Lobster Devilled Eggs

For Randal's birthday dinner last week he chose to go to Pappas Brothers Steakhouse.  Neither of us had been before but on the recommendation of a co-worker we decided to go.  One of the first things we saw on the menu were these lobster devilled eggs with chili oil and topped with honey black pepper bacon.  They serve theirs with the yolk mixture in a little jar and you assemble the eggs yourself.  We both loved them so much that while still eating them we were talking about making them at home for Easter.  If you like devilled eggs then give this version a try, it is addicting!

Eggs
4- oz Lobster tail, steamed
Bacon
Honey
Mustard
Mayonnaise
Salt and pepper
Chili oil

This is a simple recipe for such an impressive looking appetizer and obviously the ratio of ingredients will change depending on how many eggs you boil.  We made 6 eggs and had lobster and bacon leftover.

Place the eggs in a pan of cold water.  Bring to a boil, cover and remove from heat and leave for 10 minutes, then place eggs directly in a bowl filled with ice water, leave to cool.

While the eggs are cooling, preheat the oven to 400.   Place as much bacon as you need for the amount of eggs you boiled (I made 4 slices) on a baking tray.  Melt 1/4 cup of honey in a small pan and brush half of it over the bacon and season with back pepper.  Bake for 10 minutes, then flip over bacon brush on remaining honey and season with more black pepper. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes.

To prepare the lobster, crack the shell of the lobster tail so that you can pull the meat out on top and rest it on the shell (still attached at the base of the tail).   Put about 1 cup of water in a small shallow pan and bring to a boil.   Add the lobster tail, about 2 tbs of butter, and pour about 1 ounce of lemon juice (fresh or bottled) over the tail.   Cover with a lid and let boil for about 3 or 4 minutes, until meat is a solid white.   Lobster cooks very, very quickly, especially a 4oz tail.    Remove from the pan and cover with a little more butter (some people also like a sprinkle of paprika or cayenne on top), let it cool.    Once it is cool enough to handle, pull the meat completely from the shell and cut into small pieces for topping the eggs.

Slice the eggs in half and remove the yolks.  Mash the yolks with mayo and mustard to taste and season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle the egg whites with chili oil and fill with the yolk mixture.  Top with the lobster and the honeyed bacon.

Sweet and Sour Sausages

My husband makes these little sausages for every holiday or special occasion. Randal grew up eating them as it is a recipe he got from his Mom and I love that unlike most recipes like this it does not include barbecue sauce. 

These sausages are a delicious holiday appetizer.  You might not think that mustard and jelly would make a good sauce, but it ends up true to it's name, a little tangy from the mustard and sweet from the jelly.

1 jar redcurrant jelly (it can be difficult to find redcurrant jelly, we prefer Crosse and Blackwell, but this recipe really doesn't work with any other flavour jelly)
1/2 cup yellow mustard
1 pack Eckrich little smokies

In a medium pan add the jelly and melt.  Add in the mustard and bring to a boil, turn down and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add in the sausages and warm through.  Serve immediately.

Shrimp Voodoo

If you have ever had the lobster voodoo at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, this is exactly the same just made with shrimp.

Whenever we go to Ruth's Chris we always order the same things, and we always start with the fried lobster in a spicy sauce, after our last visit for our anniversary this year I decided to search for the recipe and I just so happened to find a video recipe of the exact one, we tested the recipe with shrimp though and loved it so much we have been making it every Sunday for the past few weeks!

1 lb shrimp
1 cup corn starch
1 tbsp blackening spice
1 tsp salt

Sauce:
1 cup mayo
¼ cup sweet thai chili sauce
¼ tsp tabasco
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp sriracha

Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl, and refrigerate until needed.  Can be made a day ahead.

Combine the corn starch, blackening spice and salt in a large bowl.  Coat the shrimp in the corn starch.  Fry at 375 for 2 or 3 minutes, until golden brown.  Toss shrimp in the sauce and serve immediately.

Cream Cheese Chip Dip

This recipe was my mother in law Arlene's.  I never got to meet her as she died when Randal was 17, however I have come to know her through the box of recipes that belonged to her and now to us.  The box is filled with my husbands favourite childhood meals and snacks, and we regularly make many of her recipes, especially her meatloaf and this chip dip that Randal grew up eating.

This dip is one of the first things that Randal ever made for me when I came to visit him here in the states for a week, crazy to think that was 13 years ago now.  I remember wanting to go home and make this for my family but we didn't have miracle whip in England, so I couldn't quite replicate it, and it does not taste the same with mayonnaise, we found that out the hard way recently when Randal grabbed the mayo and used that without realising!

8oz cream cheese
1/3 cup milk
4 tbsp miracle whip

Place cream cheese in a bowl and beat until smooth.  Add the milk gradually while whisking until very smooth and shiny.  Add in the miracle whip and whisk together.  Serve with chips.

Thai Chicken Lettuce Cups

Finally the last of the Valentines appetizers I made this year.  I think it was a few years ago that I made Vietnamese chicken lettuce cups, and as we loved those so much I wanted to try a new lettuce cup recipe this year.  I found this recipe over at Sonis Food.  I knew we would like these as we love red curry and coconut milk and they were a fun appetizer to try.

1 lb ground Chicken
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup mixed bell peppers, diced
1/4 cup frozen green beans
1 tbsp red curry paste
1/4 cup coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste
Lettuce

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large pan.  Add the onion and cook for a few minutes.  Add the garlic, ginger and curry paste and cook for a minute, add in the ground chicken and cook through.

Add in the bell peppers, green beans and season with salt and pepper.  Mix in the coconut milk and spoon into lettuce cups.

Deviled Egg Dip

I have seen the idea for this all over pinterest, a deviled egg dip rather than making actual deviled eggs. It's pretty much a big bowl of egg mayonnaise but instead of eating it as a sandwich filling it is served with crackers.

6 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp sweet relish
salt and pepper
paprika

Place the eggs in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil, cover pan and turn off the heat.  Leave for 10 minutes then place eggs in a bowl of ice water.

Peel the eggs once they have cooled.  Place in a large bowl and mash with the mayonnaise, mustard and relish.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and top with paprika.

Crescent Roll Monte Cristo Bites

I had some crescent roll dough left over after making a few of the chicken cordon bleu roll ups, and when trying to decide what to make with the remainder of the dough I thought about trying to make a version of a monte cristo, a sandwich that I have only ever tried at a restaurant called cheddars, and the first time I ordered one I was horrified by the raspberry jam and powdered sugar, but that was a long time ago and my taste buds have since become Americanized !

Crescent rolls
sliced turkey
sliced ham
sliced swiss cheese (you can use any cheese you like, swiss is what I had on hand)
raspberry jam
icing sugar

Press 2 of the triangles of crescent dough together.  Spread a thin layer of jam over the dough.  Cover with the sliced cheese, then the ham and turkey.  Roll up the dough and place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 375.  Let cool for a few minutes before slicing and dusting with icing sugar.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Crescent Rolls

These chicken rolls were the reason I made the batch of homemade chicken strips .  I used the jumbo sized crescent rolls, as my chicken strips were huge.  These are really simple, but very good.

1 can of jumbo crescent rolls
chicken strips
ham slices
swiss cheese slices
honey mustard

Preheat the oven to 375

Unroll the crescents and separate into triangles.  Spread a thin layer of honey mustard on the crescent roll, add a slice of swiss cheese, a slice of ham and a chicken strip.  Roll up and place on a baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown.  Serve with additional honey mustard.

Bacon Wrapped Tater Tots

Every year for Valentines day I make a lot of new appetizers for us.  This year I felt quite bad that because of the daycare I just couldn't make as many from scratch recipes, as I have done in years past.  This is probably why I tried to use a lot of my husbands favourite foods, which is why I made these bacon wrapped tater tots.  They are very simple and easy to make but I knew that Randal would love them.

Tater tots
Bbq sauce
Bacon, cut into thirds

Cook the tater tots according to package directions.

While the tots are baking, cook as much bacon as you need to wrap around the amount of tots that are baking.  Cook the bacon until some of the fat has rendered but it is still pliable, if the bacon gets too crispy it won't wrap around the tots.  Leave to cool for a few minutes until it can be handled.

Wrap a piece of bacon around each tot and secure with a toothpick.  Brush with bbq sauce and bake for 15 minutes at 350.

Mini Chicken and Waffles

As I already had made a lot of these chicken strips  for another appetizer for our valentines dinner, I decided to just make these mini chicken and waffle bites with the remaining strips.  This barely qualifies as a recipe but they were cute and tasted good so I am posting these along with all the other appetizers I made.

Chicken strips
Frozen mini waffles
Maple syrup

I made my own chicken strips, the recipe is linked above, however to make these even easier you of course could use frozen chicken strips that you bake.

Toast the mini waffles and cut the chicken to fit and sandwich between 2 mini waffle, and hold together with a toothpick.  Drizzle with maple syrup.

Mango Curry Chicken Wings

I have never made chicken wings before, but these mango wings from The Tasty Fork seemed like the perfect recipe to try for my first attempt, as both Randal and I love curry and mango chutney. 

These wings are a little hot from the curry, a little sweet from the chutney and we both enjoyed these and would definitely make them again.

2 lbs chicken wings
2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp curry powder (I used Penzey's sweet curry)
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp hot sauce
4 tbsp mango chutney
4 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 500.

Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non stick spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, curry powder and salt.  Toss the chicken wings in the flour mixture then place on the prepared baking sheet.  Spray the wings with the non stick spray.  Bake for 40 minutes, turning the wings half way.

In a small pan, combine the butter, hot sauce and mango chutney. Heat until the butter has melted and the sauce is blended. 

Place the wings into a large bowl, add the sauce and toss to coat.

Beer-Cheese Potato Bites

I found these potato bites over at Culinary Cool and after reading that they are made of mashed potatoes, beer, cheese and bacon rolled in crackers and fried, I pretty much thought they sounded perfect!

 

2 cups mashed potatoes

1 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup beer

2 spring onions, chopped

6 strips bacon

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper 

3/4 cup ritz cracker, crushed

1 egg

vegetable oil for frying 

In a food processor, add potatoes, cheese and beer and blend until smooth. 

Place the potato mixture in a large bowl and mix in the spring onions, bacon, salt and pepper.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Place the crushed ritz crackers in a shallow bowl.  Crack the egg in a small bowl and whisk.

Form the potato mixture into small balls and roll in the egg followed by the crackers.

Heat the oil to 375 and fry the potato balls until golden brown.

Bacon Jalapeno Deviled Eggs

I made these last week when I made the mango curry deviled eggs, my back up in case Randal really didn't like those, I knew he would love bacon and jalapeno deviled eggs!

6 large eggs
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1/2 tsp mustard
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
3 slices bacon, cooked and diced

Place the eggs in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil, cover pan and turn off the heat.  Leave for 10 minutes then place eggs in a bowl of ice water.

Once the eggs have cooled, cut eggs in half and scoop out the yolks.  Place yolks in a small bowl and mash, add in the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, half the diced jalapeno and half the bacon.  Mix well and spoon the yolk mixture back into the egg whites, top with the remaining bacon.

Corn Dog Bites

Randal loves corn dogs, but I have never been that successful at making them, so when I saw these corn dog bites over at Budget Savvy Diva I knew I wanted to try making them. 

I was so happy with these corn dog bites, they were crunchy on the outside, sweet and fluffy on the inside just like a great corn dog should be.  We will definitely be making these again!

8 hot dogs, cut into pieces
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
vegetable oil

Put 3/4 cup of the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, salt, garlic powder and onion powder in a large bowl, mix together and slowly stir in the milk. 

Roll the hot dog pieces in the remaining 1/4 cup of flour.

Heat about 2 cups of vegetable oil in a saucepan to 350.

Place the hot dog pieces into the batter, drop into the oil and cook until browned on both sides, about 3 minutes.

Mango Curry Deviled Eggs

I am sure that Randal was a little sceptical when I told him I wanted to make mango chutney curried deviled eggs, however after he had tried them he really did love them.  My idea for these eggs came from my love of coronation chicken, I wanted to make the filling for these eggs taste like the coronation chicken sauce and I have to say that it really did!

6 large eggs
1 tbsp mango chutney
1 tsp apricot jam
3 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp curry powder (I used the Penzey's sweet curry)
1 tbsp onion, diced
cayenne pepper
salt and pepper

Place the eggs in a pan of cold water, bring to the boil, cover pan and turn off the heat.  Leave for 10 minutes then place eggs in a bowl of ice water.

Once the eggs have cooled, cut eggs in half and scoop out the yolks.  Place yolks in a small bowl and mash, add in the mayonnaise, chutney, jam, onion and season to taste with salt and pepper, mix well.  Spoon the yolk mixture back into the egg whites and top with a little cayenne pepper.

Cheese Fondue

We don't really do much for new years eve, I can never stay awake until midnight these days anyway, so our fun new years celebration was to have a fondue day.  We started out with this cheddar cheese fondue, moved on to an oil fondue with filet mignon, shrimp and lobster and finished with a chocolate fondue.  They were all delicious but to be honest I am all about the cheese, is there anything better than a warm cheese and beer fondue with a huge pile of crusty bread for dipping?

1/2 cup beer 
2 teaspoons chopped garlic 
2 teaspoons dry mustard powder 
2 teaspoons worcester sauce 
6 ounces medium sharp cheddar cheese 
2 ounces Emmentaler Swiss cheese  
2 tablespoons all purpose flour

If using an electric fondue pot, turn on to medium.  Add beer, garlic, dry mustard, and worcester sauce to the pot and mix well. Grate the cheeses and toss with flour, coating the cheese well.  When the beer mixture is warm, add one third of the cheese and whisk very well. Once the cheese has been incorporated well, add half of the remaining cheese and whisk in very well. Add the remaining cheese and whisk until nice and smooth.

Pineapple-Black Bean Guacamole

I love guacamole, but I really wanted to make something a little different his time. In the past I have made a mango guacamole which is probably my favourite guacamole, this time though I thought I would try making it with pineapple and I used a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens.

2 medium Avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
1/4 cup salsa verde

1 tablespoon sour cream
1/2 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

 

 In a large bowl mash avocados. Stir in salsa and sour cream until combined. Stir in pineapple, beans, jalapeno, onion cilantro, garlic, lime juice, salt and cumin. Cover and chill for 2 hours or until ready to serve.

Sausage Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

I found the recipe for these stuffed jalapenos over at The Black Peppercorn, I love making the ordinary kind of cream cheese stuffed jalapenos and after making the cornbread stuffed ones a few weeks ago I thought these would be fun to try. 

Jalapenos
Bacon
Eckrige smoked sausages
1 cup cream cheese
1 cup grated Monterey jack cheese
1 shallot

Preheat the oven to 400

Cut the jalapenos in half and remove the seeds. 

In a small bowl mix together the softened cream cheese, Monterey jack cheese and the finely diced shallot.  Fill the jalapenos with the cream cheese mixture, place a sausage on top of the cream cheese and wrap the jalapeno with a slice of bacon.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Corn Crisps

I am a little obsessed these days with making appetizers, some turn out better than others but I love making a dinner of 4 or 5 little plates of appetizers.  These were part of last weeks appetizers for dinner night, I knew I had to make these because Randal loves corn.  These corn crisps are really quick and easy to make and taste great.

1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups corn
 1/4 cup finely chopped spring onions
 vegetable oil

In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, cumin, sugar, and cayenne. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, and butter. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until they are just blended. Fold in the corn and spring onions.

Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan.  Drop the corn mixture by tablespoons into the hot oil and fry for 2 or 3 minutes each side, until golden brown.

Jalapeno Cornbread Poppers

Randal loves jalapeno poppers, he also loves cornbread so when I saw these cornbread stuffed jalapenos over at oh, bite it! I knew I had to make these.  I added a little cream cheese to the jalapenos which was not part of the original recipe, I just knew that Randal would prefer that.

 

1 box of cornbread mix
1 cup shredded cheddar
1 cup canned corn
Fresh jalapenos
Cream cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Make the cornbread according to package directions.  Mix in the corn and cheddar cheese.

 

Slice the jalapenos in half and remove all the seeds.  If using cream cheese and a small amount to the bottom of each jalapeno.  Fill with the cornbread mix, place on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.