Good Morning.
I like smallish parties with maybe six or eight people who drink a couple of interesting wines and eat some little tidbits.
There's none of this mob scene at a dining table with people hogging the shrimp and loading up a plate with buffalo
wings and other drippy items that plop unto a sweatshirt. Here are a few suggestions for hors d'oeuvres to have while you're sipping on a nice Pinot Noir or a Gewurztraminer.
Stuffed Brussels Sprouts
1 pound Brussels Sprouts
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup Asiago
1/4 cup Panko
1 garlic clove, minced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Olive oil
Cut the sprouts in half. Place them in a big pot of salted boiling water for 2 minutes, remove with a slotted spoon, and drain
in a colander. Let them cool. Scoop out the centers and put them on a cookie sheet. In a bowl, mix up the ricotta, Asiago, minced garlic, and a titch of salt and pepper. spoon into the sprouts, top with a little Panko, and drizzle with a bit of olive oil.
Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
I hated Brussels Sprouts when I was a kid. Now they're among my favorite veggies along with peas, fresh asparagus,
and broccoli. I didn't like them either, and I'd never even heard of couscous. Here's another app for your vegetarian friends
as long as you substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.
Couscous Stuffed Mushrooms
18 white button mushrooms
3 green onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup dry vermouth
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup uncooked couscous
2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. finely chopped pecans, lightly toasted in a dry skillet
Dash of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Remove the mushroom stems and save for another time. Wipe the mushrooms with a paper towel and bit of salad oil. In a large skillet, saute the green onions and garlic for one minute in olive oil. Stir in the vermouth and soy sauce. Add the mushroom caps carefully. Bring the liquid to a boil and simmer the caps for 5 minutes until just tender. Remove them with
a slotted spoon and save the liquid in the skillet. Drain the mushrooms, stem side down on paper towel. In a saucepan, heat up the chicken broth until gently boiling. Add the couscous. Turn off the heat, cover, and let stand for 5 minutes. Now add this to the mushroom liquid. Cover the pan and cook on simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, maybe 5 minutes. Stir in the basil, Parmesan, egg, and chopped pecans. Sprinkle the inside of each mushroom cap and stuff with couscous mixture. Place
the caps in a large oblong glass baking pan sprayed with cooking spray and bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until
the filling is just beginning to brown.
Butternut Squash and Apple Bruschetta
2 cups butternut squash, cut into small chunks
1 cup Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into small chunks
6 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. sage
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
8 slices French bread
1 cup ricotta, at room temp
Toss the squash and apple with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, cinnamon, nutmeg, sage, and a bit of salt and pepper. Place this
mixture on a cookie sheet and roast in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Brown the bread, brushed with 2 tablespoons olive oil, for a few minutes after you remove the squash and apple. Remove the bread, top each slice with ricotta and the squash and apples.
This is more of a fall appetizer but I like it at any time. It's another good bruschetta to have in the arsenal.
Enough of the hot stuff. Here are two cold things that can be made well ahead and should be.
Bacon Walnut Cheese Log
8 oz. softened cream cheese
2/3 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1 tsp. garlic powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
12 slices bacon, cooked crisp, drained, and crumbled
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted in a dry skillet for 3 minutes, and chopped
1/2 cup freshly snipped chives
Mix the cream cheese, cheddar, garlic, half the bacon, half the nuts, and half the chives. Sprinkle with
salt and pepper and mix well again. Form a log with your hands and place in the fridge for an hour.
Mix the rest of the bacon, nuts, and chives on a plate. Roll the log in this mixture. Serve with crackers.
Crab and Red Pepper Spread
8 oz. lump crabmeat, cut into small pieces
2 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
1 red pepper, seeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
Mix everything together in a bowl and refrigerate for a couple of hours at least. Serve with crackers.
I do not like green pepper but I like the other colors quite a lot, particularly red, and I could eat crab
until the cows come home and are pleased that I didn't have steak.
We also need a bit of sweetness on the table. Serve these morsels with Port or Madeira.
Rum Balls
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
Dash of salt
1 cup finely chopped nut meats, either walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 tbsp. Karo syrup
1/4 cup light rum
Combine dry ingredients and add the syrup and rum in small increments. Use your hands to form
the mixture and when it holds together, stop adding the liquid. Form one-inch balls and roll them in
the powdered sugar. Put them in an airtight container to "ripen" for several days, maybe even a week.
Stuffed Strawberries
8 oz. softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
1 quart strawberries
Graham Cracker crumbs
Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and extract until smooth. Take the green cap off the strawberries and cut an X
in them down to the bottom but not through the bottom. Fill each berry with the cream cheese mixture and
dip the top in Graham cracker crumbs.
And finally Oreo Truffles, incredibly easy and scrumptiously good.
1 16 oz. package Oreo cookies
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 8 oz. package semi-sweet chocolate
Crush 8 or 9 cookies into crumbs in a blender or food processor. Set this mixture aside. Pulverize the rest of the cookies
into crumbs and put them in a bowl. Add the cream cheese and mix well with your hands. Melt the chocolate in a double
boiler over simmering water and cool. Form small balls from the cream cheese cookie mixture and dip them in the cooled
chocolate and then the cookie crumbs you saved awhile back. Place the truffles on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper.
Refrigerate for several hours. Put them in little candy wrappers if you really want to impress.
People will think you went to a chocolaterie for these treats, and it reminds me to watch that delicious film Chocolat again.
All the characters are fabulous but my fave is played by Judi Dench. Anything that woman does on film is extraordinary,
and she has the added appeal, for moi at least, of being well-aged and delightfully crusty. What could be better.
Cheers,
Elisabeth
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