Popcorn with Parmesan Hors d'oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Popcorn with Parmesan Hors d’oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

This popcorn makes great use of Parmesan in a jar, which is a grana cheese (non-aged Parmesan).  Grana has the same nutritional profile as Parmesan, but does not have the same flavor.  In this recipe, the grana cheese gets helped out by butter.

You will need a popcorn popper to make this recipe.  Follow your machine’s instructions for popping corn. 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-12 cups popped popcorn

-1/2 cup melted butter

-1/2 cup Kraft® Parmesan Cheese

Steps:

1-Pour popcorn in a large bowl.

2-Pour in half the melted butter and mix.  Pour in the other half when you have mixed for 2 minutes.

3-Sprinkle in the parmesan and mix thoroughly.

Serve warm or cold before pizza.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Banana-Walnut Hors d'oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Banana-Walnut Hors d’oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

This super easy dish tastes great with a slightly bitter cocktail like an Aperol® Spritz or a Campari® Spritz.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-4 peeled bananas sliced in half.

-1 cup sour cream

-1 cup chopped walnuts

Steps:

1-Spread sour cream on banana halves.

2-Sprinkle the chopped walnuts over the sour cream.

3-Cut the bananas into 2-inch slices and place on a serving tray.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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Homemade Nachos Hors d'oeuvres Recipe by Ruth Paget

Homemade Nachos Hors d’oeuvres Recipe by Ruth Paget

Homemade nachos are fun to make.  You can control how spicy they are, because you choose the salsa you use.  This version is vegetarian.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 (16-ounce) bag unsalted tortilla chips

-1 (15.5-ounce) can of rinsed and drained black beans

-1 (15.5 ounce) can drained corn

-1 (15.5-ounce) jar salsa

-1/2 pound shredded Monterey Jack cheese

-1 (4-ounce) can drained and sliced black olives

-1 sliced Serrano pepper (optional)

-1 cup sour cream (optional)

Steps:

1-Spread tortillas out on two plates.  Spread black beans out on tortilla chips.

2-Spread corn over black beans. 

3-Spread salsa over beans, corn, and tortilla chips.

4-Sprinkled Monterey Jack cheese and olives over nachos. 

5-Microwave nachos for 2 minutes.

6-Sprinkle on Serrano peppers, if using, and serve sour cream on the side.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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Monterey Jack Hors d'oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Monterey Jack Hors d’oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Any cheese will work for this recipe, but in Monterey County California I use our local Monterey Jack for this easy recipe that tastes great with beer.

I use mustard to make it, because it is part of the brassica family of plants, which includes cabbage and broccoli.  I thought Dijon mustard was a hidden French cure for colds for this reason when I lived in Paris, France.  Paprika is made from smoked peppers, which are high in Vitamin C.  So, this simple hors d’oeuvres packs in a lot of cold fighting ingredients.

In any case, I have developed a liking for mustard now that I am older.  (By the way, Mecca Delicatessen in Marina has German mustards that range from sweet to hot that taste great with the Polish kielbasa sausage you can buy there.)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-2 cups grated Monterey Jack cheese

-1/4 cup Heinz® mustard

-8 slices of your favorite toast

-1 teaspoon Paprika from Szeged, Hungary per slice toast fourth

Steps:

1-Spread mustard on toast.

2-Place grated Monterey Jack on top of toast.

3-Place toast in a microwave and cook for 1 minute

4-Slice toast into fourths.  Place paprika on each toast slice. 

5-Place toast pieces on a tray and serve.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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Tomato and Blue Cheese Hors d'oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Tomato and Blue Cheese Hors d’oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

When I lived in Detroit (Michigan) as a teenager, I thought canned tomatoes were absolutely sunshine in aluminum during harsh winters. 

You can use any kind of bread for your toast, but it is nice to know that even white bread with tomatoes is a vegetarian protein combination.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 (14.5-ounce) can drained diced tomatoes

-1/4 cup blue cheese dressing

-1/4 cup chipped blue cheese

-8 slices toast

Steps:

1-Mix tomatoes, blue cheese dressing, and blue cheese together.

2-Spread salad dressing on toast and cut in fourths.

Serve with a somewhat sweet chardonnay musqué as a nice starter for a main dish with fish.

Bon Appétit!

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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