Wontons

Fried Crab Wonton

I still remember the first time I had crab wontons at a Chinese restaurant in Wisconsin. I think I ordered them at every Chinese restaurant for a good two years. I, for one, have loved cream cheese, but I remember my dad griping about how there is no crab in the recipe.

This recipe has just the right amount of crab and cheese and everything else! It's absolutely scrumptious and a little dangerous--it's one of those rare foods that you can over indulge on without realizing that you're going overboard.

A year ago I actually had 32 of them in one sitting. Minimum. We weren't consciously keeping count, but my cousin had served me 10 in my first serving, I took 5 for seconds, stole 2 from my nephew and 5 from my niece. And then I ate the leftovers.

Ingredients:

2 cans (12 oz.) white crabmeat, drained, flaked

8oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, softened

4green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup KRAFT Light Mayo Reduced Fat Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon all purpose flavoring (without salt)

24 wonton wrappers

Directions:
1. Mix the crabmeat, cream cheese, green onions and mayo until an even mixture is formed.
2. Place a bit of the crab mixture in the middle of a wonton wrapper
3. Line the edges of the wonton wrapper with water
4. Take all four edges of the wonton wrapper and shove them together as if you're forming a sack out of the wrapper.
5. Fry in oil until golden brown.

Coconut Shrimp

Coconut shrimp is a delicious recipe and it's ridiculously easy to make! It tastes best when fried fresh, but both the batter and the shrimp can be pre-prepared and stored until it's ready to be prepared.

Below is a video of how to devein shrimp. This process takes out the black line that runs along the length of the shrimp. Why remove it? Well it's the gastrointestinal tract of the shrimp (i.e. digestive tract) and in females it's the reproductive canal as well. It's a personal issue for me, or psychological rather, but I cannot eat a shrimp if I see it's not deveined!


Ingredients:

• 3 egg
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups beer
• 1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 6 cups flaked coconut
• 70 shrimps
• 9 cups oil for frying

Directions:

1. In medium bowl, combine egg, 1/2 cup flour, beer and baking powder. Place 1/4 cup flour and coconut in two separate bowls.
2. Hold shrimp by tail, and dredge in flour, shaking off excess flour. Dip in egg/beer batter; allow excess to drip off. Roll shrimp in coconut, and place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) in a deep-fryer.
3. Fry shrimp in batches: cook, turning once, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Using tongs, remove shrimp to paper towels to drain. Serve warm with your favorite dipping sauce.

Layered Bean Dip

9 Layered Bean Dip

I've been making Layered Bean Dips since high school and they've always been a hit. Back in the day, I used to buy store bought guacamole (big mistake--I have yet to find any pre-made guacamole that tastes as good as homemade).

The layers I use, in general, include (in order from bottom layer to top):
1. Refried Beans (recipe below)
2. Mexican Blend Cheese
3. Guacamole (click here for recipe)
4. Jalapenos
5. Tostitos Salsa Con Queso
6. Black Olives
7. Sour Cream
8. Cheese
9. Chopped Tomato/Onion for garnishing

You can remove layers by taste--for instance, when I make this for kids, I leave out olives and jalapeno's. Personally, the key layers are refried beans, cheese, guacamole and sour cream.

1. Prepare the guacamole.
2. Empty 30 ounces of refried beans into a skillet with 3 tablespoons oil.
3. Spread out the refried beans and mix it together for 30 seconds.
4. Add 4 ounces of cream cheese and stir it together until the texture is consistent.
5. Optional Step--to make mine spicy, I add left over Taco Bell Hot Sauce. It really doesn't make it unbearably spicy, but adds a little flavor to the beans.
5. Chop 1 medium tomato and add to the refried beans.
6. After 2 minutes (make sure cream cheese is melted), pour the beans into a container.
7. Add a thick layer of Mexican blend cheese on top of the warm refried beans (the heat of the beans will slightly melt the cheese)
8. Add a layer of guacamole. Use a butter knife to spread it evenly.
9. Layer sliced jalapeno's on the surface of the guacamole. I use pre-sliced jarred jalapeno's.
10. Pour the entire 14 ounce bottle of Salsa con Queso on the jalapeno's. The consistency is kind of thick so you will have to spoon out the queso and use a butterknife to spread it evenly.
11. Add a layer of sliced black olives. Again, I usually purchase pre-sliced canned olives.
12. Add a layer of sour cream, using a butter knife to spread it evenly.
13. Add a layer of Mexican Blend Cheese
14. Garnish with any left over chopped onions, tomato's or olives

Avocado Eggrolls

Image Source: Cheesecake Factory Website

This is a close replica, albeit not identical, to Avocado Eggrolls served by the Cheesecake Factory. The filling is similar to guacamole wrapped in eggroll and served with an Indian style tamarind sauce--creating a delicious fusion appetizer.

While this recipe turned out great, my eggrolls were visually far from appetizing! Looks like next time I'll have to focus on learning how to wrap an eggroll! I got this recipe from Robbie's Recipes.

Ingredients for Avocado Eggrolls:
1 lrg. avocado - peeled, pitted, diced
2 Tbls. sun-dried tomatoes in oil - chopped
1 Tbls. minced red onion
1/2 tsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 pinch salt
3 egg roll wrappers
1 egg - beaten

Equipment:
Cutting Board
Knife
Bowl

Directions for Avocado Eggrolls:
1. Peel, pit and dice the avocado.
2. Mince the red onion.
3. Drain sun dried tomato's making sure majority of the oil is gone. Chop the sun dried tomatoes.
4. Gently stir together the avocado, tomatoes, onions, 1/2 teaspoon cilantro, salt and sun-dried tomato
5. Distribute filling evenly onto the center of each egg roll wrapper.
6. Roll the eggroll wrappers.
7. Deep fry egg rolls in 375 degree's oil for 2-4 minutes until golden brown
8. Drain on brown paper bags
9. Slice egg rolls diagonally across the middle and serve with the dipping sauce (recipe below)

Ingredients for Sauce:
1 Tbls. white vinegar
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. tamarind pulp - see "Notes" below
1/2 cup honey
1 pinch ground saffron
1/2 cup chopped cashews
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
2 cloves garlic
2 green onions
1 Tbls. granulated sugar
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 cup olive oil


Equipment:
Microwave Safe Bowl
Fork
Bowl

Directions for Sauce:
1. In the microwave safe bowl, stir the white vinegar, balsamic vinegar, tamarind, honey and saffron.
2. Microwave the liquids for 1 minute.
3. Stir the sauce until the tamarind is dissolved.
4. Puree tamarind mixture, cashews, 2/3 cup cilantro, garlic, sugar, onions, pepper and cumin in a blender.
5. Pour mixture in a bowl and stir in the oil.
6. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Arugula Gorgonzola Crostini

Crostini with Arugula, Walnuts, Sun Dried Tomato & Gorgonzola

This is a really easy recipe and it's yummmmmy! Makes me feel like a classy adult every time I make it, eat it and serve it! This can be made ahead and set aside until you're ready to put it into an oven (if overnight, then refrigerate in an airtight container).

What is Crostini?
Crostini is an Italian dish that is now served as an appetizer. In Italian, the word crostini translates to "little toasts". In essence, it's a piece of toasted bread drizzled in butter/oil that is topped off with a few ingredients--in the case of this recipe, walnuts, arugula, gorgonzola, and sun dried tomatoes.

Ingredients:
Butter (at room temperature), or butter substitute
18 (1/4-inch thick) baguette
6 tablespoons toasted and chopped walnuts
3 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons finely-chopped arugula leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
Arugula leaves

Equipment:
Cutting Board
Knife
Baking Sheet
Spoon
Medium Bowl

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Slice baguette into 1/4th inch thick slices
3. Butter one surface of the baguette slice and play on a baking sheet (butter side up)
4. Bake for 10 minutes

While baguette is baking...
5. Chop toasted walnuts (I didn't pre-toast my walnuts, and they were just fine!)
6. Chop Arugula leaves
7. Mix walnuts, arugual leaves and gorgonzola cheese in a medium bowl.

Once baguette's are removed from the oven...
8. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degree's F
9. Using a spoon, press spread the walnut-cheese-arugula mixture on the bread, pressing it with the spoon to make sure it adheres to the surface
10. Bake until cheese melts (approximately 6 minutes)
11. Garnish with sundried tomato (this is optional)

Guacamole

The Best Guacamole in the World

I wanted to switch things up a bit and include a recipe that doesn't necessarily involve baking. Guacamole has to be one of my favorite foods. I love that essentially, it's just mixed raw vegetables. I think it's one of those foods that the beast in me could eat daily for the rest of my life without getting bored.

For those unaware, Guacamole is a Mexican dish that varies in it's ingredients from region to region. The most commonly accepted ingredients for "traditional Mexican guacamole" are avacado's, white onions, tomato, serrano peppers and lime juice (this ingredient is KEY in preserving the light green color of the mashed avacado). Historically speaking, Guacamole can be traced back to the Aztecs who referred to it as "ahuaca-mulli" which literally translates to avocado sauce. Due to the simplicity of the dish, the Aztec version is almost identical to the version we eat today!

The Aztecs believed avocado to be an aphrodisiac (I don't know about avocado's, but guacamole's sure work for me =P ). The Aztecs referred to the avocado tree as "Ahuactuatl" which literally translates to "testical tree". They believed that the fruit hanging in pairs on the tree resembled the male testicles and that the interior fruit part of the avocado had a sensuous texture.

Avocado's have numerous health benefits. Listing them would make this already long post unbearable. So just to name a few--lower cholesterol, prevent cancer, improve quality of skin and hair, etc.

Here is, in my opinion, the best Guacamole recipe in the world! The best part is, you can't go wrong with this recipe! If you like onions, just add more; if you hate them, just add less! This is one dish that can bu customized to any taste palette!

P.S. To prevent the guacamole from turning brown, use fresh lemon/lime and save the avocado pits and place in the guacamole.

INGREDIENTS:
Avacado
Tomato
Onion
Jalapeno
Lime/Lemon Juice
Cilantro
Kosher Salt

EQUIPMENT:
Knife
Cutting Board
Bowl
Utensil to Mash Avocado (Masher, fork, etc)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Dice tomatoes, onions and jalapeno.
2. Chop cilantro.
3. Cut avocado in half and remove pit.
Note: If the avocado is not soft on the outside, place it in a brown paper bag to soften overnight.
4. Take a spoon and remove the avocado from its shell.
5. Using a potato masher or fork, mash the avocado until it's chunky.
6. Add the diced and chopped vegetables into the chunky avocado.
7. Add salt/lemon to taste.
8. Serve with Tortilla Chips