Category Archives: Appetizer

Spicy Zucchini Blossoms (fried)

Posted on June 12, 2016 | 2 comments

I’ve seen fried zucchini blossoms on TV many times but have never tried making them at home. I planted a zucchini plant this year and it’s really doing well.  We’ve gotten several large zucchini’s so far and I decided to try something different and fry up some blossoms.

I started with making a beer batter which I added Sriracha to in order to spice it up a bit.

Zucchini Blossom Ingredients:

1 dark beer (I used Yuengling)
6 Zucchini blossoms
1 cup flour
salt
1 Tbls Sriracha

Zucchini Blossom Method:

Heat a skillet with about 1 inch vegetable oil. Heat to 350 degree.

In a bowl, add flour, salt, beer and Sriracha. Mix into a batter. Once the oil is heated, dip each blossom into the batter to fully coat.

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Fry to crispy golden brown, turning once during frying

imageThese are an excellent appetizer or could be served as a side.

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Visit http://www.sundaywithachanceofmeatballs.com for more great recipes!

Ciao, Mike.

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Chicken Chili Wonton Appetizer

Posted on April 30, 2016 | Leave a comment

I love all kinds of wonton recipes including fried, steamed and now baked! I got this recipe from A Taste of Home. This is a slightly modified version of the original, as I used a hot chili mixture to spice it up a bit!

Chicken Chili Wonton Ingredients:
36 wonton wrappers
1/2 cup buttermilk ranch salad dressing
1 envelope chili seasoning mix (I’m using a hot seasoning mix)
1-1/2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Sour cream and sliced green onions, optional

Chicken Chili Wonton Method:
Preheat oven to 350°.

Press wonton wrappers into greased miniature muffin cups. Bake 4-6 minutes or until lightly browned.

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In a small bowl, mix salad dressing and seasoning mix; add chicken and toss to coat. Spoon 1 tablespoon filling into each wonton cup. Sprinkle with cheese.

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Bake 8-10 minutes longer or until heated through and wrappers are golden brown. Serve warm. If desired, top with sour cream and green onions before serving. On my second batch I added a little Sriracha to spice it up even further!

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Check Out the Potstickers I posted awhile ago! They are excellent!
https://sundaywithachanceofmeatballs.com/2015/03/09/potstickers/
And these Crab Rangoons are amazing!
https://sundaywithachanceofmeatballs.com/2015/03/14/crab-rangoons/

visit http://www.sundaywithachanceofmeatballs.com for more great recipes!

Ciao, Mike.

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Crescent Roll Christmas Wreath Appetizer

Posted on December 28, 2015 | 1 comment

This is a great appetizer for around the holidays. The red and green ingredients make it a perfect appetizer for the Christmas season! I am not ashamed to say  I got this recipe from the Betty Crocker website. It’s delicious, easy to make and very festive!

Crescent Roll Wreath Ingredients:

6 slices bacon
1/2 cup chive-and-onion cream cheese spread (from 8-oz container)
2 cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury™ refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
2 cups Green Giant Select™ frozen broccoli florets (from 14-oz bag), thawed, finely chopped and patted dry with paper towel
1/3 cup diced red bell pepper
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon sesame seed
Fresh rosemary, if desired

Crescent Roll Wreath Method:
Heat oven to 375°F. Cook bacon as desired until crisp. Drain on paper towel; crumble bacon and set aside.

Unroll both cans of dough; separate into 16 triangles. On ungreased large cookie sheet, arrange triangles with shortest sides toward center, overlapping in wreath shape and leaving 4-inch round circle open in center (see diagram). Crescent dough points may overlap edge of cookie sheet. Press overlapping dough to flatten.

Spread cream cheese spread on dough to within 1 inch of points.

 

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In small bowl, mix crumbled bacon, broccoli and bell pepper; spoon onto widest part of dough. Pull end points of triangles over broccoli mixture and tuck under dough to form ring (filling will be visible).

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Carefully brush dough with beaten egg; sprinkle with sesame seed.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool 5 minutes.

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With broad spatula, carefully loosen wreath from cookie sheet; slide onto serving platter. Garnish with fresh rosemary (if desired). Serve warm.

Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Check out more great recipes and methods at http://www.sundaywithachanceofmeatballs.com

Ciao, Mike!

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Sausage and Peppers

Posted on May 4, 2015 | Leave a comment

This dish has become my go to dish for game day or main events. It’s a good luck meal for any of my favorite sports teams.  I have made this no less than 100 times and I have yet to have any left over when the night is over! It’s a hit time after time!

Sausage and Peppers Ingredients:
1 lb sweet sausage
1 lb hot sausage
1 large Onion (sliced)
2 green bell peppers (sliced)
3 banana peppers (sliced)
4 cloves of garlic (chopped in large pieces)
1 tbls olive oil
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper

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Sausage and Peppers Method:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cut the sausage into 1 inch pieces (about 5 per link)

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Add the sausage to a baking dish and top with sliced peppers, onions and the chopped pieces of garlic.

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Drizzle olive oil over the sausage, and add fresh ground black pepper.  Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil, stir to mix all ingredients evenly and return to the oven for 30 minutes.

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This is great on a good bun as a sandwich!

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Visit http://www.sundaywithachanceofmeatballs.com for more great recipes!

Ciao, Mike!

 

 

 

 

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Shrimp Fra Diavolo

Posted on April 30, 2015 | Leave a comment

I have eaten Fra Diavolo sauce in restaurants and love the spiciness of the sauce. I’ve had it in many varieties including: over rigatoni, angel hair, with penne pasta and asparagus and of course the lobster Fra Diavolo that many of you may have tried.   Fra Diavolo literally means “Brother Devil” in Italian. I have no idea why the sauce got its name and I know it’s linked somehow to Michele Pezza (Michele is Italian for Michael!! -my name by the way!!), an Italian Guerilla leader from the 1700’s, but  that’s really all I know!   I’m sure I could find out why but just haven’t spent the time.   All I know is it’s delicious!! and versatile! If you chopped the ingredients in small pieces it could be the best salsa you have ever eaten!! You can eat this as a Shrimp appetizer as I’ve written, over any kind of pasta, or use your imagination! Maybe even as an omelet topping!!

Shrimp Fra Diavolo Ingredients:

1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined
2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp Morton’s season salt (if you don’t have this use equal parts, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced fire roasted tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
3 garlic cloves, minced
dash of dried oregano leaves
3 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves

Shrimp Fra Diavolo Method:

Toss the shrimp in a medium bowl with 2 teaspoon of Morton’s season salt and 2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes. (this will make is spicy 4 on a 10 scale – add more for additional heat!)

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Heat the 3 tablespoons oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat and add the shrimp.

Sauté for about a minute and continue cooking until they turn pink, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a plate and set aside.

Add the onion to the same skillet, add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan and sauté until soft (don’t over cook, they will continue to cook).

Add the fire roasted tomatoes, wine, garlic, and oregano.  Simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes or until thickened.  

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Add the shrimp, and cook for about a minute. Stir in the parsley and basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve as an appetizer or over any pasta you prefer!

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Check out http://www.sundaywithachanceofmeatballs.com for more great recipes!!

Ciao, Mike!

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Crab Rangoons

Posted on March 14, 2015 | 1 comment

This is one of my favorite appetizers when I go to  a Sushi restaurant. I learned recently, that they aren’t Japanese at all, but an american invention. They are so good it doesn’t really matter! They aren’t exactly easy, but worth the effort!

Crab Rangoon Ingredient
8 oz cream cheese (softened to room temp)
8 oz crab meat (you can substitute krab/artificial crab)
1 tsp onion power
1 tsp garlic power
1-2 scallions, sliced
1 package of 24 wonton skins

Crab Rangoon Method:
Combine the cream cheese, crab meat, onion powder, garlic powder and green onion.

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Place approximately 1 Tbls crab mixture into the wonton and form the rangoon.

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I found this video that helped me form the rangoons in traditional style.

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It’s much easier to fry these in a small pan with deep oil. The guy in the video does them in a cast iron pan, but a deep fryer or deeper pan works best for me.  Here is how I fried them!

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You can’t eat just one! So good!  I like to serve these with a sweet chili sauce.  I use Maggi Sweet Chili Sauce! It’s great! My family thought I made the sauce myself!

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Ciao! Mike.

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Potstickers

Posted on March 9, 2015 | 2 comments

I got this recipe from my friend Jane years ago and these quickly became my favorite.  It’s hard to stop eating them! They are usually the first appetizer to be gone!

Potsticker Ingredients:
1 12oz. Fresh bunch of spinach
or ½ pk frozen chopped spinach
1 egg
1 tsp cornstarch
2 green onions
1 TBSP soy sauce
1 lb. Ground pork
1 TBSP sesame oil
2 tsp. Minced fresh ginger
1 pk wonton skins

Potsticker Dipping Sauce
½ cup soy sauce
2 TBSP sugar
1/8 cup water
dash sesame oil
1/8 cup vinegar

Potsticker Method:
Blanch spinach in boiling water, drain, rinse and squeeze out water.
Combine eggs, spinach, onion, ginger, cornstarch, soy and oil. Add pork, mix thoroughly.  Fill wrappers with 1 tsp mixture.

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Seal edges with water. Fold into a triangle and then fold the edges in as seen below:

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Fry in oil until golden brown on both sides.

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Serve with the dipping sauce! Enjoy!

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Ciao! Mike.

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