Posts Tagged ‘appetizer’
Cherry Tapenade
Craig and I hosted Easter at our apartment this year. Both of our mothers were going to bring a dish, and Craig and I were providing the appetizers, main course, and a side. Oh, and dessert! It might sound like we had a lot to prepare, but compared to my normal parties this was a cinch! For one of the appetizers, I prepared this simple tapenade to serve on toasted baguette. I really love the bite of dried cherries and thought this would be a nice introduction to the summer season ahead. To be honest, this tapenade would really work any time of the year and I have plans to use it in a pork dish and maybe even stuff a chicken breast with it. Oooh, or mix it with wild rice. The possibilities are really endless!
While this tapenade would be best served warm, you can prepare this one ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator. Just make sure to let the mixture come to room temperature so it will be smooth enough to spread on a baguette.
Gorgonzola Chicken Strips
So my husband will pretty much eat anything except rosemary and Gorgonzola cheese, so I decided to cook with Gorgonzola a little differently than I normally do to see if he would notice. He loves chicken strips and when we first started living together for his cook nights he would make frozen chicken strips and tater tots in the toaster oven. I figured bringing this old favorite of his back would be a good way to disguise this cheese. Well it worked! He kept eating and saying “yum this is good.” I quickly said “which part dear” and he replied “the chicken strips, this coating is awesome”. I giggled and confessed that I had tricked him and that he could officially take Gorgonzola off of his list. He proceeded to ask me 15 more times if it really was Gorgonzola and in the end he made up some excuse about everything tasting better fried. Whatever. In my book the score is officially Emily: 1 Michael: 0
Pumpkin Risotto Balls
I love to make these Pumpkin Risotto Balls in the winter and fall months because pumpkin is just so perfect this time of the year. I have made these tasty little risotto balls several times and they are always a hit. They tend to be the first appetizer to disappear. See, aren’t they beautiful!
If you have ever made risotto from scratch then you have an idea as to what you are getting into. If not, then this is your warning. You must stir risotto pretty much the whole time. The more you stir the more glutinous the mixture will become, which is what you want. It needs to be super creamy, not a soupy mess. If you are making risotto balls then a soupy mixture will straight up not work. So be prepared to stir for roughly 20 minutes.
Okay now that I have my disclaimer in, let’s get started!
Chocolate Dinner – Appetizers
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I tend to get appetizer crazy when it comes to planning parties. I usually try to cram as many new dishes as I can into my menu and then completely overwhelm myself on the actual day. Since the chocolate dinner is going to be quite indulgent, I’ve decided to step outside my norm and only serve a few easy opening dishes. Although I’m cutting back on the number, I’m still sticking to my appetizer rules. I always like to have protein, veg/fruit, bread/cracker, something sweet, and of course some sort of cheese! I mean seriously, how could we have a meal without cheese? I know what you’re thinking though. You already know the menu for this party and there is no appetizer with cheese. Don’t stress…it will all be okay because I have a plan. I’m going to have my two featured appetizers and then surround them with little bowls of goodies like nuts, cheese slices or olives. It’s just good to have little bites for your guests to snack on while they sip their wine and cocktails. 
First up…the chocolate covered grapes. I found this recipe online in a forum a while back. It completely intrigued me because while chocolate is great with all fruit, I never thought about mixing it with grapes. And while everyone is pushing chocolate covered strawberries this time of year, I wanted to do something a little bit different and unexpected. I’m sure any grape would work fine, but I chose to use black grapes because they are my new favorite. Just remember that whatever grapes you buy make sure they are seedless!
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Fig & Walnut Tapenade
At our New Year’s Eve party this year (or last year, rather) we served this wonderful tapenade. When planning the menu for the party, I knew I wanted to use seasonal ingredients and to also keep the colors sort of dark and rich. 
This tapenade fit both requirements perfectly and was a huge hit. We had people who didn’t like olives and others who didn’t like figs. Well, both parties loved this appetizer and I know it was because of the nice balance between the salty olives and sweet figs. They really compliment each other well. Oh, and we cannot forget about the walnuts. I love the oily, toasted, crunchiness they added to this dish. It was superb and you’ll want to take note of this one for your next event. 
Or if you can’t wait, make it now! I used the leftovers in a fabulous pasta dish the next day. We mixed it with whole wheat spiral pasta as a side dish to a sauteed chicken breast, but you could serve it as a main dish with or without an added protein.
The original recipe calls to serve the tapenade with goat cheese slices. I love goat cheese, but have noticed that quite a few people will not eat it. Since I wanted everyone to experience the dish, I decided to check with my local cheese shop about a replacement. 
Well, really any soft cheese will work fine, but we decided (after sampling quite a few…mmm) to go with a triple creme French cheese called Saint Andre. It was divine. I mean, seriously. Biting into the olive oil toasted baguette layered with a slice of cheese and topped with the rich tapenade was pure bliss! The weather may have been cold, but the appetizer warmed my heart. That may sound cheesy, but it was the damn truth!
