appetizer Archives - Teas The Season

Recipes, Uncategorized

Goat Cheese and Olive Crostini Appetizer

February 17, 2020
If you are in need of an easy appetizer, then Goat Cheese and Olive Crostini Appetizer will be a great choice. I put this together when I needed a quick and easy appetizer for a party. I have used this for both parties as well as a savory for afternoon tea. You will be amazed at how simple this is. Let me walk you through the steps.

Ingredients for Goat Cheese and Olive Crostini

3 Simple Ingredient – Goat Cheese, Kalamata Olives and Crostini

You will need 1 jar of kalamata olives – pitted, 1- 8 ounce log of goat cheese, and crostini. I keep all of these ingredients in my freezer and pantry. The goat cheese in in the freezer and waiting to be used – it freezes well. I make my own crostini and also freeze them.

Making the Crostini

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take one baguette and using a serrated knife, slice at an angle into 1/2 to 1 inch slices. The angled cut allows for a larger surface area. A 12 inch baguette will produce at least 12 and upwards of 24 crostini when cut in 1/2 to 1 inch slices. Lay the bread slices out on a cooking sheet. Brush a small amount of olive oil on each slice, both sides. Preheat your oven to 350. Place in the oven for 15 minutes, until golden brown. Use immediately or let cool to room temperature, then bag and place in the freezer for future use.
- Baguette cut and ready for the oven
- Baguette brushed with olive oil prior to baking
Preparing the Crostini
Preparing the Olives

This is so simple, anyone can do this. I use Kalamata Olives. I like the briny taste of the olives – it matches perfectly with the goat cheese. Drain the olives and place in a mini-chopper. Pulse until small pieces. You can do this step well in advance and have in the refrigerator or use immediately. No other additives to the processed olives.

Kalamata Olives chopped and ready for the crostini.

Assembling the Goat Cheese and Olive Crostini

Again, this Olive and Goat Cheese Crostini is so simple. Have your goat cheese at room temperature. If your crostini are in the freezer, bring to room temperature as well. To assemble you simply take a crostini, spread 1-2 tsp of room temperature goat cheese, top with1 tsp of the chopped olives and that’s it!

Goat Cheese, Olives and Crostini ready for assembling appetizer.
- Goat Cheese spread on Crostini
- Olives on Goat Cheese Crostini
Preparing the Appetizer
Storing the Prepared Appetizer

Goat Cheese and Olive Crostini ready for storage

Once prepared, you can store the appetizer in the refrigerator the day of your party or function. If you have a large party, you can also just serve the crostini in a basket and place the goat cheese and olives in separate bowls and allow your guests to prepare their own.

Final Presentation

Prepared Goat Cheese and Olive Crostini on plate

Presented at a party on a platter or individually for an afternoon tea savory, these little Goat Cheese and Olive Crostinis will delight your guests and yourself. They won’t last so savor and enjoy!

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5 from 8 votes

Goat Cheese and Olive Crostini

A simple appetizer of Goat Cheese and Chopped Kalamata Olives on a crostini

Servings 12 servings

Ingredients
8 ounce goat cheese at room temperature
1 baguette made into crostini. A 12 inch baguette will make 12 or more slices when cut into 1 inch slices.
1 kalamata olives

Instructions
Drain olives and place in mini-chopper. Pulse to small pieces. Set aside.
Spread 1-2 tsp of room temperature goat cheese on crostini.
Take 1 tsp of chopped olives and spread on top of goat cheese.
Store in covered container until you will be serving.
Preparing Crostini
Preheat oven to 350°
Using a serrated knife, at an angle cut 1/2 – 1 inch slices
Lay sliced baguette on baking sheet. No need to prepare baking sheet. You want the crostini to toast.
Brush each slice, on both sides, with olive oil. Don't drench the slice.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes

The olives can be pulsed and prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator like any other olive product.

The crostini can be used immediately or frozen and then thawed to room temperature before preparing.

The goat cheese needs to be at room temperature to spread evenly. This too can be frozen until you are ready to use.

Serve plated for a party, individually for a savory at afternoon tea, or allow your guests to put their own together with the crostini in a basket and the goat cheese and kalamata olives in bowls.
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Beth 90 Comments
Enjoying Together, Recipes, Uncategorized

Cream of Broccoli and Spinach Soup – a surprising treat

January 27, 2020
Looking for a healthy cream soup? With sauteed chicken and thickened with avocado, this is exactly the soup for you. I developed this recipe to fill my cravings for a thick and creamy soup but also to meet my need for healthy fats. I also had many vegetables and quickly ripening avocados that I needed to use up. Cream of broccoli and Spinach soup is the perfect answer.

This soup can be served as an entree for your meal, add a crusty baguette and it will warm you and fill you up. You can also serve this as an appetizer or part of the savory course for an afternoon tea. In a shooter style glass, this cream of broccoli and spinach soup is a flavorful and surprising addition.

This recipe is very versatile and easy to prepare, so let’s go through the steps. Once you get the basic soup down, be creative and use up those vegetables and change up the toppings. There’s no limit.

Fresh broccoli cut in small pieces

Take 2 cups of fresh spinach and 1 large bunch of fresh broccoli. Chop up the broccoli into small pieces. You will be simmering this to a soft texture that will allow you to puree it.

Fresh spinach and broccoli in cooking pot

Place the spinach and broccoli in a large pot. Add 1 – 1 1/2 quarts of chicken broth. I like to use the unsalted version. Add 1 tsp of salt to the mixture. Cover your pan and turn on the heat bringing the mixture to a low simmer. You will want both the spinach and the broccoli to be well cooked.

Avocados seeded and ready to be chopped

While the spinach and broccoli are cooking, prepare the avocados. Seed and cut into small pieces. Remember, the avocado will be used for thickening the soup. You won’t taste the avocado, its natural fattiness will thicken without flavoring the soup. You can use 3 small avocados or 2 large ones. And use up those ripened ones – they will be easier to blend. Once prepared, set them aside.

To prepare the chicken, cut it into small pieces. Using the 1 tbsp of olive oil, brown and crisp up the chicken. I like to use chicken that I already have cooked. You can use rotisserie chicken or even cook up some fresh chicken. Whatever you have available. Once done, set aside.

Chicken browning for the soup

With the vegetables done, put in the avocado and grab your immersion blender. Another one of my favorite kitchen tools, then I use my immersion blender for soups, smashed vegetables, gravies, sauces and even smoothies, just to name a few items. Blend the soup until its creamy. You can also use a blender but you may need to do this in batches and remember that the soup is hot – don’t over fill your blender with this hot liquid.
- Immersion blending the soup
- Blended soup thickened
Once the soup is blended, add the chicken and gently stir. Add the ground pepper. Taste for seasonings but I rarely have to add anything. Ladle into your serving bowls and top with fresh parsley and goat cheese. You can serve the goat cheese as a medallion or crumbled. It will melt into this amazing bright taste and pairs very well with this rich thick soup. And yes, its thickened with avocados.

Incorporating chicken into soup

You can substitute the parsley for fresh cilantro. Top with a few slices of radishes and you have another variation to this delightful soup. Change out the chicken for sausage and you have yet another delicious option. On a chilly day when the wind is blowing and you are snuggled up inside your home, this soup brings a delightful and healthy version of a creamed soup. And its thickened with avocado – have a second bowl!

Spinach and Avocado Soup with Chicken and topped with goat cheese and parsley

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5 from 1 vote

Spinach and Broccoli Cream Soup

A spinach and broccoli cream soup thickened with avocados, served with sauteed chicken and topped with goat cheese.

Course Main Course
Keyword avocado, broccoli, chicken, goat cheese, keto, spinach

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients
2 cups cooked chicken Can use precooked or rotisserie chicken
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups fresh spinach
1 bunch fresh broccoli, cut into small pieces
1 ½ quarts chicken broth
3 Small ripe avocados Can use 2 large ones
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ground pepper
8 tbsp goat cheese
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions
Chop fresh broccoli into small pieces – so to speed up the cooking process.
Place fresh broccoli, fresh spinach, and chicken broth in large cooking pot. Add salt. Turn on to low simmer in order to cook the vegetables.
Cut chicken up in small pieces. Put olive oil in frying pan. Brown chicken pieces. Set aside.
Cut the avocados up into small pieces. These are the thickener for the soup – so they need to be reasonable small pieces.
Add the avocados to the cooked vegetables. Using an immersion blender, puree soup. You can use a blender as well if you like.
Once completed smooth, add chicken to soup. Stir to mix.
Serve hot. Top with 1 tbsp of goat cheese, either in a medallion or crumbled.

Notes
You can serve this soup in a small shooter glass as an appetizer or for an afternoon tea.
Additional toppings – cilantro, sliced radishes.
Can change the meat for sausage.
Soup can be refrigerated for up to 5 days and frozen for 1 month.
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Beth 43 Comments
Uncategorized

Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls – makes these for your next party

January 15, 2020
Who wouldn’t love some meat wrapped in pastry? Wrapping meat in pastry is an age old tradition. The Sausage Roll has been around for years and is a favorite in the UK. This is a version of the popular sausage roll using Puff Pastry. These Puff Pastry Sausage rolls are a frequent in my winter teas but are also great for game day or holiday parties. Easy to make, you will want to have these on hand for all your occasions.

In an afternoon teas, these would be part of the first course, the savories. The savory portion of a tea has small items that are salty or spicy in nature, generally finger sandwiches, small appetizer-size morsels. The menu is endless of what you can prepare for the portion of your tea and the Puff Pastry Sausage Roll is one of my favorite savories. There are many recipes but this is one that I have used for years. It is a slightly spicy sausage that is encased in puff pastry. Looks impressive but is very easy to do. I like to serve these with a Honey Dijon Mustard Sauce.

Products that you will need are puff pastry, sausage, egg, spices, bread crumbs and parsley. Honey and Dijon mustard are combined together for an easy dipping sauce.

Puff pastry – found in the freezer section at your grocery

If you have not worked with puff pastry before, not to worry. This is a very forgiving product and you can have fun with it. Take your puff pastry out of the freezer or refrigerator and let it thaw a little, but not completely to room temperature. The puff pastry will come with two sheets. Unwrap and open up the sheets while you prepare the sausage mixture.
- Spices ready
- Sausage, egg and bread crumbs
Ingredients for the sausage mixture.
The spices you will need are dry mustard, onion powder, garlic powder, and parsley. Take you sausage and combine with the spices, bread crumbs, parsley and egg. Mix together and set aside.

A note about the sausage mixture. I like to have a slightly spicy sausage mixture in these rolls but it can depend on your guests tastes. I generally will use a mixture of pork sausage with Italian sausage. I have even used Sweet Italian Brats and just remove from the casing. The important thing is to have the amount of the sausage needed – 1 pound. But have fun with the variety.

Prepared sausage mixture

Now to assemble the rolls…take one sheet of puff pastry and fold open. This will create three panels of pastry. On a lightly floured surface, cut down the creases creating three panels of pastry. Roll the panels to approximately 12 inches in length. You do not need to increase the width of the pastry.
- Puff Pastry separated
- Puff Pastry rolled out
Take the sausage and divide it into 6 portions. Take one portion and create a long roll of sausage the length of the puff pastry.

Roll the puff pastry around the sausage, overlapping the edge and pressing slightly to seal the seam. Repeat with the remaining sausage and puff pastry panels. Cut the sausage rolls into 2 inch portions. You should get 6 portions out of each roll. This recipe makes 36 sausage rolls.
- Finished roll with sausage
- Cutting the roll to 2 inches
To bake the rolls, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicon pad (I prefer the parchment paper for these rolls – it creates a nice browning). Lay the rolls out . If you are baking immediately, you will want 12 rolls per sheet which allows the puff pastry to slightly expand in the cooking process. Top the rolls with an egg wash to have a nice browning. Place in a preheated 425 oven for 15-20 minutes.

If you are freezing, lay out the rolls in a single layer – you can put them close together. Once frozen, transfer to a storage container. If using them for a tea, you can take out only those that you need. If you are going to share them at a holiday function, you can bake the whole batch. In either case, these are a delicious and versatile savory that is always eaten in any setting.

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Puff Pastry Sausage Rolls

A savory morsel of sausage encased in puff pastry. Similar to an English Sausage Roll.

Course Appetizer
Keyword puff pastry, roll, sausage, savory

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 17 minutes
Total Time 32 minutes

Servings 36 servings

Ingredients
1 egg
1 lb pork sausage You can use different varieties of sausage. Italian, breakfast, sage flavored. My favorite is Italian.
¼ cup bread crumbs
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry mustard
2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley I have used dry parsley at times
1 box Puff Pastry You will need two sheets
1 egg for wash
1 tbsp water
Honey Mustard Sauce
1 tbsp Honey
3 tbsp Dijon Mustard

Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425°
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Beat egg in a large bowl. Add sausage, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley and must. Mix well until thoroughly combined.
Unwrap first sheet of puff pastry. Place on a floured surface.
Cut along the fold lines to create three strips of dough. Using rolling pin, gently roll out a little. You will end up with 6 strips of dough.
Divide sausage mixture into 6 equal parts.
Make each section of sausage into a roll and place down the center of the puff pastry strips.
Fold pastry over and press seam to seal.
Cut each roll into 6 equal pieces, about 2 inches each
Place on the prepared baking sheet and brush with egg wash.
Repeat with each strip of pastry and sausage.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.
Honey Mustard Sauce
Combine honey and Dijon Mustard together in serving bowl. Serve alongside sausage rolls.

Notes
Sausage rolls can be frozen prior to baking. Prepare the roll, cut into serving sizes and freeze in a single layer. When frozen you can transfer to a container. Thaw prior to baking.
This recipe adapted from https://cookingwithcurls.com/2014/10/08/puff-pastry-sausage-rolls/
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Beth 2 Comments