Caprese on a Stick

Admit it.  Most of you read the title and the voice in your head instantly switched to Jose Jalapeño.  As it happens, there are no jalapeños in this recipe.  It’s really just a traditional caprese salad turned into a delicious, cute, and easy to make, hors d'oeuvre. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Cherry tomatoes
• Mozzarella cheese
• Fresh basil leaves
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 Tablespoon mustard
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• pinch of garlic powder
• pinch of onion powder
• 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 6 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Toothpicks

These cute little balls of fresh mozzarella are the perfect size for putting on a toothpick.  If you can’t find them, though, you can just cut any mozzarella into small cubes. 

Now, the idea for this recipe came to me from my mom, but I’m pretty sure she got it from a member of her bridge club.  (Yes, I know it's a bit of a cliché, but my mom really is in a bridge club.)  That being said, I’ve never actually seen the original version, but thank you to whichever bridge lady it was who unknowingly inspired this recipe and blog post.  Here’s my take on what sounded like a fabulous idea. 

Slice your cherry tomatoes in half.  I had to get mine from the grocery store, so I bought 2 different colors.  If you can get some from your garden or local farmer’s market, it will be even better, no matter what color they are.

Slide one half of a tomato onto a toothpick.

Next, put the toothpick through a basil leaf, at one end or the other. 

On goes a piece of cheese.

Then slide on the other end of the basil so the leaf is wrapped around the cheese, and follow it with the other half of the tomato. 

Repeat.  As you’ll see, the yellow tomatoes were a little bigger, so for those, I used some mozzarella cheese that I cut into small cubes.  Aren’t they cute? 

That would be fabulous just as it is, but I thought they’d be even better dipped in a lovely balsamic vinaigrette.  Sure, you can get one in a bottle, but it’s so simple to make, I don’t know why you would.  Everything is better homemade.  Into a small bowl put your honey, mustard, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and balsamic vinegar.  I only had regular yellow mustard on hand, but if you have Dijon or whole grain mustard, it would probably be even better.

Whisk all that together. 

Continue whisking as you slowly drizzle in the olive oil. 

As you whisk the mixture will thicken slightly, and you’ll know it’s ready.  See, I told you it was simple.  Now just pour it into a little bowl. 

And dip away! 

I guarantee you’ll close your eyes and let out a long ‘Mmmmm” as your taste buds take in the smooth tang of the balsamic, the creamy saltiness of the cheese, the juicy sweetness of the tomatoes, and the bittersweet anise flavor of the basil.  I don’t know how something so simple can possibly be so amazingly alluring to the senses, but it is. 

What’s your favorite thing to do with tomatoes?

You Put the Lime on the Coconut

Just what the doctor ordered. 

A coworker asked me to make one of his favourite cookies for him, and gave me a recipe. Which I almost managed to follow.

Not Quite Jubilee Jumbles

What you need:

• 1/2 c butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs (I only had one and it worked, but 2 would be better)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/2 c flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp allspice (use more, at least 1/2 tsp)
• 2/3 c cream (I've also seen evaporated milk or sour cream used in these)
• 2 c coconut

What you gotta do:

As usual have everything at room temp and preheat your oven to 350.

Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the egg(s) and vanilla.

Stir in the cream. Gently at first then, once it's mostly incorporated, beat it for a minute or two until it's kinda fluffy.

In another bowl, combine the flour, soda, salt, and spice. I opted for allspice since I was going for slightly carribean flavours here. I was a little concerned the allspice would overpower things so I went easy on it. Too easy. It was pretty much not there. Needs more.

Mix the dry into the wet until it's just combined and then mix in the coconut.

If it feels too soft to you, chill the dough for an hour or so.

Drop spoonfuls onto parchment paper and bake at 350 for about 13 minutes. They don't spread much so you can get 15 onto one sheet.

Once they've cooled you can glaze them. This is not at all the typical glaze for a Jubilee Jumble. Like I said, these are Not Quite Jubilee Jumbles.

Limey Glaze for Coconutty Cookies

• zest of about half a lime
• 1/4 c cream (or so)
• a bunch of icing sugar

Yes, I started zesting the lime before I remembered that I needed an ingredients pic.

Zest the lime and stir the zest into the cream.

Add icing sugar until you get the right consistency.

This was too thin. It might have worked, but I think it would have taken longer to set than I was willing to wait.

This seemed better. I had to use a spoon to spread the glaze on the cookies rather than pour it on or dip them in.

Once they were all set, I packed them up, and took them to work for the spoiled children project managers. This is their last week of cookies for a while... School starts in a couple weeks and I'm heading to TX to hang out with Recipe Guy until I have to to calculus again.

You will not believe what we're going to make...