Poor Santa » inexpensive holiday appetizers

Puff Pizzettes : Inexpensive Holiday Appetizers

PoorSanta — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:52:54 +0000

Puff pastry and fresh ingredients, make these bite-size pizzas a step above the common fare.

Puff Pizzettes Recipe:

Frozen Puff Pastry

Grape Tomatoes (sliced thinly)

Fresh basil leaves(sliced into 1/4″ ribbons)

Shaved Parmesan Cheese

2 tbs olive oil

1 clove of garlic (crushed & minced)

salt

Thaw the puff pastry dough thoroughly.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Sweat the garlic in the olive oil over medium heat with a pinch of salt
Smooth out the dough and cut into 1” by 3″ strips. (A shortbread cookie cutter this size will produce the slightly ruffled edges seen in the pic. above)
Baste the top of the strips with the garlic oil.
Pick each strip 3-4 times with a fork.
Top with 3 slices of grape tomato.
Sprinkle on shaved Parmesan .
Top with a couple pieces of basil.
Place the strips on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for approximately 12 minutes, on middle rack.

Easy Parmesan Puff Christmas Cut-outs : Inexpensive Holiday Appetizers

PoorSanta — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:46:24 +0000

Parmesan Puff Christmas Cutouts make a quick, easy and inexpensive filler appetizer for your holiday spread. These also make a great accompaniment to soups and stews.

Parmesan Puff Christmas Cutouts Recipe:

Frozen puff pastry

1 egg yolk

1tbs. water

paprika

grated parmesan cheese

parsley

Thaw puff pastry
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Beat egg yolk with 1 tbs of water (you can add a dash of garlic power if you like, just beat it in)
Use Holiday cookie cutters to cut the pastry dough.
Baste cutouts with yolk.
Sprinkle with paprika, grated cheese, then parsley.
Bake on parchment lined baking sheet for 12 minutes.

These are best served warm.

Curried Chicken Skewers w/ Cilantro Mayonaise : Inexpensive Holiday Appetizers

PoorSanta — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 05:09:02 +0000

Big flavor, on a small budget, is not hard to achieve, when you spice it up a bit. This simple inexpensive appetizer is packed with taste.

Recipe: Curry Chicken Skewers with Cilantro Mayonaise

2 large chicken breasts

2 dozen wooden skewers (soaked in water for at least 15 min.)

grape tomatoes

Marinate Ingredients

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 tbs. of curry

1/2 tbs. of cilantro ( I use dried)

1 small clove of garlic (crushed & minced)

1 tsp of ginger (crushed & minced)

1 tsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp kosher salt (if substituting table salt, use a little less)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Slice chicken breasts into thin strips, then cut strips into 1-2 ” long pieces.
Mix marinate ingredients in glass bowl.
Add chicken, and make sure it is fully covered in marinate.
Skewer chicken & grape tomatoes.
Bake for 10 minutes, make sure oven is fully preheated and flip the skewers at about the 6 minute point.

Cilantro Mayonaise

1/4 cup of mayonaise

1/2 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp cilantro

Simply mix and serve aside the skewers. If you prefer a sweeter mayo, just add a little honey and mix well.