Zesty Gets Toasty

Happy Friday all!!! Today’s Guest Poster is Zesty Cook!!!  Zesty rocks because he is the person who designed my site, but, he also makes AMAZING food with pictures that will make you drool.  Be sure to stop by Zesty Consulting if you are interested in a little web design and Zesty Cook if you want to find something to make for dinner tonight.

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Hi to all the Danica Daily readers, I am zesty from zestycook.com and I am here to share a post with you while Danica is on vacation. I was debating on what to post for a couple of days now and I opted for this idea because it offers a lot of variety and will hopefully peak your interest. Ever just feel like eating appetizers for dinner? I have that urge every now and again. When you check out these assorted toasts – you may have the same feeling. This is the bread baby coming out of me as I could polish off a sheet pan of these during a TV commercial. For these toasts, I listed the ingredients and method for each of the three flavors. You will also see in the pictures that there was a 4th toast which was called Fig and Balsamic. This was a pre-made spread from the grocery store so I didn’t include it in the post. It was quite tasty nonetheless.

Roasted Onions

• 1 or 2 Onions ( sliced)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1Tbsp. butter
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 Tsp Rosemary, thyme, oregano

Method

1. Slowly brown onions in butter and olive oil.
2. Season with salt and pepper as well as those herbs desired.
3. Dried and fresh herbs can be used but the more delicate herbs should be added near the end of the cooking time.
4. Total time will probably be over 30 minutes as this avoid the onions burning.
5. Little attention is required during this time.

Sauteed Mushrooms

• Mix of mushroom types sliced, Portabella and Shitake were used. Quantities depend on how much is desired.
• Butter
• Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

Method

• Brown in heated pan that has butter and oil added to melt.
• Season with salt and pepper.
• Cook until mushrooms brown and reduce in size

  

Roasted Red Pepper and Cheese

• 2 Red Bell Pepper
• 5 Oz soft goat cheese
• 1 Tsp. minced shallot
• Salt and Pepper

Method

1. Roast peppers until skin is blackened and place in paper bag to steam. This will make peeling the skin easy.
2. The peppers can be roasted on grill, over a gas burner or through broiling.
3. Dice the peppers once cooled and peeled.
4. Mix with the remaining ingredients and allow flavors to blend.

   

   

Slice baguette to about 1/2 inch thick. Grill on one side, or drizzle olive oil over parchment paper lined pan and place toasts on the paper. Add toppings and again drizzle with olive oil and bake in 350 F oven.

The bottoms will toast and crust from the olive oil, and the parchment will prevent sticking. Thanks so much for reading and by all means if you have any questions or comments drop them here and I will check back. If you want to see more "zesty" feel free to drop over to my blog and have a poke around. Have a super weekend. Take care zesty