appetizers Archives | butter loves company

mom’s famous spiced pecans

October 11, 2020 by Butter Loves Company

These Spiced Pecans are a perfect combination of sweet, salted, spicy, and crunchy. They are a staple on our tables during the holidays. While our holiday celebrations may look a little different this year, we will 100% have these spiced nuts to snack on while we watch movies and snuggle up.

As for spices, cayenne pepper and cumin are doing most of the work here, but the nuts are made sweet with a sugary glaze and are contrasted by a bit of salt. My mom’s original recipe doesn’t call for cinnamon, but I like to add a bit to warm up the flavor a little. The pecans are first boiled and then fried, bringing out the nuttiness and creating a super crunchy texture.

These are extremely hard to stop snacking on once you start and throughout the years have become a comforting flavor around this house. They are great for a holiday appetizer, an on-the-go snack, or for an edible gift for friends, family, or neighbors.

These spiced nuts are easy to make but I highly encourage you to read through the full recipe twice before starting. It is extremely helpful to prepare your workstation before you start any of the boiling and frying. The first time I made these I was running around looking for bowls and things. Everything worked out fine but it is a much more seamless experience if you are prepped!

the springiest snack spread

March 29, 2019 by Butter Loves Company

Spring is HERE! Thank goodness, amirite? I don’t care if winter coats are still necessary in New York, as soon at Daylight Savings hit and the temperatures rose above 50 degrees, I decided I would force warm weather feels in the kitchen. Bring on all the fresh herbs, veggies, and spring appetizer recipes.

One of my favorite things to do during the summer months is to take out a cheese board around 5 or 6 pm, when the sun is angling down to bless us with golden hour, opening a crisp bottle of wine, and put out a snack board for a pre-dinner bite.

We’ll nibble on all the juicy produce, savory cheese, and always, always, something salted and crunchy, like Harvest Snaps. I’m kicking off spring with this snack board filled with a super herb-filled green goddess dip (we’re talking dill, parsley, mint, basil and more), crispy greens like blanched asparagus and sliced cucumbers, rounded out with cheesy Harvest Snaps in their Parmesan Roasted Garlic and White Cheddar Flavors because, duh, a cheesy snack is destined for your snack board. I love that all the items on this board feel like wholesome options for starting the season.

This is the type of snack board you could pack up into little bags and take with you on a picnic in the park or put together really quickly for a last-minute plate to bring to a friend’s house. You can customize it with whatever dip or veggies you prefer, and Harvest Snaps also have so many flavors so you could try out a different one to mix it up!

Harvest Snaps are made from wholesome green peas, red lentils or black beans. Quick tip: if you are looking for Harvest Snaps in your grocery store, mosey over to the produce section and that’s where they’ll be. Find them near you here!

Happy Spring loves!

The Springiest Snack Spread

Ingredients

Green Goddess Dip (adapted from New York Times):

1/2 cup fresh dill
1/2 cup fresh mint
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/3 cup fresh basil
1 garlic clove
2 scallions, white and green parts
Juice of one lemon
Pinch kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise, optional

Celery Sticks

Sliced Cucumber

Green Grapes

Blanched Asparagus

Harvest Snaps in your favorite flavor (I used Parmesan Roasted Garlic and White Cheddar)

Instructions

In the bowl of a food processor, add all of the ingredients for the Green Goddess Dip, and pulse until blended into a nearly smooth puree. Scrape into a small serving bowl.
On a medium flat platter, place the dip bowl on one side of the plate. Add the celery sticks, grapes, and cheese slices in clusters, saving a spot for crackers or Harvest Snaps. At this point you can refrigerate until close to serving time.
When ready to serve, remove from the fridge and add the Harvest Snaps. Serve!

Thank you to Harvest Snaps for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are my own.

homemade gravlax

December 29, 2016 by Butter Loves Company

Ever since I can remember, gravlax have been a staple on my family’s holiday table. No matter what the occasion, they’ve always been a sure sign of celebration. A magnet for cousins and friends to gather ‘round and share their latest updates and adventures. Grab a piece of toast, slather it with a dill or horseradish sauce, sprinkle that with sharp diced red onions, and dot it all with salty capers. Grab a teeny fork and peel away a slice or two of dilled gravlax to lay on top. With the comfort of family around, you take a big bite of your toast. Ah, yes. It’ll be a fun day.

While seemingly complicated, gravlax—originally from Scandinavia—are actually a breeze to make yourself. All it takes is fresh salmon, a few seasonings, and a day or two for them all to meld together. You’ll need salt as the cure, and then my mom always supplements with a combination of light brown sugar, dill, and coriander. She often uses lemongrass as well, but fresh lemongrass can be hard to come by so for the sake of this recipe, we’ll omit.

Wondering the difference between smoked salmon and gravlax? Gravlax are salt cured with spices (not cooked or smoked) and smoked salmon is either cold or hot-smoked—often resulting in a firmer, flakier texture. The Huffington Post delves a little deeper in this article.

Though salt-cured, because the gravlax are not cooked, you’ll want to make sure you start with the freshest salmon. Great accompaniments are bagels and cream cheese, dill sauce (even a quick mix of dill, Greek yogurt, lemon, salt and pepper), and horseradish.

So, as promised, here is the recipe for homemade gravlax, one of my favorite things. Hope you enjoy!

Note: the Gravlax are on the bottom of the dish–on the top is smoked salmon. You can see the difference in texture!

homemade cheese crackers

December 16, 2016 by Butter Loves Company

A few weeks ago, my best friend became my *fiancé*—what a word and what a whirlwind! I really can’t imagine having anyone else by my side to laugh with for life. Supergreg, as you know him via this site, is the most thoughtful person I’ve ever met. I’m one lucky girl!

Despite all of the many things we’ve been through together since we’ve met, and how much we’ve learned and changed personally, there is one thing that still rings true. Greg can demolish a box of Cheez-It crackers in one sitting (Love you boo!).

This recipe for homemade cheese crackers is my personal gift to Greg. A cracker honoring the great Cheez-It that we can from this point forward make at home. These are your adult Cheez-Its: deeply cheesy, salt-forward with a smoky undertone thanks to paprika and cayenne. Sharp cheddar cheese leads the way with Gouda by its side. If you can find aged Gouda—I used 3-year aged—it is wonderful for adding a funky-in-a-good-way cheesy stink. I’m really selling it, huh? If you can’t find aged Gouda, a smoked Gouda could be substituted for a slightly smokier alternative.

These homemade cheesy crackers teeter on the cookie line, since they don’t shatter like some crackers as they meet your teeth, but if you roll them thin, you’ll achieve that cracker-y crunch. They also pair perfectly with wine or beer as a cocktail hour snack.

Go on and enjoy the marriage of cheeses!

cheddar cheese gougères

December 27, 2015 by Butter Loves Company

These cheddar cheese gougères are the perfect nibble for a New Year’s Eve gathering. They are flavorfully cheesy, yet light and uncomplicated—allowing you to really appreciate the flavor of any champagne or bubbly you might be sipping on for the festivities.

Gougères might seem fancy, with their golden crust, eggy insides, and distinctly hollow cores. However, they do most of the work on their own—the dough is simply spooned or piped onto baking sheets and the cores are a natural result of the dough puffing up during the baking process…an example of baking magic if you ask me! You could easily turn these into a heartier appetizer by piping a savory filling into the baked puffs, just as you would pipe sweet cream into their spherical cousins, cream puffs or profiteroles (both made using the same magical pâte à choux dough).

These are undeniably cheesy thanks to a generous addition of extra sharp cheddar cheese—while untraditional, I like how they create a flavor reminiscent to that of a Cheez-It cracker. For a more traditional version of the French gougère, feel free to substitute grated gruyère cheese. You could even sprinkle a little nutmeg or cayenne into to the batter, or top the uncooked scoops with a little fresh cracked pepper to make them your own.

Grab a glass of champagne, laugh about the year’s (sometimes failed) resolutions, and grab a light and fluffy gougère. Now you’re ready to ring in the New Year!

NOTE: You can make the dough and freeze the uncooked, shaped mounds ahead of time and bake right before eating. Hot, cheesy gougères on demand? Nothing wrong with that!

Cheddar cheese gougères recipe perfect for a New Year’s Eve gathering (make ahead optional). Undeniably cheesy and seemingly fancy, with their golden crust, eggy insides, and distinctly hollow cores. Add a glass of champagne and you're in business!

warm, lemony crab dip

November 18, 2014 by Butter Loves Company

Circa late-fall 2002, I was preparing to put on my first ‘cocktail party.’ I was around 15 years old and the ‘cocktail’ menu consisted of childhood staples such as Sunny Delight, Arizona Iced Tea and Surge—the seemingly radioactive green soda that was later banned due to its high caffeine content. I flipped through my mom’s copy of the cookbook, Finger Foods, marking up every page that jumped out at me as perfect for my teen attendees. I most definitely went through an entire stack of Post-its. What can I say? I’m a sucker for bite-sized foods and vehicles for consuming bread.

Flash forward to a few weeks ago, I was planning for another cocktail party—this time for adults—and once again scanned my mom’s cookbook wall for inspiration. The same blue Post-its that were stuck on during the Fall of 2002 jutted out of Finger Foods. Turns out, I hadn’t made all 200 recipes I had marked for that ‘cocktail party’ years ago (shocker). Among those that didn’t make the initial cut was this warm, lemony crab dip. Because crab may very well be the queen of the cocktail party, I decided to test the recipe. I added more crab than the recipe called for because I’m always disappointed by wimpy dips. Oh boy, was it just the perfect bread topper in all its warm, creamy, savory, lump crab-filled glory. Chopped tarragon added a sophisticated can’t-put-my-finger-on-it complement to the citrus and a pinch of cayenne enhanced the creaminess of the heavy base with just enough heat.

Now, my cocktail party attendees must be scratching their heads because they didn’t see this dip last Saturday. It passed the test run with rave reviews and I promise it was absent only because the table had hit its dip quota. Don’t worry though because Finger Foods is still on the kitchen shelf for next time; a Post-it marked “delicious” sticking out of page 17.

warm, lemony crab dip
adapted from Bay Book’s Finger Foods

prep time: 20 minutes
cook time: 20 minutes
total time: 40–45 minutes
makes 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup cream cheese
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
14-oz. lump crabmeat (drained if using canned)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3 teaspoons chopped, fresh tarragon
3/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh parsley

Instructions:

Center a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Grab a small baking dish out and set it aside for later (must fit 2 1/2 cups).
Melt half the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallots to the saucepan and cook until just softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the mustard powder, cayenne, and whipping cream. Bring to a simmer and slowly whisk in the cream cheese, a little bit at a time. When the cream cheese is completely incorporated, whisk in the cheddar and stir constantly over very low heat until smooth, about 1–2 minutes. Remove from heat and add in the crabmeat, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, and 2 teaspoons of the tarragon. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir well and then transfer into your small baking dish.
Melt the remaining butter in the microwave in a separate small microwave safe bowl. Add the breadcrumbs, chopped parsley, and remaining tarragon, and stir until combined. Sprinkle over the crab mixture and bake for 15–20 minutes or until bubbling and golden. Serve warm with toasted bread or crackers.

jerk shrimp

May 17, 2014 by Butter Loves Company

There are two kinds of jerks in this world. The first is the kind that, on a rainy day, accelerates their car through a puddle to drench pedestrians walking on an adjacent sidewalk. Bitter? Me? No way. And the second, ladies and gents, is the seasoning. If only it were limited to that, the world would be a happier place!

Anyways, today, we’ll be talking about the latter. The dry or wet—in this case wet—meat, poultry or seafood—in this case seafood—Jamaican marinade with a signature sweet heat. When I showed this recipe for jerk shrimp from Family Table to Greg, he told me it was right up his alley; which is funny because he is neither a jerk nor a shrimp.

What jumped out at him though were the bold flavors of the seasoning’s ingredients: spicy ginger and jalapeno, warm cloves, cinnamon and allspice, salty soy sauce, garlic and scallions. If you’re like me and are wondering why jerk is called jerk, my research says the terms comes from the word charqui, a Spanish term of Quechua (native South American) origin for jerked or dried meat. The term eventually evolved to jerky in English; hence beef jerky.

While this jerk shrimp may not be the most traditional jerk, it is easy and tasty. All you do is throw the ingredients in a food processor or blender until they form a paste. Then, slather over raw shrimp and refrigerate for an hour. Finally, you sauté the shrimp in a saucepan turning once (keep in mind that shrimp cook super fast) and voila! The original recipe calls for fresh Italian parsley, which I omitted because I didn’t have any and am honestly not the herb’s number-one-fan. After just one hour of marinating, the result is shrimp with layers of flavor and a slight, lingering heat. The shrimp are great on top of salads, in a pita or as an appetizer served alongside a simple yogurt dip.

jerk shrimp
Adapted, barely, from Family Table

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5-10 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Makes 1 pound shrimp (about 4 entrée servings or more if used as an app)

Ingredients:

½ cup coarsely chopped scallion (about 2-3)
¼ cup coarsely chopped peeled fresh ginger
¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley (I omitted)
8 garlic cloves, peeled
1 coarsely chopped jalapeno, seeds included
¼ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce, low-sodium if you have it
¼ teaspoon sugar
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (20-24 medium, 25-30 small)

Instructions:

Place shrimp in a medium sized bowl.
In the work bowl of a food processor or in a blender, combine all ingredients from the scallion down to the sugar. Process until it resembles a paste. Pour over shrimp and stir to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Remove the shrimp from the refrigerator. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and add 1-2 tablespoons olive or canola oil (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan). Remove the shrimp from the bowl, skewer if desired, and put them in the pan (you can do this in batches if not all the shrimp fit in a single layer). Cook the shrimp, turning once, until browned on both sides, about 2 ½ minutes per side. Enjoy!