Glen Arbor Sun

It’s appropriate that the term “hors d’oeuvre” came from architecture. Many of them look as if they came from Frank Gehry’s careful, playful hands. Hors d’oeuvres, as simple as a dish of olives or pickled onions or as complex as a platter of architecturally designed delicacies, can present endless variations on seven basic categories of creative method. These are: stacking or topping as with canapés, tea sandwiches, mini blini and bruschetta; rolling as with spring rolls, sushi and grape leaves; stuffing as with mini tomatoes or dumplings; skewering as with satay or shish kabob; dips and dippers like black bean salsa with corn chips or olive tapenade with grissini; baked things such as focaccia, mini quiches and cheese puffs (gougere) and finally, small pieces such as assorted olives, pretzels and nuts.

Summer entertaining and hors d’oeuvres were made for each other. You can design hors d’oeuvres ahead, their variety can please any taste and most are perfect for lighter summer diets. Try tea sandwiches spread with goat’s cheese and herbs, grilled shiitake mushrooms basted with olive oil and sea salt or whole wheat tortillas spread with guacamole, cilantro and baked chicken, rolled and sliced into small rounds. Whole wheat tortillas make wonderful mini tart shells when briefly heated then cut out to three-inch circles, brushed with olive oil or melted butter and pressed into a mini muffin pan. Bake them at 350F until lightly colored. Fill them with a mushroom ragu or a dab of baba ganoush.

A fascinating hors d’oeuvre table will cause a bottleneck of gawkers. If your repertoire is getting worn, here are some hints to liven it up.

1. We eat first with our eyes. Each hors d’oeuvre should be beautiful and tasty, whether it is fancy or homey.

2. Choose a varied group of hors d’oeuvres. Make sure each contrasts cooking methods, colors, textures, shapes and flavors. For instance, you might put out a bowl of marinated green and black olives, bruschetta topped with tomatoes and parsley, shrimp wrapped in cucumber, and meatballs on small skewers.

3. Collect lively plates and bowls. Presentation is second only to flavor. Look for Asian style square plates and odd shapes and colors to brighten your table.

4. Buy a piping bag with a few tips, several sets of round and shaped cutters and a mini muffin or tartlet pan. Scour Asian markets for skewers and food items to inspire spontaneous hors d’oeuvre creations.

5. Prepare dips, crackers, breadsticks and butters ahead and freeze them. Martha Stewart’s Hors D’oeuvres Handbook has many excellent suggestions and recipes to aid you.

Japanese chicken rounds with teriyaki sauce
Makes about 20 to 25 pieces

2 whole (4 lobes) boneless skinless chicken breasts, butter-flied open but not separated
2 carrots, julienned and steamed until tender, 3 minutes
16 to 24 asparagus, steamed tender, 5 minutes
1 red pepper, finely julienned
Marinade
1 to 2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons freshly grated gingerroot
Teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup sake or sherry
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup mirin
2 tablespoons maple syrup or sugar

Gently pound the breasts and flatten them to a uniform 1/4 inch thickness. Take care not to create any holes. Marinate the breasts in the soy and gingerroot for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Remove breasts from marinade, pat dry and lay flat. Lay 1/4 the carrots and 3 green beans, and a few of the red pepper strips across the long way on each breast. Roll the breast up firmly. Repeat until all four are done. Place them onto a cookie sheet or baking pan, seam side down. Place them in the oven and bake until they ooze a clear juice and register 160F on an instant read thermometer, about 20 to 30 minutes.

Mix the teriyaki sauce ingredients together in a saucepan. Lower the heat and simmer until it is slightly syrupy. Slice the rolls into 1/4 inch thick coins. Place on wooden skewers. Pour the teriyaki sauce into a small bowl. Serve it on a platter with the chicken rounds.

Negi means round and maki means roll in Japanese.

Grilled beef negimaki with Korean galbi sauce
25 to 30 rolls

2 pounds sirloin tip roast
3 to 4 bunches scallions
Sauce
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
1/2 cup Chinese rice wine or sherry
honey, brown sugar or sugar to taste
optional: chile paste to taste

toasted sesame seeds
canola oil for brushing

Place the sirloin tip into the freezer until it’s firm but not hard frozen, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare the scallions. Bring a pot of water to boil. Cut the scallions into 2 inch lengths. Cut the thicker white part in half the long way. Blanch the scallions until just tender, about 1 minute. Run cold water over them and drain. Blot them dry in paper toweling. Set them aside.

Mix together the sauce ingredients and set aside. Slice meat very thinly on a meat slicer across the grain. Alternately get your butcher to do this for you. Cut the meat into approximately 2 inch by 3 inch rectangles. Layer meat into a hotel pan and brush with a little of the sauce. If your meat is already cut, do this part ahead and refrigerate the beef to marinate while you deal with the scallions.

With the narrowest end of a beef slice near you and parallel to the counter edge, lay a couple pieces of scallion parallel to the bottom of the beef slice and your counter edge. Sprinkle a little sesame seed inside. Roll up the beef and set in another pan seam side down. If you're worried that they won't stay together you may resort to toothpicks when no one is looking. Brush the beef rolls with more sauce and set aside in the refrigerator until you are ready for them. Heat a grill or grill pan. Brush the beef rolls with a little canola oil and grill briefly until medium rare. Serve while warm.

If you’re Eastern European, vary this recipe with black bread, cream cheese and smoked salmon with cucumber and dill.

Shrimp and cucumber canapes
Makes 24

1/2 cup white wine
Stems from dill below
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
12 medium shrimp, thawed and de-veined but not peeled
6 slices very thin white sandwich bread (3” by 3 12/”) (Pepperidge Farm)
3 ounces lemon shallot butter, room temperature
1 English seedless cucumber
1 small bunch dill

Pour the wine, dill stems, 2 cups water and salt into a saucepan. Bring it to a boil. Add the shrimp, cover and turn off the heat. Allow the shrimp to sit until they turn opaque, about 1 minute. Drain the shrimp, cool and peel them. Slice them in half lengthwise and remove any debris from their backs.

Cut the crusts off the bread and spread one side of each with the herb butter. With a sharp vegetable peeler, peel, then slice the cucumber lengthwise into long, thin strips. Place the cucumber overlapping to cover the butter. Cut each bread slice into 4 squares. Top each square with one half shrimp and a dill sprig.

Herb Butter

Mash together 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) unsalted room temperature butter with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon lemon zest and 1 tablespoon minced shallots. Season butter with salt and pepper. Keeps refrigerated two weeks, frozen, several months.

Smoked salmon and cream cheese rolls on black bread
Yields about 30 pieces

1/2 pound cream cheese at room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted and chopped roughly
2 tablespoons finely chopped chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon zest
salt to taste
1/2 pound thinly sliced smoked salmon
1 small square loaf very thinly sliced black bread--at least 15 slices
fresh dill or chives for garnish

Cream the cream cheese with the lemon juice until fluffy. Stir in the nuts, chives, lemon zest and salt to taste. Scrape mixture into a piping bag without a tip or with a very wide plain tip.

Place a long piece of plastic wrap on the work surface. Lay the salmon down in a single layer on top of it to form a 3" wide by 6" or 7" long rectangle of salmon. Pipe a six or seven inch long and 3/4" wide log down the bottom third of the salmon rectangle.

Use the plastic wrap to lift the long edge of the salmon over the cream cheese log. Tuck it tight and pull out the plastic wrap. Roll the salmon all the way--with the plastic wrap as helper. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate to firm the cheese before cutting for one hour or more.

Cut each slice of black bread into 2 triangles. Slice the salmon rolls into 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick rounds and place on the black bread. Top with a piece of dill or chive.

©2000Nancy K. Allen, C.C.P.

EXTRA RECIPES

Gougere
Makes 6 to 7 dozen

8 tablespoons or one stick unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1/2 cup grated Gruyere cheese

Preheat your oven to 425F. Line two sheet pans with parchment. Pour one cup of water, butter and salt into a small but heavy saucepan and bring mix to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and dump the flour in all at once. Stir vigorously until mixture is smooth.

Return the pot to the heat and cook the mixture until it begins to leave a film on the bottom of the pot, about one minute. Scrape the dough into a mixer bowl and set it aside to cool for 5 minutes. Beat the eggs in one at a time until the dough is smooth and just falls from a spoon. Fold in the grated cheese.

Scrape the dough into a piping bag fitted with a large plain or star tip. Pipe the dough in small, even blobs about 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter, onto the prepared sheet pans. Moisten your finger with water and smooth out the tops of the blobs. Bake the puffs for 12 minutes and reduce the heat to 375F. Bake them until deeply golden, about another 10 to 15 minutes. Slice a puff open to check. It should be firm and cooked on the inside, not doughy or sticky. Poke them through their middles and return them to the oven if they are not finished. When done, let them cool. You may freeze gougere for up to a month. Slice off their tops and fill with tasty things and put the top back on. Leave out the cheese if you wish to use them for sweet things.

Spinach phyllo triangles

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 red onions, finely sliced
1 ten ounce box of chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill leaves
8 ounces feta cheese
salt and pepper to taste
24 sheets (about one pound) phyllo dough sheets
1 cup melted butter
1 cup fine dry breadcrumbs

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium to low heat. Add the onions and cook them covered until they are soft and tender, about 20 minutes. Uncover them and raise the heat to high. Cook them until they begin to brown and caramelize. Add the spinach and dill and remove the pan from the heat. Scrape the vegetables into a bowl and let it cool to room temperature. Stir in the feta.

Preheat the oven to 400F. Lay a sheet of phyllo on your counter and brush it with butter lightly. (Keep the unused phyllo well covered with plastic wrap.) Sprinkle it with breadcrumbs and cover with another sheet. Butter this sheet lightly too. Cut the dough into six 2-inch wide strips from the narrower side of the phyllo sheet.

Place a tablespoon of the filling in the bottom left corner of each strip and fold the phyllo into a flag fold to form a triangle. Brush it with butter and place it on a sheet pan lined with parchment. When you have formed all the triangles, bake them until golden, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Polenta circles with Gorgonzola and roasted red pepper or red onion jam

5 cups boiling water
1 cup Italian polenta—not instant and not American cornmeal
2 to 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
Kosher salt
1/4 pound Gorgonzola cheese, sliced into small bits
Red onion jam, toasted walnut halves or finely sliced bits of roasted red pepper

Bring an inch or two of water to a boil in a double boiler. Pour three cups of boiling water into the top of the double boiler. Slowly drizzle the polenta into the boiling water, whisking as you do so it doesn’t lump. When you have all the dry polenta into the water, switch to a spoon. Wood works well here.

Stir the gluey mixture to get it smooth, turn the heat to a simmer under the pot and cover the polenta. Cook the mixture for 1 1/2 hours, stirring and adding the remaining boiling water as is necessary to keep the polenta from turning into cement. Four cups of water to one cup of polenta is usual for this use but you may add more to make it the consistency of mashed potatoes and serve it with a mushroom ragu or tomato sauce. When the polenta is creamy and has lost its graininess, stir in the soft butter and salt to taste.

Butter a commercial half sheet pan with sides and pour the hot polenta onto it. Quickly, with a damp spatula, spread the polenta smoothly about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Let the polenta cool. Cut out small rounds (or whatever shape you decide) with a cookie cutter.

Place the polenta shapes on a sheet pan and top them with cheese or the red onion jam. Top the jam with cheese. Heat them briefly in a hot oven or under a broiler to melt the cheese. Garnish the cheese rounds with a toasted walnut or tiny strips of roasted red bell pepper criss-crossed on top. Serve them while warm.

Red onion jam
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 pounds red onions, thinly sliced
1 cup red wine or Marsala
1 tablespoon sugar, more as needed
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, to taste
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Add the onions and cook until wilted then cover and cook until very soft, another 15 to 20 minutes. Stir. Add the wine or Marsala, increase the heat and cook until it evaporated. Add the sugar and vinegar, to taste, and cook until dry. Season onion jam with salt and pepper to taste.