Mamma Mungo's Bruschetta with Baked Garlic Bread Slices

ICE COLD BRUSCHETTE SERVED ON HOT FROM THE OVEN GARLIC BREAD

I've been making this one for awhile now, and it is the favorite of my family, and all my extended families. 

Once you've made this, you can never go back.  It will be you're most requested hors de vour that you will ever make. 


The trick is in making the topping the night before the event, so it marinates well and settles before you serve it on hot, toasty bread!


The Recipe is in two parts! Part One is the Toppinade,  Part Two is the Bread and Spread!


Part One: The Toppinade
Ingredients:

• 1 jar Green Olives
• 2 cans Black Olives
• 10 Pepperoncini's, unseeded
• 1 whole red onion
• 2 to 4 teaspoons of crushed garlic
• Roasted Red Peppers, about 4 to 6 out of jar
• 2 cans of diced tomato's, with basil, garlic, or onion
• Good Balsamic Vinegar
• Good Olive Oil
• Oregano, Basil,  Sage, Parsley (dry is better)
• Salt and Pepper

Put it together:

1. Place the green olives, black olives, pepperoncini's, roasted red peppers, in food processor. Finely chop the mixture. Remove and place in a large serving bowl.
2. Remove skin from Red Onion, quarter it and place pieces into the food processor.  Finely chop and add to the mix in the bowl.
3. Place the 2 to 4 teaspoons of crushed Garlic into the bowl and mix the ingredients gently together.  Mix it well, so that all the colors are completely blended. 
4. Next open the cans of diced flavored tomato's, and gently drain in a colander then place the tomatoes on top to the mix in the bowl.  DO NOT put the tomato's in the processor! You want them plump and red! Gently fold the tomato's into the olive mixture. 
5. Now drizzle the Balsamic Vinegar and the Olive Oil over the mix, and be generous! Again, gently fold the mix to incorporate the Oil and Vinegar.
6. Add the dry seasoning, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix gently. 
7. Place in the refrigerator covered in plastic and let marinate overnight!

 Part Two: THE BREAD!
This part is very important.  You can put the toppinade on fresh sliced bread, but you will never have the full taste of Mamma Mungo's recipe.  The Toppinade must/should go on THIS bread to truly experience the bursting flavors I've devised!  OK, done with my lecture! LOL.


The Ingredients:

• 1 to 2 sour dough baguette bread
• 1 to 2 cubes/sticks of butter
• 3 to 4 tablespoons of crushed garlic
• fresh shredded Romano cheese, (can substitute Parmesan)
• Italian Seasoning, or Crushed Oregano will do
• Salt and Pepper
• Hungarian Paprika

Put it together:

1. Slice the baguette diagonally to make longer slices. Make them thin.
2. Gently melt the butter in a bowl enough to be able to stir but not enough to cause it to clarify. 
3. To the bowl of butter, add the crushed garlic and the shredded Romano cheese.  Mix and then with a basting brush, apply to the bread slices.
4. Sprinkle the seasoning, salt and pepper onto the slices.
5. Lastly, lightly sprinkle a tiny bit of the paprika onto the slices. 
6. Now bake in the oven for about  6 to 8 minutes till the top is just bubbly but not burnt! Oven is at 375.

Now, Put It All Together!
 Plate it up.  I put the Bowl of cold toppinade in the center of a tray with the hot bread piled up on either side of it.  I put a serving spoon in the bowl and let the party begin.


You Know What To Do Next!

Mamma Mungo's Anti Pasta Tray!

ANTI PASTA TRAY

This one is real simple! 

Anti Pasta Tray! 

But as always, it is Ala Mamma Mungo!

Use your favorite meats and cheeses if you like to substitute, but I suggest good dry Italian Salami, Smoked Ham, Italian Roast Beef, and Mozzarella Cheese! 

Here is the recipe!


Ingredients: 

• Dry Italian Salami, thinly sliced
• Smoked Ham, deli sliced
• Italian Roast Beef, deli sliced
• Mozzarella Cheese, in the round, deli sliced
• Large Green Olives, Large or Medium Black Olives
• Green Onions
• Peperoncini's, also known in Italian as Friggitello, or Tuscon, Sweet Italian Peppers, or Golden Greek Peppers. But I use the Sweet Italian.
• Miniature Dill Pickles
• Mini Sweet Gherkins
• Good Balsamic Vinegar
• Good Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Italian Seasoning, OR, fresh Oregano, fresh Basil, fresh Parsley, all finely chopped. 
• Black Pepper

Put it together:

1. Roll your meat, this can be done if you've had it sliced deli thin.  Even the Salami! Place side by side along the tray in rows of select meat. IE 1 row of Salami, then 1 row of Smoked Ham and so on. Every third row, layer the Mozzarella (not rolled) one edge up on the meat, one on the tray. Then continue with the meat.
2. On top of the meat and cheese rows, toss the green onions, pickles, gherkins, green and black olives.
3. Sprinkle the seasoning across the top of the meats and vegie's, or finely chop the Oregano, Basil, and Parsley and drop over the tray. 
4. Now drizzle the Balsamic Vinegar and the Olive Oil over the entire tray.  You can be as liberal as you like! This is a WET tray! 
5. Tap the Black Pepper to evenly distribute to taste across the tray. 

 I like to put a plastic wrap over the top and place in fridge for about an hour before serving.  This lets that Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil marinate the meat and veggie's!  OMG!  It is irresistible! You will be addicted and will never make a meat tray again without marinating it!  


Put it out on the table in a nice tray but I use the aluminum foil trays that easily throw away after the party! The Vinegar can stain plastic so use glass trays or foil! 


You Know What To Do Next!!!

Lisa's Chicken

Start With Good Boneless Chicken

Lisa's Chicken was named after my daughter, well, because she just fell in love with this ridiculously simple recipe.  After I made it the first time, she asked for it again and again, until she began by saying, "Mom, can you cook MY chicken tonight?" I started out making this recipe with boneless thighs.  I switched to the boneless breasts because I could make more by thinly slicing or filleting the breasts.  Don't make the sections to thick or you won't get that quick cook time or the flavor.  Here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

• Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, OR, Thighs
• Progresso Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
• Butter Flavored Crisco
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Put it together:

1. Fillet the chicken breasts, slightly frozen breasts cut easier.
2. Wash them in a colander and let water drain, but don't dry them.
3. In a bowl, place the Progresso Bread Crumbs.
4. In a shallow pan, heat up about 2 tbs of the Butter Flavored Crisco. Remember, it isn't Lisa's Chicken without this key ingredient! LOL.
5. Dip the slightly wet breast fillets into the bread crumbs, then place in the heated pan. Let cook about 2 minutes and then turn.  The chicken will cook quickly if you've filleted them thin. 
6. Serve lightly golden and hot right onto the plate. 
7. Salt and Pepper to taste.

I used to serve this with a salad for a quick meal as the kids were running to the next meeting or practice etc, and had no time to sit down for a real time consuming dinner.  Start to Finish, it takes about 20 minutes from the fridge to the table!

Plate it up! You Know What To Do Next!

Laverne Mungo's Potato Salad With My Twists

Thin Sliced Boiled Potato's Are The Key

The first time I had Laverne's Potato Salad, I thought I'd gone to heaven! It was amazingly creamy, and tangy, and I'd never tasted any other like it! It took a few years to get it right and then I added a few extra ingredients, but this is basically her recipe.

The first thing you need to know is that this isn't like any other salad that you may have made.  The potato's are boiled, skinned, and then placed in the fridge to get cold.  THEN when they are cold, you slice them thin! As thin as you can without mushing them!  LOL.  And also, you don't add mayo till the next day, fairly just before serving!  OK, here is the Recipe!

Ingredients:

• Potato's, calculate about 2 per person
• Fresh Dill
• Fresh Parsley
• 1 Lg Red Onion, or 2 for larger crowd
• White Vinegar, 16 oz for large bowl
• Good Mayonnaise, 1 jar for large bowl
• Sour Cream, 16 oz
• Salt and Pepper

Put It Together:

1. Boil Potato's, about 30 min,  let cool enough to remove skins, then refrigerate till cold enough to slice thin.
2. Fine chop the Dill and the Parsley.
3. Fine chop the Red Onion, should be paper thin.
4. Begin layering the sliced potato's with the dill and parsley and onion, splashing the white vinegar on each layer.
5. When bowl is about 3/4 full, and you've used all the vinegar, cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight. 
6. Next day, remove from fridge and add mayonnaise and sour cream, mixing into the whole mixture. You will panic as the potato's begin to crumble, but don't.  That will happen to many of them but it just makes for a creamy texture! Add salt and pepper to taste, then place back into the fridge till company arrives. 

You Know What To Do Next!

Variations that I've done:
Add cooked mushrooms, garlic, and capers! It takes it to another level. And I love to spritz lemon or lime as well!  But that is not Laverne's so, try hers first.  Then experiment if you feel you really have to! Hahaha.

Mamma Mungo's Tangy Greek Taco's

The first recipe that I am including is one I came up with for my family that was fast, easy to prepare, tasty as all get out, and low cost.  You can add the higher priced ingredients if you have the budget, and of course the taste changes with those items! This recipe can be done without the feta cheese, yogurt, and palmetto olives, and you can substitute those items with shredded cheddar, low fat or fat free sour cream, and black olives. 

You can buy an already cooked whole chicken at the Deli to save time, or boil a whole chicken to get the amount of chicken you need for the quantity you will be serving.  If you boil your own chicken, walla, you now have chicken stock for another meal!!!  I like to boil one when time permits and then I use the screw top plastic glad containers to pour the cooled stock into.  Then I pop them in the freezer! A quick thaw in the microwave and you have pure stock without all that salt and preservatives! 

OK, here's the recipe!

Greek Taco's created by Norine Mungo

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken, precooked or boiled, and shredded
• Tortilla's Flour or Corn
• Romain Lettuce
• Red Tomato's
• Onion
• Avocado
• Green Verde Sauce, Jarred, Canned, or homemade (recipe below)
• Sour Cream, light or fat free, OR, Plain Yogurt
• Feta Cheese, crumbled
• Palmetto Olives (Greek) pitted, OR, Black Olives
• Red, Wine or Garlic, Vinegar
• Seasoning for chicken, pkgd taco seasoning, OR, Cumin, Red Chili Powder, Powdered Chicken Bouillon, Black Pepper
• Water, mixed with above seasoning to cook the shredded chicken in

Now to put it together!

1. Shred the chicken, and place in a shallow pan, like a straight edge frying pan, add water to barely cover and the seasoning pkg or the cumin, red chili powder, powdered bouillon, and black pepper. Simmer this to reduce liquid and stir several times while preparing other ingredients.
2. Ribbon cut the Romain.
3. Slice the tomato's, avocado, and olives.
4. Dice the onion and place in a bowl with enough red vinegar to cover.
5. Stir the yogurt or sour cream to soften.
6. Open the jar, or can of Green Salsa Verde and place in a lightly covered microwave bowl and heat lightly, about 1 minute.
7. Crumble the feta if not bought that way.
8. Heat the tortilla's any way that you normally do. I like to put them in a microwave safe container with a lid, with a wet paper towel on bottom and one on top of the tortilla's.  Cover with lid and heat about 1 to 3 minutes. This is the most nutritious way to prepare them, but you can also do the frying pan with small bit of oil. 

Now assemble your feast!

Lay the tortilla out on the plate.  Layer the chicken mixture on one side with feta cheese and the marinated onions. On the other side, layer the lettuce, the avocado, the tomato slice and olive slices if you have them. Last, drizzle the heated Salsa Verde in the center and add a dollop of yogurt or sour cream.

You know what to do next!!!!!!

Oh, and that true Salsa Verde???  So easy to make on your own, but as for cost, it might be about the same, but take a little more time.  I personally like the flavor of the homemade better, and you can control the HEAT in the spice! Here you go, oh brave ones.  Remember, when you touch peppers, even if you wash your hands, you can still burn your eyes if you touch them afterward! Word to the wise, wash your hands well and use some lotion afterward! It helps!

• Green Tomatillo's found in the vegie aisle near the peppers!  I get about 2 lbs! They will have a funny little brown or green paper shell on them. Just remove it and make sure the tomatillo's are fresh without spots.
• 1 or more fresh jalapeno peppers. 
• 1 or more small cans of ortega chili peppers (they are mild) or if you really want to go all the way, get poblano  peppers, the ones they use for chili relleno, about 2 should do it.
• 16 oz of chicken stock.
• salt and pepper to taste.

Put the Salsa together!

1. Cut the tomatillo's into quarters and toss into sauce pot. Add just enough stock to barely cover the tomatillo's.  Start a slow simmer.
2. Slice open the poblano peppers, remove the seeds and the stems. Lay flat on a griddle or frying pan skin side down. Blister the skin to loosen it, and then remove it.  Now chop up the pepper and place into the sauce pot stirring to mix in.  Add stock if needed to keep it loose and moist as it cooks down. 
3. Carefully slice open the jalapeno. I suggest using those food safe gloves, clear plastic throw away ones to save yourself the burn later!  Remove stem top and seeds.  What ever seeds you leave in up's the heat!!!  Chop up finely and add to the sauce. Continue adding stock and reducing at a simmer till you have the consistency of a green salsa.  If you think it is just too loose or there is too much stock, you can always mix a little starch in a small cup with about a tablespoon or two of water, add to sauce and continue to reduce. 
4. At the end, add salt and pepper to taste, and I love to add Lime Juice if you have it.  Just a spritz!  

 You can keep the salsa in a twist top glad container in the fridge for about 1 week.  But you know, I never make it 1 week with that sauce in there.  There are omelet's that call out for it, and pork sandwiches that need to be dipped, and chips that hate red store bought salsa, and stacked enchilada's (that is another recipe) and pizza made from pita bread with hot sausage and Monterrey  Jack with salsa instead of pizza sauce.  I know, it's endless.

There you have it! You know what to do next!