T’s Pate So

 Ingredients:

1 lbs. pork shoulder

1 medium shallot, minced

1 cup chopped onions

1 tsp chicken boullion

2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 tsp light brown sugar

2 tsp oyster sauce (I like Lee Kum Kee's sold at Costco)

1 tsp corn starch

2 tbs unsalted sweet cream butter plus extra to coat parchment paper before placing pastries on for baking

15 grams leverpastei (used Unox)

2 medium carrots; julienned

1/2 cup of rehydrated woodear mushroom; coarsely minced

1/8 cup chives; minced

4 each 10" x 15" sheets all butter puff pastry

14 quail eggs; beaten

a. Thaw puff pastry sheet for 2-3 hours or per packging instructions

b.Grind pork shoulder in food processor

c.  Add chicken boullion, light brown sugar, pepper, oyster sauce corn starch and unsalted sweet cream.  Mix to incorporated well.

d. Brown shallots and onions over medium heat. 

d. Add woodear mushrooms, carrots, chives, shallots,o nions and leverpastei to meat mixture. Mix to incorporated well.

e. Pre-heat oven to 350F.

f. Cut each thawed puff pastry sheet to 24 squares = 12 pastries per sheet...because I like smaller size pastries, bigger if you like larger pastries)

g. Using a disher or portion scoop place small meat ball in center of puff pastry square. Then top with second pastry square.

h. Using a fork crimp pastry square completely around meatball.

i. Beat quail eggs and brush egg wash over each patry

j. Bake at 30 min. at 350F.

k. Cool slightly to serve warm

Mom's shrimp and crab bruschetta

I don't know what to call this appetizer but since its something delicious topped on a slice of baguette, I went with bruschetta. I hope I didn't offend anyone with that decision! This Valentine's day I volunteered to cook dinner however with V-day being on a Thursday, I needed a meal that was quick, but still delicious and festive. Momma Ngo to the rescue! I don't have exact proportions of my ingredients because.. Well... I was winging it.

Ingredients:

1/4 lb of shrimp
1 can of crab meat
Mayo (I used some fancy alternative from whole foods)
Garlic
Onions
Italian parsley
Pecorino Romano cheese
Red pepper flakes
Salt
Pepper



Instructions:

1. Clean and devein shrimp. Chop into small pieces
2. Sauté the shrimp pieces with butter, garlic and onions. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Combine your cooked shrimp and crab meat in a mixing bowl with finely chopped parsley.
4. Add grated pecorino romano
5. Add enough mayo to bind this mixture together so it can sit on top of your bread.
6. Cut baguette into 1 in slices and lightly olive oil each side.
7. Spoon the crab mixture onto each slice
8. Top it with more pecorino
9. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 8 minutes or when the cheese on top has melted and you can see some golden edges on the crab mixture
10. Top with more chopped parsley

I'd recommend adding lemon to the mix if you're not using the lemony mayo alternative I used... Enjoy!

Mini Spinach Dip Bread Bowls

Its that time of year again-- NFL season. Although hubby likes the typical little smokies in a blanket or wrapped in bacon and brown sugar, I thought I would take advantage of this snack-filled time and try other finger foods.

These bread bowls are a little too froo-froo for football, but they're super cute and very tasty, and my favorite-- VERY easy! The recipe says it makes 10, but I would go ahead and make 12 and fill a whole muffin pan.


Ingredients

• 13.3 oz roll of refrigerated french bread loaf, I used Simply Pillsbury
• 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Cups baby spinach, coarsely chopped
• 1 clove fresh garlic, minced
• 3 oz softened cream cheese
• 1/2 Cup light sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons fresh shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Ancho Chile Pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Garlic Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon McCormick Gourmet Sicilian Sea Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray 10 muffin cups with non stick cooking spray.  Unroll package of french bread loaf and slice into 10 equal size slices, about 1 inch thick.  Press each slice into about a 3 inch round, I did this by pressing in between my hands.  Press into the bottom and up sides of the muffin cup.  Set aside.

2.  Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat.  Cook and stir spinach until wilted, about 3 minutes then add garlic, cook and stir for another minute then turn heat off.

3.  Place cream cheese, sour cream, cooked spinach and garlic, Parmesan Cheese, Ancho Chili Powder, garlic salt, salt and pepper into a medium bowl.  Mix until well combined.  With a medium cookie scoop, scoop dip into each of the centers of bread bowls.  Top evenly with shredded cheese and bake for 15-17 minutes until just turning brown on edges.  Remove and let cool for 3-5 minutes before removing from oven.

Jalapeno Popper Dip

We made this for Bao's birthday and it was a hit. Delicious and creamy and most importantly, easy to make!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, room temp
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese (half Jack, half cheddar cheese)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
• 1 (4 ounce) can sliced jalapenos
• 1 (4 ounce) can sliced jalapeno, diced
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 stick butter, melted

Preparation:
In a food processor, add the first 7 ingredients and process until smooth. You do not need to drain either can of peppers. Dice the 2nd can of jalapenos and hand mix into the dip. Spread the dip into a greased 2-quart casserole. In a bowl, mix breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and melted butter; mix well. Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over the dip and bake in a preheated 375 degree F. oven for about 20 minutes. You want the top to get browned and the dip to be heated through and bubble gently on the edges.

Do not over cook this dish or the mayonnaise with separate and you will have a grease puddle in your dip. Serve with Buttery crackers or a sliced French baguette.

Baked Brie

This baked brie has roasted garlic and toasted pine nuts all wrapped in puff pastry. It was delicious! The only baked brie we ever made that was completely devoured!

Ingredients:

• Small Brie wheel
• Garlic, oven roasted
• Pine nuts, lightly toasted
• Store-bought puff pastry, defrosted to room temperature
• Egg, beaten
  

Directions:

1. Roll out the puff pastry so it doesn't puff too much when you bake it.
2. Cut around the puff pastry so you have enough to cover the entire Brie wheel but not too much excess that it will be lumpy on the bottom.
3. Put the pine nuts, and mushrooms on the puff pastry circle you just cut, now put the Brie back on top of it.
4. Wrap until all the ends meet and it's seal.
5. Put the seam side down.
6. Brush with egg wash and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes or when puff pastry is golden brown.
   

Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms

This was adapted from Ina Garten's stuffed mushrooms. We did not use sherry since we didn't have any and just marinated the mushrooms in red wine (Merlot) and olive oil. We also did not have any mascarpone cheese, so we used a combination of cream cheese and goat cheese that we had in the fridge. Goat cheese can be very strong so the ratio was 3 to 1, cream cheese to goat cheese. The filling is so good and rich and it was really easy to make.

I included Ina's original recipe and marked our adaptations in italics:

Ingredients

• 16 extra-large white mushrooms
• 5 tablespoons good olive oil, divided
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Marsala wine or medium sherry (Merlot or any red wine you have)
• 3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from the casings
• 6 scallions, white and green parts, minced
• 2 garlic cloves minced (I used 3 cloves)
• 2/3 cup panko crumbs
• 5 ounces mascarpone cheese, preferably from Italy (1 ounce goat cheese & 4 ounces cream cheese, mixed together)
• 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 2 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop them finely. Set aside. Place the mushroom caps in a shallow bowl and toss with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil and Marsala. Set aside.
3. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, crumbling it with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook the sausage for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until it's completely browned. Add the chopped mushroom stems and cook for 3 more minutes. Stir in the scallions and garlic and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the panko crumbs, stirring to combine evenly with all the other ingredients. Finally, swirl in the mascarpone and continue cooking until the mascarpone has melted and made the sausage mixture creamy. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan, parsley, and season with salt and pepper, to taste, Cool slightly.
4. Fill each mushroom generously with the sausage mixture. Arrange the mushrooms in a baking dish large enough to hold all the mushrooms in a snug single layer. Bake until the stuffing for 50 minutes, until the stuffing is browned and crusty.

Pigs in a Blanket

We spent Super Bowl XLIV at Steve and Jenny's with the babies and watched the Saints beat the Colts (31-17) in a very exciting game.

Here is the simple pigs in the blanket we always make.

Ingredients:

• 1 Pilsburry Crescent rolls (Each triangle cut into 3, the long way)
• 1 packages of Aidell's chicken apple sausages, mini (Or Lil Smokies)
• 1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Prepare a baking sheet but wrapping with foil.
2. Roll a sausage into the cut Crescent roll.
3. Brush with egg wash.
4. Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes or until golden and puffed.
5. Serve with ketchup!

Goat Cheese, Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Skewers

This is Bao's recipe and Anh 2 Mike made the batch photographed above by me.
I'm just posting it to take credit. Haha...kidding.

Goat Cheese, Sun-dried Tomato & Basil Skewers
These are so refreshing and delicious you really can't eat just one! It's best eaten all in one bite.

Ingredients

• Goat cheese, rolled into 1/2 inch balls
  
• Crushed unsalted pistachios
• Sun-dried tomatoes, straightened out and cut in half
• Grape tomato, halved
• Basil leave, torn into 1/2 inch pieces
• Skewers or toothpicks

Preparation

1. Roll the goat cheese into 1/2 inch balls then roll the balls onto the crushed pistachios.
2. Skew the half tomato, then the basil, then the sun-dried tomato and last the goat cheese ball at the end.