New Years – Inspiration https://blog.stokesstores.com Fri, 22 Dec 2017 17:02:19 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://blog.stokesstores.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/cropped-new-blog-logo-11-150x150.jpg New Years – Inspiration https://blog.stokesstores.com 32 32 New Year’s Party Appetizers You Can Make In a Flash https://blog.stokesstores.com/new-years-party-appetizers-you-can-make-in-a-flash/ https://blog.stokesstores.com/new-years-party-appetizers-you-can-make-in-a-flash/#respond Wed, 27 Dec 2017 12:00:46 +0000 https://blog.stokesstores.com/?p=5090 Happy Holidays! We’re in the peak of the party-planning, revelry-making, feasting and gifting extravaganzas. There’s no better time than now to gather with friends and family, catch up on the year that has passed and celebrate the arrival of the new one coming! For guests and hosts alike, food is the main ingredient to taking the most pleasure in all the festivities. This year, all you need is a few minutes to prepare a delicious morsel before you get dressed in your glimmering and glitzing best to ring in the New Year just right.

In collaboration with blogger and recipe developer Margherita, of La Petite Casserole, we’ve made sure your palate will be thanking you going into 2018. With three appetizer recipes that take mere minutes to prepare, Margherita has the New Year’s recipes you’ve been looking for. To start, no party is complete without a delightfully cheesy element: Cheese And Jam Squares. You can top it with a hazelnut to make it extra festive. Next, it’s always important to have a vegetarian-friendly option, so we have a White Bean Hummus with Oven Roasted Tomatoes. Blended in the thinkkitchen Electric Food Processor, you can place the hummus and tomatoes on your favourite country bread or baguette, crostini style. Finally, the Potato Tortilla, which will have people flocking. You can serve this egg, onion and potato delight in pizza slice-like wedges.

Choose one, or make them all, your fellow merrymakers will delight in these savoury bites.

 

 

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Cheese With Jam Squares

Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Author La Petite Casserole

Ingredients

  • 2 slices of cheddar or similar cheese 1-2 cm thick
  • 3-4 tbsp of fig jam onion can be an alternative
  • 10-12 hazelnuts

Instructions

  • Cut the cheese into little squares.
  • Place a bit of jam over each piece of cheese.
  • Decorate with half a hazelnut and serve.

 

 

 

 

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White Bean Hummus with Oven Roasted Tomatoes

Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings 12 servings
Author La Petite Casserole

Ingredients

For the hummus

  • 1 can of cannellini beans
  • 1 garlic clove finely chopped/grated
  • 1 tsp of ground cumin
  • The juice of ½ lemon
  • 2 full tbsp of Tahini paste
  • 3-4 tbsp of olive oil + more to drizzle
  • Salt pepper

For the tomatoes

  • 10-12 cherry tomatoes cut in half
  • ¼ tsp of dried oregano
  • ¼ tsp of dried thyme or mint
  • ¼ tbsp of cane sugar
  • ½ tsp of salt
  • 3-4 tbsp of olive oil
  • 5-6 slices of country-style bread cut into squares

Instructions

  • Rinse and drain the beans, then put them in a food processor.
  • Add into the food processor garlic, cumin, lemon juice and Tahini paste. Mix until you get a smooth cream.
  • Add olive oil a little at a time and mix until it is well integrated. Store in the fridge well covered until you need it.
  • For the tomatoes, preheat the oven at 350°F and line a baking dish with parchment paper.
  • Discard the tomato seeds and pulp, place the tomatoes cut-side up into the dish and toss to coat with oregano, thyme, sugar and salt.
  • Drizzle olive oil over the tomatoes and bake them for about 15 minutes.
  • Spread the bread with the bean hummus and decorate with 1-2 oven roasted tomato halves, serve.

 

 

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Potato Tortilla

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 8 servings
Author La Petite Casserole

Ingredients

  • 5 medium potatoes
  • 5-6 fresh green onions finely chopped
  • 6 eggs
  • 3-4 tbsp of milk
  • 120 ml of olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Peel the potatoes, cut them into small pieces (or slices) and put them in a bowl with some cold water for 10 minutes.
  • Drain the potatoes and dry with kitchen paper.
  • In a heavy bottom non-stick pan, reheat the olive oil reserving 2 tablespoons, then add the potatoes and let them fry for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally (trying not to break them) and adjusting the heat so they sizzle but don’t crisp or brown.
  • When the potatoes are tender, transfer them with a skimmer to a sieve or lined plate and let them cool down.
  • Using a whisk, mix well eggs, milk, salt and pepper.
  • Add in the cooled potatoes, onions and mix.
  • Drain the oil from the skillet and wipe out the pan with a paper towel.
  • Heat the skillet on medium-high. Add the reserved oil. Let the pan and oil get very hot (to prevent the eggs from sticking), and then pour in the potato and egg mixture, spreading it evenly.
  • Cook for 1 minute and then lower the heat to medium-low for 8 to 10 minutes, cooking until the eggs are completely set at the edges, halfway set in the center, and the tortilla easily slips around in the pan when you give it a shake. You may need to nudge the tortilla loose with a knife or spatula.
  • Set the pan lid upside down over the pan. Lift the skillet off the burner and, with one hand against the lid and the other holding the skillet’s handle, invert the skillet so the tortilla lands on the lid (it should fall right out).
  • Set the pan back on the heat and slide the tortilla into it. Once the tortilla is back into the pan, cook until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, hot, and with no uncooked egg on it (another 5 to 6 minutes).
  • Transfer the tortilla to a serving platter and let cool at least 10 minutes. Cut into wedges or small squares, sticking a toothpick in each triangle, maybe add some basil leaves.

 

 

Happy New Year to all, and to all a good bite!

 

I once said “I will never write a blog”…but I’ve also said “ never say never”… and here I am! Let me introduce myself. My name is Margherita, I am from Florence and 100% Italian. I became Canadian for the sake of love. I started cooking when I was a child because of the pleasure I found watching a cake rise in the oven. Then, year after year I started to cook because of the pleasure it brought me to have my friends come over, and watching them sit at my table and devour everything I had prepared. Dinner after dinner, the pleasure of thinking about which recipes to prepare and how many people to invite over has become my favourite way to express myself. Each recipe I create shares a little bit about myself and about my story. You can find out the contribution of my family, my husband and all of my friends who have supported me during all these years, the same who have tested and eaten up all my dishes! There is one point I want to make clear: I’m not that good with dealing with precise quantities, such as mg, ml, cc, etc… To me, taste is more important than grams! Find more of my recipes at www.lapetitecasserole.com.

 

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