Appetizer ideas

Raspberry-lemon spritzer recipe here

Cool Lassie kinda inspired me to try and post a recipe every day for a week. I know its already mid-week but then you have to start somewhere right? :)

Another reason being...my computer is low on disc space and I need to move all my pics on to an external drive in fear of losing it if something happened to my comp. So probably for the next couple of days I shall post stuff from my archives..stuff that I have either been too lazy to post or have refrained from posting because the pics haven't come out great. The recipes however are too good to lose, so here are a few appetizer ideas that I have borrowed from other blogs. The weather is back to being awful and I have been sneezing like mad for some strange reason. Hope it is not the hay fever that Ro is now going through and being a baby about.

Oh and one more thing..this is for the anonymous lurker out there. Please leave me a name and address I can reply to the next time you decide to grace my blog with your comment because I can then directly address you personally and not have to write shit like this in public (a major waste of time). If you find it incredibly painful to read my blog..please stop doing so instead of sending me anonymous messages. First of all you are spamming me and second no one out here is forcing you to read on..I really couldn't care less if you are not interested in the fact that I use words and messages that might make you uneasy. Its my blog and sadly I can post whatever I want. 

See I don't take blogging seriously and I didn't want to impose restrictions and things like that. I don't mind being criticised or whatever as long as you say who you are. Judge me all you want but I don't owe anyone explanations. Posting nasty stuff unnecessarily is like back stabbing and I am too bored and lazy to create an issue about this. But these anonymous messages are getting to me and I have allowed only registered users to post comments. Sorry about this. I have some lovely readers who post anonymously but still give their name at the end (thanks you guys), sorry that you will have to now use your email id to post comments. I had to write this out because I didn't want you to suddenly realize that you are not able to post comments. Hope you understand.

Anyways, coming back to the kick-ASS recipes.

Chicken 65

Numerous bloggers have posted recipes and reasons as to why it is called Chicken 65, so I am not gonna ramble. I found this recipe on vahrehvah, but Nashira of Plateful has described it gracefully and I followed her recipe to the dot, except I used boneless chicken thighs and didn't have the chilli-garlic paste so I substituted that with chilli ketchup. It was a nice substitute and I don't think it made that much of a difference to the final outcome. I also omitted the ajinomoto and red food colour. The next time however, I am gonna try and bake/ grill the chicken instead of deep frying because I kinda detest the whole idea and I somehow end up making a mess. Do hop on to her blog or to the vahchefs website for the recipe. Pics are horrid because we were still having longer nights then.

Tortilla cups with meat filling

A blogger that I recently got introduced to is Kankana of Sunshine & Smile. Her pics are gorgeous and her recipes versatile. The moment I saw her Tortilla cups recipe, I knew I would try it and it was such a big hit. You can basically fill it with whatever you want and serve as an appetiser or as a snack at a picnic. I followed her procedure for the tortilla cups, but filled it with mince meat (this recipe) and topped it with some cheddar cheese and grilled it for about 8 to 10 minutes, just to get the cheese melted. Topped it with an jalapeño and it was a great starter to our Mexican inspired dinner.

Pigs in a blanket

The quintessential British favourite especially during Christmas time, is this easy peasy starter. I had a friend over for lunch a few weeks back and I made this with some leftover puff pastry sheets. It is so easy to make and I'm sure it will be a big hit among all, kids especially.

Rolled puff pastry sheet- half of one (I used jusrol)

Chicken or any sausage- 8 (I used small frankfurters)

Egg- 1, (for wash)

Ketchup- to serve

If you are not using the rolled out pastry, then roll it out and cut into two. Store away the other half.

Place the pastry sheet on to a lightly floured surface and cut them into four equal halves and then each half into two. So basically you get 8 medium rectangles.

Place the sausage on each pastry and roll/ fold over and seal the edges lightly with your hand. If it doesn't stick, brush the beaten egg and stick it. Repeat with all the sausages.

if you want you can serve the sausage as a single one, but I sliced each of it into 4 small ones which looked incredibly cute.

Place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and so an egg wash for that light golden colour.

Bake in an oven preheated at 220C for about 12 to 15 minutes.

Serve with some ketchup.

Sending the Raspberry-lemon spritzer to Food Palette series- Pink over at Torviewtoronto