The Appetizers

Anchovies, Stuffed Peppers, Mortadella, Asparagus, Galician Ham, Radish Salad, and Olives

Anchovies, Galician ham, and olives seemed to be appetizers that were plated as they would have been bought from a distributer. The anchovies were taken from a tin, the Galician ham from the deli, and the olives from a can. I actually chose to use anchovies stuffed olives for the appetizers, but had to switch to Feta filled olives at dinner, as my lovely sister had eaten all the anchovies stuffed ones before dinner had been served. Here is what the plated simple appetizers looked like.

Mortadella was next up on the list, and took quite a while to make. With the help of my lovely brother and a sausage stuffing machine, I mixed up pork back fat and lean meat, and seasoned it with the typical seasonings in a mortadella. Below is a picture of the ingredients used.

I then combined wet ingredients in a bowl and then into the freezer, and dry seasonings in another. The key here was the pink curing salt, which really gives the mortadella a chance to marinate inside of the stomach lining casings once stuffed.

After the meat mix had finished cooling sufficiently, it was into the mixer with the wet and dry ingredients, and the casings were put into a cold water bath to soften up.

After these components were ready, it was time to stuff! Into the holding tray went the mixture, and the casings went on the nozzle similar to a condom (as my Kaylene-chef said)

From this point, it was onto the fridge for two days. From there, the finished and cured sausages were grilled lightly and sliced for serving!

For the asparagus, a simple cooking on the stove top was done to prepare the veggies, as my family was getting hungry! Below is a picture of the asparagus on the stove. The white sauce was forgone, as time was running out. Instead, the asparagus was seasoned with salt, pepper, and a dash of garlic powder.

The Radish Salad is the next dish on the appetizer list, being composed of radishes, tomatoes, and celery, and the dressing a simple oil and vinegar, feta, and some parsley as garnish.

The last dish on the appetizer list is stuffed peppers, which were not a huge hit from my family but I completed the task nonetheless. After hollowing out six green peppers, I filled them with a minced chicken, breadcrumbs, parsley, butter and oyster mix, with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Once filled, they were baked for approximately twenty minutes, and served hot.