The Romantic Way

It's always a good idea to keep some easy appetizer recipes on hand ready to make a great first impression.

One of our favorite things to do in Moscow is to have an Expat Happy Hour at our home every few months. Our friends would come at four o'clock after work and school and we'd catch up on the latest and eat tons of food till six o'clock. Then everyone would go well-fed, having had a good time and they still have their whole evening ahead of them. It's a nice way to go when you have a pretty busy schedule.

What's the key to making it work? The key is to have a quiver full of easy appetizer recipes from which you can choose to put lots of stuff on the buffet without a ton of work and expense. Let us share with you some our quick and easy appetizer recipes that you can use for your gathering or to simply add a nice first impression to your next romantic dinner.

Barbecue Sauce with Rosemary Leaves

This easy appetizer recipe is great to wow your guests. Barbecue Sauce with Rosemary Leaves goes great with chicken wings, drummies, or legs, and shredded beef or pork. You can make it ahead and keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. It's not a sweet sauce like that to which you might be accustomed with grocery store bottle varieties. This barbecue sauce has a tangy flavor mingled with wild herbal tones. Use it liberally. Double or triple the recipe. Adjust it to your particular taste. The best part of this easy appetizer recipe is that it's cheap!

1 cup Ketchup (buy the cheapest kind)
1/2 cup Strong black coffee (leftover from the morning is good)
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. French mustard (not yellow)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp. White vinegar
A few drops of Tabasco sauce
1 tsp. Rosemary leaves pounded with mortar and pestle or just broken up
1 tsp. Sugar more or less to taste
1/4 tsp. Garlic powder
1/4 tsp. Liquid smoke (if you have it)
1/2 tsp. Salt or to taste
A few grinds of black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a small pan. You can double or triple the recipe with no problems. Heat till it's just bubbly, reduce the heat to the lowest possible and simmer for about an hour stirring occasionally. Taste your barbecue sauce and adjust the flavors to your taste. You may want a bit more salt or sugar. Add a little coffee if it needs to be thinned.

Use the barbecue sauce liberally on your meats. If you keep the sugar content low, it will not burn so it's a nice sauce to use to cook into meats. If you're making chicken, bake it covered with foil in the sauce reserving some extra sauce for the end. Then uncover the chicken in a hot oven and turn it every few minutes adding more sauce. This way you'll get a nice sticky, saucy chicken.

It's a great easy appetizer recipe to make a romantic dinner or a friendly gathering special!

Yours along TheRomanticWay!


Rod & Holly