Garnishes are the ‘jewelry’ of a drink – they help make a statement, but a little can go a long way. 

Here are some easy-to-do accents for any beverage you’re serving.

ROSEMARY SKEWERED PEACH

When I look for rosemary at the grocery store, I always seek out the longest spears possible. (Even better, plant it in your yard! It smells amazing and grows to be sturdy and plentify.) In the case of this peach bellini mocktail, I used a chopstick to poke a small hole in a peach or nectarine slice, and pull the rosemary through! It always draws a gasp from anyone who grabs a glass.

APPLES, SLICED, SKEWERED AND SWIRLED

This is so easy. With the help of a skewer, just a simple twist of stacked apples turns into something simple, delicious and eye catching.

EDIBLE FLOWERS, TWO WAYS

Edible flowers can be bought online or at some grocery stores (I often see them in the herb section at whole foods.) Don’t by them from the flower section, as they often have insecticides on them.

Once you find them, drizzling a few on top (don’t overdo it – they’re more attractive than they are flavorful) or poking through a piece of dried fruit can take your drink to the next level! (Or, buy edible food glue (bake shops and amazon) and attach them to the rim or the fruit directly. In one case here, the drink is further enhanced with a crushed candy powder rim. The second drink, below is from Domingo in San Antonio, and it’s a delicious combo of tamarind soda, tequila, and more.

CUKES AND CUBES

When I really wanted to take spa water to the next level, I decided to cut a cucumber into squares, hence the name ‘cuke cubes’. But the simple stunner here is when you take an english cucumber (they’re long and wrapped in plastic at the store because their thing is skin and delicate – and use a vegetable peeler to create a long strip. Layer into a scroll and skewer it… carefully unfold it a bit and you’ve got an eye catching garnish!

HERB IT UP

There’s something beautiful about a sprig of a dry herb resting on a cocktail glass. In this case, thai basil, but a sprig of lavender or thyme also look distinctive resting on top of a foamy drink, plus a slice of lime, takes the drink to the next level. In this case, a partially salted rim rounds out the flavor profile. This cocktail is from the Weho Bistro and I won’t soon forget it.

I hope a few of these inspire you to try something new with your mocktails and cocktails!

I can’t tell you how good theses are. I tried them at a restaurant and couldn’t stop thinking about them! So I figured out how to make them. It was remarkably easy for something so popping with flavor!

If you have any questions, email or DM me on TikTok! Hope you enjoy!

EASY! French Onion Soup Dumplings

February 1, 2022

by brianbalthazar

Cuisine Fusion

Category Appetizers Crowd Pleasers Featured

Persons

24

Serving Size

1 dumpling

Ingredients

• 2-4 escargot dishes, each with six indentations for individual dumplings.
• 24 dumpling wrappers (one package is plenty! You can find them in asian grocery stores in the freezer section. (If you're only doing two dishes, obviously you'll only need 12 wrappers... but one package has plenty in there.)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 18 ounce can of French Onion Soup
• 1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese
• Butter flavored cooking spray

Instructions

1. The night before: In a saucepan, combine chopped onion and 2 tablespoons butter and cook on medium heat until the onions become translucent.
2. Add the can of French onion soup to the onions. (You can always make the soup from scratch, but this will save you time and the dumplings will taste JUST as GREAT! Cook on medium high heat and reduce until the soup has thickened.
3. Allow the soup to cool, and pour into a shallow tray, dish or baking pan, so that the soup is roughly 1/2 inches deep. (Give or take.) Place in the freezer.
4. The next day:
5. Preheat the oven to the broiler's "low" setting.If your oven doesn't have a "low" setting, ensure the rack is in the middle or lower when you place your dumplings in the oven.
6. Prep your escargot plates: Place a small mound of a mixture of Parmesan and Gruyere in each section of the escargot plate.
7. Open up your dumpling wrappers. I like to trim down the circles slightly so they are slightly smaller see the video), as they will fit better in the plate. You will have plenty to spare, so the first one can be practice!
8. Bring out your frozen soup "brick" and cut a small chunk off to work with. You'll be cutting this into small cubes that are about 1/2 inch or so. Put whatever extra frozen soup you aniticipate having in the freezer. (You will have extra!)
9. In each dumpling wrapper, place a small dab of cheese and a half inch cube of the frozen soup. Bunch up the dumpling on top to envelop the cube and the cheese, forming a sort of 'purse.' Enclosing it.
10. Place the now wrapped dumpling with the pinched side down onto the dish on top of the cheese you've already place.
11. Repeat this with the remaining soup and dumpling wrappers.
12. When your dish is full, grab more of the parm and gruyere cheese mixture and place a liberal amount on top of the dumplings.
13. Spray a small amount of butter cooking spray on top.
14. Place the filled escargot dishes onto a baking sheet and place into the oven.
15. BROILER TIP: all broilers are different and they love to mess with you. I tease but I do find that for a dish like this it pays to pay CLOSE attention to your first round. See how your cheese is melting and browning. You want it to be toasty and brown, but not burned.
16. The time is takes for the dumpling to do that is also enough time for the cheese and soup inside to get hot and delicious.
17. For me, I ultimately concluded 6-8 minutes is best, but you should check at around 5 minutes to see how they're doing. You'll get a sense of the right time after your first batch if you decide to do a whole other round.
18. When done, allow to cool slightly, but serve HOT!
19. Play with this recipe! Feel free to add more cheese on top! Some people have suggested adding a skewer with a toasted cube of bread on top! I tried a version with a bread crumb INSIDE the dumpling, but have found that the dumpling itself satisfies the bread craving. (After all, it's made of dough!)
20. I hope you love them! Tag #snackist in your post if you decide to show yours off on Social Media! And visit my instagram and tiktok page if you want to message me with questions!
21. Enjoy!!

Tags

Appetizers,

Featured,

French Onion Soup Dumplings,

Snacks

@brianbalthazar These FRENCH ONION SOUP DUMPLINGS are so EASY and SO DELISH! #food #cooking #foodtiktok ♬ original sound – Brian Balthazar

Serving scallops is elegant. Cooking them is remarkably simple. Add in this cauliflower puree and you’ll wow everyone.

It’s well documented that my pet peeve is food blogs that ramble on excessively about the food when we all know you just want the recipe. So I’ll try and keep this concise. This is delicious. 

• Few people seem to serve scallops at a dinner party. But they’re incredibly easy to prepare and when done right (not overcooked) and spiced simply, they are a crowd pleaser.
• I like to serve scallops as a first course or an appetizer. A few of these set a nice tone for the rest of the meal, making everything seem a little elevated.
• I love a smear or spread of some sort of puree under the scallops. Here I feature cauliflower, but the add-ins give this a delightful creamy, savory taste that will win over even those who dread the vegetable. But that said, if cauliflower isn’t your thing, substitute it with two 12 ounce bags of frozen peas and all the same extra ingredients.

Hope you enjoy!

Scallops with Cheesy Cauliflower Puree

December 1, 2021

by brianbalthazar

Category Dinner Featured Seafood Starters Veggies

Persons

4

Serving Size

3 - 4 Scallops per person

Ingredients

• FOR THE CHEESY CAULIFLOWER PUREE
• 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/4 cup grated or shaved parmesan cheese
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
• FOR THE SCALLOPS
• 4-5 large sea scallops per person (totaling 16-20 scallops)
• butter
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup capers
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves

Instructions

1. Begin with the cauliflower puree. Bring a pot of cauliflower florets to a boil and cook until tender enough for a fork to easily pierce through.
2. Once the cauliflower is cooked, drain the water put it in a blender.
3. Add the remaining ingredients for the puree and blend until smooth.
4. Spread the puree on each individual plate and begin cooking the scallops.
5. FOR THE SCALLOPS
6. Place the sea scallops on a paper towel, blotting the tops with another paper towel until both sides are dry.
7. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until very hot.
8. Add 1 Tbs. oil and 1 tablespoon butter.
9. Season the scallops with salt.
10. Arrange the scallops on the pan so they don't touch each other and leave them on the pan for 2 to 3 minutes until browned (the less you move them the better!)
11. Flip the scallops over and cook another 3 to four minutes. The scallops so look more opaque (not as clear) and the fork should bounce back slightly when they are cooked. Overcook them and they will be very tough. Avoid this!
12. Once the scallops are cooked, arrange them on each plate on top of the puree. While the pan is still hot, pan fry the capers and 1 tablespoon thyme leaves until hot. (adding additional oil if necessary.)
13. Sprinkle the caper and thyme mixture onto each plate and serve.

Tags

appetizer,

cauliflower,

dinner,

Featured,

puree,

Scallops,

sea scallops