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Saturday, March 28, 2009

Cocktails and Appetizers

Last night one of our friends had a little after work get-together.  Everyone invited brought an appetizer to share and we had a delightful time catching up, noshing on a few yummies, and drinking margaritas + wine.  I absolutely love these kind of gatherings, not just for the great conversation and reuniting with a few people that we haven’t seen since the holidays, but because wine and appetizers might possibly be my favorite meal.

My contribution:   Vietnamese spring rolls with peanut sauce.  I have made variations of these in the past and posted here.

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My friend Renee brought a great bruschetta recipe that utilized toasted ciabatta, olive oil, apricot preserves, fontina cheese, roasted chicken, and prosciutto.  Sweet, salty, savory…what could be better?

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Now, I didn’t catch a snapshot of everything.  There were to many hungry hands going after all the goodies.  But there was a delicious crab dip, the obligatory cheese and crackers, and light shrimp dip and veggies, and a yummy jalepeno pepper jelly and blue cheese pizza.  Yes, sounds odd, but oh.so. good!  And, isn’t this a cute way to serve caprese salad of fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil?  The center is a huge grapefruit.

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Kim is so creative.  She also made this wonderful tuna tartare, which absolutely melts in your mouth…

She kindly shared the recipe:

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TUNA TARTARE

3/4 pound very fresh ahi tuna steak

4 Tbsp. olive oil

Grated zest of 1 lime

3 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

1/2 tsp. wasabi powde

1 1/2 tsp. soy sauce

6 dashes Tabasco sauce

1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup minced scallions, white and green parts

2 tsp. minced fresh jalapeno pepper

1 ripe avacado

Cut the tuna into 1/4 inch dice and place it in a medium bowl.  In a small bowl combine the olive oil, lime zest, lime juice, wasabi, soy sauce, Tabasco, salt, and pepper.  Pour over the tuna, add the scallions and jalapeno, and mix well.  Cut the avocado into 1/4 inch dice.  Carefully, mix the avocado into tuna mixture.

 

Needless to say, a yummy night was had by all.  A special thanks to Dana, and her boyfriend, Dana for hosting the festivities!

4 comments:

Kelsey said...

What an awesome app spread!! It's nice to have foodie friends!

noble pig said...

Wow it all looks delicious!

Cookie said...

OMG your spring rolls look SO cute and yummy! I can never get those to roll right!

eatingRD said...

Loved all the appetizers! fontina cheese has to be one of my favorites, so buttery and nutty. I also like to make little pieces of ciabatta topped with fig preserves, carmelized onion and goat cheese. It all looks so good!