Recipes: Pineapple Nut Cheese Spread - Shrimp with Sriracha Aioli - Wild Hibiscus Flowers with Mascarpone - Dilla-licious Ham Pinwheels - Red Bell Pepper Ancho Chili Jam over Cream Cheese - Wild Hibiscus Santa Hats

It felt like old times this weekend with my wine and food sampling. Customers getting ideas for quick tasty party foods.  Enjoying the wines.  Talking.  I was amazed how many of you were coming in to purchase ingredients for other recipes you sampled from me.  Others lost recipes and needed to know if I had copies to give them.  So much fun.

 I'm going to begin with the FAVORITE recipe of the weekend, and the one I ran out of recipes for - Pineapple Nut Cheese Spread. 
Stonewall Kitchen recipes NEVER fail.  Easy to prepare and delicious.

Pineapple Nut Cheese Spread

16 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 (8.5 oz.) can crushed pineapple, 
     drained
¾ c. cooked, crumbled bacon  

1 tsp. salt

¼ c. finely chopped bell pepper

2 Tbl. finely chopped shallot

1 c. chopped pecans, toasted

1 jar Stonewall Kitchen 
     Apple Cranberry Chutney or

     Apple Jalapeno Jelly

Stonewall Kitchen Down East 
     Sea Salt Crackers

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese.  Add pineapple, bacon, bell pepper, shallot, salt and 1 cup pecans. Mix until well blended.  Transfer to a serving dish, cover and chill one hour until firm.  When ready to serve, top with Stonewall Kitchen Apple Cranberry Chutney or Apple Jalapeno Jelly.  Serve with Down East Sea Salt crackers.

Friday I prepared this using Apple Jalapeno Jelly.  Saturday I used Apple Cranberry Chutney.  Customers enjoyed both versions.  I heard many comments of, "amazing", "awesome" and "delicious".  A definite crowd pleaser.

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I have been wanting to share Stonewall Kitchen's Sriracha Aioli with customers for a long time.  This weekend I finally had the opportunity.  I only prepared the dipping sauce and sampled it with cocktail shrimp.  

Another customer favorite.  Just purchase cocktail shrimp and mix up a little Sriracha and Tamari.  Place the shrimp on a serving dish and the Aioli dip in a bowl and you're good to go.  

Here are two delicious recipes using Sriracha Aioli.  Crispy Srirach Shrimp is Stonewall Kitchen's recipe.  Crispy Sriracha Chicken is my adaptation of their recipe for my fussy family.  

Crispy Sriracha Shrimp

½ c. cornstarch

½ lb. large raw shrimp, 
     peeled and deveined

1 egg, beaten

¼ c. Stonewall Kitchen Sriracha Aioli 

¾ c. panko breadcrumbs

2 Tbl. sesame seeds

2-3 Tbl. shredded coconut

¼ tsp. salt

Canola or peanut oil

For the dipping sauce:

1/3 c. Stonewall Kitchen Sriracha Aioli

2 teaspoons Tamari

Green onion or bell pepper, finely chopped for garnish

Pat shrimp dry with paper towel.

Whisk together egg and ¼ cup aioli.

Combine bread crumbs, sesame seeds, coconut and salt in separate bowl and mix.

Place corn starch in separate bowl.

Dip shrimp in cornstarch. Shake off excess. Dip shrimp in egg wash and then in bread crumb mixture. Place breaded shrimp on a baking sheet or plate. Refrigerate 10-15 minutes.

Combine dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with green onion and red bell.

Fill a straight sided sauté pan ½-inch deep with oil. Heat to 350^o-360^o. Fry shrimp a few at a time until golden brown and crispy on all sides. Serve immediately.

Crispy Sriracha Chicken

1 lb. chicken tenders

¾ c. Stonewall Kitchen Sriracha Aioli

¾ c. panko breadcrumbs

2 Tbl. sesame seeds

¼ tsp. salt

Canola or peanut oil

For the dipping sauce:

1/3 c. Stonewall Kitchen Sriracha Aioli

2 teaspoons Tamari

Green onion or bell pepper, finely 
     chopped for garnish

Combine bread crumbs, sesame seeds, and salt in separate bowl and mix.

Brush chicken tenders with aioli.

Dip in bread crumb mixture. Place breaded chicken on a baking sheet or plate. Refrigerate 10-15 minutes.

Combine dipping sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with green onion and red bell.

Fill a straight sided sauté pan ½-inch deep with oil. Heat to 350^o-360^o. Fry chicken a few at a time until golden brown and crispy on all sides. Serve immediately.

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Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup.  Fun. Unique.  It makes a lovely presentation and is the perfect party food bite.  Hibiscus Flowers with Mascarpone  is simple and easy to prepare.  Other Hibiscus recipes can be found in my RECIPE INDEX.  Also, I did not have recipe brochures available, but did post it - Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup - Recipe Brochure.

I want to share one additional recipe for Wild Hibiscus Flowers that's perfect for this time of year.

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Dillapeno.  Always a hit with customers.   I often sample it over cream cheese.  However, with the holiday football games I decided Dilla-licious Ham Pinwheels would be an enjoyable party bite.  If you like spicy, you'll love these.  When I'm preparing these at the store, I trim the ends off the ham rolls and place them in a dish for my taste testers to nibble on.  The scraps disappear in a flash.

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Last, but not least, a deliciously easy customer favorite - Earth & Vine Red Bell Pepper Ancho Chili Jam.

A favorite again and again and again.

  

Wild Hibiscus Flowers - Recipe Brochure

I did not have Wild Hibiscus Flower brochures for this weekends sampling.  I found one at home and am posting for you to enjoy.

Franciscan Equilibrium

According to TFM's Inspriations magazine, Franciscan's Equilibrium will be coming into the store.  I took the opportunity to go to Franciscan winery to sample it (okay and other wines too).

Franciscan Winery.

Franciscan's tasting room.  Tasting Equilibrium.

Equilbrium was VERY nice.  An estate wine from Napa Valley, its a blend of  Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscast.  Equilibrium is crisp, balanced and refreshing with peach and a hint of floral notes.  For me the PERFECT summer wine (bummer, for me, it's fall).    If this is in TFM when I come back for my tastings on October 24th and 25th I will definitely pour it.  It's a  must try.

On with my day.  Off to taste more wines for you (okay, and me too).

Two GREAT Wineries

So much wine, so little time!

Having been in Napa and Sonoma for six days now, I have to say there is no better wine tasting than a private one.  Bellying on up to the bar falls short on wine appreciation.  

The first GREAT winery is B Cellars.  This was new for us (Dave and I).  We sampled eight wines, and each was phenominal.  Balanced, easy pairing, and great on its own and paired with food.  Dave and I couldn't ask for more.  It was difficult deciding what wines to purchase and in the end bought a case, joined the wine club, PLUS bought futures on six bottles of Pinot Noir (to be released May, 2015).  This was the first wine tasting stop of the day, so you cannot say we purchased all this because we had too much to drink.

The tasting room is less than a year old.  We were in a private tasting room with a beautiful view.  Chris lead our tasting and he was very informative. Our wines were paired with a charcuterie plate.  Talk about wine.  Swirl, sip, savor.  Paired with food.  ... Dave and I didn't want to leave. 

It's Crush and at B Cellars.  We were able to watch them load the grapes into the hopper, go through destemming, with the "bad" grapes being kicked out and remaining grapes going through to the end.  We even sampled some of the grapes from the yellow bins (VERY tasty).

(I don't have my blog photographer with me (miss you Bruce) so I take the pictures unless I can rely on the kindness of strangers. Thank you Chris for the above picture.) 

As we walked through the winery to the tasting room we stopped along the way to sample the new vintage Savignon Blanc from a French cement egg. A tad cloudy, but aroma and flavor ... wonderful!  (I enjoy a wine fermented in French cement eggs.  You can even ask Lori and Joe.)  

The second great winery is Patz & Hall.  This was not new to Dave and I.  We have enjoyed their wines for a couple years now.

Patz & Hall's tasting facility is also new.  Very relaxing.  We sat in the shade with a delightful cool breeze.

Upon arrival, Dave and I were seated outside, relaxing with a glass of sparkling wine.  It's Patz & Hall's first vintage.  Nice bubbles with a hint of fruit and yeast.  

Our tasting was in the private salon.  Heather, one of the owners, lead our tasting.  What more could we ask for, but to have the owner walk us through the tasting?!


Both B Cellars and Patz & Hall are favorites.  In conversations with Chris and Heather, Dave and I realize that both wineries, aside from growing their own grapes, also source from the same vineyards.  I must say, they source from some of the best and most sought after vineyards.  It's no wonder we LOVE the wines from both wineries.

CHEERS!  Off to some of our favorite Sonoma wineries.  

Recipes: Spicy Cheesy Corn Spread - Mediterranean Olive Bruschetta - Red Bell Pepper and Ancho Chili Jam over Cream Cheese

If you know me, or if you've read previous recipe posts, you know I cannot always leave a recipe untouched.  So it goes with the following recipe.  Sable & Rosenfeld's Mediterranean Olive Bruschetta is delicous right out of the jar.  However, I had to add fresh mozzarella (for color) and pine nuts (for texture).

Mediterranean Olive Bruschetta
1 jar Sable & Rosenfeld Mediterranean Olive Bruschetta
6 oz. fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes
2 oz. toasted pine nuts
1 pkg. TFM Garlic Parmesan French Rounds

Place all ingredients in a bowl and toss until  thoroughly incorporated.  Transfer to a serving bowl and serving with TFM Garlic Parmesan French Rounds.

Another customer favorite.  I don't know how many told me they LOVE pine nuts.

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This next recipe I prepared based on a recipe I saw in one of my cooking magazines.  It called for fresh corn, but I wanted something that would be easy for my customers (opening a jar can sometimes be more than they want to do so I knew taking corn corn off the cob wasn't going to fly).  Stonewall Kitchen's Spicy Corn Relish was the first thing I thought of.  Of course it's Hatch Chile season so I had to have that as an ingredient as well.

Spicy Cheesy Corn Spread

1 jar Stonewall Kitchen Spicy Corn Relish

2 c. yellow 3 year Cheddar, shredded

1 c. Smoked Gouda, shredded

2 to 3 Hatch chilies, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped

1/3 c. diced red onion

1 bag TFM Tortilla Chips

Preheat oven to 350^o.  Place all ingredients in an oven safe serving dish.  Mix until thoroughly incorporated.  Bake for 20 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is melted.  Serve with TFM Tortilla Chips.

I'm my own worst critic.  Not 100% convinced this was a WOW recipe, my taste testerd told me to LEAVE IT ALONE.  They enjoye it.  With fingers crossed I put this on my sample table.  WHEW!  Customers enjoyed.  It was commented on as "amazing" a number of times.  I have to tell  you, the men loved it.

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With very few hours to prepare samples this weekend I turned to a deliciously easy customer favorite - Earth & Vine Red Bell Pepper and Ancho Chili Jam over Cream Cheese.  This was the star of the weekend.

Try it.  You'll be glad you did.

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I've debated on this, but have decided I want to share.  I know I've told some of my regular customers the story about a customer eating the garbage off my table (I have no clue what he was thinking).  I've also posted about customers that open product to sample if my sample tray is empty.  I even had customers that sample the food and ask afterwards what they just ate AND these customers have food allergies. Yes, what they sampled they were allergic to. I cannot forget to mention those customers who come to sample and treat it like it's their lunch or dinner buffet.  I can post all this here because these are not my regular customers and are not interested in getting recipe or product ideas.  They would not be reading this.  So, here is the latest story in "what were you thinking?!" ....

Yesterday as I was cleaning up from my tasting I stopped to talk with Lorene who was sampling at the front of the store.  One customer comes to the table and as I look down is dipping a pretzel into the body butter.  Luckily I noticed this as she was about to pop it into her mouth and I stopped her.  I recounted this to my husband, son and daughter at dinner.  They were all VERY disappointed that I stopped her because they (and yes me too!) would have liked to know her reaction if she ate it.  In the end, my son replied, "in her defense it did have butter on the label."

Recipes: Lemon Moravian Cookies, Brie, and Fig & Ginger Jam

Before I get to the only recipe from this weekend, I have to say there was a lot of cheating going on.

I fessed up early on that I would be at Southern Seasons.  But Leslie and Penelope?  MY TFM photographer, Bruce, taking their picture.  And, Pat and Janet .... Didn't think I could be replaced so easily and quickly.  

The following is a recipe from Salem Baking.  Easy, easy, easy.  Customers enjoyed.

         

Lemon Moravian Cookies and Brie with Fig & Ginger Jam
1 box Meyer Lemon Moravian Cookies
8 oz. Brie
1 jar Stonewall Kitchen Fig & Ginger Jam

Place a piece of Brie on a cookie, Top with Ginger Jam.

Recipes: Dilla-licious Ham Pinwheels - Sesame Cream Cheese

Dillapeno is my new addiction.  Since I had time to "play" at the store I grabbed a jar of Dillapeno, hoping to create a quick and delicious treat for everyone to enjoy this Labor Day weekend. (Plus I needed more Dillapeno juice for my Dirty Dillapenos.) Everyone is familiar with Ham rolled with cream cheese and pickles.  Since Dillapeno is delicious mixed into so many things, I decided on Ham rolled with cream cheese and Dillapeno.  

Dilla-licious Ham Pinwheels

8 oz. TFM cream cheese, softened

½ c. Dillapeno, drained

8 slices Virginia ham

Place cream cheese and Dillapeno in a medium bowl.   Blend until thoroughly combined.  Lay a slice of ham on a flat surface.  Spread with cream cheese mixture (to the ends).  Roll ham up tightly.  Place on a dish (or in a container), seam side down.  Repeat for remaining ham slices.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.  Remove from refrigerator.  Trim ends off ham rolls and slice each roll into 4 bite-size pieces.  Place on serving platter.  Serve. 

This was a HUGE hit with my taste testers and customers.  I have to prepare this again for Super Bowl.  

I typically use Mickleberry ham in my recipes, just because it is a customer favorite.  However, Virginia ham was on sale so I used that.  The hint of sweet from the ham and the spicy from Dillapeno was the perfect combination.

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Sesame cream cheese is always a customer favorite.  Please refer to it's previous post of November 3, 2013.

I want to thank Joey from San-J for sending  me basting brushes that I could give to my customers.  Greatly appreciated by all!