Category Archives: Fingerfood

Fingerfood, From the pantry

Roasted Garlic Hummus

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Since tasting the most delicious hummus in a restaurant, I have been trying to recreate it. It had a delightful garlicky taste, and it wasn’t until I roasted the garlic (and used 2 bulbs) that I got the flavour I was after.

Ingredients

2 bulbs of garlic
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 can of chickpeas
2 – 3 tablespoons of tahini
1 tablespoon of lime juice (or lemon juice)
1/8 teaspoon of ground chilli or cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin
Salt

To garnish

Olive oil
A sprinkle of smoked paprika
Roasted pine nuts

dip

Method

To roast the garlic

Cut the tops off the garlic bulbs, drizzle with a little olive oil, cover loosely in alfoil (tin foil) and roast for 35-45 minutes on medium heat. The garlic is ready when the cloves are soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Gently squeeze the cloves from the bulb (I weighed my prepared cloves to know how much garlic I put in (47g).

To prepare the chickpeas

Place the chickpeas into a colander and rinse them under cold water. To peel or not to peel? I peeled, which was easy as I gently squeezed each chickpea from its skin. But you don’t have to. Peeled chickpeas do give a slightly smoother finish, though. But the smoothness will ultimately come down to the food processor you are using.

Blend it all up!

Add the chickpeas, garlic, olive oil, tahini, lime juice, chilli, cumin, and salt into a food processor and mix well until creamy and smooth.

To serve

Scoop it into a serving dish and drizzle with a little olive oil, and sprinkle with smoked paprika and roasted pine nuts.

Can I freeze it?

I have frozen mine in small containers and defrosted them overnight in the fridge. I find it is still delicious and creamy. Just stir it and then garnish as above to serve.

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dip
eggs, Fingerfood

Devilled Quail Eggs

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I first made these delicious little devilled eggs as finger food at one of our parties at least 12 years ago. We always have quail eggs on hand because we loved having them in our laska soups, and coming up with other ways to use the eggs was not difficult.

I have also made Scotched Quail Eggs, which are supper delicious and served quail eggs with five spice!

  • scotch quail eggs recipe five spice finger food
  • scotch eggs united kingdom food recipe travel food

Devilled Quail Eggs are a tasty starter at a dinner party and great picnic or finger food. And because they are served cold, they can be made ahead of time.

Ingredients

Tin of quail eggs
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Method

Cut the quail eggs in half and remove the yolks, placing them in a bowl. Mash the yolks with the cumin, mayonnaise, dijon mustard, lime juice, cayenne pepper, and mix well.

Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

When very smooth, put the egg mixture into a piping bag or similar and pipe the yolk mixture back into egg white halves.

Garnish with the egg halves with finely caviar or finely chopped coriander, tomato, cucumber and cracked black pepper.

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eggs, Fingerfood, From the pantry

Quail Eggs with Five Spice

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What to do with the leftover quail eggs? Or do you need a quick, easy finger food for a party? This is simple and surprisingly tasty. Only three ingredients! In Australia, we can purchase tinned quail eggs from the Asian grocer as well as from some common supermarkets.

This recipe is something I used many times while entertaining friends and family on our boat or at backyard BBQs and dinner parties, and it has always been a hit. When I last made this recipe in Thailand I had to buy quail eggs and boil them myself. I have discovered that pealing quail eggs in absolutely devastating!

quail eggs five spice salt finger food

Ingredients

Quail eggs
five-spice powder
salt

Method

Mix a tablespoon of salt with about a teaspoon of five-spice. Taste and adjust until you have a good balance of salt and spice.

Then simply plate up the eggs, dip a few in the spice and serve along with the salt mix in a small bowl.

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recipe quail eggs five spice finger food

Fingerfood, Pork, Spain

Chorizo and wine

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Chorizo and wine is another of our favourite tapas. The word tapas comes from tapa, meaning to cover. At first, this is what tapas were – a slice of ham or bread placed on a glass of sherry in a tavern to keep flies out of the glass. These salty complimentary morsels also promoted thirst and hopefully more drink sales. Tapas have evolved since then are now often the main reason for visiting a tavern.

Seriously, I can’t think of anything better than nibbling on this delicious meaty snack as I enjoy a glass of wine… as the sun sets… in a gorgeous location… with friends.

Ingredients

2 chorizo sausages, sliced on the diagonal
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon chicken stock powder
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 bay leaf
2 tablespoons of parsley, chopped

Method

Heat a non-stick pan and cook the chorizo slices until browning slightly (you do not need to add oil to the pan). Remove the chorizo from the pan (keep the fat from the chorizo).

Heat the pan with chorizo fat, add the garlic to the pan and cook gently to soften, but do not burn.

Add paprika and cook for 30 seconds. Add the wine and the bay leaf and simmer until liquid has reduced a little. Add the chicken stock powder and the sherry and simmer until reduced and thickening.

Return the chorizo to the pan, add the parsley and toss to coat well.

Serve hot.

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chicken, Fingerfood

Crumbed Chicken Balls with cream cheese & bacon

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These crumb chicken meatballs stuffed with cream cheese and bacon are ‘ball number two’ that has evolved from the idea of a ‘crumbed-ball-off’. Number one of the crumbed balls was Turkey Balls with Camembert and Cranberry Red Wine Sauce.

To recap where this idea came from – after Christmas this year, while sailing down Australia’s east coast, we decided to have a ‘crumbed-ball-off’. My son, Jedd, kick-started the idea by saying he would make a turkey and camembert crumbed meatball. Dwayne then piped up that he was going to make a crumbed meatball also.

It soon became known as the “crumbed-ball-off”. All three of us were going to make a crumbed meatball and pick the best one. The winner was not going to have to cook for a week. The “crumbed-ball-off” never happened as Jedd flew back to Adelaide sooner than expected. This crumbed chicken ball was my creation which I came up with by simply using ingredients already in my fridge that I needed to use up. It is super tasty, though.

four chicken meatballs served with salad

Ingredients

For filling
1 rasher of bacon, rind removed and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon of finely chopped sun-dried tomato
1 Tablespoon of finely chopped fresh basil
150ml cream cheese

For chicken meatball
1kg chicken mince
100ml fine bread crumbs
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

For coating the chicken ball
1 Cup of fine bread crumbs

Method

To make the cream cheese filling. Mix all ingredients well. Put the mixture into a container or wrap it in foil. Refrigerate until firm (about 1 hour).

Mix the ingredient for the meatballs well using your hands.

Place a large tablespoon of chicken on your palm and flatten. Using a melon scoop or a teaspoon, scoop about 1 tsp of cream cheese mix and place in the middle of the flattened chicken.

Shape chicken around the cheese and roll into a ball. Coat the chicken ball with crumbs and place it on a plate. Repeat with the remaining chicken mince.

Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour (or longer).

Cook the chicken balls

Heat the oil in a deep fryer or a saucepan, and heat oil to 190c. When the oil is at the correct temperature, add the balls in batches. Deep fry for 3-4 minutes until golden brown. Remove the chicken balls from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

Serve with salad or vegetables. I served mine with a simple salad of capsicum, cucumber, tomato, olives and sun-dried tomato.

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Fingerfood, Pork, Spain

Albondigas – Spanish Meatballs

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Albondigas are Spanish meatballs that are often served as tapas. Tapas are small dishes of savoury food, more often than not, served with drinks. In 2019 we visited Spain. One of the things I was looking forward to the most was tapas. I couldn’t wait to try some… and I wasn’t disappointed!

Albondigas can be made with beef, veal or pork (or a mix with all three meats). Serve them as tapas, entree or as a main meal with rice or pasta.

Ingredients

200g mince pork

100g chorizo, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 stp sweet paprika

1 sprig of thyme

1/4 cup fine bread crumbs

1 egg

Pinch of salt

Black pepper

For the sauce

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 bay leave

1/2 cup dry sherry

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 can of tomatoes, crushed or diced

Fresh parsley

Salt & pepper to taste

Method

Fry the onion, garlic and chorizo for a few minutes. Place the chorizo, onion and garlic in a bowl, add the pork mince, paprika, thyme, bread crumbs, and egg, and mix well using your hands. Take spoonfuls and roll into small, smooth meatballs, about 2cm diameter (use wet hands).

Heat oil in a non-stick pan and fry the balls in batches until golden brown. Remove from pan.

For the sauce

Use the same pan that you cooked the meatballs in. Remove excess oil from the pan but leave a little in the pan to use for the sauce.

Heat the pan and sauté the onion and garlic for a minute, add the paprika and cook for a minute. Add chicken stock, bay leaf and tomatoes. Bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the meatball and parsley. Gently heat until the meatballs are hot and cooked through.

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Spanish Meatballs
Fingerfood, Spain, vegetarian

Spicy Herb Olives

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Spain is renown for its tapas. Tapas meaning ‘small Spanish savoury dish’, is typically served with drinks at a bar. When we visited Spain in 2019 we gorged on tapas and these spicy olives are just one of our favourites, and just one of the tapas recipes I will share with you.

I have hosted dinner parties where I have served tapas. These dinner parties were a hit. A taste of Spain was the theme and many dishes were served at the same time, allowing people to try lots of different tastes and textures. Tapas such as spicy olives, potato tortilla, meatballs, chorizo in wine, stuffed peppers, grilled eggplant, chickpeas and spinach create good variety and a balanced meal.

This recipe is simple, and easily dresses up ordinary olives making them a taste sensation!

Ingredients

1 – 2 tablespoons Olive oil

2 garlic cloves

2 teaspoon of chopped thyme

1 teaspoon of chopped rosemary

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 – 2 chilli, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 cup of mixed olives

Method

Heat oil in a small pan, then add the remaining ingredients and heat gently. Serve warm.

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Fingerfood, From the pantry, sweets

Eggless pikelets

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What are pikelets? Pikelets are essentially mini pancakes made with flour, egg, milk and sugar. They are popular in the country I was born – New Zealand. I was recently in a position where I wanted to make pikelets but didn’t have eggs. We were sailing through Indonesia a few weeks ago, trying to get to Australia during this Coronavirus pandemic. As the fear of the virus spread through Indonesia, we found we were unable to go ashore to get groceries. In fact, in the end, we were unable to anchor anywhere, and things got a little scary. Read about our sailing nightmare here.

As our food supplies began to run low, we had to make do with what we had on board. Making pikelets as a filling treat for breakfast or lunch became a regular staple. Then came the day I had no eggs! The following recipe is what I came up with to overcome that particular obstacle. Seriously, I did not expect these pikelets to be all that nice and was pleasantly surprised. Dwayne loves them and says they are as good as the pikelets made with eggs. We definitely will continue to make these!

Pikelets

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon of cold-pressed coconut oil
Approximately 330ml milk

#eggless #pancakes #blini

Method

Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the oil and the milk and whisk well.

Pour the pikelet mix into pouring jug for ease (or use a large spoon to pour batter into the pan).

Heat a large pan to medium-high. When the pan is hot enough, spray with cooking oil spray and slowly pour a small amount of batter on the pan to form round pikelets (about 2.5 inches across). Repeat adding pikelet batter to the pan. Don’t let the pikelets touch each other.

Cook until the little bubbles on top of the pikelets start to pop.

Carefully flip the pikelets and cook for another minute. Remove the pikelets and then repeat until you have used all the batter.

Serve with jam and cream, honey, or sugar and lemon. For a savoury treat serve the pikelets with sour cream, smoked salmon and dill.

Also, use this mix –

* to make Blini (used for appetisers) make the pikelet rounds with a 1-inch diameter and top with sour cream, smoked salmon, dill or caviar.
* to make pancakes double the recipe and cook large pancakes.

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Eggless Pikelets PIN
Fingerfood, From the galley, Pork

Stuffed Chillies

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I got this recipe from my mother-in-law years ago. I’m not sure where she got it from, but these stuffed chillies became a staple on our picnic days, or as finger food with guests on our boat. Serve them hot as a light meal with salad, or serve at room temperature as finger food. Easy to prepare ahead of time; these stuffed chillies will be a hit!

Finger-food tamarind pork coriander lime leaf

Ingredients

12 long chillies
500g pork or chicken mince
2 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded & chopped
3 tablespoons finely chopped coriander
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sambal oelek
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon ginger, finely minced
oil for shallow frying
2 tablespoons chopped coriander

Sauce

2 tablespoons tamarind paste
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
2 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon sugar

Method

Split each chilli lengthways to create a pocket, leaving ends intact. Remove and discard the seeds and pith.

Combine the first 8 ingredients in a bowl. Using a teaspoon, fill each chilli with the mince mixture until slightly bulging — smooth filling with the back of a wet spoon.

Heat some oil in a large frying pan on medium. Add chillies, mince side down, and cook for 5 minutes until lightly brown, turn over and cook chilli side down until cooked all the way through.

To make the sauce, place all ingredients into a small saucepan. Stir on high heat until boiling. Reduce to low heat and simmer for a minute or two until it thickens. Arrange chillies on a plate and pour the sauce over them. Sprinkle with chopped coriander.

Pork coriander lime leaf, tamarind

Notes: 

*Make mini meatballs with any leftover mince mix.
*Concentrated tamarind sauce can be used instead of tamarind paste.
*Hot chilli sauce can replace the Sambal Oelek
*Use a mix of red and green chillies for an appealing look.

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Pork coriander lime leaf, tamarind fingerfood

Fingerfood Tamarind pork lime leaf coriander

Fingerfood, From the galley, Pork, Thailand

Larb Moo Tod

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Larb Moo Tod are Thai-style fried pork balls. Made with similar flavours like the popular larb moo which is a Thai (or initially a Laos) salad made with pork mince and herbs, they are delicious. We first tried these pork balls at “The Deck” which is the restaurant/bar at Phuket Yacht Haven Marina. We both love these tasty morsels, so I set to work decoding the Larb Moo Tod ingredients. Below is the recipe I created, and Dwayne and I both think it tastes as good as the original.

Larb Moo Tod - Fried Pork Balls Thai style. Displayed in a white bowl. They are being served on a boat and the background has a red and black headsail furler rope in it.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp raw glutinous or sticky rice
4 lemongrass stems (soft white part only)
1 clove of garlic
1 small red onion, finely diced
8 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced and diced
1 red chilli, finely diced
2 spring onions, finely sliced
500g pork
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp Lime
1 tsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp flour
Oil for deep-frying

Larb Moo Tod - Fried Pork Balls Thai style. Displayed in a white bowl. They are being served on a boat and the background has the headsail furler rope in it.

Method

Firstly you need to roast and grind the rice (Khao Khua). Heat a wok to medium heat and add the rice. Cook while frequently stirring until the grains are toasted and golden; this will take about 5 minutes and might smoke a little. Let the rice cool down for a few minutes before grinding it, with a mortar and pestle, into a coarse powder (or you can use a spice grinder).

Using a mortar and pestle (or a food processor) mince up lemongrass and garlic and transfer it to a large mixing bowl.

Add to mixing bowl all remaining ingredients (apart from the oil) and mix well to combine.

With wet hands, shape the mixture into small balls (don’t be fussy any shape will do!). Heat enough oil in a wok to deep-fry the balls in batches.

Fry the lab moo balls for approximately 5 – 7 minutes, until crispy, browned and cooked through.

Remove with a slotted spoon or tongs and place on paper towels to drain.

Serve with or Nam Jim or sweet chilli sauce.

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Larb Moo Tod - Thai style fried pork balls - easy to make, savoury snack. Delicious, bursting with flavour and full of texture. #recipe #thai #pork #chilli