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Appetizers/Starters

Appetizers/Starters, Breads, Lunch, Savory Snacks

Knekkebrød
(Whole Grain Crackers with Sunflower, Flax and Sesame Seeds)

And yet another lucky foodie idea: eating fish on New Year’s Eve/Day. I’ve heard many different reasons why fish is supposed to be lucky — everything from that the scales look like coins (wealth), that they swim in schools (abundance) and that they swim forwards (moving ahead). New Englanders (and people in Scandinavia, Italy, Brazil, etc) are known to eat the (sacred) cod … more on cod some other time. Some people advocate that is it because of cod that the world is what it is today — bit of a stretch in my opinion, but whatever. In Germany, there is the tradition of Silvesterkarpfen (New Years Carp), but also herring (also a Polish tradition) is an option.

Me? Well, I don’t have any carp or herring, but I love smoked salmon, so here we have a quick appetizer of smoked salmon with dill mascapone, on homemade knekkebrod. The Knekkebrod is a cracker like bread (no fat or leavening) with sunflower, sesame and flax seeds. Yummy like this or even just with a schmear of cream cheese.
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Appetizers/Starters, Savory Snacks

Sweet and Spicy Rosemary Cheddar Pumpkin Crackers

It’s been a crazy week in the life of the Cup of Sugar :: Pinch of Salt Girl, and it is the first time that I have gotten around to baking all week. Shame on me. Baking is my stress relief from “real life” so you can imagine that I was really craving a baking session. And what did I end up making this morning? These lovely Sweet and Spicy Rosemary Cheddar Pumpkin Crackers. In the spirit of fall, and with Thanksgiving coming up, I thought that I would make something that could be used as a snack or appetizer for Thanksgiving. These are lovely. A little sweet from the brown sugar and maple syrup, quite spicy as well. And cheese … goes without saying that they would be delicious made mostly of cheddar.
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Appetizers/Starters, Dinner, Lunch

Cherry Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella Caprese Tart

I’ve been working on perfecting some “from scratch” and quick lunch recipes. This one is almost from scratch (meaning, I used puff pastry so that was store bought, but everything else was from scratch). A little less than 40 minutes from “still in the fridge” (though you do need to take out the puff from the freezer) to “completely devoured”. Plus that includes the photography time. I did burn my mouth though from one of the tomatoes bursting. I probably should have waiting a few more minutes before eating, but I was hungry.

This is a great tart for this time of the year when cherry tomatoes are so plentiful in the garden and at the farmer’s markets, but actually can be made year round because cherry toms are reliably decent even at other times of the year.
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Appetizers/Starters, General Reference/Tutorial, Savory Snacks, Sweet Snacks

Fig Honey and Thyme Jam

This week, I found myself in possession of a pound and a half of fresh figs. Not sure really how that happened, as figs are expensive and while you can find them a lot of places, certainly less common than say, an apple. Anyway, I absolutely love figs, but there is no chance that I could have eaten all of them (and enjoyed them) in one go, so I decided to make this lovely jam with about 2/3 of the lot. It’s a sweet jam, of course, with notes of honey, thyme and orange, but it pairs really nicely with savory — would go great with pork, and as shown with this cheese (it’s manchego) or even charcuterie. Or mix it into oatmeal or yogurt, or yes, even toast. It’s surprisingly versatile and yummy to boot. Also, it is very easy to make.
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Appetizers/Starters, Savory Snacks

Grilled Ramp and Lemons Hummus

Things to do with Ramps, Part 4: Make hummus. Yes, still stuck on my ramps (ransoms, Bärlauch) kick and here is a quick and simple recipe that pulls out some of the suble garlicy flavor of the ramps. The grilled lemons add both acidity and sweetness. Comes together in 2-30 minutes and is a great addition to the usual pia chips or veggies. Note: I grilled the whole ramps but then only used the bulbs in the hummus, eating the greens on the side. You can use the whole ramps (bulbs and greens) in the hummus, but when I made it like that the first time, I thought that the greens actually made the hummus too green.
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