Happy New Year! It's nice to be back blogging again. I skipped by a few of the big holidays and felt bad that I didn't get to share the 12 Cookies of Christmas this year. I promise that we will have an exciting and robust list of cookies for the next holiday season.
So, what has been happening at Friends Food Family?
I'll take you back to Thanksgiving. This past year we purchased a Big Green Egg. Jeff has enjoyed trying everything from pizza to paella as well as steaks and grilled veggies from the garden. We decided we would do a smoked turkey for the holiday so a few weeks prior we did a test run and found that the "Big Green Egg" turkey was AMAZING! It was moist and had a wonderful smoked flavor. With the turkey leftovers, we made some turkey and wild rice soup that was a big hit. What I loved the best was the smoked flavor of the turkey and how it carried through to the soup.
The week after Thanksgiving, Jeff and I were fortunate enough to travel to Germany and Austria on vacation and visit the festive Christmas Markets or Christkindlesmarkt. Each area we visited (Vienna, Melk, Linz, Saltzburg, Passau, Regensberg and Nurnburg) had beautiful markets with gluehwein, a hot mulled wine, Viennese and German sausages, gingerbread and beautiful handmade crafts. A foodie's delight!
The following week, I fell and injured my hands and wrists, hence there was no baking (or very little baking) done at our house for Christmas. I couldn't grasp spatulas to stir ingredients in bowls. It was very odd not doing much baking through the holidays. I will say, Jeff and the kids have been so good about helping me out when it came to lifting and stirring. Luckily, nothing broken, just bruised.
Christmas was exciting but very low key. I'm just excited to start cooking again and sharing our stories with all of you!
So, I am starting with these appetizers which we made for our friend's New Year's Eve party. They really are easy to make and everyone loves them. These delicious morsels are called Crab Tartlets. It comes from a book called Tapas by Susanna Tee.
I was surprised when I went looking for the recipe on the blog and found I had made it numerous times but had never written about it. I love these Crab Tartlets for two reasons. First, with the pie crust base you can use the recipe below or if you don't have time, you can use the ready made crust. I would roll the ready made crust slightly as it tends to be thick. Second, the ingredients are very simple so you can have these made and in the oven in twenty minutes.
The flavor is perfect with a blend of crab and manchego cheese in a "quiche like" filling. These little bites are perfect finger foods for any gathering or party. As I was posting them to Instagram, friends were kidding me thinking I had bought frozen appetizers. They look that good!
The next time you need a quick and delicious appetizer for your guests, try these crab tartlets. Your guests will devour them!
Crab Tartlets from Tapas - 40 Delicious Traditional Spanish Recipes by Susanna Tee
Ingredients:
Pie Dough
- 2-1/4 cups of flour (plus some for dusting and rolling)
- 3/4 cup of butter - sliced into 6 - 8 pieces
- 2 tablespoons of ice cold water
- a pinch of salt
1. Place flour, salt and butter in a food processor. Pulse off and on until mixture looks like fine bread crumbs.
2. Add the water, one tablespoon at a time. The mixture will form into a ball. If the mixture seems dry, add more water a teaspoon at a time.
3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out thinly and cut with a 2-3/4 inch round cutter. Place rounds into tartlet pan.
Note: If using a ready made pie crust, roll out slightly and cut the rounds from above.
Crab Mixture
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of dry white wine
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup of milk or light cream
- 6 ounce can of crab meat, drained
- 1/2 cup of manchego or Parmesan cheese, grated
- 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley
- a pinch of nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt and pepper (more to adjust taste)
1. Heat a small skillet, on medium, add the tablespoon of olive oil. Once hot, add the onion and saute for about 5 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and cook for one minute.
2. Add the tablespoon of wine and cook for another 2 minutes until the wine is evaporated. Take off heat and allow to cool slightly.
3. In a medium sized bowl, add the eggs and light cream. With a whisk, beat until blended.
4. Add the cooled (or slightly warm) onions and garlic to the egg mixture along with the crab meat, manchego cheese, parsley, nutmeg, salt and pepper.
5. Drop a heaping teaspoon of the crab mixture into each crusted tartlet.
6. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the crusts are slightly golden and the crab mixture is firm to touch.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes, remove crab tartlets from pan.
8. This recipe makes about 24-30 tartlets. They can be served hot or at room temperature.
Enjoy!