Best. Appetizer. Ever.

I’m not ashamed of my title. These are the best appetizers ever. So I’ll keep my post like these Prosciutto bites, quick to go!

There are plenty of prosciutto, melon and mozzarella recipes and apps out there. However, the prosciutto in most of these recipes is uncooked. Personally, I prefer prosciutto cooked and crispy.

I made these yummy little bites for a party and they were a hit! They were gone in a flash and everyone agreed they were addicting.

The saltines of the cooked prosciutto pairs perfectly with the smooth creaminess of the mozzarella and the slight sweetness of the melon. They would be good with honeydew, too.

A Delectable Endeavors original

12 strips of prosciutto

12 small cubes of cantaloupe

small container of bocconcini (small mozzarella balls)

Spray a mini-muffin pan with canola oil. Place prosciutto into the cups so they make little cups. Place them into the oven for only about 10-15 minutes, or until prosciutto is crisp.  Drain cups on a paper towel until cool. Place one small ball of mozzerella and one small piece of cantaloupe in the cup. Enjoy!

Coconut Mango Cupcakes

I was getting pretty tired of winter. It seems to have lasted 5 months this year. I am loving warmer weather, green grass and evening walks because the sun is still out past 6 pm.

Needless to say, I made these when I was feeling wistful for spring. They were delicious then, and still are. The cupcake recipe doesn’t seem quite right because it is more like a sponge cake. Which is delicious with the mango filling and light, fluffy coconut buttercream.

Even though these involve a few steps they are certainly worth it! Plus, the steps can be be spread out over a couple of days, which make them a little more manageable to make.

There are three parts to this recipe. Part 1 – Mango curd filling Part 2 – Coconut Mango cupcake Part 3 – Coconut buttercream

Directions for the cupcake and mango curd are taken almost exactly from Ken Leung’s post on the Huffington Post.

Adapted from Ken Leung 

Part 1 – Mango curd/Filling

12 ounces mango puree (you can find this in the frozen food isle, with the smoothies)
1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice. freshly squeezed
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 large egg yolks
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Place mango puree, sugar, lime juice, salt and yolks in a saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisk constantly, until thickened and thermometer registers 170°F., about 8-10 minutes.

Remove saucepan from heat and whisk in butter 1 piece at a time until fully incorporated. Strain mixture through a sieve into a container; place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of mango curd. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. This can be made well ahead of time.

Part 2 – Coconut Mango cupcake

1/4 cup mango pureé, as from above
3 large egg whites, room temperature (2 large egg white, 1 large egg)
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 cups (4 ounces) cake flour
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3/4 cup (5-1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 ounces (6 tablespoons/1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened

In a 2-cup measuring cup, whisk together mango puree, egg whites, coconut milk, coconut oil and extracts. Set aside.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350℉. Grease and flour two silicon muffin pans or regular muffin pans, set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, add both flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; mix on low speed until combined. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, and mix until only pea-size pieces remain, about 2 minutes. Add half of mango mixture, increase speed to medium-high, and beat until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Reduce speed to medium-low, add remaining milk mixture, and beat until incorporated, about 30 seconds. Give batter final stir by hand.

Place about 1/4 cup of batter into each cup of prepared pans and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking. Cool cakes in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cakes from pans and cool on wire rack completely, about 30 minutes. (Cooled cakes can be stored in air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 days.)

Part 3 – Coconut Buttercream

2 to 3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/8 teaspoons fine sea salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup toasted coconut

Cream butter, salt and coconut milk in a stand mixer. Add sugar in 1/2 cup intervals, incorporating fulling before adding the next 1/2 cup. Taste as you go and keep adding powdered sugar until you reach the sweetness you desire.

To assemble, cut a small hole in the top of the cupcake. Discard extra cupcake. Fill the hole with mango curd. Do not fill to the top and leave a little room at the top. Fill a plastic bag with the buttercream. Cut a small hole in one corner. To top cupcakes, squeeze the buttercream on top of the cupcake in a swirl, then sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Do not refrigerate! These cupcakes will stay in a airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to a week (if you could keep yourself from eating them all).

Quick and Healthy – Greek Turkey Meatballs

My husband and I have been looking at new places to rent and I keep running into the same problem – Small Kitchens!  Some places have less counter space than we have now, which I thought was impossible! When will builders begin making what I want? A house that is half kitchen! I don’t need a bigger bedroom – all I do is sleep in there! Give me a big kitchen.

Sigh. In the meantime, I continue to bake away in the tiny kitchen we have now.

I have been making these meatballs a lot lately. Mainly because they are so versatile. You could easily double this recipe for a small family and use the leftovers to make, meatball sandwiches, toss with pasta, or eat with some roasted vegetables. They are packed with flavor too. Really, these should be called healthier-than-sausage meatballs because they taste a lot like pork sausage, but with much less fat. I like to eat them with tzatziki and pita.

And just wait to see how easy they are to make.

A Delectable Endeavors original

1 lb of ground turkey

1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (I like panko)

1 large egg

1/3 of an onion finely minced

red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp cracked oregano

1/4 cup of crumbled feta

Mix everything together with your hands. Form into 1 inch large balls.

You have 2 choices for baking. 1. Lightly spray a baking pan and bake them at 350 degrees for approximately 20 minutes. 2. Lightly spray a saute pan and cook them until nicely brown on all sides and cooked all the way through.

Rosemary Nuts

I cannot express how delicious these nuts are. I started making them as a snack to bring to parties. But soon, I found myself making them all the time.

That being said, these are the perfect snack. These are a great combination of sweet, spicy, and savory. The rosemary adds a lovely herbal note. Additionally, they are super easy to make! I used a combination of almonds and pecans because they are my favorite kind of nuts, but you can use whatever combination you prefer.

It seems like this recipe is everywhere on the internet, so I chose the one I used, although you will find more similar posts all over. All those food bloggers can’t be wrong!

Adapted from The New York Times

1/2 pound pecans
1/2 pound almonds
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon dried rosemary (You will need a quality brand. I use The Spice House. If using fresh, use 3 tablespoons.)
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake nuts until golden, about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. While nuts roast, mix butter, rosemary, sugar, cayenne and salt in a bowl. Add nuts and toss. Serve warm or cool.

The Best (Healthy) Chicken Salad Ever

I know that the title might seem hyperbolic, but this is seriously the tastiest chicken salad I’ve ever had. Honestly, I don’t even really like chicken salad that much. Something about the texture of gooey mayo with chunks of whole chicken just doesn’t do it for me. However, I have found a magical solution to my texture problem – don’t use mayo.

I know what you are thinking. That’s crazy! Mayonnaise is what makes chicken salad stick together! It is the classic glue of chicken salad! But here is the rub with mayo. 1. It has a strange, sticky texture that doesn’t really lend itself gracefully to nice, delicate chicken salad 2. It is not very healthy.

I’m not saying chicken salad HAS to be healthy. But if you can make it more healthy, and more delicious, why not?

I scoured the internet for recipes for versions of chicken salad that didn’t use mayonnaise. Most use greek yogurt. But I wanted a punch of flavor in mine. Not just plan old yogurt. So, what is a great option instead? Tzatziki!

This is a light, refreshing, Greek flavor inspired chicken salad. It is what I always imagined chicken salad to be. It works really well.

The Best (Healthy) Chicken Salad Ever – A Delectable Endeavor original

1 lb chicken breast cooked and cubed

1 cup tzatziki

5 scallions, thinly sliced

1 red or yellow pepper cut into small, bite-sized pieces

1/2 cucumber cut into small, bite-sized pieces

2-3 oz crumbled feta (depending on how much you like feta)

squeeze of fresh lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Start by draining the tzatziki. You need to get rid of some of the water, or it will make your chicken salad watery and unappetizing. I do this by lining a sieve or strainer with cheesecloth (or paper towel will work too). Place the strainer over an empty bowl. Pour tzatziki into lined strainer and let sit in your refrigerator for a couple of hours.

After tzatziki is strained, take strained mixture and place into a large, clean bowl. Add cubed chicken, scallions, pepper, cucumber, and feta. Fold the mixture gently until well incorporated. Finish by folding in a squeeze of fresh lemon and a little salt and pepper to taste. I like to eat it with pita chips.

Spinach Ricotta Stuffed Shells

Remember how I said I was going to make more vegetarian food?  Here’s a doozy.

When I saw this recipe, I knew I had to made it. Stuffed shells sound and seem like a fancy meal, but they are actually quite easy. Shells are quite forgiving. Even if you tear one, you can just stuff it with some delicious filling and bake away – no one will even notice! And although this is a special-looking dish, it is easy enough to make any night of the week, rounded out with a nice salad.

Adapted from Spoon Fork Bacon

approximately 25 jumbo pasta shells

2 Tbls olive oil 

1 1/2 cup marinara sauce

1/3 cup Parmesan, grated

1 to 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, washed and torn into pieces

2 cups part-skim ricotta

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 shallot, minced

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tablespoon basil, minced

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour marinara into the bottom of a 8 x 8 pan.

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add salt, pasta and stir. Cook the pasta until al dente, according to box instructions. Drain pasta and toss with olive oil while still warm.

In a large bowl, mix ricotta, egg, shallot, basil, garlic powder, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Using a spoon, scoop a small about (about a Tablespoon) into each shell, then place shell into the baking dish, on top of sauce. Top with parmesan cheese.

Lightly spray a piece of aluminum foil large enough to cover baking pan. Cover pan with sprayed side down, facing the shells. Tightly cover the pan and bake for 20 minutes. Then, remove foil and continue to bake for approximately 5 more minutes or until parmesan bubbles. Remove from oven and let set for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Bacon Jam

I know, I know. The combination of these two words just blew your mind. After you’ve picked up the pieces of your cranium, please, take a deep breath and read the rest of this post.

Bacon and jam are usually separate parts of a delicious breakfast. But I have found a way to marry them together in a deliciously amazing concoction. However, I can’t take full credit for it. The internet is full of people posting recipes for bacon jam, and they vary widely. I studied many of them before coming up with my own. This is encouraging because it means that this recipe is flexible. If you don’t have *just* the right ingredient or amount of something, it doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t have your own delicious bacon jam.  It will just be a slightly different version.

Now let me abate your worries. This is not a jammy-sweet, stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth kind of food. It is bacon in a somewhat sweet, somewhat savory mixture that loosely resembles the consistency of jam. It is really more like bacon chutney. I recently made this for a BLT appetizer where I spread some on crostini with arugula and tomato a la Spoon Fork Bacon. It was a big hit! But then, people started using it in different, creative ways, like on top of scrambled eggs. Delish! So let your little bacon-obsessed brain get creative with this surprising little dish.

Bacon Jam – A Delectable Endeavors original

1/2 lb bacon, cut into small pieces (I use Trader Joe’s Classic, sliced dry rubbed)

1 Tablespoon bacon fat

1 Tablespoon butter

1 large shallot, minced

6 ounces of your favorite dark beer, scotch ales and stouts work best (I used Tyranena’s Sheep Shagger Scotch Ale)

1 Tablespoon maple syrup

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup strongly brewed coffee (do not used flavored coffee)

1/2 tsp dried thyme

Cook bacon in a large pan on medium heat. Render the fat completely so that bacon is nice and crispy. Remove bacon from pan using a spatula, so you can save the bacon fat in the pan. Place cooked bacon on a paper towel to drain.

Drain all but 1 Tablespoon of bacon fat from the pan. Add 1 Tablespoon of butter to Tablespoon of reserved fat in the pan. Add chopped shallot and cook until translucent (this should only take a couple of minutes). Add beer, maple syrup, vinegar, and coffee to pan and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, add bacon bits and thyme and mix.

Let this mixture simmer lightly for approximately 30 minutes, or until it reaches desired jam-like consistency. Like I said, this recipe is flexible, so if it gets too thick, feel free to add a little coffee or beer. If if is too loose, let it simmer a little longer.

Once cooked, let cool before putting into your favorite jar. Keep in the refrigerator for up to a week (if you don’t eat it all before then). Canning will keep the jam for longer.