HELP!!! Hors D'oeuvres are not my strong point.......

I am attending a baby shower and was nominated to bring an Hors D'oeuvre. I am completely lost. I was wondering if anyone could offer a suggestion. I would like to do something fairly simple that will travel well. Any help would be much appreciated for this amateur.

[cape chef]

Hi Amy,

How about crostinis with a little tapinade and marinated cherve,lightly warmed.

A simple egggplant caviar and hummis with pita crisps

I like to whip a little boursin,fold in some diced beets and chiffanade of endive and make smoked salmon corenets

If you have some mini muffin tins you can get some flavored tortilla wraps cut them in to rounds push them into the tins and bake till crisp,Fill with any number of things,herbed cheese chilled capanata,creme fraich and caviar ECT.

The skys the limit.

Let us know how it goes
cc

[nancya]

I like your tortilla idea CapeChef. Do you have to weight them with anything?

Cherry tomatoes stuffed with flavored cream cheese [like smoked salmon and cream cheese] are an easy choice. Plate on a lipped platter using rock salt to hold the little tomatoes upright.

I knew a slighty insane person who made little penguins out of two stacked black olives stuffed with cream cheese, the bottom one cut open to reveal the white cream cheese, standing on individually cut penguin feet made from carrot rounds, with teeny little eyes made out of something else. They were awfully cute but I wouldn't have the patience to make very many of them...

BTW, Kimmie, I agree with you on Martha's book. I like the ideas in it.

[cape chef]

Hi Nancya,

No need to weight them down,
Just be sure to gently push them in the tin and use your fingers to tamp the edges.
cc

[Isa]

Nancy I want to learn the secrets of making penguin out of olives.

[Kimmie]

Nancya and Iza,

Have you heard of PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD by Saxtoon Freymann and Joost Elffers
ASIN: 1556706308

This title is out of print. Although it is no longer available from the publisher, Amazon.com query their network of used bookstores for you and send an update within one to two weeks. You can also try www.abe.com

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
You can play with your food. In fact, you should. All the details are in Joost Elffert's remarkable Play with Your Food, which introduces readers to a new way of seeing the food they eat, then shows them how to transform that food into creatures of extraordinary personality.

Put a navel orange on its side, pip facing you. See anything yet? What do the folds suggest? Carve ovals and insert beans and sliced almonds--voila, two eyes. Cut ears from the sides of the orange and pull them forward. Now you have it--a cat's face of amazing and endearing character. But that's only the beginning. Learn to make artichoke-leaf aphids, bok choy buffalos, okra grasshoppers, green-pepper camels, and pear mice--just a few of the 75 ingenious projects.

Consisting primarily of color photos of the creatures, first in portraiture and then in step-by-step "recipes" for their creation, Play with Your Food teaches readers above all to see. In addition to limning techniques, the minimal text provides a short look at manmade and natural imagery that suggests or embodies the possibilities of metamorphosis. Then it's on to the creatures themselves and the fun of constructing them.

Anyone who enjoys play and the magic of transformation will want Joost's book--and having seen it, will never look at eatables in the same way again.

I sincerely hope you can find it.

[Mezzaluna]

Cape Chef, I've heard of using won ton wrappers to make little pastry cups for HODS. I never tried them, but wonder if anyone else has. I have purchased little phyllo cups from the grocery store freezer and filled them with salmon pate or made little pies out of them with a mixture of spinach, tomato, green onion, feta and a little egg to hold it together. I've also piped salmon pate/spread onto cucumber slices and garnished with a dill sprig. EASY and quick.

My favorite easy appetizer is Jane Brody's hummus. It's low fat and very tasty. I use the leftovers, mixed with bread crumbs, to make faux felafel. Here's her recipe, with a few variations of mine:

In some olive or vegetable oil, saute 1 large onion, minced, with 1-2 cloves minced garlic. (or use roasted garlic instead)

Rinse and drain 2 cups of canned chick peas. Place chick peas, onion and garlic in the bowl of a food processor. Add 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1/4 cup tahini and 1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds.

Process the mixture, but don't let it get entirely smooth. Chill. Taste for salt and pepper.

I serve it with pita chips or bagel chips. You can make it a day or so ahead.

Enjoy!

[ August 23, 2001: Message edited by: Mezzaluna ]

[shroomgirl]

These are so easy and the girls will go bonkers over them....
Buy frozen puff pastry sheets (not shells)
herb and garlic cream cheese or make your own with cream cheese minced garlic, dillweed and black pepper.

preheat oven to 400*
foil lined cookie sheet
thaw your pastry for 30-45 minutes.
then open and cut into 2"squares put a healthy teaspoon of cream cheese in the middle and fold into a rectangle. Crimp edges with a fork. Beat an egg yolk with 1TBLS of water and brush alittle on top (not essential but makes it prettier). Bake them for 10-13 minutes check and take them out when golden brown and puffy.
Great at room temp. Put on a pretty plate with some herbs in the middle.

**CC, I've got a mushroom gig 3 hours outside of town Sept 16 and17....approx 80 folks 4 meals.
Sat evening is crudites with caponata, white bean garlic dip and pitas on the tables as I buffet line dinner. Menu will go up in Inside I think...your hdos sound alot like mine.

[cape chef]

Shroom,

I like the white bean purre...

Great with home made sesame crakers.
Have fun
cc

[Live_to_cook]

I suppose it depends on how "fancy" the shower is, but one of the simplest is crudite (vegetables and dip).

Slice an assortment of vegetables into dip-sticks, single-bite sizes. Carrots, red and green peppers, broccoli, celery, etc.

Dip could be store-bought dip (french onion, etc., there's lots of choices in most supermarket dairy cases) or, something a bit more ambitious whipped up at home. Crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese added to mayo is simple and tasty, 1/8 to 1/4 cup cheese to mayo.

Bag the veggies, tupperware the dip, bring a bowl and platter to assemble at scene.

A personal favorite is celery bites with chipotle cream cheese. Chipotles are smoked jalapenos that can be found in most supermarket Latino food sections, canned in adobo sauce. Peel open the soft chipotle and remove the seeds, and mince.

Use 1/2 tablespoon minced chipotle to a package of cream cheese. That won't seem spicy to most people, in my experience. (Add more if you prefer it spicier, of course.)

If the cream cheese isn't already soft, micro it covered in a bowl for 20 seconds or so first.

Add 2T mayo. Whip it together, taste and decide if you want to get more complicated. You could add a little garlic salt, fresh cilantro or scallion, minced red pepper, or other simple enhancements.

Spread into 1-2 inch sections of washed celery stalk.

[Kimmie]

Hi Amy,

I always like to suggest Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook. I think it's the very best out there at this time. The first 225 pages consist entirely of beautifully photographed, exquisite nibbles, tastes, and bites--and the following 270 pages give you the recipes and instructions to re-create them at home.

Click here for more info.

On your left on the screen, you can click on "Read an excerpt" where you will find recipes for the following items:

• Leek, Fennel, and Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
• Broccoli Rabe and Pancetta Stuffed Mushrooms
• Polenta Stuffed Mushrooms
• Porcini Stuffed Mushrooms with Camembert
• Golden Mushroom Caps
• Jicama and Green Papaya Summer Rolls
• Peanut Dipping Sauce

If none of these things are appealing to you, check HERE

And most importantly, have fun at the baby shower.



[ August 23, 2001: Message edited by: Kimmie ]

[Kimmie]

Simple ideas:

Cherry tomatos
Hollowed out and filled with a salsa (mango, onions, tomatos, coriander), finish with a shrimp and sprig of chervil; or filled with asparagus tips which will have been blanched and refreshed, cut into two or three depending on their length.

Asparagus
Blanch asparagus in salted water and quickly cool them in an ice water bath. Dry and roll a slice of Prosciutto at the base of each stem.

Breadsticks wrapped with Prosciutto

[ August 24, 2001: Message edited by: Kimmie ]

[nancya]

Last night, I was dreaming about little cherry tomatoes stuffed with guacamole. Hanging around ChefTalk is doing odd things to my dreams.

Recently, I had a wonderful little appetizer - an asparagus spear wrapped with a thin slice of smoked salmon, fried in a tempura batter, served with a chile sauce.

[Isa]

Do you have Martha's hors d'oeuvres book Nancy? It will provide you with endless hors d’oeuvres dreams.

She has a tortilla cup recipe, used it once and it came out perfectly.

Use a 2 1/2 inch cutter to cut rounds out of tortillas. Martha says to cut the tortillas after warming them in a hot pan but I found it easier to cut them first and then warm them in a hot pan to soften them. Quickly brush both sides with canola oil before forming the cups in a mini muffin tin. Cook in 350°F oven for 5-10 minutes.

Be warn they will disappear very fast. Hors d'oeuvres have a special appeal, people can’t seem to resist cute little bites.

As for stuffed cherry tomatoes she has a number of stuffing:

White bean purée
Haricots vets
Grilled shrimp and corn salad
Panzanella
Mixed olive salad
Roquefort & watercress

Thank you all so much for your wonderful ideas!!!! I love this web site so much! I ended up using Shroomgirls idea (puff pastry) as well as a simple crudite platter. Everything went over very well. I didn't really get all Martha Stewart on the presentation part but I did purchase the Hor d'oeuvers book. I have really enjoyed the book so far and I am looking forward to using some of the recipes during the holidays.

THANKS AGAIN!!!