Deviled Eggs
Topic: Appetizers
Deviled egg is a common dish in France and the United States, but they actually originated in Rome , it is made with hard-boiled eggs, and the eggs are served cold. They are served as a side dish or appetizers.
To make a deviled egg, first, the eggs are hard-boiled , then cooled, the egg shells are peeled off. Each egg is then sliced into half lengthwise. The yolks are removed, then mashed and mixed with a variety of other ingredients, basically the most common ingredients are mayonnaise , mustard, pickle relish, salt, ground black pepper, olives, pimentos, and minced onion, etc. Some sea foods are also added sometimes to add more interesting taste. The yolk mixture is then scooped with a spoon and put back into each egg white cup. Some ingredients may be sprinkled on top as a garnish.
The deviled eggs that I made in the picture were made of few ingredients only, I did not add mayonnaise and pickle relish to the mashed eggyolks, I added sandwich spread instead of it, some minced onions, chopped tomatoes, black pepper powder and salt. Then I added few amount of sweet chili sauce on top of each deviled egg and sprinkled chopped dill on it for garnish. I served it with Spaghetti, some buttered toast, french fries, dates and apple juice, and that was what our satisfying Iftar yesterday made of.

Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura
Topic: Appetizers
This dish was cooked last week, Sunday, the last day of Ramadan, I served it as an appetizer for our last Iftar this year.

My original plan was to cook shrimps only but my mind was changed when I saw many fresh vegetables in the fridge. I like crispy vegetables a lot, hence I decided to include it in the shrimps. Tempura is a Japanese dish refers to classic Japanese deep fried batter-dipped seafood and vegetables. The batter is made of ice cold water, flour, and eggs. Here’s how I made my Tempura, first I prepared the shrimps and the vegetables that I want to use (I used carrots, cauliflower, string beans and white onions, actually any vegetables will do even the leafy one) I cut all the vegetables into bite size, sliced the onions into rings and I peeled the shrimps leaving the tails on. Then I made the batter consist of 1 ? cup tempura flour, 1 cup cold water, 2 eggyolks, salt and pepper. I mixed it altogether and stirred it gradually, without over-stirring of course. Third, I dipped each pieces of shrimps into the batter and let it drained a little, I dropped a few pieces at a time into hot oil and deep fried it until golden brown, after the shrimps, I cooked the vegetables with the same procedure until done, I served it immediately with sweet chili sauce and that’s it. We had an assorted Tempura for Iftar with no leftovers!

Spicy Chicken Necks
Topic: Appetizers
Surprise? Traditionally, chicken necks were used only to make stocks or added for stewing vegetables but in our home, we cooked it this way, or adobo, sometimes we also grill it and served it as our appetizer or side dish. It was really delicious, try it!

Ingredients:
250 g chicken necks, cut into 1.5 inches length
1 onion, sliced into rings
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
pepper to taste
3 tbsp. cooking oil

Marinade:
3 tbsp. Italian Style Dressing
1 tbsp. vinegar
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/3 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 tsp. ginger powder

Directions:
1. Marinate chicken for 15 minutes, drain and reserve marinade.
2. Fry the chickens in hot oil until brown, add spy sauce, sugar, pepper and the reserved marinade. Cook until the chicken are done.
3. Add the onions, stir for a minute. Turn off heat and serve.

Fried Wonton
Topic: Appetizers
Wonton is a type of dumpling common in chinese cuisine. It is made with a thin pastry wrapper and filled with savory minced meat. The filling is typically made of ground meat, coarsely diced shrimp, finely minced ginger, finely minced onions, and soy sauce. Wontons can be served in soup or deep fried with rice or noodles.The deep fried variety are often served as a snack or appetizer. Actually yesterdday was my first time to make wonton and it was a process of experimentation or trial and error stage that turned successful. I made only half cup of ground beef because I was afraid I might not make it good but I got a nice result. This is the recipe of my first fried wonton:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup ground beef
1 tbsp. minced onion
1 tsp. crushed ginger
1 tbsp. honey
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. catsup
1 tbsp. sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste
Wonton wrappers
Oil for deep frying

Directions:
1. Heat the pan over medium-high to high heat. Add sesame oil, drizzling it down the sides of the pan. When the oil is hot, add the onions and ginger. Stir-fry briefly, then add the meat and cook until the meat changes color and is nearly cooked through.
2. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Remove the mixture from the pan and allow to cool.
3. Lay out 1 wonton wrapper, and place about 1 tsp. of the meat mixture in the middle. 3. With a finger dipped in water, moisten 2 adjacent sides, fold over to make a triangle. With both hands hold the triangle by the 2 widest corners, push down so that the filled center folds up. Moisten one end and pinch the 2 ends firmly together. Continue with the rest of the mixture.
4. Deep fry the wonton in hot oil until they turn golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve with Sweet and Sour Sauce or the dipping sauce of your choice.

Chicken Lollipop
Topic: Appetizers
Lipipop, as my 2 years old son called it! Chicken lollipop is an appetizer that is made from the segments of chicken wings. The middle segment has one of the two bones removed, and the flesh on the segments is pushed to one end of the bone. That will make it into lollipop. It is very popular in some Indian and Chinese restaurant, they colored it red but I don't like adding colors to the foods I cooked, I like it very natural.

Ingredients:
12 pcs. chicken wings
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp. black pepper powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. chili powder
Oil for deep frying

Marinade:
1/3 cup Italian Dressing (original flavor)
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Directions:
1. Break each chicken wing into two parts at the joint. Take each part and pull back the meat from one end of the bone to the other carefully, making sure that you do not pull the meat completely out.
2. Combine the marinade in a bowl and marinate the chicken for at least 1 hour in the fridge.
3. Transfer the mixture to a pan and heat, simmer for about 5 minutes. Drain and let dry.
4. In a separate bowl, mix flour, broth, black pepper, salt and chili powder. Blend until smooth.
5. Dip each meaty section of the chicken to the flour batter.
6. Deep fry the chicken lollipops in the hot oil by holding the tip of the bone and placing the meaty section of the lollipop in the oil. Fry until golden brown.
7. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

Tips: Cover the bones with aluminum foil so that it will be more comfortable for you to hold it.