Tasty and very easy recipe with only 2 main ingredients that you can find in every store: mushrooms and Boursin.
Boursin Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 30 small mushrooms (Cremini or Button Mushrooms)
- 1 block Boursin™ Garlic & Fine Herbs Cheese
- freshly ground black pepper
- Some fresh herbs (cilantro, green onion, parsley) finely chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- Wash and dry mushrooms. Remove stems. (You can use them for another recipe),
- Place mushroom caps on a baking sheet. Season with pepper. Fill each mushroom’s hole with 1-2 tsps of Boursin™.
- Bake about 25 minutes until mushrooms are golden and cooked through.
- Sprinkle the baked mushrooms with fresh herbs and they’re ready to be served!
Salmon Теrrine
Make a Salmon Terrine with fresh and smoked salmon, eggs, sour cream, and parsley. This elegant french recipe is a refined and delicious appetizer and it is perfect for cold buffets. Serve the terrine with mayonnaise, vegetables, or a green salad.
Salmon Terrine
Ingredients
- 500 g salmon fillet with no skin or bones
- 5 eggs
- 250 г sour cream
- 1/4 cup parsley chopped
- 250 g smoked salmon cut into small pieces
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 390° F (180°C). Grease a loaf pan using cooking oil.
- Cut the fresh salmon into pieces and mix with a food processor.
- Add the eggs and mix well.
- Add the sour cream and parsley.
- Add the smoked salmon, salt and pepper. Mix with a spatula.
- Pour the batter into the loaf pan and bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.
- Allow the salmon terrine to cool before removing it from the pan. Serve the dish chilled.
Avocado Boats With Balsamic Vinegar
You are missing out if you haven’t made this incredible snack from ripe avocados. Anybody can make it, even my 7 year old makes it when she comes home from school. This is her favorite way to eat avocado. Split it in half and fill the center stone hole with some balsamic vinegar. Enjoy this healthy, delicious snack or appetizer.
Avocado boats with balsamic vinegar
Ingredients
- 3 avocados
- salt and freshly ground pepper optional
- 6 tsp balsamic vinegar
Instructions
- Cut the avocados in half lengthwise, remove pits but do not peel them. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar in each hole, and serve.
Puff Pastry-Wrapped Shrimps
The reason I love making Puff Pastry-Wrapped Shrimp so much is the simple ingredients. And because I almost always have frozen shrimp and puff pastry left in my freezer!
Puff Pastry-Wrapped Shrimps
Ingredients
- 20 medium peeled shrimps
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
- 1/2 sheet all butter puff pastry
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 380 degrees F. Cover a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Season shrimp with salt, pepper and seasoning.
- Roll out the pastry dough and cut into 1 cm wide strips.
- Starting at the top, wind one pastry strip around one shrimp, slightly overlapping the pastry and ending just before the tail. Repeat with each shrimp.
- Place shrimp onto the baking sheet. Beat the egg in a small bowl with a fork, to make egg wash. Brush the shrimp pastry with egg wash.
- Bake for about 12 min, or until golden brown. Do not overcook.
Homemade Hummus
With or without tahini, homemade hummus made from scratch only takes 5 minutes to make. No needs to cook the chickpeas, just open a can and mix with garlic, lemon juice and olive oil! This delicious healthy snack can be serve for any occasion with pita bread or garden vegetables.
Homemade Hummus
Ingredients
- 1 can (400 g) garbanzo beans (chickpea)
- 1 lemon
- 2-3 cloves garlic chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp tahini (sesame paste) optional
- 3-4 Tbsp olive oil
- A few pinches chili powder (or paprika)
Instructions
- Drain garbanzo beans, keep half of the juice.
- In a food processor, place the chickpeas, lemon juice, garlic, salt, black pepper, tahini, chili powder and 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Mix until smooth. Add 1 or 2 Tbsp of the juice from the can (or water) to give a desired texture to the hummus.
- Transfer hummus to a serving bowl, drizzle with the rest of the olive oil and sprinkle with chili powder or paprika.
Green Mango Salad (Кalawang)
Green and unripe mangoes can be eaten, and are often delicious. For example, this salad with shredded green mangoes is very popular in French Guyana, and if you like spicy food, you will love this salad! Serve cold, as an appetizer or as a side dish with fish, shrimp, or meat. For a pretty presentation, I serve the Kalawang in individual plates with shrimps.
Green Mango Salade (Кalawang)
Ingredients
- 2 green mangoes (unripe)
- 1/2 onion peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic peeled and pressed
- 1/2 chili pepper seeded and finely chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon (or lime) juice
- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
- Some fresh herbs (cilantro, green onion, parsley)
- 24 prawns (or shrimps) cooked and peeled
Instructions
- Peel the mangoes with a peeling knife. Shred the pulp and discard the pit.
- In the salad bowl, toss the mangoes, onion, salt and pepper. Drizzle with lemon juice and oil. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in a refrigerator for 2-3 hours.
- When ready to serve, transfer the salad on to the serving plates, embellish with fresh herbs, and prawns.
Homemade Olive Tapenade
The homemade olive tapenade is a dip or paste made with olives (black or green), anchovies and capers. This appetizer comes from Provence, France and is great with fresh bread or toast. With the help of a food processor, or blender, this hors d’oeuvre is ready within 5 minutes.
Homemade Olive Tapenade
Ingredients
- 200 g black olives pitted
- 1 Tbsp capers (optional)
- 20 g anchovies filets in oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 lemon (juice only)
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in an electric blender. Pulse a few times until finely chopped. The tapenade should have small pieces of olives. Do not over blend!
- Serve with crackers or fresh baguette slices.
Cheese and Garlic Stuffed Tomatoes
You can serve this Cheese and garlic stuffed tomatoes as a starter or as a salad.
Cheese and Garlic Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 18 large cherry tomatoes
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 cup grated cheese american, cheddar, etc.
- fresh herbs chives, parsley, basil leaves
- 2-3 Tbs mayonnaise
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut off the top of cherry tomatoes. Keep the tops for presentation.
- Using a small spoon, scoop out the insides of the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes upside-down on a paper towel.
- Remove juice and seeds from the pulp. Mince the pulp.
- Press garlic using a garlic press. Mix the cheese and garlic together.
- Add mayonnaise, finely chopped herbs and tomato pulp. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
- Using a spoon, add cheese filling to the tomatoes and place the tops back on top of your cherry tomatoes.
- Refrigerate tomatoes before serving.
Puff Pastry Swirls With Smoked Salmon
What could be better with puff pastry than sour cream and smoked salmon? Kids and adults will really appreciate these savory small appetizers. The best part is, they are very simple to make. All it takes is spreading the filling onto the puff pastry, rolling it up, cutting it into rolls and bake.
Puff Pastry Swirls With Smoked Salmon
Ingredients
- 1 sheet all butter puff pastry
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- A bit of dill fresh or dried
- ground black pepper to taste
- 200 g smoked salmon slices
Instructions
- Roll the puff pastry out with rolling pin into 1/2 inch thick square. Spread the sour cream on the top. Leave about 1cm around the edges. Sprinkle with tiny chopped dill.
- Arrange the smoked salmon evenly on top of the puff pastry sheet.
- Starting at one end, roll the pastry up as tightly as possible.
- Tightly cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes. It will be much easier to cut cold roll.
- Preheat the oven to 380 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. With a very sharp knife, cut the roll into 1 cm slices.
- Remove the plastic wrap and transfer them to the baking sheet.
- Bake for about 15 -20 minutes until the “snails” are puffed and golden.
Smoked Salmon Puffs
These are irresistible little Smoked Salmon puffs, filled with a delicate cream made of smoked salmon. Excellent as an appetizer with a glass of Champagne!
Check out my other recipes with puff pastry.
Smoked Salmon Puffs
Ingredients
Dough
- 200 ml water or milk
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 3 pinches of salt
- 120 g all purpose flour
- 3-4 eggs
- 1 egg yolk (optional)
Salmon filling
- 250 g smoked salmon cut into pieces
- small onion minced
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- 1 Tbsp sour cream
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 100 ml heavy cream( 35%) very cold
- Some fresh dill, or chive, minced
- Few pinches of paprika for decoration
Instructions
Dough
- Preheat oven to 390 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. In a pot, add water, butter and salt. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat.
- Add flour and mix well, until the dough comes away from the walls and forms into a ball.
- Add the eggs one by one. Stir well. The dough should become smooth and shiny.
- Place saucepan back on the heat and keep mixing for about 30-50 seconds, to dry out the moisture. Remove from the heat.
- Transfer the dough to a piping bag.
- Pipe puffs (no bigger than a walnut). Space the puffs on the baking sheet, because the dough will rise.
- Lightly brush the top of puffs with egg yolk.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the puffs are puffed and golden brown in color. Do not open the oven while baking. Remove from the oven, let them cool down completely and carefully transfer to a flat surface.
Smoked salmon filling
- In a food processor, combine the smoked salmon with the onion, garlic, sour cream and olive oil. Process until smooth.
- Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Mix once more.
- Whip heavy cream, until soft peaks form.
- Gently fold in salmon mix into the whipped cream. Add the minced fresh dill.
- Cut puffs in half. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag and fill the puffs. Replace the top.
- Dust puffs with paprika. Serve right away or keep in the refrigerator.
