Who’s got time these days to spend in the kitchen fussing over cooking for a party or get-together? Help is on the way. We’ve got some gourmet appetizers that will look and taste like you spent hours preparing everything. These yummy eats have been tested in the kitchen of public opinion by my two teenage boys. Try them out, and see what you think about these quick and easy little bites. For those of you who know me, then you know that I was one of those rare folks born without a cooking gene. Except for when it comes to the Big Green Egg and a crock pot… I say all that to tell you that if I can make these appetizers, then anybody can. These aren’t just deliciously devilishly good, they’re also quick and easy to make!
Green Apple Hash over Baked Brie – this one tastes like hot apple pie and sweet buttery cheese!
- 2 granny smith apples – diced
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- touch of grated nutmeg
- dash of ground cloves
- ½ cup of brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons of butter
- ½ cup salted pecans, chopped
- 12 oz round of baby brie cheese
- 8 sheets of fillo dough
Melt the butter in a skillet and then combine the rest of the ingredients. Over medium heat, stir this apple mixture together for about ten minutes until the green apples are slightly tender. While that is cooking, separate the fillo dough into sheets. We used about five sheets and sprayed each sheet with butter before adding the next sheet. Then we took the fillo dough and wrapped the brie round. Seal the edges with melted butter. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes. Let it sit for another 15 to 20 minutes. Plate the cooled fillo wrapped brie cheese and top it with the Green Apple Hash and serve up with bagel chips or sliced red apples. Once you sit this one on the table, you better step back to avoid getting run over by the crowd that rushes to grab a bite of this sweet, tart, savory delicious dessert.
Sweet Italian Sausage Baby Quiche – it’s smoky, creamy, and slightly spicy. In a word… Wow!
- 1 pound of Italian sweet sausage in a skillet
- 3 eggs
- 1 ½ cup half and half or just use milk
- salt and pepper
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ½ cup diced onions
- ½ cup diced celery
- a touch of fresh grated nutmeg
- 8 pre-made mini pie crusts in the little metal tins
Sauté the sweet sausage, celery, and onions in a dash of extra virgin olive oil in a skillet until the sausage is browned and crumbled. Drain the excess oil. Whisk together everything but the sausage. Once mixed, add the sausage and celery and onion mix. Scoop the mix into the thawed mini pie crusts and bake at 375 degrees until golden brown. When finished, we topped our mini sweet sausage quiche with a little extra grated parmesan. Trust me when I tell you that you might wanna double this recipe!
Tiny Mojo BBQ Smoked Pork Sandwiches with Comeback Coleslaw – This smoky goodness requires a little more work than the others, but it’s worth it
- 8 lb pork butt
- pineapple and raging river Dizzy Pig rubs
- Big Green Egg
With the plate setter feet up in your Big Green Egg, heat up the grill to 230 degrees. Rub the pork with extra virgin olive oil and liberally rub in both of the Dizzy Pig spices. We used two handfuls of mesquite wood chips spread over the hot lump coal for our smoke flavor, and added that to the egg after we soaked them in water for about 30 minutes. With the Big Green Egg ready to go, we put our pork on the grill. Now we wait and drool for about 10 to 12 hours. The trick to tender, smoky BBQ meat is low heat and slow cooking to break up the connective tissues. Once our internal temperature reached 194 degrees, we shredded the pork using two large forks. If you don’t have a thermometer, then you just simply wait until you can pull the bone easily out of the meat with your fingers. Chop up the meat.
With about ten hours to wait, this gives you plenty of time to prepare the tangy, Cuban-inspired Mojo sauce.
- 1 tablespoon of paprika
- salt and pepper
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2/3 cup orange juice
- ¼ cup of lime juice
- 1 teaspoon of sugar
Whisk together all of these ingredients in a saucepan. Over medium low heat, you need to stir until the sauce is warm. To put these little Mojo sandwiches together, lightly toast some split potato rolls. Add a little bit of mayonnaise on one side, and then pile on the pulled pork BBQ meat. We took shredded cabbage and tossed in a couple of tablespoons of Comeback salad dressing. The comeback slaw was heaped on top of the BBQ meat, and we drizzled the Mojo sauce over the top. If you don’t like the Mojo sauce, then just use some good ole Baby Ray’s. Feast away, and you’re definitely gonna want seconds!
Creamy Banana Pudding – this sweet dessert is good for any occasion! We even like it for breakfast!!!!!
- 1 14 oz can of Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1 ½ cups of cold water
- 1 package of instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 cups (1 pint) of heavy cream, whipped to form soft peaks
- 36 vanilla wafers
- 4 medium bananas
- lemon juice
Whisk the sweetened condensed milk and water in a large mixing bowl. Add the pudding mix. Whisk that together for about 2 minutes and chill for 5 minutes. Fold in the whipped cream. Spoon 1 cup of the pudding mixture into a two quart glass serving bowl. Layer with 1/3 of each of the vanilla wafers, bananas, and pudding mixture. Repeat this layering twice and end with the pudding mixture. Now the tough part is that you have to WAIT and chill this until it’s ready to serve. We layered our banana pudding in small individual glass cups and left that for Santa on Christmas Eve. It was all gone the next day!
Mini Strawberry Shortcakes – this one is so easy, you’re kids are gonna want to make these every day.
- 1 can of refrigerated biscuits
- decorator sugar found in the grocery store
- fresh strawberries
- 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup of sugar
- box of toothpicks
Roll each refrigerator biscuit thin and use a 1 inch bottle cap as the cut out the circles. Brush them with melted butter and sprinkle generously with the decorator sugar. Bake according to the directions on the can. My mimi used to call these whop biscuits because she’d whop the can on the side of the counter to break them open to bake. Once the little biscuit circles are baked, set them aside to cool. In a mixing bowl, blend the whipping cream while slowly adding the sugar about a tablespoon at a time. You’ll want the whipping cream to have soft peaks after all the sugar’s added. If you haven’t made whipping cream before, you’re gonna find that it’s so much better than the store bought version!
After the strawberries have been washed and dried, take a toothpick and start stacking one of the tiny sweet biscuit circles and then a strawberry. Continue doing this until you’ve used up all the strawberries. Place all of these little strawberry shortcakes around a bowl of homemade whipping cream. Allow your guests to dip their strawberry shortcakes in the whipping cream for a little bite of tart, sweet, crunchy goodness. No double dipping!
Smoky Bacon Wrapped Dates – sweet and salty, these bacon dates are the perfect party snack.
- 1 package of pitted dates
- 1 package of applewood smoked bacon
- fresh blue cheese – optional
Cut the bacon strips in half and wrap the bacon around each of the pitted dates. Secure the ends of the bacon with a toothpick. If you’d like, you can also stuff the pits with a little bit of blue cheese before wrapping it with bacon. While you’re wrapping the dates, heat up the Big Green Egg until the temperature is about 300 degrees. Once you’ve got all the dates wrapped, the grill should be ready to go. Place the dates in a cooking tray and toss them often to keep from burning. Once the bacon’s crispy, they’re ready to come off the grill. These bacon wrapped dates don’t need any special dip or sauce. Your salty-sweet tooth will be completely satisfied with these goodies.
There you have it! Gourmet appetizers that are ridiculously easy and taste like a five-star restaurant catered your get-together. These appetizers are so easy to make and no fuss at all. Use your time hangin with your family and friends and not in the kitchen all day. If you’ve got some recipes for easy scrumptious appetizers, share them with us. We’ll feature you and your finger food in the next blog!
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