RecipeMuncher

I was approached by Cookware.com to see if I would be interested in partnering with them. This article was supplied by them. Check it out, there are some great sounding appetizer recipes listed here, perfect for the upcoming holiday season!

I love that Thanksgiving isn’t even here yet and we’re already thinking about Christmas and Hanukah! Oh well, tis the season, right? While many families prefer to keep their holiday menus traditional, adding a few fresh new appetizers to the mix is a great way to keep things interesting. So get out your finest Christmas dinnerware and prepare to serve up some great-tasting, holiday-inspired appetizers this season! Here are 5 of my favorites!

1.) Sweet Sesame Five-Spice Popcorn
This delicious appetizer comes to us courtesy of Rachael Ray on the Food Network! This light, fluffy and slightly sweet treat is perfect before a meal or before bedtime!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup un-popped corn kernels
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Simply place the popcorn, sugar, oil and five-spice powder in a large kettle with a tight-fitting lid and set your heat to medium. When the corn starts popping, start shaking the pot. When the popping slows, remove the kettle from the heat and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve in a festive bowl.

2.) Cheddar Cheese Bite-Size Biscuits:

WebMD, your source for all things health and nutrition-related also has some great recipes! I found this section on healthy, easy “Make-Ahead” Holiday appetizers that all look delicious.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup unbleached white flour
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup light cream cheese
• 2 cups shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar
• 4 tablespoons margarine
• 1/4 cup low-fat milk

Directions:

• Put your flour (both kinds) in your food processor, adding cream cheese, cheddar and margarine. Set on your ‘pulse’ setting for about 5 seconds.
• Drizzle your milk over the top and ‘pulse’ until your ingredients are of a dough-like consistency.
• Use a tablespoon of dough and roll into a ball, placing it on a cookie sheet
• Cover and refrigerate your cookie sheet, preheating the oven to about 400 degrees.
• Bake for about 15 minutes, or until set.
• Serve at room temperature or slightly warm.

3.) Cucumber, Pomegranate and Goat Cheese Toast

I found these tasty morsels on RecipeZaar.com and according to the site, they are adapted from a recipe by Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi. Pomegranates are in season during autumn and early winter, add to that their rich, red color and you have a festive looking and tasting treat!

Ingredients:

• 10 slices toasted whole wheat bread
• 1/4 teaspoon olive oil
• 2 ounces goat cheese
• 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 1/2 - 1 seedless cucumber

Directions:

• Combine your olive oil and goat cheese and spread evenly onto the slices of toast.
• Sprinkle toast slices with pomegranate seeds, pressing them gently into the goat cheese. Arrange between 4 and 6 cucumber slices and sprinkle with dill.
• Cut each slice in half along a diagonal and serve open faced on a festive platter.

4.) Mini Mac & Cheese Bites

Mac & Cheese just warms the soul, making these mini mac & cheese bites perfect for a holiday appetizer! This delicious dish comes to us from Reader’s Digest!

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Pepper to taste
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
• 4 ounces cooked elbow macaroni
• Thin baguette slices
• Fresh basil leaves
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• Paprika

Directions:

• Using your favorite piece of kitchenware, melt 2 tablespoons of butter on medium to low heat, adding flour until properly blended. Add salt, pepper, and milk. Stir while it cooks, it should get nice and thick. Add cheese and stir until melted. Finally, add your macaroni.
• Line a slice of baguette with a basil leaf, topping it with 1 tablespoon of mac & cheese.
• Toss breadcrumbs with remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and press onto macaroni. Sprinkle it with paprika and broil about 4 inches from the heat until browned.




5.) Drunken Stuffed Figs

Oooh, this one sounds so sweet and tasty! Perfect for before or after dinner, really. I found this one on AllRecipes.com.

Ingredients:

• 24 fresh figs
• 1 cup cognac
• 1 cup mascarpone cheese
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1 1/2 cups toasted hazelnuts
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves

Directions:

• Using a marinade injector/baster, inject the figs with about 1 tablespoon of cognac and chill in the fridge.
• In a medium bowl, blend the remaining cognac, mascarpone cheese and about 3/4 of your confectioners’ sugar - chilling it in the refrigerator when done.
• Now, using a food processor or blender, mix in the toasted hazelnuts, mint and the last of the confectioners’ sugar, placing your concoction in a medium bowl after blended to perfection.
• Finally, remove the stems from your figs, cutting them in half (length-wise). Fill the halves with equal portions of your cognac/mascarpone cheese mixture. Roll your figs in the hazelnut mixture and arrange them on a festive serving platter, cheese side up. Chill until serving.

No matter what you are planning to serve as your main course this holiday season, any one of these mouth-watering appetizers would be a delicious addition to your table. Why not try out a couple of them now and choose your favorite?

I’m pretty traditional when it comes to the holiday foods. For Thanksgiving I always do turkey, even though I’m not really a fan. One year, a good friend asked if we should do two chickens instead of a turkey. Um, no. Chicken is more towards the “everyday spirit” than the “holiday spirit”, even if there are two of them. Hubby has suggested duck but I’m not feeling that either. If I don’t do turkey, I’ll fee lost. So it’s going to be turkey again this year, only this time I’m doing the dry brine. No icky salmonella liquid to get rid of at the end of the day.

Christmas is still up in the air. I think we’re supposed to do brunch with friends. Last year I did a prime rib roast for the first time and it was spectacular. Turned out to be the easiest roast I’ve ever done, thanks to my trusty thermometer. I recently did a roast beef using a top round roast, which was also fantastic and probably more appropriate given the state of the economy. Ham is always a crowd pleaser and it’s a no-brainer, but maybe this year I’ll go as far as curing my own ham using a recipe out of Charcuterie (see right side bar). Or I can just keep it simple and do a Cuban-style pork roast.

I’m not going to think about New Year yet. It’s only the week after Christmas but still seems so far away.

What do you think I should make for Christmas? Any suggestions? Our Christmas is in your hands, Interwebs! Okay, not really. But I’d really love some suggestions.

In the meantime here are some holiday-appropriate recipes for you just in case you need some inspiration as well. Some are mine but I threw in a few from around the web that piqued my interest.

Meats:
Perfect Prime Rib Roast Impress your guest with this deceptively easy roast. If I do it again, I’m going to try Citymama’s suggestion of coating with brown sugar, Hawaiian salt and garlic.

Picnic Pork Roast A delicious alternative to the beef roast.

Ham with Thai Tea, Cardamom, and Clove Sauce May sound weird, but tastes great. This post has details on how to make a proper pan sauce for ham.

Salt Rub and Butter Turkey from Wandering Chopsticks I’m doing the dry brining this year!

Duck Adobo Confit from Burnt Lumpia Love confit. I’m considering it for Christmas dinner since it might just be me and the boys.

Homemade Bratwurst and Red Cabbage from We Are Never Full This dish reminds me of the Danish Julefrokost, which is a meatfest Christmas brunch (eaten throughout month) accompanied by a lot of drinking. Think smorgasbord with hard liquor.

Appetizers and Accompaniments:
Tasty tomato jam Wonderful accompaniment to strong cheese

Danish-style pate Eaten all year round, but made extra special by serving with crispy bacon and sauteed mushrooms. No Julefrokost is complete without it. Invite your cardiologist friend, just in case.

Danish meatballs Another staple of the Danish Julefrokost. Delicious with red cabbage and/or pickled beets.

Hummus What kind of gathering would it be without hummus? Use sun-dried tomatoes to make it extra festive.

Cranberry Chutney Nice alternative to regular cranberry sauce.

Danish curried pickled herring Definitely an acquired taste, but worth trying if you’re adventurous. I normally only eat this during Christmas as part of my Danish Christmas brunch.

Gravlax from Citymama A must at any Julefrokost. I do it similar, but add a light layer of ground fennel before the dill (I also used dried dill).

Swedish Potato and Rutabaga Casserole from One Perfect Bite Rutabagas are an underrated vegetable. I love the taste and bet they are perfect in this casserole.

Desserts:
Pumpkin Coconut Crème Brulee Elegant alternative to pumpkin pie.

Thai tea Crème Brulee What can I say, I love creme brulee, and this is my favorite so far.

White Chocolate and Star Anise Crème Brulee from Culinary Delights I’m planning on trying this for Christmas. Don’t see how it could go wrong.

Kugelhof from All-Purpose Girl This reminds me of something I ate in Denmark. May be a good alternative if you’re not a fruit cake fan.

Fruit Cake from Burnt Lumpia The fruit cake loves fruit cake. I’m talking about myself, of course. But only if it’s good. And this looks good. How can it not be? It’s spritzed every other day with brandy for 2 weeks! Imagine the moist, alcoholic goodness.

Thick and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies from No Special Effects Come on, don’t gingerbread people just scream Christmas? And the kiddies can have fun decorating them.

So what’s on your table this holiday season?

The wonders of the East are beckoning, softly calling in hushed and gentle tones. In a few short hours I will be stepping out of the cool capsule of an aircraft and into the oppressive humidity of Bangkok. And I cannot wait.

Consequently, this is likely to be my last post for a while. I may try to jot down a couple of lines whilst I am there but I shall not be making any promises.

I should also mention a very worthy blogging event going on here, at A Merrier World. I will be writing a last minute entry as soon as I am once again ensconced in the warm bosom of home, two long weeks from now.

In order to keep this little entry vaguely food related, we had some really good mackerel not long ago. It was bought only hours old in sight of the ocean that had a short time ago been the fishes’ home. It was cooked in the simplest fashion possible over the barbecue and adorned wi…