Appetizer Recipes

Cafe Society
1

Okay folks, I’m hoping you’ll all up step to the plate and help me out here.

I am tasked with bringing an appetizer to my sister’s place for Thanksgiving.

I’d like to bring something good and somewhat original. There are ‘buts’…

  • Sis lives an hour to an hour and a half away from me, so the appetizer must be transportable.

  • The appetizer must be done, i.e, I can’t do any of the cooking, prep or finish work at her house. This is because her kitchen is small, and every available cooking surface will be in use when I arrive.

Looking forward to some suggestions…

2

I made a cranberry salsa last year that I think I am going to make again this year. It was pretty darn good. And very easy. It would also transport in a tupperware container well.

I can’t find the exact recipe online, I have it at work, but this one looks almost identical. The only difference is I use green jalapenos and lime juice.

3

Is this to be served as the first course at a sit down dinner or as an hors d’oeuvre to be passed around before people are seated?

Are you thinking something with or without meat, with veggies, give us some idea of what you’re interested in?

And finally, how much prep time are you willing to invest in the effort?

4

Something for room temp…
These are cheesy, crunchy, addictive:

Cheese crispies

1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 c sharp cheddar,grated
2/3 c butter
1 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt
1 cup rice crispies

Combine everything but rice crispies in bowl. Add RC’s, mix well, shape
into 1 inch balls, bake in 375 deg oven for 20 minutes

Nice and savory.


Posted this one somewhere else a couple of days ago. When you transport it, stick an ice pack or two around the container since it has mayo:

Garlic Monterey Dip:

227gr (half a pound) Monterey jack cheese, finely shredded
2 cups mayo
3 cloves crushed garlic

Mix all of the above in a bowl, stick in fridge for a while to let garlic mellow out. Serve with chunks of french or sourdough bread.

Roasted Veggie Baguette Sandwich

1 Baguette, sliced lengthwise
3 red bell peppers, roasted and skinned*
1 red onion, sliced and cooked until soft in frypan
1 japanese eggplant, cooked until soft in frypan**
Some white sliced Italian cheese (mozz, fontina)
Balsamic vinegar***

Drizzle some vinegar on both sides of the sliced bread. Layer some of the cheese slices on the bread. Start layering the veggies. When stacked up, put the top of the bread on and squoosh down until it seems stable. When you get there, slice the baguette into 1 inch wedges.
*I cut them into quarters lengthwise, then stick them under the broiler skin side up until the skins get black. Then the go in a bowl with a lid to let the steam loosen the skins a bit more, then when cooled down, peel off the black ickies.

**Japanese/Asian eggplant= the long purple ones as opposed to tubby blackish Mediterranean ones. They seem to have fewer seeds and a less-tough skin. If you use the Med ones, skin them before frying. Or if you don’t like eggplant, lose it and replace with fried mushrooms. Or add mushrooms anyhow. It’s your sandwich.

***If you can find it, squirt on some balsamic syrup. Something like this. My Costco has something similar for about $6/bottle.

5

Just for noshing on before the big sit-down dinner.

I don’t mind investing some time preparing the appetizer/hors d’oeurvres, but I don’t want to spend hours and hours on it either. As I said earlier, the finished product must be easy to transport and I don’t want to have to worry about the product falling apart on the way.

I’m looking for anything, really; be it meat, veggies, etc. The problem I have is that it must be good at room temp or cold and must be transported in a finished state. The oven will be in use when I arrive, so I won’t have any way of heating up whatever I bring. There will be a fairly large group of people there too. Someone else is already bringing a veggie tray.

Thanks for the suggestions so far. I’m bookmarking all of them.

6

Here are some suggestions that I think will fit what you’re looking for:

Either watermelon wrapped in serrano ham or melon wrapped in prosciutto - I see that you are in the NW like myself and we still have both watermelon and cantelope available. Have the ham sliced ultra thin and wrap slices of the ham (either serrano [Spanish] or proscuitto [Italian]) around cut wedges of the fruit and use mint leaves with the serrano or sage with the proscuitto. Hold together with toothpicks. Get imported ham as the domestic varieties are almost all uniformly bad. You will pay about $15 to $19 per pound but it goes a long way. I have served this for six (with 2-3 pieces per person) using about 0.25-pounds of ham. The name of serrano recipe is Sandia con Jamon and the Italian version most oftened goes by Proscuitto e melone. You can also sprinkle balsamic vinegar or sherry vinegar on this just before serving.

Another recipe involving more prep but a bit more unusual (the beets) but equally tasty and very colorful!

Roasted beets with Goat Cheese (Betabeles):

1-pound fresh beets (red or gold)
1/2 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (evoo)
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Wash beets well and trim greens. Cut beets in 1/4 wedges. Do not peel. Toss with other ingredients in large bowl and transfer to baking dish and cover with foil. Bake for 35 minutes and then cool. Put on platter and just before serving spoon goat cheese dressing on top. For the goat cheese dressing:

1 cup fresh goat cheese
1/2 cup milk
1 serrano chile, chopped
1/4 cup evoo
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and puree well. Chill and you’re good to go.

If you like these ideas let me know, I have many others if you tell me what ingredients you want to use based on what’s available at the store.

7

Some sort of meat/spice/cream cheese rollup or pinwheel would probably work well.

You can use basically any deli meat. Spread with cream cheese that has or doesn’t have chunks of whatever embedded in it. Roll the meat into a cylinder. Toothpick it into place.

You can make exotic ones like turkey with curry and apricot or less exotic ones like corned beef with horseradish.

To make pinwheels, just overlap the edges of the meat slices as you roll them. Chill, then slice as thick or thin as you like.

8

I should have pointed out that the second recipe that I listed above in post #6 came from the book El Farol - Tapas and Spanish Cuisine by James Campbell Caruso from the chapter titled Tapas Frias (Cold Tapas).

9

Thanks all for your suggestions. They all sound very good, and I’ll probably be trying all of them. I host Christmas Day dinner, so some of these recipes will be tried on that occasion too.

10

Can you bring a crockpot? My favorite appetizer is super easy, and there’s never any left. If you double the recipe, only double the meat, because the sauce should be plenty.

Mom’s meatballs:

1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion, finely chopped
dash Worcestershire sauce (optional)
jar Concord Grape jelly
bottle chili sauce (if you’re unfamiliar with this, in the market it’s found by the ketchup)

Pour bottle of chili sauce, and a jar (if you get a big ol’ jar use half) of grape jelly into the crockpot.

Mix onion beef and a dash Worcestershire sauce in a bowl. Make meatballs. Now this is where I differ from my mom, in that I fry them first and drain off the fat. She just chucks them into the crockpot.

Set crockpot to high, and cook for about three hours Stir regularly. Place in the fridge in a covered dish. After transport, put the back in the crockpot, and turn it to high. Stir regularly. Then put on low while serving.

Believe it or not they’re delicious! They’re kind of sweet and sour. I always get asked for the recipe, and no one ever believes me.

If you want something cold, here’s my favorite recipe which I make my friend, who’s from Spain, bring:

Spanish Tortilla (tortilla de patata):

four large potato’s, peeled and sliced thinly
tbs salt (or less, I like salty)
1 large onion, thinly sliced
six eggs.

Coat a non-stick (this is important) skillet with olive oil. I use my deep pan because it’s got very lightly sloping sides. This thing needs to be flipped, so use a pan that is not bigger than your plate. Add potato pieces, in a single layer, making sure they don’t stick. Lightly salt each layer then add the onions, Alternate layers of potato and onion. Cook on low medium heat, and cover. You’re softening the potatoes, not frying them. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are soft You can stir them, if you don’t think they’re cooking, but I don’t like to, because it breaks up the potatoes I do flip them though, if the top ones aren’t cooking.

Beat eggs in a large bowl. Salt to taste. Slide the potatoes into beaten eggs. Let it sit for a couple of seconds so the egg fills the voids in the mixture. Wipe out your skillet, and add heat 2 tbsp of the oil in large skillet over high heat. Add potato-egg mixture, spreading quickly. Immediately lower the heat to medium. Give the pan a good shake prevent sticking. When the bottom is brown put a flat plate over skillet and flip the tortilla onto the plate. Add oil (cooking spray works too) to the pan. Brown on the other side.

It’s really not as complicated as it sounds. Serve cold in pie slices.

11

Something ridiculously easy that always goes over huge when I serve it, simply take a block of cream cheese and dump a jar of salsa over it (or make the cranberry salsa, that sounds delicious), with a bowl of tortilla chips.

12

Waterman, that beet recipes sounds very interesting. I showed it to my hubby. He’s decided he wants us to bring that dish to the Thanksgiving shindig. I think I’m also going to make the cranberry salsa recipe thing. That should be enough, I would think.

I’m going to eventually try all these recipes. I’ve done the pinwheel and wrap things before. Those usually go over well. I wanted to try something different. I love to experiment with new tastes, textures and recipes.

13

Glad to be of help. If you need any other info just give a shout and thanks!

14

I have to try Mom’s Meatballs, they sound great.

15

I have a great recipe for artichoke salsa. If this sounds like your type of thing, I will post the recipe.

16

These are easy and a big hit.
Thin slices of ham (pkgs. are available at most grocers)
Pickle spears, Dill or Sweet, you can buy whole pickles and cut your own.
Cream cheese or Nuefchatel, softened to room temp.

Lay out ham slices and spread w/ a thin layer of cheese.
Place a pickle spear at one end of a ham slice and roll up. (you can cut the spears to size as per your judgement)
Spear the roll w/ several toothpicks (those colored ones would add a flair) and cut into bite size pieces, one inch or less w/ a toothpick in each piece.

17

Also,you should place the “Rollups” on a tray or platter and cover w/ Saran wrap so the ham doesn’t dry out.
Another easy possiblity would be deviled eggs, they are usually popular.

18

There’s a previous thread here that has some good suggestions. (Mine are best, of course. :wink: )

19

My biggest hobby is BBQ, particularly smoked ribs, pulled pork, brisket and chicken. In my circle, this isn’t a secret, it’s a daily occurance. In the case of the foods I’ve mentioned, they’ll generally stay hot for AT LEAST 2 hours in a well warmed cooler, usually 4. What I do is…I run HOT water thru the cooler and then shut the lid on it. Next, I warm a couple of ‘cooking towels’ (normal, old towels) in the dryer. I pour the water out, put a towel down…put the hot food in…cover with another towel and close. It depends on the mass of the food but it will stay hot/warm for QUITE a while. Another trick I’ve used is to put a 2 liter bottle of very hot water in the cooler with the rest. It’ll do you well, I promise!