Appetizer party

Appetizer party on Flickr by beFOODled.

I attended a delicious appetizer potluck this weekend at which the buffet table and a certain cat were the life of the party. From left to right, we had spinach dip in pumpernickel bread, marinated vegetable salad, craisin and pistachio biscotti, hot cheese and chorizo dip, skewered shrimp with a sweet chilli lime drizzle, cheeses and grapes, potato salad, skewered pork tenderloin seasoned with a sea salt, chilli and fennel seed rub, and wontons and plum sauce (not shown).

I brought the shrimp, which is a recipe from Canadian House and Home shared by my friend Bee Tee. S helped me with the cooking the night before and made the hot cheese and chorizo dip, from The Joy of Cooking and which has become Squeaky and Calimocho's signature party dish.


Shrimp skewers with a sweet chilli lime drizzle on Flickr by beFOODled.

White bean dip with pita chips

White bean dip with pita chips, originally uploaded by beFOODled.

This is a fantastic little appetizer from Giada de Laurentiis' Everyday Italian cookbook. It's made from cannellini beans, which have a very mild flavour on their own, but the addition of lemon and parsley wakes them up and brightens the flavour of the dip. As Giada says, it's the Italian answer to hummus.

This recipe makes six servings, but S and I (well, mostly me since S is not a big fan of beans) polished off nearly the whole thing for dinner one night.

White Bean Dip with Pita Chips

4 pita breads
2 Tbsp plus 1/3 olive oil
dried oregano
1 15-ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
the juice of half a lemon
1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Cut each pita in half and then cut each half into eight wedges. Arrange on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle over the dried oregano and some salt and pepper. Back for eight minutes, then turn over and back until crisp and golden, about another eight minutes.

To make the dip, combine the beans, parsley, lemon juice, garlic and salt and pepper in a food processor. Pulse on and off until coarsely chopped. Run the processor again, this time adding 1/3 cup of olive oil in a steady stream until the dip is creamy. Season with more salt and pepper if needed. Transfer to a bowl and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve with the pita wedges.

You can make this a day ahead. It's deliciouso!