Appetizers that can be served on spoons

[kbjesq]

I won an ebay auction for 500 disposable Asian soup spoons. Since I'm volunteering to serve appetizers at a non-profit fundraiser next month, I thought that I could use these spoons to serve some of the appetizers. I'm looking for suggestions on what I can serve using these spoons.

Cost is definitely an issue as this is a fundraiser - also I need something that I can serve (safely) at room temperature. I will be doing all the prep at home and then staging the appetizers at the event. I will have helpers (but not necessarily experienced cooks) to help with the staging. We expect 100+/- people to attend. Another volunteer is doing 3 individual apps, plus we will have a cheese board, so I am responsible for only 3-4 apps. All the food must be able to be eaten standing up and the patrons are generally not known for being adventurous eaters.

The them is loosely related to English food, to be put on platters (with card descriptions of food item) and served by students mingling with the patrons. My ideas so far:

"Beef Wellington" -- bite size pastry shell filled with a mushroom pate and topped with a small slice of beef tenderloin

"Fish and Chips" -- bite size slice of roasted potato with a dab of dill/horseradish/cream sauce and topped with a small piece of smoked salmon

"Pea Soup" -- green pea/mint mousse served on individual (disposable) white Chinese soup spoons ??? Not sure about this at all

I was thinking of some kind of chopped salad with pears and stilton for the spoons? Not sure how this would hold up during transport and service (approx. length of event is 1.5 hours) or crumbled blue w/a dab of chutney?

Any ideas, suggestions or constructive criticism would be warmly welcomed!!!

[YPants]

sounds exciting, and like something u could have a boatload of fun with brainstorming!

beef/salmon/tuna tartare?

el bulli style "ravioli"?

vealstock consommé?

anything that goes well together piled on top of each other like cheese + fruit + nuts

i think if u wanna serve that soup, it better be insanely flavorful to not be boring as hell... maybe chuck a piece of ham in there when ur boiling it or something, or some truffle oil or atleast something. or throw the idea out and top another dish with a green pea foam - something with pork maybe.

regarding the others, kinda sounds like u wanna take fairly plane food and make it exciting by deconstructing it and putting it in a spoon - not sure why u wanna go that route to be honest, sounds pretty boring to me.

[YPants]

u know what would be sweet that i always adore when i eat it - caramelized blue cheese with figs (or dates, plums, rhubarb, something along those lines). just coat the cheese with sugar and torch it lightly. man i love that dish.

[HungryC]

How about a gelled consomme or flavored aspic? You could either mold it directly in the spoons, or gel it in sheet pans, then cut into cubes to be placed onto the spoons. Gelling it in individual spoons allows you to float a tiny garnish in each one before they set.

[kbjesq]

u know what would be sweet that i always adore when i eat it - caramelized blue cheese with figs (or dates, plums, rhubarb, something along those lines). just coat the cheese with sugar and torch it lightly. man i love that dish.

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That sounds good and do-able. I forgot to mention, I'm just a home cook. Not a professional by any means! I wouldn't have the fridge space to do aspic ahead of time nor could I transport. I need something that I can assemble on-site at the event.

I could do the carmelized cheese, garnish with a spiced walnut perhaps? And/or a a dab of chutney?

I like this idea - I will experiment this weekend to make sure that the spoons don't melt under the torch.

I like the ideas, keep them coming, thanks so much!

[YPants]

def need the fruit chutney for the cheez

[CaliPoutine]

u know what would be sweet that i always adore when i eat it - caramelized blue cheese with figs (or dates, plums, rhubarb, something along those lines). just coat the cheese with sugar and torch it lightly. man i love that dish.

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That sounds good and do-able. I forgot to mention, I'm just a home cook. Not a professional by any means! I wouldn't have the fridge space to do aspic ahead of time nor could I transport. I need something that I can assemble on-site at the event.

I could do the carmelized cheese, garnish with a spiced walnut perhaps? And/or a a dab of chutney?

I like this idea - I will experiment this weekend to make sure that the spoons don't melt under the torch.

I like the ideas, keep them coming, thanks so much!

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K,

Dont sell yourself short. You're way more than a home cook!!

I wish I was there to help you

[YPants]

i like this thread.

how about a veal stock cappucino? make consommé, add cream, foam it and spoon it. or you could make lobster stock instead.

carpaccio of either beef or some kind of fish?

some kind of terrine? i had a pretty great plum glazed wild boar terrine recently. seasonal too!

[JAZ]

I won an ebay auction for 500 disposable Asian soup spoons.  Since I'm volunteering to serve appetizers at a non-profit fundraiser next month, I thought  that I could use these spoons to serve some of the appetizers.  I'm looking for suggestions on what I can serve using these spoons.

Cost is definitely an issue as this is a fundraiser - also I need something that I can serve (safely) at room temperature.  I will be doing all the prep at home and then staging the appetizers at the event.  I

...

The them is loosely related to English food, to be put on platters (with card descriptions of food item) and served by students mingling with the patrons. 

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How about a version of baked beans on toast? Cook some beans ("baked bean" style) -- a little spoonful of beans, with a little triangle of toast on top.

Another idea would be bangers and mash. Cook some bangers and cut them on the bias. Lay a slice in the spoon and top with some mash -- if the spoons are heat-proof, you could run them under the broiler.

[Tri2Cook]

I did some for a catering job a while back that were butter sauteed slices of plantain topped with a butter poached shrimp that had been dipped in spray dried coconut milk powder and topped with a bit of Thai basil. In the spoon under the bite was a bit of passion fruit puree seasoned with a little salt and just a hint of chile that was tipped in at the end to cut the richness and cleanse the mouth a bit. Nothing too fancy but it went over really well.

[maggiethecat]

Another idea would be bangers and mash. Cook some bangers and cut them on the bias. Lay a slice in the spoon and top with some mash -- if the spoons are heat-proof, you could run them under the broiler.

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Great idea, Janet. On similar lines (if the spoons are heatproof, etc.) why not bite-sized shepherd's pies? They could be made ahead -- fill the spoons with the meat filling, covered with piped- out mashed potatoes , run under the broiler.

[Marlene]

You mentioned the spoons were disposable. Does that mean plastic? That would possibly rule the broiler out. If you can run them under a broiler, how about a foie gras brulee?

[jayhay]

I was given a set of Chinese spoons recently, so I too, have been looking for appetizer ideas using them.

This recipe from epicurious has me interested, & might work for your event. You could make them "virgin" if need be.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/vie...Y-SHRIMP-240975

[Jonathan Kaplan]

Following up on the soup / consomme ideas, I like serving the following in shot glasses, but I'm sure they would work as well in soup spoons:

Carrot consomme (gel-clarified), with or without carrot foam (foamed unclarified puree)

Pea consumme (gel-clarified), perhaps with "pearls" (small sphereification) of truffle juice? Or frozen spheres of truffle oil?

Both these work fine at room temp, but you could also put the consomme's in a thermos, and pour on site.

jk

[CaliPoutine]

All the food must be able to be eaten standing up and the patrons are generally not known for being adventurous eaters.

Remember the OP said these ppl are not adventurous eaters. I think foi might be too adventurous.

[kbjesq]

i like this thread.

how about a veal stock cappucino? make consommé, add cream, foam it and spoon it. or you could make lobster stock instead.

carpaccio of either beef or some kind of fish?

some kind of terrine? i had a pretty great plum glazed wild boar terrine recently. seasonal too!

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Dear YPants, your ideas are wonderful but way out of my league! I don't have any way to foam anything. I'm just a home cook, despite what Randi says. What I need are simple ideas (I'm sure considered boring by many egulleters' standards) that can be prepared by me at home (I won't have any prep help) and then plated at the event. The attendees are mostly fairly bland folks . . . I live in a small town in FL and "sushi" is considered exotic by quite a few folks around here.

Nonetheless, keep the ideas coming because I have 500 spoons to use! (No, I don't expect to use them all at this event but we do have several events during the year and I will keep a list of the ideas and use them later in the year)

[kbjesq]

How about a version of baked beans on toast? Cook some beans ("baked bean" style) -- a little spoonful of beans, with a little triangle of toast on top.

Another idea would be bangers and mash. Cook some bangers and cut them on the bias. Lay a slice in the spoon and top with some mash -- if the spoons are heat-proof, you could run them under the broiler.

This is do-able and a great idea. Love beans. The folks around here would be comfortable with this dish and it would be very cost effective!

Unfortunately, I will not have access to a broiler or any other kitchen equipment on-site, so some of the other suggestions will not work for this event.

I have to make everything at home and then transport (about a 10 min. drive) and assemble on-site. I will have help on-site to do assembly, but not in the form of experienced cooks/chefs. They will be volunteers who can be counted on to follow simple directions but that's about it.

Now I suppose everyone is wondering why I volunteered for this job! It's the challenge . . . and the reward when someone comes up to me and says that they enjoyed the food!

[kbjesq]

There's a pretty interesting idea here: swordfish and cherry salsa on spoons.

Something like this, I could make ahead and transport and plate on-site.

[kbjesq]

All the food must be able to be eaten standing up and the patrons are generally not known for being adventurous eaters.

Remember the OP said these ppl are not adventurous eaters. I think foi might be too adventurous.

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In this small town, I don't even think there is a market that would sell it!!! I live in a culinary wasteland - no kidding.

[Daniel]

I dont know why but for some reason I am thinking of a dessert on a spoon.. Might be cute to do like a play on cereal.. Like a vanilla milk panna cotta with a single cherrio on top or something.. Or like a lucky charm and marshmallow.. Just an idea.

[auds]

Keller's got a poached shrimp with avocado salsa thing on a spoon in the FL cookbook. Non-challenging flavor combos, good served room temp, transportable, relatively cheap and easy. I think there's a poached egg and bacon thing on spoon in there too, though poached eggs aren't as portable really. Neither is particularly British, though...

[djyee100]

What an interesting thread. But I did scratch my head about the English food theme...um, what is English food?

Whatever. I suggest Salmon Mousse with water crackers. You can pipe the mousse into the spoons with a pastry bag. The mousse-filled spoons can be made ahead of time, and refrigerated. (Maybe borrow space in a friend's refrigerator?) Or you could make big molds of salmon mousse, which are a very attractive presentation, and spoon out the mousse at service.

This Salmon Mousse recipe is similar to the one I make. Omit the hot sauce and capers, and add 2 tsp of dill. http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...5/80819027/1022

Serve it with a water cracker or water biscuit. http://www.carrscrackers.com/

ETA: This mousse tastes perfectly good made with canned salmon, and that's how I make it for a crowd.

Edited September 25, 2008 by djyee100 (log)

[JAZ]

Another thought -- if you interpret "British" food to include British colonial foods, then you could do some Indian-inspired appetizers. Saag paneer comes to mind -- a little bite of spicy spinach with a chunk of paneer on top (or you could cheat and use farmer's cheese, if it's easier to find).

[Tri2Cook]

Hmmm... I somehow missed that part about the "English food theme". So disregard my completely off base reply above.

How about a small piece of toasted, buttered bread topped with a bit of Branston pickle, a bit of peppery salad greens and a piece of Stilton. Ploughman's Lunch on a spoon. Or you could bake pieces of sausage and onion in Yorkshire pudding batter in mini muffin tins or small half sphere molds. Make a gravy with a bit of English mustard and Worcestershire added, put some in the spoon and top with the baked bit. Toad in a Hole on a spoon.

[kbjesq]

Hmmm... I somehow missed that part about the "English food theme". So disregard my completely off base reply above.

How about a small piece of toasted, buttered bread topped with a bit of Branston pickle, a bit of peppery salad greens and a piece of Stilton. Ploughman's Lunch on a spoon. Or you could bake pieces of sausage and onion in Yorkshire pudding batter in mini muffin tins or small half sphere molds. Make a gravy with a bit of English mustard and Worcestershire added, put some in the spoon and top with the baked bit. Toad in a Hole on a spoon.

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Cool! Both of these would be do-able. How would the yorkshire puddings hold up during transport? I always thought they had to be served "immediately" but confess that I am no expert on yorkshire puddings or English food!