Recipes: This & That

St. Nicholas Cheese Coins
Strawberry Banana Crozier
Saint Snack with Egg;
Saint Nicholas Cracker Snack
Cheese Spread Crozier 
Miter Snacks
St. Nicholas Banana Pops
Apple St. Nicholas
Apple Miters
Babybel Cheese St. Nicholas
St. Nicholas Crêpes Purses
Saint Nicholas Cheese Platter

St. Nicholas Cheese Coins

Crisp, flaky coins—a change from something sweet!

1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
¼-½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
10 tablespoons butter (do not substitute), cold, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 350°. Line 2 cookie sheets with baking or parchment paper.

Pulse flour, cheese, cornstarch, sugar, salt, and cayenne pepper in food processor until combined. Add butter and blend 1 to 2 minutes until dough forms. Pat into disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze briefly (5 min.).

Roll out on lightly floured surface, or pastry cloth, with floured rolling pin to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out coins with 1½-inch round cutter. Place 1-inch apart on prepared cookie sheet. Re-roll scraps, repeat.

Bake 15 to 17 minutes until golden. Transfer coins to wire rack, cool. Store in airtight container.
— adapted from Good Housekeeping, May 2014

back to top

Strawberry Banana Crozier

Bananas
Strawberries

Slice a banana for each person, making some sections slanted to make the curve
If there will be a delay, dip in diluted lemon juice to prevent browning
Slice strawberries to make the red sections
Arrange on plate; serve.

back to top

Saint Nicholas Snack with Egg

Hard boiled egg
Red bell pepper
White cheese slice
Black seeds, or something else
Romaine or other greens for garnish

Cut egg in half lengthwise. Cut a slice off the other half to make the mustache. Cut a triangle from the red bell pepper for the miter. Cut a cross out of the cheese. Use dark seeds for the eyes (I used short pieces of chocolate shot as all my seeds were light colored.) Assemble finished face on pieces of Romaine, this helps prop up the miter. Serve.

back to top

Saint Nicholas Cracker Snack

Hard boiled egg
Tomato
Small mozzarella cheese ball
Mayonnaise or white cheese slice
Black seeds, sesame, poppy, or small cloves
Paprika
Rectangular cracker for base, rye crispbread, sesame cracker, melba tost, etc. about 1¾ x 4¼-inches

Cut egg in half lengthwise. Remove yolk, cut off top part of white. Cut mozzarella ball in half, fit into yolk depression in white piece. Cut tomato into quarters, remove liquid and seeds from one section. Cut triangle miter shape. Assemble pieces on cracker. Make cross with mayonnaise or cut white cheese. Use seeds or cloves for eyes. Dip end of bamboo skewer in water, then paprika; dot on mozzarella cheese to make mouth. Serve.

back to top

Cheese Spread Crozier

Make this savory cheese spread or use any favorite cheese ball or log recipe

2 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened
¼- cup (½ stick) butter, softened
2 tablespoons dried chives
2 tablespoons parsley flakes
1 teaspoon McCormick California Style Garlic Pepper with Red Bell and Black Pepper
½ teaspoon dill weed
¼ teaspoon thyme leaves
½ red bell pepper, finely chopped

Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add remaining ingredients except red bell pepper, beat well. Place large piece of plastic wrap on small baking sheet. Spoon mixture onto plastic wrap, forming a crozier. Smooth edges. Fold plastic wrap up to cover. Chill 4 hours or overnight until firm. Unwrap and place on serving plate. Smooth shape with knife. Blot finely chopped red bell pepper with paper towel to remove moisture. Garnish crozier. Serve with crackers.
Adapted from McCormick.com

back to top

Miter Snacks

A simple snack, though a bit tedious! Europeans use canned corn in diverse ways, such as a sandwich ingredient.

Flour tortilla or other wrap for base
Tomato paste or passata (puree)—tomato paste in a tube is easy to use
Canned whole kernel corn

Cut miter shapes out of the tortillas. Spread tomato paste on the miter shapes. Use corn kernels to outline the miter and embellish with a cross or other design. 
Adapted from Lekker eten met Linda

back to top

St. Nicholas Banana Pops

For each pop

½ small banana
1 strawberry
Marshmallow slice
1 red M&M
Chocolate shot for eyes
Cream cheese for cross, optional
Bamboo skewer

Cut banana in half, put skewer through banana, then through marshmallow, with strawberry on top. Place two pieces of chocolate shot for eyes, red M&M for mouth. For cross, cut a thin slice of cold cream cheese, then cut a length for the vertical piece and pieces for the cross bar.
Adapted from Clean and Scentsible

back to top

Apple St. Nicholas

Make a tasty European-style St. Nicholas using just an apple, a walnut, a bit of cotton for the beard, and some construction paper and stickers for the miter. Crozier or arms are optional. See below for an Austrian version using peanuts for arms. Apple St. Nicholas is a nice craft activity that can be eaten!

Click for PDF with instructions. See Weiner Wohnsinn for photos and information in German.

back to top