Category Archives: Appetizer

December 23, 2011 · 9:23 am

Pickled Shrimp and Onions

Here is a recipe for your Christmas buffet that’s sure to impress.  My mother, Dolores Borel, served this years ago when hosting for her dance club.  This Christmas, she helped me with the presentation for my party.  Everyone was in awe of how wonderful it looked and tasted.

By Pat Savoie, recipe from Dolores Borel

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Ingredients

2           pounds shrimp
2           sweet onions, sliced into rings
1 1/2     cups       vegetable oil
1 1/2     cups       white vinegar
1/2        cup         sugar
1 1/2     tsp          salt
1 1/2     tsp         celery seed
4            Tbsp      capers with juice

Method

Boil shrimp in salted water 3-5 minutes or until pink.  Chill in a cold water bath.  Peel.  Combine remaining ingredients and marinate shrimp and onions in the refrigerator several days stirring occasionally.

For presentation, I covered a cone-shaped piece of styrofoam first with lettuce, then with parsley using floral picks.  Marinated shrimp and onion rings were attached to the “Christmas tree” with plastic picks.  Excess were arranged at the base.

Rebecca and guests enjoying the Christmas buffet

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Filed under Appetizer, Seafood

December 11, 2011 · 7:41 pm

Christmas Tree Cream Cheese and Crackers

An easy way to spruce up cream cheese with pepper jelly and crackers for Christmas is to shape it into a festive tree.  Begin by cutting the block of cheese diagonally; then place the two straight sides together.  Trim the bottom of the tree evenly.  For the star, us a knife or small cookie cutter to cut the shape out of a large carrot or bell pepper. For the trunk, use a thin piece of celery or a green onion.  We like to top the cream cheese with our pepper jelly or store bought raspberry chipotle sauce.  Serve with wheat thins or sesame rice crackers.

by Elizabeth Savoie Dronet

If you are planning a Christmas party, you may also like our Cranberry Christmas Punch, Cranberry Key Lime Punch (alcoholic), Christmas Butter Cookies, or Pesto Cheese Wreath.

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Filed under Appetizer, Holidays

August 14, 2011 · 6:23 pm

Warm Cranberry Walnut Caramel Brie

My cousin Lauren Hoover brought this yummy appetizer to our Easter celebration and everyone raved over its good looks and great taste. Lauren, who lives out of town, bragged that she didn’t have to slave away in the kitchen like some of the others because this recipe is so simple.  Dump it all on top and pop it in the microwave.  It’s perfect for those who are traveling and don’t want to take a long time assembling the finished product when they arrive.

By Lauren Hoover

Ingredients and Method

Brie Cheese

Sprinkle:
Craisins
Dried apples
Walnuts

Drizzle:
Caramel ice cream topping

Put it in the microwave until cheese is soft.

Enjoy!

This recipe has been kid tested and approved!

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Filed under Appetizer, Holidays

August 9, 2011 · 9:05 am

Carole’s Creamy Goat Cheese Pesto Dip

My friend Carole served this creamy and colorful dip on a birthday party buffet, and it was the first thing to disappear!  I highly recommend adding it to your next party menu.  It’s fresh for the summer, but also the fitting for Christmas with it’s red and green colors.  My version was made with sungold tomatoes from garden and homemade pesto from the overabundance of basil I have growing.  However, you can easily stop by the grocery store to pick up the three ingredients and have an appetizer in a flash.

By Carole, Elizabeth’s friend

Ingredients

1 pkg Chavrie
Pesto
Cherry tomatoes halved or cut into thirds
Pita chips for serving

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Method

Spread goat cheese over a platter or plate. It will cover the size of dinner plate.  Drop small amounts of pesto over the cheese and spread gently to cover.  Sprinkle tomatoes over the top.

Carole’s Tip:  Microwave the goat cheese and pesto for about 30 seconds to 1 minutes before topping with tomatoes. It makes the dip creamier when served warm.

Serve with pita chips, such as Stacy’s Simply Naked brand.

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Filed under Appetizer, Vegetarian

August 5, 2011 · 1:33 pm

Mexican Olive Dip

We recommend serving this dip-with-a-kick along side a Mexican Martini.  This summer we all scooped it up in between dips in the cool Comal river.  The next day we packed it in our picnic lunch to eat at Schlitterbahn. It hit the spot!

By Michelle Johns, Pat’s friend

Ingredients

8        ounces  green olives
8        ounces  black olives
4        ounces  jalapeno
1        can petite diced  tomatoes, drained
1        cup  green onion
3        Tablespoons  olive oil
1        Tablespoon  red wine vinegar
garlic salt

Method

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and chop coarsely.  Store in a jar in the refrigerator.

Serve with chips or crackers.

*If you don’t feel like or don’t have a food processor, just put everything a bowl and stir to combine. Buy the sliced or chopped cans of olives.

Miette, Annabeth and family friend, Chariste, enjoying the summer.

Back to the fun. Miette shoots out of the slide!

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Filed under Appetizer, Vegetarian

July 8, 2011 · 8:01 am

Fresh Pineapple and Black Bean Salsa

Fresh pineapple just tastes like summer.  Serve this pineapple and black bean salsa with tortilla chips or along side grilled chicken or shrimp.  It also makes a nice accompaniment to lemon butter tilapia and coconut rice.

by Elizabeth Savoie Dronet

Ingredients

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple, diced small
1 jalapeno, seeded and minced (can substitute a banana pepper for less heat)
3 Tbsp red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 lime, juiced
salt to taste

Method

Combine all ingreients in a bowl.  Refrigerate up to 3 days.

For a twist, grill the pineapple first.

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Filed under Appetizer, Salads, Vegetarian

May 4, 2011 · 4:36 pm

Creamy Stuffed Mushrooms

We love cream cheese around here, so these little mushrooms hit the spot. Serve them hot out the oven as a side dish with supper or as a tasty appetizer.  Save any leftover stuffing to mix in with pasta the next day.

by Elizabeth Savoie Dronet

Ingredients 

12 whole fresh mushrooms

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray or brush with olive oil. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet. Fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic.
  3. In a mixing bowl or mixer, combine mushroom mixture with cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Mixture should be very thick. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared sheet.
  4. Sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese over the tops of each and a perhaps a dash of freshly ground pepper if you have it on hand.
  5. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and liquid starts to form under caps.

There may be left over cream cheese mixture.  I sometimes mix it with a little milk and serve it warm with pasta for lunch the following day.

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Filed under Appetizer, Side Dish, Vegetarian

April 26, 2011 · 6:49 pm

Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Jalapenos

One day I was shopping with Pat in the grocery store and saw a guy weighing out about a pound of jalapenos.  I started up a conversation about what he planned to do with them, wondering if he was making pepper jelly like we do.  He said, no he was going to stuff them using this recipe.  So we bought ourselves a pound too!  We served it as an appetizer to go along with ribs that I cooked on the grill.  Everyone was impressed!  

by Kent Savoie

1 pound fresh jalapenos
1 block (8oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 pack Old El Paso taco seasoning (regular)
10 oz of thin sliced bacon (small pack)

Slice jalapenos in half longways and remove ribs and seeds. You can leave the stem if you like.
Mix cream cheese and taco seasoning.
Spoon mixture into jalapeno slices. It should be around level.

Wrap a half of a slice of bacon around the stuffed pepper.  Begin wrapping from the bottom.

Place on tinfoil wrapped rimmed baking sheet.  Cook in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes or until bacon is fully cooked.

For your vegetarian friends and relatives, omit the bacon and reduce cooking time.

Be sure to wrap your baking sheet with foil for easy clean up.

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Filed under Appetizer

March 12, 2011 · 2:24 pm

Darnell’s Deviled Eggs

Each Easter Dave’s sister Darnell hosts a crawfish boil for the family.  You can count on her to also serve these classic deviled eggs, which are Dave’s favorite.  Darnell has a special deviled egg tray that comes with an ice insert to keep the eggs cold even when they sit outside for awhile.

I own a copy of A Southern Belle Primer or Why Princess Magaret will never be a Kappa Kappa Gamma, and in it there is a chapter explaining the expectations people have about their deviled eggs in the South:

“I’ll never forget a picnic where a friend of my mother’s once served us deviled eggs that didn’t have any mayonaise in them at all.  It was some fancy kind of oil and mustard she’d gotten from some book.  We were all appalled but too polite to say anything.  She had them on a deviled egg plate just like they were the real thing.  But she didn’t fool anybody.  If it doesn’t have mayonaise, it isn’t a deviled egg.”

Deviled eggs also makes the book’s Top Ten List of what to bring to a funeral reception.  Broccoli casserole with rice, cream of mushroom soup and Velveeta and  grits casserole with butter, eggs and garlic Velveeta also make the list.  It appears the Savoies are true Southerners as those exact recipes can be found on Savoie Secrets.

By Darnell, Elizabeth’s sister-in-law

Ingredients

12 eggs
3 Tbsp mayonaise
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup sweet relish, place on paper towel and squeeze out juice
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp hot sauce (optional)
paprika if desired

Method

1. Boil eggs either for 10 minutes, or bring to a boil, cover, turn off heat and let sit for 15 minutes. (Darnell prefers older eggs as they are easier to peel.)

2. Immediately plunge into ice cold water to cool completely. Peel.

3. Slice in half and carefully remove the yolk.

4. Mash yolk and mix with other ingredients except paprika.  Combine until smooth.

5. Spoon into egg whites or use a pastry bag fitted with a star tip to pipe the mixture into the egg whites.

6.  Sprinkle with paprika if desired.

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Filed under Appetizer, Holidays, Vegetarian

March 4, 2011 · 4:56 pm

Olive Roll-Ups

I’m always looking for sandwich ideas for school lunches.  These bite-sized olive roll-ups got my attention in Southern Living’s recipe book Our Favorites. They were quite simple to make and best of all can be made ahead.  The next time you are asked to bring something for a church function or to a baby shower, remember these little sandwiches.  They would also be great for picnics and camping trips.

By Elizabeth Savoie Dronet, based on a recipe from Southern Living

Ingredients

  • 12  thin sandwich bread slices
  • 4-ounces package cream cheese, softened or spreadable
  • 1/2  cup  diced salad olives
  • 1/4  cup  chopped pecans, toasted
  • 1/4  cup  mayonnaise
  • 1/8  teaspoon  pepper

Method

Remove crusts from bread; reserve crusts for another use.  (We like to feed the ducks.)  Flatten bread slices with a rolling pin.

Stir together cream cheese and remaining ingredients. Spread cream cheese mixture on 1 side of each bread slice to cover. Roll up tightly; cover and chill at least 4 hours. To serve, cut each roll into 4 slices.

Makes 48 rolls.  You can easily double the recipe for a crowd.

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Filed under Appetizer, Lunch Box, Sandwiches, Showers or Teas