Archive for the ‘APPETIZERS / SNACKS’ Category
Cheese, Egg & Cucumber Appetizers
These are a twist on the Norwegian open faced sandwiches, called smørrebrød. These are excellent, very well liked by the family. This recipe will use Rosi Wheat Crackers here in Thailand, use your preference of wheat crackers in the US/Canada.
Ingredients
- wheat crackers, Rosi for Thailand, Triscuit in the US
- cheese, sliced, your choice
- cucumber, sliced thin
- hard boiled eggs, sliced
- butter
- mayo
Instructions
- Spread butter on the crackers, top with cheese of your choice, top with a slice of egg, then a small dollop of mayo, then a cucumber slice. Serve.
Notes
Variant: 1. Spread garlic butter on the crackers, then top with shrimp salad, then a thin slice of cucumber.
Magic Cracker Appetizers I
Nothing 'magical' about these, Magic is the brand name of the popular Ritz type of butter crackers in Thailand (we have Ritz crackers here as well but why pay twice as much for a cracker that tastes exactly the same). For Thailand, use Magic or Rosi brand, for folks in the US/Canada, use Ritz. Here is 5 outstanding sounding snacks/appetizers, the base is butter crackers and cream cheese.
Ingredients
For the Base
- butter crackers, Magic, Rosi, or Ritz brand
- 250 grams Cream cheese, softened, 1 block, (8 oz)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
add Radish
- fresh radishes, thinly sliced, mandolin recommended
- fresh dill, chopped
add Cucumber
- fresh cucumber, thinly sliced, mandolin recommended
- fresh dill, chopped
add Hard Boiled Egg
- hard boiled eggs, sliced
- capers
- fresh dill, chopped
add Chicken
- cooked shredded chicken
- seedless grapes, halved
add Strawberry
- fresh strawberries, topped and halved
Instructions
For the Base
- Mix the softened cream cheese with the lemon juice to a nice spreadable consistency.
- Break out the Magic crackers (or Rosi for those in Thailand, or Ritz for those in the US/Canada). Spread an ample amount of cream cheese on some Magic crackers.
add Radish
- Top the cream cheese with 2 thin sliced pieces of radish and a piece or two of chopped dill.
add Cucumber
- Top the cream cheese with 2 thin sliced pieces of cucumber and a piece or two of chopped dill.
add Hard Boiled Egg
- The use of an egg slicer is recommended but not required. Slice the egg(s), use the slices with the yolk (the end pieces, just snack on them when no one is looking).
- Top the cream cheese with a slice of egg, 1-2 capers (push them into the yolk just to hold them in place). Top the egg with a piece or two of chopped dill.
add Chicken
- Top the cream cheese with a bit of shredded chicken then top with half a grape.
add Strawberry
- Remove the green tops of the strawberries and cut in half. Top the cream cheese with half a strawberry.
Notes
Low cost.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Egg Butter (Munavoi)
This is a Finnish appetizer, and it is exactly what it sounds like, hard boiled eggs mashed with butter. The west has their egg salad with mayo, the Finns and Estonians use butter. This is surprisingly good! Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled, chopped, Shortcut
- 2 tablespoons butter, softened
- sea salt, to taste
- pepper, as desired
- butter crackers, as needed
Instructions
- Let the butter soften in a bowl, then added the chopped eggs.
- Mash together the eggs and butter with a fork until the mixture is spreadable, as you can see the yolks will mash and the whites are finely minced from the fork. Season with sea salt as desired.
- Spread on your favorite butter crackers, bread, or even place on top of several lettuce leaves. Sprinkle some black pepper on if desired, enjoy.
Notes
Shortcut: Perfect Hard Boiled Chicken Eggs.
Ham & Olive Rollups
These sound like delicious appetizers. I made these on 29 Aug 2018, excellent snacks or appetizers! This is a make what you need recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 jar green olives with pimento
- 1 package sliced ham
- 1 package Cream cheese, softened
- toothpicks
Instructions
- Drain the olives well in a strainer. Dry both sides of each ham slice you are going to use and lay them on a cutting board. I found it easy to lay down a double layer of paper towels, place two slices of ham near an edge and fold the paper towel over, pat dry then place on the cutting board.
- Spread softened cream cheese on each ham slice. Right side is spread, starting left side, it is not a thick layer.
- Add a row of olives on one side of each ham slice. Slice the ham into strips between each olive. I found a pasta cutter works wonders with this. (Yes, I ate the missing one on the left, and for the scrap piece on one side of the ham, I ate that too, I call that a pre-snack snack.)
- Starting on the end with the olive, rollup each strip and secure with a toothpick. Place rollups in the fridge until ready to serve. (Yes, this was the second batch, first batch was only 7.)
Notes
Low cost.
Variant: 1. Replace the olives with spring onions.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Variant 1 provided by good friend, Mark L.
United States.
United States.
Egg & Mustard Crackers
This is a sliced hard boiled egg recipe that not only sounds good, they are! I made these on 27 Aug 2018, very tasty. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled, (Shortcut)
- 12 wheat crackers, think Rosi brand in Thailand
- whole grain Dijon Mustard, as needed
- fresh chives, minced
- black pepper, as desired
Instructions
- Slice the eggs with a slicer or knife.
- Spread some mustard on each cracker, top with a slice of egg, skipping the end pieces, sprinkle on some chives then black pepper. Serve.
Notes
Cheater Deviled Eggs
Easy to prepare snack or appetizer. I made these on 27 Aug 2018. absolutely delicious! Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 3 hard boiled eggs, peeled, (Shortcut)
- 18 butter crackers, or whole wheat crackers
- 2 tablespoons mayo
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- paprika, as needed
- fresh dill, as needed
- black pepper, as needed
Instructions
- Mix together the mayo and mustard in a small bowl.
- Slice the eggs crosswise with a slicer or knife.
- Spread some mayo mixture on each cracker, top with a slice of egg, skipping the end pieces with no yolk. Sprinkle a pinch of paprika, then pepper, and top with a small snippet of fresh dill. Serve. The 4 on the left are made with whole wheat butter crackers, and the 4 on the right are regular butter crackers.
Notes
Low cost. Use Rosi or Magic brand, less than half of Ritz, which is available but an import, and the taste is the same.
Shortcut: Perfect Hard Boiled Chicken Eggs.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Cucumber Sandwiches
These can be a light lunch or served as an appetizer. These sound delicious! Simple ingredients and very common to find. On my to make list. Keep in mind, an electric mixer is not required for this, you can easily mix this by hand, just follow the instructions if you do not have an electric mixer.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf sliced bread, crusts cut off
- 250 grams Cream cheese, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons mayo
- 2 teaspoons fresh dill, chopped
- 1 teaspoon fresh chives, finely chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 English cucumber, long, thinly sliced, think mandolin
- fresh dill, chopped, for assembly
- fresh chives, finely chopped, for assembly
- salt and black pepper, as desired
Instructions
Using an Electric Mixer
- In a mixing bowl, add the room temperature cream cheese and mayo, and mix until smooth.
NOT Using an Electric Mixer (my preferred way)
- In a mixing bowl, add the room temperature cream cheese, mash with a potato masher, yes, I know this sounds weird, just go with it, it works. When the cream cheese is mashed well, now you can use a heavy spoon to mix in the mayo. See, wasn't that easy?
Continuing on...
- When the cream cheese and mayo is a nice smooth mixture, stir in the dill, chives, and garlic powder. Season to taste with salt and pepper as desired.
- For the cucumber, skin on or off is your choice, some like skin on for the color, some like it off. An alternative is the peel strips off, so the cucumber is in strips before peeling, totally up to you.
- Slice the cucumber thinly, the use of a mandolin is highly recommended.
- Lay out the bread slices and cut off the crusts, makes for a very nice presentation when served as appetizers. Spread the cream cheese mixture on each slice of bread.
- Top half of the slices with a good layer of the cucumber slices, overlapping them the slices.
- Place the remaining slices on top, cream cheese spread side down. Slice each into 3 sections. If you want to make smaller appetizers, slice in 3 sections then cut all three in half to make 6 tiny sandwiches. You may want to use toothpicks inserted in the centers of the smaller ones to keep them together.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
The cream cheese will cost about 150 Baht/250 grams. This recipe makes a lot of appetizers so I will say this is overall, low cost.
Inspired by Spend With Pennies and the link to this recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Cucumber Bites
Low cost, great sounding appetizers. This is a make what you need guide, no quantities provided.
Ingredients
- cucumber
- Cheddar cheese, real cheese, thinly sliced
- deli ham, or smoked ham
- toothpicks, as needed
Instructions
- Peel or not peel the cucumbers, or peel in strips, feel free to get creative to make ridges, etc. Slice about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick.
- Slice the cheese and cut into squares that will cover, and slightly overhang a slice of cucumber.
- To assemble, place a slice of cucumber on a tray, add a slice of cheese, fold up a slice of deli ham into quarters and place onto the cheese, top the ham with another slice of cheese, then place another slice of cucumber on top and poke a toothpick in the center to hold it together. Repeat for as many as you would like to make.
- Serve.
Notes
Low cost.
Variants: 1. Use deli sliced turkey, chicken, Genoa salami, or pepperoni. 2. Use Swiss, Gouda, or Edam cheeses.
From seeing a photo.
Sausage Salad II
This is a Thai spicy sausage salad based on pork sausage, specifically, Vietnamese sausage, aka, Cha Lue or Cha Hue for the pepper variety. On my to cook list. Keep in mind, the number of Bird's Eye chilies will determine how spicy you would like this.
Ingredients
- 75 grams Vietnamese sausage, see Steps 1-3, (3 oz)
- 1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped
- 1-4 red Bird's Eye chilies, seeded, finely chopped, as desired
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and finely minced
- 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- fresh mint leaves
- fresh coriander leaves
Instructions
- For the Vietnamese sausage, which is a pork sausage that is already cooked and found in the refrigerator section of grocery stores, the name is Cha Lua for the regular flavor. This is the Moo Dee brand (moo = pig, dee = good). Similar brands will close to what this looks like, grocery stores have all the Vietnamese sausage together as well.
- This is the Cha Hue variety, which is heavy with cracked black pepper and garlic. When looking for this in the store, the pepper is clearly seen in the sausage, and more than likely, there is a picture of black pepper on the package. This is also the Moo Dee brand. I prefer this variety due to the pepper.
- Unwrap the sausage and slice into about 1/4 inch thick slices, place on a serving plate.
- To a mixing bowl, add the garlic, onion, chilies, lemon or lime juice, and the fish sauce and mix together well.
- Pour over the sausage and garnish with mint and coriander leaves.
- Serve as a side dish to any Thai meal or as an appetizer.
Notes
Low cost.
This recipe for Spicy Home Made Sausage Salad is adapted from Appon's Thai Food.
Mushroom Spring Rolls
Sounds delicious. Making spring rolls seems tricky but it is so easy. These are Spring Rolls, Chinese in origin, spring roll wrappers fry up crispy. Egg Rolls are American in origin and are a thicker, chewier wrapper. On my to cook list. I will verify how many spring rolls, wrappers, are needed when I make these. And I will have step by step photos to show you how to assemble these.
Ingredients
- spring roll wrappers, I will determine the number needed
- 50 grams fresh Shiitake mushrooms, coarsely minced, (2 oz)
- 100 grams fresh shrimp, peeled, coarsely minced, (4 oz)
- 1-5 red Bird's Eye chilies, seeded and minced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 teaspoon Thai Basil, minced
- 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
- pinch sugar
- cooking oil, as needed
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 teaspoons corn starch
Instructions
- For the mushrooms and the shrimp, you can either use a knife to mince the stems, caps, and shrimp or just run them through a meat grinder if you have one, using the coarse plate, aka, the wagon wheel, you can mince the mushrooms and shrimp at the same time with the grinder.
- Prepare the chilies, garlic, and basil.
- Heat the oil in a non stick pan, when hot, add the chilies and garlic, stir fry for a minute, then add the shrimp, mushrooms, sauces, sugar, and basil. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Remove to a plate to cool to room temp.
- To assemble the spring rolls, first we need to make the glue to seal the edge of the pastry. Mix together the water and corn starch in a small bowl, set that aside but close to where you will be working.
- Open the package of spring roll sheets. Carefully pull off one sheet and place smooth side down on a clean counter with one corner of the sheet facing you. Very important, place a damp towel on the unused sheets, if the sheets dry out they are hard to pull apart and will tear. (This is where two people is very handy, one to pull the the pastry apart and the other rolling the spring rolls.)
- Place a tablespoon or so of filling near the corner closest to you.
- Fold the bottom (the corner closest to you) up over the filling.
- Tightly roll, the filling will spread some, that is fine. When the roll is in the widest part of the pastry (left and right corners will be on the sides of the roll) fold each side towards the center. The roll should be about 5 inches long, and should look like an open envelope.
- Continue to roll, and when there is just a pointy section at the end away from you, use your finger and apply some of the cornstarch slurry you made just a few minutes ago to the edges of the pointy section (just like sealing an envelope), continue to roll and seal the edge, and just pat that seam down with your fingers. There, you just made a spring roll.
- Repeat until you have either used all the filling or all the pastry sheets.
- To fry these, heat about 1 inch of oil in a pot. When hot, add 4-5 spring rolls at a time and fry, turn often, until golden brown, These cook fast so keep an eye on them. Remove to paper towels to drain and fry the remaining rolls.
- Let cool for a few minutes then serve hot as is or serve with a dipping sauce of your choice. My Sweet & Sour Sauce is listed as a shortcut in the Recipe Notes section.
Notes
Low cost.
Shortcut: Sweet & Sour Dipping Sauce.
Variant: 1. Bake instead of fry, place on a rack on a baking sheet, spray with oil all sides, bake in a 200 C (400 F) oven until golden brown.
This recipe for Mushroom Parcels is adapted from Appon's Thai Food.
