Suprise shower snacks!

My friend Kim is in town this week. I haven't seen her since around Christmas, and since then, she has moved to West Virginia. She is expecting her daughter, Chloe, in November. Some of our friends had planned a surprise baby shower for her on Sunday. Kim thought that she was going for dinner on Shem Creek, but we had other things in mind!

I was asked to make my shrimp bruschetta that I had brought to Kristin's party in December. I came up with the idea for these snacks by combining two bruschetta recipes from epicurious.com. Over the years, I have taken them to showers, parties, and on road trips. I even made them for Rick as a comfort food after he had a really bad day at work a couple of weeks ago. He loves them. One thing that makes this recipe even easier is having the baguette sliced at the bakery at Publix. It not only saves time, but it also saves me from having to deal with those messy crumbs!

I also decided to make these cheese puffs from epicurious.com that I have made several times for Rick and I. They are one of our favorites. Since I knew how much Kim (and everyone, too) likes hot things, I thought that they would be perfect! I like to do half habanero cheese and half sharp cheddar to give them a little spicy bite. This time, I made them a little bit bigger than normal. At first, I had a mild freak out moment when they didn't seem to be poofing enough, but I think that happened due to the size. Why is it that when you make something for a bunch of people it never seem to come out as well as when I make them at home? I was also worried that they weren't done. After they came out of the oven, I sampled one, and it was a-okay. My mouth was definitely on fire from the habanero cheese!

I'm happy to report that I came home with two empty platters. Luckily for Rick, there were two puffs and two pieces of bruschetta that didn't make it on either plate!

The recipes:

Spicy Shrimp Bruschetta
Ingredients

• One bread baguette, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
• Olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil
• Two cloves garlic
• 2 shallots, chopped (I have also been known to use 1/3 cup of onion if I don't have shallots)
• 1/2 pound shrimp (each shrimp cut into thirds)
• 3/4 cup light mayo
• 1/2 container of shredded 3 cheese blend
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teapsoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley
• Shredded cheddar cheese to put on top of each piece of bruschetta
  

Directions
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat, and sautee shrimp, basil, garlic, and shallots until the shrimp is opaque. Place mixture on a plate that is covered with a paper towel.

Place the slices of baguette on a baking sheet.

Turn on oven to broil. In a medium bowl, mix mayo, cheese, paprika, cayenne pepper, and parsley. Add shrimp mixture to bowl and stir. Taking a tablespoon, add one scoop of the mixture to each slice of bread. If you need to make the mixture go a little farther, just add a little bit more mayo and cheese. Put a pinch of shredded cheddar cheese on top of each piece of bruschetta and broil for 2-3 minutes until the cheese starts to broil. Enjoy!


Here's the original recipe again for the cheese puffs.

And then the one that I use

Habanero-Cheddar Cheese Puffs

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt plus additional for sprinkling
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup (packed) grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup (packed) grated habanero cheese1
• 1 cup minced green onions

Directions
Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Bring 1 cup water, butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil in heavy medium saucepan. Remove from heat; mix in flour. Stir over medium heat until mixture becomes slightly shiny and pulls away from sides of pan, about 3 minutes; transfer to stand mixer fitted with paddle. Add eggs 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition to form sticky dough. Mix in cheese and green onions.

Using 2 teaspoons, form dough into 1 1/4- to 1 1/2-inch ovals; drop onto baking sheet 1 inch apart. (Can be made ahead. Wrap in plastic, then foil. Refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 2 weeks.)
Preheat oven to 375°F. Bake cheese puffs until golden, about 30 minutes if at room temperature and 35 minutes if chilled or frozen. Serve immediately.