Appetizer/Hors D'Oeuvre/Starter Ideas

[tammylc]

Sounds brilliant, Maggie - recipe?

Tryska - I'll take both veggie and non-veggie eggroll recipes, if you don't mind...

[Rachel Perlow]

For the frozen mini-tarts & phyllo triangles, I don't think it is necessary to bake them before freezing. Just bake at same temp as usual, straight from the freezer, for a few minutes longer than if not frozen.

[tammylc]

For the frozen mini-tarts & phyllo triangles, I don't think it is necessary to bake them before freezing. Just bake at same temp as usual, straight from the freezer, for a few minutes longer than if not frozen.

I don't bother pre-cooking the phyllo triangles - those work great from the freezer. I just wasn't sure about the tarts. But I just checked the recipe, and it turns out it's a moot point - it specifically says they shouldn't be frozen (but can be prepared up to 2 days in advance).

[prasantrin]

This savoury shortbread recipe is a good one. It's nice served with a bit of mango chutney as a spread. According to the recipe, the dough can be frozen but only for up to a week, so it might not work with your schedule. The cookies are a bit fragile, so you'd have to be very careful if trying to freeze them once they've been baked.

I've also made a recipe similar to the second recipe here. I think freezing the cookies fpr a few weeks after baking them would be fine, but I've never done it so I can't be certain.

[tryska]

well i've been a bit under weather, and went to bed last night at 7pm and totally forgot to look for those recipes - i'm sorry!

however i jsut spoke with my filipino coworker, and he basically told me how he makes his eggrolls:

finely shred your vegetables - chinese cabbage, bok choy, water chestnut, bamboo shoots, carrots and add some whole enoki mushrooms (really whatever looks good with produce). stir fry till tender with some soy sauce, fish sauce, some chopped garlic, and a little lime juice.

when it's cooked through, make sure to drain it and dry it off very well, and then wrap in your springroll wrappers.

for a pork version, take some ground pork, stir fry till cooked with garlic and ginger, a little soy, and maybe some more fish sauce, drain so that it is very dry, and then mix with your vegetable mix.

you can roll one version the traditional way, and make little bundles with the other version. make them and freeze, and then the day off, fry in 400degree oil until golden brown.

Edited November 25, 2003 by tryska (log)

[therdogg]

Stuffed mushrooms (not sure how they'd work if frozen, but my hunch is they'd be okay...)

Didi Emmons, in her book Vegetarian Planet, has a very easy recipe for wasabi-flavored asparagus tempura (wasabi powder in the batter). You can't freeze it, but it's easy to do that day and is a delicious dish with unusual flavors.

This summer sometime, Cook's Illustrated had some good ideas for bruschetta, like a cannellini bean puree with caramelized red onions and arugula (maybe I'm combining two different recipes here...) They looked easy enough, and everyone likes bruschetta.

And hey, it's not very sophisticated, but potato chips and onion dip always goes over well...

[seawakim]

I'm looking for ideas for hors d'oeuvres that can be made ahead of time from 8 hours to several days ahead of time. I'm working on a mix of hot and cold and have only found a handful that would work. I would welcome any suggestions and advice.

Thanks!

[Anna N]

You might want to check out this recent thread on freezable finger foods.

[gsquared]

Hmm.....

Parmesan crisps with a dollop of creme fraiche and chopped chives.

Oven baked potato crisps topped with chopped slow roasted tomato and origanum.

Small bruschetta topped with sweet roasted garlic paste and roasted bell pepper.

Small phyllo parcels filled with goats cheese.

[bloviatrix]

Puff pastry roulades filled with a combination of marinated artichokes, chopped spinach and cheese. Make the logs then freeze. Before the party, take out of the freezer, thaw, slice, and bake.

[s'kat]

Bollitas freeze extremely well. Just take them straight from the freezer to the oven. I make huge batches of these at a time, and freeze them for the holidays. Recipe is only basic... some good variations: sub feta for the cheddar and cream cheese for the butter and use pitted Kalamata olives; sub in parm for the cheddar and use large green olives; or sub in pepper-jack cheese for the cheddar (or half jack/half habanero is a personal favourite).

[Busboy]

Gravlax is simple, impressive and can be done days ahead of time. And tastes great.

[seawakim]

Great ideas! Thank you for all the recommendations. Please add if you have any more.

[seawakim]

Hmm.....

Parmesan crisps with a dollop of creme fraiche and chopped chives.

Oven baked potato crisps topped with chopped slow roasted tomato and origanum.

Small bruschetta topped with sweet roasted garlic paste and roasted bell pepper.

Small phyllo parcels filled with goats cheese.

Are parmesan crisps simply melted shredded parmesan in a pan and cooled?

Any tips on making these? Should I use any fats in the pan?

[tammylc]

I'm doing two kinds of phyllo trianges - spinach and feta and mushroom. I make them up in advance and freeze them, then bake them off a few at a time for serving. I'll also be doing some little tarts that are filled with a leek and cheese filling - kind of like little mini quiches, and they can be made a couple days in advance and reheated.

Recipes

Spinach and Feta filling

1 pkg frozen spinach, thawed and as much liquid as possible squeezed out

2 scallions chopped

1 1/4 c feta, crumbled

1/4 c freshly grated parmesan

Mushroom filling

-this is a filling that I'd usually put in stuffed mushrooms, but I wanted to be able to do it in advance

6 shallots

~10 oz mushrooms

2 tbsp butter

a bunch of freshly grated parmesan

salt and pepper

Chop and saute the shallots and mushrooms in butter until the mushrooms start to brown. Puree in a food processor. Add the parm, and puree again. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Making the Triangles

Take two sheets of phyllo pastry and place them on your counter. Brush liberally with melted butter. Use a sharp knife to cut the phyllo into thirds (so they are long rectangles). Place a tbsp (or so, depends on your phyllo) of the filling at the base of a phyllo third. Fold a corner diagonally over the filling to start the triangle. Continue folding up in a triangle shape until you run out of phyllo. When all three have been folded, brush the outsides with melted butter and put on a cookie sheet. Repeat. When the cookie sheet is full, put it in the freezer briefly to harden up the butter and then transfer the triangles to a large freezer bag for storage until use. Makes about 3 dozen spinach and 2 dozen mushroom. If you want large triangles (less work) cut the phyllo in half. For smaller triangles, try quarters - although that's way more folding than I'd want to do!

If you want the recipe for the tarts, let me know - I'll have to dig it out - I haven't made them yet this year, so I don't have the recipe in short term memory.

[forever_young_ca]

A couple of weeks ago I made the Gruyere Cheese gougeres from the French Laundry Cookbook (page 48). The recipe was more than I needed, so as an experiment I piped the entire recipe onto parchment lined sheet pans, cooked 1/2 of the recipe and served them as an appie. (delicious and rave reviews)

The remaining 1/2 of the recipe I froze right on the sheet pan. I pulled them out of the freezer tonight. I popped the still frozen gougeres right into the oven and baked as per the instructions - they were great.

Your guests will think you are a miracle worker to produce these babies piping hot out of the oven

[s'kat]

Are parmesan crisps simply melted shredded parmesan in a pan and cooled?

Any tips on making these? Should I use any fats in the pan?

Much easier to do these in the oven than on the stove, in my opinion. I follow the recipe found on epicurious: parmesan crisps.

[gsquared]

Are parmesan crisps simply melted shredded parmesan in a pan and cooled?

Any tips on making these? Should I use any fats in the pan?

Grate your parmesan finely. Preheat the oven to 320F/160C. Place around 2 teaspoons of the cheese in a little pile on a non-stick baking surface (silpat, teflon or, if you do not have any, spray your baking pan with cooking spray). Use your fingers to spread the pile out unto a 2 inch circle, as evenly as you can. Repeat until all the cheese is used. Bake for around 10 minutes in the middle of the oven (or until golden brown). Remove carefully with a spatula to a paper covered rack to dry and crisp up. You can then store them in an airtight container for a few days. Just be careful - they are fragile. I usually place them between layers of paper towl in a plastic container.

[PopsicleToze]

Cook them in oven then cool them by placing them on an upside coffee cup for a cool "bowl" like vessel that you can put something in

------------

Ediced because "cool them" is not the same as "cook them"

Edited December 4, 2003 by NolaFoodie (log)

[gsquared]

I have done the cup thing a time or two, Nolafoodie. Problem is that the damn things are so brittle that they are difficult to store when they are cup-shaped.

[PopsicleToze]

not if you eat them all soon after making them

[winebill]

Serving suggestion for appetizer portion for soup

serve in a "shooter" size shot glass. perfect amount for a great atse, and it will compliment all the other foods

[John Braise]

If you're interested in more fillings for phyllo or pastry triangles, here are a few of mine. They all freeze well.

These sound wonderful! Would you freeze them before cooking, and then cook them when you are ready for them? Or would you bake them, then freeze them, then reheat?

[tammylc]

These sound wonderful! Would you freeze them before cooking, and then cook them when you are ready for them? Or would you bake them, then freeze them, then reheat?

When I make mine, I freeze them before cooking, then take them right out of the freezer and into a hot oven when I want them. About 13 minutes at 350 seems to do the trick. That way I can cook a few at a time and keep some hot hors d'ouevres coming all day.

[prasantrin]

While this thread is pretty much done, I just wanted to post this link for more freezable finger foods for future reference. It just showed up on msn.ca today--better late than never! Hope the party went well!