A … Appetisers

Welcome to a new round of cookinga2z. 

Well, we’ve done ingredients and cuisines, so what do we do for our next alphabet round?  Not wanting to be too restrictive we decided that our host for each meeting will choose a theme from the relevant letter.  This time the theme was A – appetisers and Kathy was our host.

A tradition originating, perhaps in Russia or China and elevated to an art by the French,

Renaissance feast – reblogged from tiny-librarian.tumblr.com

appetisers or hors d’oeuvre in the 17th century were small dishes served  with the meal but displayed outside the main work of display. Hors d’oeuvre literally means “outside the work”.

 

 

 

 

Our Appetisers day was held at Kathy’s place.

Pauline prepared  Artichoke and Asparagus Fritters with a tasty olive relish.

Artichoke Asparagus Fritters

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sue made Cucumber and Salmon Rolls

Cucumber Salmon Rolls

 

 

 

 

Nadine made mini quiche.

Mini Quiche

 

 

 

 

 

Julie made Blackened Fish tarts with Mango Salsa.

Blackened Fish Tart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wendy prepared Smoked Salmon Cake.

Smoked Salmon Cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite our theme, traditionally the host prepares dessert.  Kathy made Apricot, Walnut and Lavender Cake and guest Sophie prepared GingerNut caramels.

Apricot Walnut Lavender Cake

GingerNut Caramels

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credits:

Pauline’s Artichoke and Asparagus Fritters with Olive Relish was from Women’s Weekly Food

Wendy’s Smoked Salmon Cake was from Olga’s Flavor Factory

Julies Blackened Fish Tarts with Mango Salsa was from taste.com

Kathy’s Apricot Walnut Lavender Cake was from Yotam Ottolenghi’s book Plenty More

See our Recipes page for more recipes.

 

D … Denmark

    Denmark

Our Danish day , held at Wendy’s was a tasty, colourful event.  We started with Kathy’s Curry Pickled Herring accompanied with  Smørrebrød (buttered Rye bread) and Agurkesalat (cucumber pickles).

Agurkesalat

 

 

 

 

 

Nadine’s Mini root vegetable cakes were served with horseradish cream – a visual and tasty treat.

Root vegetable cake

 

 

 

 

 

 

These two formed a perfect Danish combination

 

 

 

Marie’s Potato and Leek soup with Rye and Lumpfish roe provided another interesting combination of flavour and colour.

Potato Leek Soup

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pauline’s Kødrulle I Øl (Danish meat loaf in beer) was served on a bed of crispy potatoes; great for cold nights.  An alternative to the beer is to use apple cider.

Kodrulle

 

 

 

 

 

Joan’s Frikadeller (Scandinavian meatballs) was served with Rodkal (Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage).

Frikadeller

 

 

 

 

 

Jeanne served Potato, Egg and Smoked Salmon with Dill and Danish Blue cheese on a bed of sliced cooked potato.

Egg and Smoked Salmon

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wouldn’t be Danish without home-made Danish Pastries, supplied by Wendy

Pastries

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finished with Laura’s Risalamande (Danish Rice Pudding). Whoever found a whole almond in the pudding won a lucky marzipan pig, usually served at Christmas or New Year to symbolise good luck.

Risalamande

 

 

 

 

 

Credits:

 

Kathy’s Curry Pickled Herring is from SBS Food.

Nadine’s Mini Root Vegetable Cakes are from the UK site of cooking.com

Pauline’s Meatloaf in Beer is from danishnet.com

Joan’s Frikadeller is from food.com

Wendy’s Danish Pastries use a dough recipe from Paul Hollywood

Laura’s Danish Rice Pudding is from comfortablefood.com

 

See our Recipes page for more recipes.

S … Scrumptious

Our S day was held at Nadine’s.

Julie provided the starter of Gravlax Salmon topped with Cream Cheese and Caviar.

Gravlax Salmon

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nadine prepared Snails with Garlic Butter on Mushroom caps and Baguette.

Garlic Snails on Mushroom Caps

 

 

 

 

 

Joan made a Spinach, Blue Cheese and Brown Rice Tart.

Spinach and Blue Cheese Tart (Image from Yahoo7 Lifestyle)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laura stuffed shells of Conchiglioni pasta with Spinach and Ricotta.  She added a little feta to the filling and the excess went into stuffed Bell Peppers, drizzled with olive oil and baked.

Stuffed Shells with Spinach and Ricotta

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kathy produced a sweet Greek dessert, Galaktoboureko, based on a Semolina custard in Filo.

Galaktoboureko

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wendy, with the help of hubby Dennis, produced and decorated individual Strawberry Shortcakes accompanied by her fresh Strawberry Ice-Cream.

Strawberry Shortcake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Credits:

Joan’s Spinach, Blue Cheese and Brown Rice Tart is from Yahoo7 Lifestyle

Wendy’s Strawberry Shortcakes were adapted from a recipe by Chef Dennis.  Wendy used Self-raising flour rather than the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt.  She used 170g of unsalted butter in the shortcake and added macerated strawberries to the whipped cream.  Her Strawberry Icecream was from Cuisinart

See our Recipes page for more recipes.

Breakfast anyone?