Appetizers

Ingredients
Spinach Mixture:
1 ½ cups chopped Onion
4 cloves Garlic
8 cups Spinach
1 ½ Tbsp. chopped Dill
1/3 cup chopped Parsley
1 ½ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
½ scant tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
½ scant tsp. Nutmeg
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Juice ½ Lemon
4 oz. Feta
Sauce:
5.3 oz. Plain Greek Yogurt
2 Tbsp. minced Green Onion
2 tsp. chopped Dill
1 Tbsp. chopped Parsley
¼ tsp. Pepper
¼ tsp. Onion Powder
¼ tsp. Sugar
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Garlic Powder
Other:
1 ¼ cups shredded Swiss or Mozzarella Cheese
8 medium sized Soft Tortillas
1 Roma Tomato

❃❃Makes 4❃❃

Preparation
Chop onion, garlic, spinach, dill, parsley, green onion and tomato.

Spinach
In a skillet, over medium to medium high heat, add olive oil and once heated add onions, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and nutmeg.  Cook onion until soft and add spinach and garlic.  Cook until all spinach has wilted and off the heat add in lemon juice, dill and parsley.  Allow mixture to cool completely and stir in crumbled feta.

Sauce
In a bowl combine yogurt, minced green onion, dill, parsley, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and sugar.  Set aside in the refrigerator.

Quesadilla
Lay our 4 tortillas and cover evenly with 1/8 of the swiss or mozzarella cheese.  Lay an even mixture of the cooled spinach mixture on each, top with chopped tomatoes, evenly cover with the remaining cheese and finally lay the other four tortillas on top. 

In a non-stick skillet or on a flat grill pan heat over medium high heat, spray with non-stick spray and lay quesadillas in the pan or on the grill.  Cook until tortilla is browned on the bottom and cheese is melting.  Flip the quesadillas over and continue to cook until the other side is browned, and all cheese is melted.

Remove from skillet or grill pan, allow to cool for a minute and cut with a knife or pizza cutter.

Ingredients
Sausage:
1 lb. ground Elk
3 Bay Leaves
1 Tbsp. Juniper Berries
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
¼ tsp. Allspice
¼ tsp. Garlic Powder
½ tsp. Onion Powder
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Pastry:
2 sheets frozen Puff Pastry
1 Egg
Water
Dipping Sauce:
1/3 cup Huckleberry Syrup or Preserves

❃❃Serves 12❃❃

Preparation
Grind the bay leaves and juniper berries in a spice grinder and defrost puff pastry in refrigerator.

Sausage
In a bowl mix together the elk, ground bay and juniper, salt, pepper, allspice, garlic powder, onion powder and olive oil.  Form into two equal size sausages and roll tightly in plastic wrap ensuring there are is no air or air bubbles so that once boiled they do not explode. 

Boil plastic wrapped sausages in water for about 5-6 minutes until they set and are slightly firm.  Remove from water, unwrap and cool.  At this stage the sausages can be smoked, grilled, sautéed or baked until fully cooked through. Once fully or almost fully cooked set aside to cool.

Assembly & Baking
Cut the sheets of puff pastry so that the sausage can be fully encased but so that it won’t overlap beyond sealing the edges.  On the ends cut pastry so there is just enough to fold over, the same way you would wrap a gift, and seal with egg mixture or with water.

Combine egg and about 2 tsp. of water, whisk and brush on the puff pastry before baking and to seal edges and ends.  Bake encased sausage for 20-25 minutes or until the puff pastry is browned and golden.

Optional:  Cut out leaf shapes or other shapes that can be placed on the puff pastry roll for decoration.  Adhere these to the puff pastry with some of the egg mixture or with water.

Sauce
In a saucepan heat sauce until warm and remove to a serving bowl. 

Ingredients
Filling & Topping:
8oz. Goat Cheese
1 Tbsp. Honey
pinch of Salt
1 tsp. dried Lavender
1.5lbs. fresh Figs
2 Tbsp. Fig Preserves
Flaked Sea Salt
Crust:
½ cup Butter
½ cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 ½ cups Flour
pinch of Salt

❃❃Serves 8❃❃

Preparation
Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray. 

Slice stems from figs, cut figs in even slices and allow goat cheese to come to room temperature.

Crust
In the bowl of a mixer cream butter and sugar until combined and then add the egg and mix until combined.  In a separate bowl whisk or sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  Add flour mixture to the mixer and mix until just combined. 

Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator for an hour.

After the dough has been in the refrigerator for an hour preheat the oven to 350 and roll the dough out to about ½ inch thick.  Place the dough on the cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.

Tart
In a bowl combine goat cheese, honey, salt and lavender.  Evenly spread goat cheese mixture over the tart dough.  Top evenly with the sliced figs and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes.

In a microwave safe bowl slightly heat the preserves until they are loose and easy to brush over the figs.  Brush the preserves evenly over the figs once the tart is removed from the oven and cooled.  Lightly dust over a sprinkle of flaked sea salt, cut and serve.

Ingredients
2 sheets Puff Pastry
2.5 oz. Ham
6 oz. Comte Cheese
½ Apple (Fuji, Gala, Honeycrisp)
1 tsp. Dijon
2 tsp. Honey
1 Egg

❃❃Serves 6 – 8❃❃

Preparation
Preheat oven to 325, cover a cookie sheet in foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Whisk together the Dijon and honey, slice apples and shred cheese.

Ensure puff pastry has been thawed out in the refrigerator.

Tart
Roll each piece of pastry out to about 14” x 10”.  On the bottom piece evenly spread the Dijon and honey mixture leaving a ½ inch border.   Evenly top with ham, then apples and finally the cheese. 

Brush the edges of the bottom sheet with egg wash, top with top piece of pastry and with a fork seal the two pieces together along the border.  Cut three vents in the top of the pastry and brush with egg mixture.

Bake for 18 – 25 minutes or until the pasty is cooked and golden brown.  Let rest for about 5 minutes before cutting.

Ingredients
1 Sweet Potato
6 oz. Beef, Elk or Bison Filet
½ large Red Onion
¼ tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice
1 ½ Tbsp. Olive Oil
6 Juniper Berries
½ tsp. Rosemary
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Pepper
½ cup Huckleberry Syrup
¼ cup Red Wine

❃❃Makes 20❃❃

Preparation
Cut filet into approximately 20 pieces.  Combine 1 Tbsp. oil, rosemary and crushed juniper berries.  Rub into meat and marinate for 1 hour or up to overnight.

Cut sweet potato into approximately 20 cubes and cut onion into large sections.

Preheat oven to 450, line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Roasting Vegetables
Lay sweet potatoes on one end of a sheet pan and the onion on the other end.  Divide 1 ½ Tbsp. oil, salt and pepper between 2 vegetables.  Add pumpkin pie spice to sweet potatoes only.  Toss with your hands to evenly coat each potato and onion.  Spread out in an even layer and roast for 15 – 20 minutes or until potatoes can easily be pierced with a toothpick or skewer.

Making Sauce
Put huckleberry syrup into a saucepan over low heat and begin to warm.

Cooking Meat
Remove meat from marinade and slightly dry with paper towel.  On medium high heat sear each cube of meat on all sides until cooked to medium rare.

Remove meat to a plate and allow juices to set back into meat.

Once meat is removed from pan pour wine in and deglaze scraping up all the bits from the meat.  Add mixture to the huckleberry sauce.

Assembling Skewers
On a skewer or decorative pick put a piece of potato, then a few onion slices and finally the meat.  Stand each skewer up on the serving platter and drizzle huckleberry sauce over each skewer.  Serve immediately or keep warm in a low heat oven. 

Ingredients
2 cups Shredded Confit Duck (approximately 4 legs and/or breasts)
16 oz. Duck Fat
1 cup Shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 cup Dried cranberries
1 Orange zested
4 Sage Leaves minced
2 tsp. Thyme minced
16 Corn Tortillas
6 cups Canola Oil
2 Avocados
Juice of 1 Lime
Salt
Pepper

❃❃Makes 14 – 16❃❃

Preparation
Add the duck fat and duck legs and/or breasts to a slow cooker and cook on low for 4 – 6 hours.  Once done remove from slow cooker, cool and once cooled shred with two forks.

Cut and mash two avocados, add juice of 1 lime and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Set aside in refrigerator.

Mince sage and thyme. Soak cranberries in hot water for 5 – 10 minutes.  Shred cheese and zest orange.

Place oil in heavy bottomed Dutch oven to fry taquitos.

Assemble
Combine duck, cheese, plumped cranberries, orange zest, sage, thyme, pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper in a bowl.

Wrap tortillas in a clean cotton towel and warm tortillas in microwave for approximately 30 seconds to soften.

Place 2 Tbsp. of mixture into the center of each tortilla, tightly roll and pierce with 2-3 toothpicks to keep shut.  Place each on a sheet tray, covered with a damp dish towel, so tortillas don’t dry out.

Cook
Heat oil to 350 and when oil reaches temperature place 2 – 3 taquitos in oil with long tongs and cook until tortillas are crisp and slightly brown.  Remove and drain on a cooling rack placed on a baking sheet.  Continue until all taquitos are fried.

If not serving immediately keep warm in the oven at 200 on cooling rack on a cookie sheet.  When ready to serve remove from oven, plate and serve with avocado sauce.

Note: I have also pre-wrapped the taquitos, placed them in a heating tray on low and had a counter-top fryer so guests can have a freshly fried taquito.  Just have a fryer that has a basket and a splatter guard to cover when not in use.