Need a kick-ass "finger food" to impress co-workers at party!

Cafe Society
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Hello all,

I’ve only been at my job since December, but my co-workers are having a gathering on Saturday night to just hang out, play board games, have fun, and not talk about work. The hostess asked everyone to bring sweets or snacks, preferably some kind of easy-to-eat finger foods. I’d like to prepare something impressive since I’m the new guy, but I’m at a loss for ideas. I can make amazing meals out of pasta, ground beef, tomatoes, onions, peppers, cheese, sausage… but that’s not screaming “easy-to-eat finger foods” to me.

I’m sure someone else will make a “seven-layer dip” sort of thing, and I love that stuff, but I’d love to go above and beyond. Preferably something with short prep time that is relatively easy to prepare, so I’m not going to be making fried wontons from scratch or anything. A platter of fried mozzarella sticks, the kind you bake in the oven? Everyone loves those, and I may resort to that if I can’t think of something cooler. Maybe half a hollowed-out pineapple filled with pineapple yogurt, with pineapple and apple wedges to dip in it?

I will only have late Friday night and Saturday afternoon and evening to prepare it, if that makes a difference. If you can think of something really yummy that can be store-bought and won’t break the bank, all the better. I seek ideas, and perhaps recipes as well! Even if I don’t use them for Saturday, they may very well come in handy in the future.

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Epicurious has a large selection of hors d’oeuvres.

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Sun-dried Tomato Cheesecake

Crust:
1 1/4 cups flour
6 tablespoons butter, chilled
1 large egg

Filling:
1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, drained (keep 1 Tbsp of oil)
6 garlic cloves
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
3 large eggs
2 8-oz blocks of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup finely chopped scallions

For crust: Preheat oven to 350F. Blend flour and butter in food processor until mealy. Add egg. Pulse until just blended. Press into bottom of 9 by 13 pan. Dough will be thin. Bake 10 minutes. May crack, which is okay. Cool.

For filling: Mix all ingredients (including 1 Tbsp reserved oil), except scallions, in food processor. Fold in scallions. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour into crust. Bake 20 minutes. Cool to room temp. Cut into finger-sized squares, or large squares and then into triangles.

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These pecans are soooo good…

Sweet and Spicy Pecans

1 1/2 cups pecan halves
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon cumin
3/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon seasoning salt

Toss pecans in butter. Combine sugar and remaining ingredients. Sprinkle evenly over pecans, tossing to coat. Spread pecans in single layer on baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, stirring once after 7 minutes. Cool. Store in an airtight container (if you have any left).

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  1. stuff a date with a smoked almond, wrap in half a strip of bacon, roast until the bacon is browned (probably best roasted on a rack)

  2. thaw a sheet of puff pastry, cut in half… brush one half with olive oil, minced garlic, parmesan cheese, rosemary, salt and pepper, whatever… cover with other half, cut ‘sandwich’ into strips, twist together, and bake.

  3. kalamata olives, basil, romano cheese, garlic, olive oil, and toasted walnuts in a food processor to make paste. serve with toasted baguette slices.

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Fruit tray with dip.

Strawberries, granny smith apples, grapes, starfruit, kiwi, whatever you find that’s in season and looks good really, but tart fruits work particularly well with the sweet dip.

Dip couldn’t be easier, 1 8 oz brick softened cream cheese mixed with 1 7 oz jar of marshmallow creme (fluff) and a teaspoon of vanilla, tint if desired.

It’s lighter than you might expect, tastes fabulous and I’ve never had leftovers yet. My theory is that folks dive into it when faced with an snack spread for the imagined virtue of ‘hey, I’m choosing nutricious fruit!’ Sure ya are, and dipping it in zillion fat gram sugar dip. :smiley:

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Gravlax on toasted Garlic Croutons

It sounds long but is really easy once you read it through.
It will take a couple days but only 20-30 minutes prep and 5 minutes each additional day.

Software:
2 filets of very fresh salmon
kosher salt (lots)
black pepper (lots ( or white if you like)
sugar (lots)
fresh dill, several bunches

Hardware:

a medium rectangular plastic container
a brick wrapped in tin foil
a couple bunches of green onions yes, they are hardware
plastic wrap
good needle nose pliers or good tweezers.
You want nice filets, as fresh as you can get, preferably wild as they have a bit more flavour IMHO. If you look at them sideways they are a wedge, keep that in mind. Rub your hand over the meat, you will feel pin bones, you want to pull all of those out.

Mix together equal parts of salt and sugar, enough to completely cover the flesh of the filets. Add pepper as desired, but not too much, remember Swedes are not too big into the spicy foods. Rub this into the flesh and place the dill on top of one wedge, making a sandwich with the two pieces of fish as the bread and the salt sugar mix and the dill as the filling.

Some people sprinkle vodka or aquavit on the filets before placing them together. My Swedish MIL didn’t do it that way so neither do I :slight_smile:

In the rectangular dish which is large enough to hold your fish sammich, place the green onion sideways, trimming as needed. These will be acting as a sort of a grid to hold the fish off the bottom of the container.
Take the filets ( sandwiched together) and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Place them onto the green onions and put the brick over that. You can use pretty much any heavy thing you want, you want a good even pressure on the whole pice. I use another plastic container that nests and fill it with marbles or metal ball bearings.
What? Doesn’t everyone have pounds of metal ball bearings lying around :wink: ?
OK, ok, back to the recipe. So I usually do this in the morning I put it in the fridge, bottom shelf towards the back in a big Ziploc bag to keep it from taking on the cheese or polish sausage aromas. Next morning I take the container and drain out the liquid that has been extracted from the fish and replace the works in the fridge.

Repeat this every morning for 3-5 days, flipping the package over each day. You will get much less liquid after the first day unless you got some farm raised fish or waterlogged. That’s why you should call your fish guy and tell him you want to know when the fish comes in so it is super fresh.

After it’s done curing, take the fish and wipe off the salt and sugar mix leaving a bit for garnish. I slice it very thinly against the grain, it really helps to have a scary sharp filet knife for this or one of those nift Granton blades ( the ones with the little divots in the side of the blade)

The Croutons:

I take a baguette, slice it very thinly on a bias. Rub them with a little garlice and some olive oil and toast in a hot oven. You can also subsitute Swedish wheat crackers or those little squares of rye bread.

I will make up some cream cheeses as well, I generall have one plain, one with roasted red peppers chopped and mixed in and one with chives for colour. Serve with capers and thinly sliced red onion, What I do is place a dollop of cream cheese, a couple capers and a couple slivers of onion then top with a folded piece of the fish. You can add a bit of dill fi you like as well.

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Whenever we have one of these threads, I always post the same recipe, because whenever I serve this, people go bonkers for it.
Sun-Dried Tomato & Kalamata Olive Tapenade

3/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, drained
3/4 cup dry-packed sundried tomatoes (not the kind packed in oil, the kind in bags)
1/4 cup pine nuts
5-6 cloves fresh garlic, peeled
1.5 cups fresh parsley

Whirl everything in the food processor until it’s the consistency of coarse, wet sand. Serve with pita triangles or pumpernickel cocktail squares.

Best if left to “meld” in the fridge overnight, but pretty durn good right out of the processor bowl, too. You can mess with the proportions of the ingredients quite a lot, so long as the amount of parsley is roughly twice as much as the olives.

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Red Wine Chicken Wings

3 dozen chicken ‘drumettes’
1 bottle of a dry red wine
Couple cloves of garlic, just crushed
A few bay leaves
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 big sprig of rosemary

Dump all of the above into a shallow bowl or pan or Ziploc bag where the chicken can be in 1 or 2 layers and marinate overnight, giving a stir once or twice to make sure the chicken marinates evenly.

Turn oven to 400 degrees.

Dump chicken into colander and drain off marinade, and give a few good shakes. Toss wings with a little oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes, until skin starts to turn dark and meat is cooked through.

Very simple and very tasty.

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Bah, forgot to mention you’ll want to spread these out on a baking sheet, single layer for the cooking. Sorry.

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These all look great! Here’s a sweet option:

Raspberry Truffle Brownies
-One brownie recipe (I like the one in Joy of Cooking–the brownies come out chewy and moist and chocolatey)
-8 oz. cream cheese
-8 oz. good dark chocolate; Ghirardelli’s bittersweet bars work great
-About 1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves

Set the cream cheese out to soften at room temperature.
Bake the brownies, and cool them.
Melt 4 oz. of the chocolate.
With an electric mixer, beat the melted chocolate and cream cheese together.
Add raspberry preserves to taste.
Smear this raspberry chocolate goo on top of the cooled brownies in an even layer.
Melt the remaining 4 oz chocolate.
Dip a fork in the chocolate to coat the tines. Hold the fork at an angle about 6 inches above the brownies, and whip it back and forth on the diagonal to create long streaks of chocolate across the surface of the brownies. (You’ll have to practice this a bit to get the right effect–you’re going for sort of a Jackson Pollock thing).
Cool and cut into bite-sized pieces. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

These come out beautiful and elegant, and they look much more difficult than they are.

Daniel

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Tomato mozzarella salad skewers

Get grape tomatoes, small fresh mozzarella balls, and fresh basil. Arrange them on long toothpicks or skewers, provide a balsamic vinegarette dipping sauce. One each, tomato, cheese and basil leaf for each skewer, you can cut the tomato in half to bookend the skewer as well, the presentation is all up to you.

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Great ideas, everyone! Thank you, but please keep 'em coming! Cheesesteak, the fresh mozzarella balls on toothpicks are a great idea. Everyone loves mozzarella cheese, as I always say. I might even get a tub of those balls and just marinate them overnight. MagicEyes, the sundried tomato cheesecake sounds really amazing as well, and I might attempt that if I have enough time.

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Are sweet things an option? If so, here’s Special K Bars:

1 cup sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups Special K cereal
1 bag (11-12 ounce) semisweet chocolate chips
1 bag (11-12 ounce) butterscotch chips

Put the sugar and the corn syrup in a BIG saucepan, and bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, and all the sugar is melted, take it off the heat and add the peanut butter. The heat in the mixture will be enough to melt it; stir until it’s melted. Then, add the Special K, stir until it’s all mixed. Spread the mixture out onto a cookie sheet and let it cool. When it’s cool, melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips together in the microwave or on the stove (double boiler is preferred, or be very careful). Spread the chocolate on top of the Special K stuff, then let that all cool. Cut into bars, the size of your choice, and serve.

As tasty as any candy bar, I tell ya! By the way, do specifically go with Special K; the peanut butter won’t stick to Frosted Flakes, and I don’t even want to think what’ll happen to Fruity Pebbles.

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Scumpup’s Boozing Crackers

1 bag Oyster Crackers
1 envelope dry ranch salad dressing mix
1 stick of butter
Dump the crackers into a large plastic bag.
Melt the butter and thoroughly mix the dressing mix with it.
Pour it over the crackers, close the bag and shake until the crackes are evenly coated.
Spread the crackers on a cookie sheet and bake in a 325 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes. Watch them closely so you don’t burn them. Allow them to cool before serving.

When I make these for parties with my friends, I add black pepper, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder to the mixture because my friends like spicier foods.

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Here’s one I came up with on the fly. It’s quick and easy and should taste pretty good.
Get a jar of a good quality chipotle flavored salsa, a bag of those tiny frozen (cooked) shrimp, an avocado, and a bag of tostito scoops.
Mix the salsa and thawed tiny shrimp in a bowl, cut the avocado into a fine dice and add to the shrimp and salsa. Lay out the corn chip “scoop bowls” and spoon a teaspoon of the shrimp avocado salsa into each. Garnish with any remaining avocado.

That should do it.

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Go to Sam’s Club and look for their frozen mini Eclairs and frozen mini Creme Puffs! These things are fabulous and inexpensive. Take them out of the freezer about an hour before you arrive at the party so they’ll be thawed out and ready to eat when you get there.

If you’re wanting to actually prepare something I would suggest a fruit pizza or pinwheels.

Fruit Pizza

1 (18-ounce) package refrigerated cookie dough
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or other flavoring (almond, orange, or lemon)
Fresh blueberries, banana slices, mandarin orange sections, seedless grapes, strawberry halves, kiwifruit (or any other fruit you want), well drained
1/2 cup orange, peach, or apricot preserves
1 tablespoon water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line an ungreased 14-inch pizza pan with cookie dough cut in 1/8-inch slices, overlapping slightly. Bake 12 minutes or until light brown; remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla extract or other flavoring; spread over cookie crust. Arrange fruit over cream cheese layer in any design you want (use your imagination).

In a small saucepan over very low heat, make a glaze by heating preserves and water. Brush glaze over fruit, making sure to cover the fruit that will turn dark. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Pinwheels

1 (3 ounces) package cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon chives, chopped
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
6 slices delli ham (thin slices)
8-10 tortillas

Mix the cream cheese, worchestershire sauce, chives, and mustard powder together. Spread mixture over tortilla, place ham slices over cream cheese mixture, roll up jelly-roll style, cut into 1 inch pieces.

You can use turkey or roast beef in place of the ham
Fiesta Pinwheels

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup picante sauce
2 TBLS taco seasoning mix
Dash garlic powder
1 can (4 1/2 ounces) chopped ripe olives, drained
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
1 cup (4 ounces) finely shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
8 flour tortillas (10 inches)
Salsa

In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, picante sauce, taco seasoning and garlic powder until smooth. Stir in olives, chilies, cheese
and onions.

Spread about 1/2 cup on each tortilla. Roll up jelly-roll style; wrap in plastic wrap.

Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.

Slice into 1-inch pieces.

Serve with salsa.

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As LifeOnWry does, I always post my old standards.

  1. Coarsely chop equal parts green and black olives (Sicilian and Kalamata), mix with finely chopped garlic and oregano to taste (lots!), cover with good olive oil, keep overnight to blend.
  2. Coarsely chop Roma tomatoes (I like to scrape out the seeds first), add some paper-thin strips of onion, mix with garlic and basil (lots again!), drizzle with a little olive oil, serve fresh. (Hint: Wash the basil leaves, stack and roll them, and slice the roll paper-thin to make pretty green threads.)

Steal some of LifeOnWry’s bread to serve with these, or slice a skinny baguette diagonally.

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I’ve tried two of these meatball recipes . They were both pretty good. The burgundy ones use the same ingredients as a brisket recipe I make. The meatballs are a little faster. I’ll use a flour thickener instead of cornstarch if I make them again though. And go easier on the onion. I’d never had anything like the dilled ones before. I’ll probably make those again, too.

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[Shakespeare]
What’s in a name? That which we call scumpup’s boozing crackers by any other name might actually sound edible.
[/Shakespeare]