I kind of hate artichoke dips, and I’ll tell you why. When I hear the words “artichoke dip”, it triggers painful memories of my first job waiting tables during college for a national restaurant chain (that shall remain nameless), where meals often began with a hollowed out boule of white bread filled with glop that can only be described as a melted mass of processed cheese-food and traces of artichoke and spinach and god knows what else.
Cooking for friends is one of my favorite things to do, and this is especially true when I’m cooking for foodie friends. It makes me want to bring my A game. So when planning my contributions for a shared small plates dinner with my friends Jolene, Mike, and their absurdly cute 20 month-old son Ashton last weekend, I was being even pickier than usual.
The feedback from blog readers was so positive for for my Roasted Tomato Garlic Hummus, that I decided it couldn’t hurt to share this yummy variation that looks quite similar but bursts with the flavor of fresh roasted red peppers. I whipped it up last night when we were feeling too lazy to get out of the house and it was delightful with a little homemade herb focaccia.
Crab cakes need not be a heavy, rich food destined forever to be eaten as passed apps at fancy retro cocktail parties. They can be fresh affairs worthy of a delicious Monday night dinner. This recipe was born in a grocery store in Aruba, where while on vacation with Brian’s family, we bellied up to the fish counter and asked the monger what was good that day. She smiled widely and handed me a can of chunk white crabmeat the size of my head (yeah, I know – fish in a can at a counter – suspicious, right?). Seeing that can reminded me of the salmon loaf that my mother makes with fresh veggies, so I chose red peppers and corn, plus curly parsley for a burst of freshness and created a sensation that night at dinner.
You just can’t beat a satisfying hummus! With the ones that you really love it starts innocently enough – you’re picking at the bowl at a party, absent-mindedly scooping dollops with pita wedges while trying to balance your wine glass and hold a conversation all at the same time. Then your mind starts to wander… “wow, this is some creamy hummus…I love it when there’s lemon… and so light! Mmmmm I think I’ll have just a little more… crap, I finished the bowl. I hope no one noticed! I wonder if there’s more in the kitchen…”
I’m a latecomer to the Southern foods craze, and while I’m still not down with grits or hush puppies, I have discovered a fondness for the fried green tomato. I made these one sultry night last August and discovered how delicious and easy they are to make. If you do it right, you end up with a delicious, liquified tomato inside a crispy crust. Most people chose to garnish with aioli, but I prefer sour cream spiked with lime.
Here is another for tapas party that I did without using a specific recipe. File this one under spicy! Traditional Spanish Tapas is never complete without a squid dish, but it is almost always fried and served with aioli. Since I was verging on grease overkill with a bacon item and a fried cheese item already on the menu, I decided to riff on an Italian theme (think Pasta Fra Diavolo) and do a lighter, sauteed version.
My second favorite thing about serving tapas to guests is that many of the most crowd-pleasing recipes are rediculously simple, to the point that the guest “ooooh and ahhhh” to work ratio is so vastly spread it feels like you are cheating. Here there are three recipes that use as few as two ingredients and involve just a few minutes of prep time each. (Photoshop credit to Brian for the lovely composite above)
