SALMON PHYLLO CUP APPETIZERS

As part of my Christmas brunch buffet this year, I made some cute and tasty salmon appetizers.  I put together the salmon mousse filling myself and thought I'd share it with you!

I found the pre-made phyllo shells in my local Safeway.  This particular brand came in a box of 15 which was the perfect size.  Some of the brands show FILLO on the front of their packaging.

As for the ingredients, here's what you'll need and how I put them together........

INGREDIENTS:

4 oz. package sliced smoked salmon

2-3 Tbsp. capers (divided)

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 Tbsp. sour cream

1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning

¼ tsp. dill seasoning

salt/pepper to taste

splash of lemon juice

fresh dill

DIRECTIONS:

Bake cups in the oven as directed.

Separate the salmon slices and using a fork, break apart approximately 3/4 of the slices with a fork.  This portion will be added to the other ingredients to make the filling.  The other remaining slices will be used as the pieces which stand up inside the cup, so slice those into narrow pieces. 

In a small bowl blend together the cream cheese and sour cream using a fork.  Add the Old Bay seasoning, salt/pepper, 1-2 Tbsp. of capers, and the lemon juice.  Continue mixing with the fork breaking up the capers in the process. 

To assemble, add a slice of the salmon half the circumference of the perimeter of the shell.  Using a pastry bag with a large circular tip (remember there are pieces of salmon and capers that need to pass through the opening), fill the cups to the rim with the mixture.  

Once the cups are filled. Garnish with capers (3-5) and fresh dill.  Refrigerate approximately 30 minutes prior to serving.

NOTE:  I ended up with a small amount of leftover filling.  Enough to top 5-6 triscuit crackers for lunch the next day!    

Enjoy!

BAGEL BREAKFAST CASSEROLE

Oh man!!!!  This has become my new favorite breakfast casserole recipe.  It is loaded with flavor, is light and fluffy and can be made the night before....oh, and it bakes up so pretty.  What more can you ask for?

I just made this for our Christmas brunch (yes, we celebrated on the 22nd) and it was devoured.  When the recipe indicated it serves 8-10, it was right on.  I served 8 adults, and we literally had 2 portions left.

Think of a bagel breakfast sandwich in a casserole, and that's exactly what you get with this yummy dish.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups whole milk

3/4 cup half and half

8 large eggs

kosher salt and black pepper

1 tsp. dry mustard

1 1/3 cups crumbled cooked breakfast sausage

1 1/3 cups packed baby spinach

2 large plain bagels, split and cut into 1 inch pieces

1 1/3 cups shredded provolone

8 oz. cream cheese, cut into ½ inch cubes

*2 Tbsp. "everything" bagel seasoning

DIRECTIONS:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with either butter or cooking spray.

Whisk together the milk, half and half, eggs, dry mustard. 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in a bowl.  Fold in the sausage, spinach, bagels and 3/4 cup of the provolone.   Pour into the prepared baking dish.  Dot the top with the cream cheese and sprinkle all over with the bagel seasoning and remaining provolone.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.  Uncover and bake until the casserole is puffed, golden brown at the edges and set in the center, about 45 minutes more.  Let cool 15 minutes before serving.  

NOTE:  You can assemble the entire dish the night before, refrigerate and bake the following morning.  Let the chilled casserole sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes before baking.

ENJOY!

*Everything bagel seasoning can be purchased online, or you can make it yourself.  Turns out I had all but one of the spices I needed, so I opted to purchase that one and make my own. (2 Tbsp. poppy seeds, 1 Tbsp. white sesame seeds, 1 Tbsp. black sesame seeds, 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. dried minced garlic, 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. dried minced onion, 2 tsp. flaked sea salt or coarse salt)

recipe adapted from:  www.foodnetwork.com

WINE GLASS NAME TAGS

This was my first attempt at these, so needless to say I learned a lot for the next time......and I would like there to be a next time so I can improve on these.

Anyway, I thought they'd be fun for the holidays.  After all, how many times have you set down your drink and then nobody can remember whose is whose?

I made these with my Silhouette machine.  For those of you who know Silhouette or Cricket, you know lettering can take some time.  Especially when you have letters with a "counter".  A counter is is the center of a letter which is totally enclosed like an "e", "g", "a", etc.  Before you can cut those you first have to work on each individual letter to create a cut so the entire counter isn't removed.  Complicated?, I wouldn't call it complicated, but definitely tedious.   And then, when you're a perfectionist like I am, it can take a bit of time (to be hones, I'm still not completely satisfied with these....but, they'll work)!

I knew I liked my name!  No counters; so mine was one of the easy ones!  Of the family names I needed to create, five of them had counters....whew!!!
I already have plans for next years and they involve snowflakes!!