appetizers for dinner.

i should apologize for my long absence. my sister, julie, was diagnosed with polycystic kidneys , i had bridal showers in california, i'm having a terrible time feeling comfortable in my own home. a lot of things have been going on with work. needless to say i've still been cooking so i'm going to update all my most recent dishes.


i got this cookbook called 'plates to share' and it's full of dinner menus that are made up of appetizer sized portions - a whole bunch of them.

for dinner i made mini pissaladieres - essentially mini french pizzas. this is the night i learned my family does not eat green olives but at the time i thought everyone did.

9oz frozen puff pastry (i do use frozen even though i make a lot of bread but puff pastry takes soooo long to make, yes all those Os are necessary.)
 1 1/2 lbs yellow onions, thinly sliced - in season right now, delish.
5 tbs olive oil
3 garlic cloves
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs white wine vinegar
1 tbs dried herbes de provence
2 1/2 anchovy fillets, halved lengthwise (i actually skipped these, not because i don't like them, because i do! but because they were $10 at the store. plus raul and alisa probably would have taken them off anyway)
a small handful of green olives (or olive of your choice)
salt and pepper
grated havarti cheese (i added this. the nuttiness of the cheese mixed with the sweet onions and salty olives was perfect)

preheat oven to 400 degrees.
unroll pastry dough and use a pastry cutter to stamp out 20 circles. (i do have a pastry cutter but if you don't you can also use a drinking glass or something else round. you can even cut them out yourself with a pastry wheel aka. a pizza cutter) refrigerate until needed.
heat olive oil in a large sauce pan (actually a small pot, not a frying pan - confusing!). add onions and season will with salt and pepper. cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes. add garlic, sugar and vinegar. reduce heat and gently saute for about 20 minutes until onions have caramelized. remove pan from heat.
Place the pastry circles on baking sheets and divide the onion between them.
arrange the anchovies (if you have those) on top, sprinkle with herbs and add a few olives.
here's where you grate a little cheese on top. you can do it again after they come out of the oven if you want.
bake for 25 minutes or until crisp.

i served this with fried bananas and zucchini.

the fried bananas are not really fried but i don't know what else to call them.

chop a banana into bite sized pieces. i used a real banana, not a plantain.
heat up a little bit of olive oil in the pan.
add bananas, placing them in there, rather than having a big pile. make sure each piece is touching the bottom of the pan.
sprinkle with sugar and salt and pepper.
flip them and repeat sprinkling.
serve warm.

i did the same thing with the squash.


hope you have the best dinner.

love, keighty