mozzarella | bite

I’ve begun party prep countdown for Christmas on Carmarthen! We live on Carmarthen St., hence the name. I’ve decided on a mixture of fourteen different hot and cold, static and passed appetizers to offer my guests. In the past, I’ve used my dining room table as a groaning board for platters of food where my guests would stand helping themselves. This year, I am changing it up by passing some of the hors d’oeuvres. I’ll serve guests so that they don’t have to leave their conversations in search of nibbles. The challenge is to create food that is easy to manage with one hand. Bite-size pieces allow guests to enjoy what they’re eating without having it fall apart in their hand or worse yet spill down their front. I love the idea of having a taste of something delicious and then moving on to something else!

Overeating at Christmas time is difficult to avoid. Everyone is so generous and festive that indulging feels natural. It’s after the party that it doesn’t feel so good. Cocktail parties often have lots of richly flavoured foods that can upset your stomach while you are making merry! My goal this year is to treat my friends to some lovely food not mistreat them with too much.

Kabobs are a fun way to serve individually, beyond grilled meat. I’m also doing Greek and Caprese salads on a stick! The kicker will be to collect the used skewers once they’re empty. Standing around holding a wooden spear kills any kind of elegance going on!

Creating individual bites for my guests is my way of saying, ‘Merry Christmas with love’!

Lasagna Bites

Allow 1 per guest

Wonton wrappers

Mild Italian sausage, 1/2″ slices then quartered and cooked

Sweet bell pepper, finely chopped and sautéed

Marinara sauce or commercial pizza sauce

Pesto - homemade or commercial

Mozzarella, shredded

I’m not listing specific ingredient amounts. Use your own judgement after determining how many you plan on making.

Place wonton wrappers in miniature muffin tins

Add 3 pieces of sausage, a bit of sautéed peppers, a teaspoon of Marinara, 1/4 teaspoon pesto and lots of mozzarella

Bake for 15 minutes until golden on the bottom.

Cool slightly then serve.

THE LOVE: You can make these ahead by freezing them in the muffin tin then transferring them to a freezer proof container until needed. Bake covered with tin foil for 15 minutes then remove foil and continue baking until golden on the bottom.

Thanks for reading

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved french onion soup. Sadly, it does not love me. It goes through me at the speed. Despite the ill effect this lovely classic has on me, I constantly find myself thinking about it . It’s the whole wanting what you can’t have thing!

When I woke up Sunday morning, I found myself, once again, craving a big steaming bowl of bread soaked gooey cheesy yumminess.

I thought about it all day long until I had talked myself into substituting mushrooms for the onions. It is kind of strange that I obsess over food the way that I do…

It worked perfectly.

The trick with french onion soup is a long slow cook on the onions before adding the stock.

To deepen the flavour of the mushrooms, I roasted some, sautéed some, rehydrated some and threw a few into the hot broth uncooked.

Typically, on Sunday, I serve something roasted . When Ralph walked into the dining room and saw a big honking bowl of soup topped with crunchy baguette and melted oozing mozzarella, instead of missing the meat he was delighted! He knew there would be a second bowl…

WILD MUSHROOM SOUP AU GRATIN

serves 4

5 large Portobello mushrooms, gills scraped – tops and stems chopped into 1″ dice

2 lbs white button mushrooms, sliced thick

1 cup dried wild mushrooms, rehydrated in 1 cup warmed dry white wine

extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, peeled and diced

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1 stalk of celery, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

6 cups beef broth

french baguette, day old

shredded mozzarella, to taste I like lots!

Preheat broiler

Place 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil on a baking sheet then toss half of the chopped Portobello mushrooms in the oil

Place baking sheet under broiler until mushrooms are golden – remove from broiler and set aside

Place 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil in a large soup pot over medium high heat.

When oil is hot add onion, carrot and celery. Saute veg until soft.

Add remaining Portobello mushrooms and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes.

Add half of the white button mushrooms and continue cooking an additional 10 minutes

Add soup stock and bring to the boil without boiling

Add remaining white button mushrooms, broiled Portobello mushrooms and rehydrated wild mushrooms along with the wine. Be careful not to pour any grit from the bottom of the rehydrating solution into your soup.

Add dried and fresh herbs

Season to taste then allow soup to simmer for 45 minutes.

Preheat broiler

Ladle soup into oven proof bowls

Place thick bread slices on top of soup and cover with shredded mozzarella

Broil until cheese is bubbling and golden

Happy Valentine’s Day – wish me luck…

bite

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