7. Then spread gorgonzola butter over pears
8. Put under broiler until light brown and bubbly
9. Remove and slice into serving pieces

Pepperoni Pizza Appetizers

Makes about 15

To make this really simple, it can all be mixed in a Cuisinart. Unless, like me, you don't have one and need to cut everything into tiny pieces by hand. Not that I'm complaining. I mean, is it really a big deal if a guy with a cooking show doesn't have a Cuisinart? Nope - I can handle it. It would be nice; but I can handle it.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sliced pepperoni
• 1/2 cup Swiss cheese
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 3 tablespoons sundried tomato paste
• cocktail bread slices, rye or pumpernickel - about 15

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Either throw everything (except the bread) in a Cuisinart and mix until pretty smooth, or
3. Chop everything (except the bread) by hand in a fine dice and mix with tomato paste
4. Spread thickly on bread
5. Bake about 10 minutes then
6. Broil about 2 minutes until brown & bubbly

Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs

Makes 24 halves

Think deviled eggs are old-school and don't belong in contemporary life? Think again junior.

Ingredients

• 12 hard-boiled eggs
• 6 ounces package smoked salmon, chopped fine
• 1/3-cup mayo, roughly
• 1/2 cup red onion, diced small
• 1 or 2 tablespoons hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
• Big pinch Kosher salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped fine
• Caviar

Directions

1. Slice eggs down the middle lengthwise (you knew that right?)
2. Put whites on your serving plate, and the yolks in a bowl
3. To the yolks add the salmon, mayo, red & green onion, hot sauce, salt, pepper & mustard
4. Mix all well and then fill each of the egg halves
5. Add a tiny amount of caviar to the top of each egg and sprinkle with chives
6. NOTE: You can get these all set a few hours in advance, but don't add the caviar until the last minute because when it sits on the eggs too long the liquid can come out and make the top of the eggs a bit messy.

Blue Cheese & Red Onion Quesadillas

Serves 4 as an appetizer

Think about this - melty blue cheese married to caramelized red onion that's been sweetened with a little brown sugar. On second thought - don't think about it - just make it.

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2-3 ounces crumbled blue cheese
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 8 corn tortillas

Directions

1. Cook red onion in a non-stick pan over medium heat until very soft, then stir in brown sugar
2. Add blue cheese and mix until cheese is melty
3. Divide onion and blue cheese mixture between 4 tortillas, spread out and top each with another tortilla
4. Cook in non-stick pan until both sides are lightly browned, remove, cut into wedges and serve