Smoked salmon

Hot smoked salmon is one of my favorite treats. It’s easy to put together, tastes great on its own, and can be an important component in several other dishes as well. Oh, and did I mention, it keeps very well too!

Smoked salmon pizza with capers, red onion, and cream cheese

Start with the pizza crust recipe. For the smoked salmon pizza as an appetizer, I like to make the pizza a little smaller and thinner; therefore, one pizza crust recipe will make about 2 smaller pizzas. Incorporating some dill into the pizza crust goes particularly well with this one.

Smoked salmon dip

So easy to throw together and always a crowd pleaser. Goes great on a charcuterie platter with an assortment of sausages, olives, crackers, etc.. It’s easy to smoke your own salmon or simply buy some good quality stuff at the store.

Mom’s rosy pickled eggs

I love pickled and briny stuff. This recipe may be the reason why. My mom has been making these for years and her mother had been making them for years prior to that. I truly enjoy them. The pickling liquid imparts a great flavor and the beets make for some curious coloring. Growing up, it was…

Lamb lollipops

My friend Holly makes the most delectable little lamb chops, or “lollipops”as we like to refer to them.  There’s something about this dish which brings memories of warm summer evenings with friends. A little time in the marinade  and a short stint on the grill and you have heaven on a stick. When choosing your rack of…

Gyozas

While I realize that I have placed this in the ‘appetizer’ section, we have been known to make an entire meal of these Japanese style potstickers. In fact, we are known to plan entire parties and get-togethers around this simple food. Over time, we have established quite an efficient system for cranking out hundreds of…

Chipotle hummus

We used to make this one in the restaurant a lot. Easy, spicy, good! Serve with pita chips or other chips.