Sausage, Cheese and Polenta Cake Bites

Hey everyone!  Hoping you all had a fantastic holiday with family and friends!  I spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with my husband’s family -- lots of people and new babies to get excited about! {Kinda gave me some baby fever but it usually fades quickly...phew.}  Now we are here spending time with my family, friends and dogs.  Of course now I’m looking forward to New Years Eve -- an evening that’s usually packed with delish party food and champagne.  This little bite is perfect for your New Year’s Eve Celebration -- decadent with pimento cheese and smoked sausage.  It’s also a great way to bring the South into your party...as all of these ingredients are traditionally Southern.  And remember that these polenta bases are the perfect vehicle for many appetizers -- just like a cracker!  

Sausage, Cheese and Polenta Cake Bites

1 log premade polenta, sliced into 1/4 inch thick round {you can find this in the refrigerated produce section}

2 tbsp EVOO

1 package smoked sausage, sliced

4 heaping tbsp red pepper jelly

1 tub premade pimento cheese, or use our recipe here

finely chopped chives for garnish

1. Heat EVOO in a large frying pan over medium high heat.  Place sliced polenta in pan and fry each side until browned and crispy, about 5 minutes per side.  Remove polenta from pan to paper towel lined plates.
2. Place sliced sausage in hot pan and saute until the edges start to brown.  Remove pan from heat and add red pepper jelly, allowing it to melt over the sausage, stirring to coat.
3. Assemble bites:  spread each polenta round with pimento cheese and top with a sausage slice.  Sprinkle with chives and serve immediately.

{MiniChow} Shrimp Toast

This past week has been crazy busy getting through long work days and long nights of cleaning, packing and organizing Christmas gifts.  I am writing this post on an overnight drive from South Carolina to Pennsylvania.  I’m looking forward to spending some time with my family and my husband’s family over the holidays.  So needless to say, the blog had to come in second place to everything else that’s been going on and I’ve been neglecting you!

To make up for it, I have a tasty bite that I know everyone will enjoy:  Shrimp Toast!  I made these for an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party we had at our house a few weeks ago and they were gobbled up in no time.  I love recipes you can start ahead of time and finish up as guests arrive and these are just that... the shrimp filling can be made early in the day and refrigerated --- allowing all the flavors to come together!  Speaking of flavor, the best part about this recipe is the toasty, buttery white bread that the shrimp sits on.  Make sure that if you are making the shrimp filling early to slice up your bread early and keep it in a ziplock baggie -- slicing the bread takes more time than you think!

Shrimp Toast

1/2 lb medium raw shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 large egg white

2 tbsp chopped green onion

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp sesame oil, plus 2 tbsp

2 large egg yolks

1/4 c. water

16 slices white bread, crusts removed and bread cut into 4 squares

butter, softened

black sesame seeds, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 375. Place shrimp, egg white, green onion, cilantro, salt, cayenne and 1/2 tsp sesame oil in food processor.  Pulse 2 to 3 times until shrimp is chopped but not until shrimp is a paste :)
2. Place yolks, 2 tbsp sesame oil and water in a bowl and whisk. 
3. Bread each square of butter on the bottom and place on a cookie sheet.  Spread a little shrimp mix on each piece of bread.  
4. With a pastry brush, brush egg yolk mixture on top of shrimp mix and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Bake until shrimp is opaque and bread is golden and crispy.  Serve immediately.

Mini Fruit Pizza Cups

Fourth of July is almost here!  This week, ChowGals will be featuring recipes that are perfect for your July 4th party!

Who doesn’t love that fabulously simple “Fruit Pizza” recipe where you roll out sugar cookie dough as the crust, make a “sauce” of cream cheese and sugar and chop toppings of colorful fruit?  I’m here to say that everybody loves fruit pizza.  It’s the hit of every party I go to and it is so darn simple!

I found a way to make fruit pizza even better {and cuter!}...Mini Fruit Pizza Cups!  These bite sized beauties are the perfect size for children and adults and the frosting is lighter and fluffier than your traditional fruit pizza.  I lighted the recipe up a little bit but these are by no means “skinny”.  They are, however, great portion control, so you don’t have to feel bad about eating 2 as dessert for a couple hundred calories.  

These can be topped with any fruit you desire -- I kept them red, white and blue for the upcoming holiday!

Mini Fruit Pizza Cups

1 tube of prepared sugar cookie dough

1 tub of reduced fat or fat free Cool Whip

3/4 stick of reduced fat cream cheese, softened

1/4 c. confectioners sugar

chopped fruit of your choosing

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Press a teaspoon sized ball of cookie dough into the cups of a mini muffin pan, pressing dough up the sides.  Bake dough for 5-7 minutes or until set -- do not over bake or let the dough brown.  Set aside to cool.
2. Place cool whip, cream cheese and confectioners sugar in a large bowl and beat with a mixer until light and fluffy.  Spoon into a pastry bag and snip off the corner of the bag for piping.
3. Pipe cream cheese mixture into cookie cups and decorate with fruit.