Pineapple and Shrimp Verrines

These verrines are easy to make and, aside from the fact you have to do it in two steps (the marinade taking the longest time), quite fast. They are refreshing and will be ideal either for a light starter or an appetizer.

For 4 verrines, you will need the following ingredients:

• About 20 shrimp
• One tablespoon of curry powder
• A good-size handful of coriander leaves
• A can of 550 grams of cut or sliced pineapple
• The pineapple juice of the same 550 grams of cut or sliced pineapple

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Marinating time: 4 to 8 hours


Start by your marinade, as it will have to rest for a few hours.

Cut the head of your shrimp and peel them.

Roughly chop the coriander.

In a container, pour the pineapple juice, then add the curry powder. Add the chopped coriander, and mix a bit.

Add your peeled shrimp.

Cover with a plastic film, and place in the fridge for 4 to 8 hours to let the marinade infuse the shrimp.

Place your pineapple pieces in a blender and mash them into a puree. It is your choice whether or not to leave pieces, my preference being having a few half-mashed pieces here and there.

Cover with a plastic film, and place in the fridge.

Hours after the marinade has been in the fridge, and just before your dinner starts, cut the marinated shrimp into pieces, but don't forget to keep 4 whole shrimp for the decoration.

It is now time to assemble your verrines.

To do so, it will take you only four simple steps.

The first step is to pour the mashed/pineapple purée as the bottom layer.

The second step is to add the marinated cut shrimp pieces as the second layer.

The third step is to place a shrimp on the side of your verrine. You can cut a little notch into your shrimp to help it hold on to the edge of the verrine.

The four step is to add few pieces of chopped coriander on top of the marinated cut shrimp pieces.

The final step is to serve and enjoy!

*Tip: Don't throw away your leftover pineapple pieces, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use them.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Charline Leblond

Sun-dried Tomato and Chorizo Cookies

I made empenadas one day (recipe coming soon) and thought to myself that the dough would work well for some savoury appetizer cookies. These can be a refreshing change from chips and peanuts when you have some people over for drinks, and it is rare enough that most people will be impressed by the effort. Go on, admit it. When you read "Sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo COOKIES" you went "Whaaa?!"

For the first attempt, I decided to go with sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo, because that is what I had in the fridge. Naturally, you can experiment with variations, and I am definitely going to be doing these more often with other ingredients. Mmmm ... bacon anyone?

This recipe will yield about 25-30 cookies, depending on how big you make them.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 125 grams butter
• 1/2 cup of grated parmesan
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons water
• 6-7 sun-dried tomatoes*
• About 1 cup of chopped dry chorizo*

Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

The amount of sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo is really variable, depending how strong you want your cookie. For my chorizo, I was using cured dried chorizo, so it did not have to be cooked. If  you need to cook your chorizo first, make sure you let the chorizo sit on some paper towels to absorb all that oil, you want you chorizo to be as dry as possible. 

Start by cutting up your chorizo into small pieces. Chorizo is notoriously difficult to get into small pieces due to its oils, at least get them into chocolate-chip-sized bits. Set them aside for later.

Next, chop up your sun-dried tomatoes. Again, there is so much oil (unless you have fresh sun-dried tomatoes) that you really want to drain them first. Again, set them aside while we start the dough.

The dough is really simple. Unlike pastry dough and pizza dough, we do not need to work this too much (yay!). If you are like me and working with dough scares you, rest assured that this is the easiest dough to make.

In a large bowl, mix your flour, salt and parmesan.

Add your butter, cut into small cubes, the egg, and the 3 tablespoons of water to the flour/salt/parmesan mixture.

Work the dough with your hands, mixing it all up until it gets ... well, dough-y.

Now add the sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo. I didn't add them earlier because I wanted the butter, flour, egg and water to mix well by themselves first. This way, if anything was a bit off, I could see it and correct the problem without the oils of the sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo confusing me.

Its time to get your hands dirty. Put away the spatula and with both your hands, work the sun-dried tomatoes and chorizo into the dough. Really get them in there, fold the dough over the filling and press it in, then fold it over again and continue. There will be pieces that fall out of the ball, just pick them up and work them back in. Be merciless. They are your prisoners, don't let anyone escape.

The oils will also seep into the dough and spread the flavours around, and you should end up with a ball of dough that looks like this:

Place it in a bowl, cover it with film and let it rest in the fridge for 30 mins. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 210 degrees Celsius (410 Fahrenheit).

After 30 mins are up, take your dough out of the fridge and roll it into small balls, then flatten and place on a cookie sheet.

After I was done with this recipe, I felt I should have made my cookies even thinner, otherwise they feel quite heavy. This is how thick I made mine ... so go thinner than this:

Finally, bake them in the oven for about 15 mins, or until they are nicely browned.

Et, voila! Serve to impress ...

*Tip: Don't throw away your unused sun-dried tomatoes or chorizo, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use them.

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Shyamal Addanki

Goat Cheese & Apple ( with Smoked Duck Fillet ) Verrines

Whether you are having a dinner party, a romantic dinner, or you want to treat yourself, here's an idea for a refreshing appetizer or starter.

I would suggest serving this goat cheese and apple with smoked duck fillet verrine as a small portion (the verrine containers I used are shot glasses) because, even though this is delicious, you don't want to be full and spoil your appetite for the meal to come.

The ingredients are for 4 verrines, so feel free to adjust the quantities if you cooking for more or less people.

You will need:

• One good-sized apple
• 3 tablespoons of crème fraîche*
• Some pepper
• Some salt
• A small round goat cheese called "Crottin de Chavignol"* (if you can find it, or any other chalky goat cheese will do the trick)
• As many smoked duck fillets as you are creating verrines* (as an alternative for smoked duck fillets, you can use crispy bacon or proscuitto ham)

For the goat cheese, try to find something that is dry and chalky (not a spread):

The smoked duck fillets (or your meat of choice) should be just fine pieces:

Preparation time: 20 minutes


Start by peeling your apple.

Then cut your apple into small cubes ...

... and place them in a plate.

Cover your apple pieces with some parchment paper and place the plate in the microwave. Heat it for 1 to 2 minutes at maximum heat.

Your apple pieces should get out softer and ready to be mashed.

Mash your apple pieces ...

... until they become a puree, but leave some chunks in there.

In a saucepan, heat up the crème fraîche with some salt and pepper.

Once the crème fraîche is warm, let it cool down while your are mashing your goat cheese (no worries if you leave some small chunks of goat cheese).

Then pour the crème fraîche on the mashed goat cheese and mix them together with a fork ...

... until the mixture becomes a puree-like.

You are now ready to assemble your verrines.

Remember verrines are all about layers: so we are going to start by a layer of goat cheese and crème fraîche mixture, then make a layer of apple puree, and finally place our smoked duck fillet at the top.
To create your layers, you can use a teaspoon or a pastry bag.

Add each layer of the verrine to all the verrines before moving on to the next layer, so you can make sure that all your verrines are equally made.

Place the verrines in the fridge for at least ten minutes.

Enjoy!

Note: You can even make these verrines vegetarian by not adding the smoked duck fillet or any other meat.

*Tips: Don't throw away your smoked duck fillet, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your smoked duck fillet.

Don't throw away your crème fraîche either, refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your crème fraîche.
Don't throw away your leftovers of Crottin de Chavignol (goat cheese), refer to our "Let's not waste anything!" page, and check out few ideas on how to use your Crottin de Chavignol (goat cheese).

As with all the other recipes we put on this site, this is meant to be easy to follow. We are hobby chefs who love to cook, and we are always up for learning new techniques. If you know of anything in this recipe which can be done a different way, whether for increased ease of preparation or better taste, please add a comment below!

Whipped up by Charline Leblond