Smoked Salmon Tartare

Are you watching the presidential debate tonight? It might be a circus. It might be frustrating. It might be maddening. But noshing on a few goodies (and maybe a drink) will help your mood! Try these:

SMOKED SALMON “TARTARE”

1/4 pound smoked salmon pieces
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
a few drops of olive oil
few drops of lemon juice
Crackers

Chop the smoked salmon. Add the red onion and dill and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle in a few drops of olive oil and lemon juice and mix. For a dairy hors d’oeuvre, spread the crackers with cream cheese, sour cream, crème fraiche or mascarpone cheese. Top with some of the salmon mixture. (Or place a small spoonful of sour cream, etc. on top of the salmon). For a parve hors d’oeuvre, place the salmon mixture directly on the crackers

Makes 16-24

Puff Pastry Mini Pizzas

It’s “Summertime, and the livin’ is easy.” So the song goes. And so can any entertaining you do. These puff pastry pizzas are an excellent example. I prepped them in less than 10 minutes, then set them aside and baked them just before my company came over. I usually make larger squares but wanted little bites, so I cut the puff pastry into hors d’oeuvres size and used sliced cherry tomatoes instead of regular ones. Here’s the basic recipe (cut smaller if desired):

FRESH TOMATO PUFF PASTRY PIZZA

3 large or 4 medium tomatoes, sliced about 1/4-inch thick (use cherry tomatoes for hors d size); salt
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
3 tablespoons finely chopped basil
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice the tomatoes and sprinkle with salt. Let rest 5 minutes and wipe the surface. Roll the puff pastry slightly thinner on a floured surface. Cut lengthwise once and widthwise twice to make 8 smaller pieces (OR leave in one piece for a whole tart OR make smaller hors d’oeuvres size pieces). Place the pieces on the baking sheet. Sprinkle each with some mozzarella cheese. Top with tomato slices. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with basil. Drizzle with olive oil. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 8 servings

Spinach and Cheese Bourekas

Many years ago I learned to make spinach pie, loaded with crumbled feta cheese and seasoned with fresh dill. My family absolutely loved it, so it was — still is — a regular item on my menu. It’s almost always part of my break-the-fast feast.

Most of the time I make spinach pie using buttered layers of phyllo pastry, which makes for a crispy, delicate crust for the savory spinach filling below.

But we like the dish so much that on Passover, I top the pie with buttered matzo.

At one time I used the filling for spanakopitas, making spinach-filled layers of phyllo dough into small triangles. These were perfect as hors d’oeuvre and I would make dozens at a time and stock them in the freezer.

That was a LOT of work!

This year, thanks to inspiration from my Facebook friend Dana Shrager (@Danastable), who posted her recipe for spinach and cheese bourekas as a treat for Purim, I realized that I could make those wonderful hors d’oeuvres again using puff pastry, as she suggested!

SO MUCH EASIER!

I made a whole bunch of these, using my recipe for spinach pie as filling but using puff pastry. All I can say is that I will never go back to phyllo dough for these hors d’oeuvres. My tasters gobbled these down and I served them again to everyone’s absolute delight.

Thanks Dana, for your suggestion to use puff pastry and also that these, triangular shape that they are, would be perfect for Purim. Yes. They are indeed!

Here’s the recipe for spinach and cheese filling and instructions on how to make the triangle bourekas.

Spinach and Cheese Bourekas

• 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 large egg

• 4 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill

• freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 2 sheets puff pastry, defrosted

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Squeeze as much water out of the spinach as possible and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir in the spinach and mix well. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the egg, feta cheese, Parmesan cheese, dill and pepper. Mix well and set aside. Using one sheet at a time, roll the puff pastry on a lightly floured board slightly thinner (I did 12”x9”). Cut each sheet on the long side into 4 equal strips (3”). Cut the strips into thirds (making 12 pieces). Place equal amounts of the filling in the center of each piece of dough. Fold the dough to enclose the filling and make a triangle. Press the edges to seal them. If necessary, wet the edges of the pieces before folding, OR, press the edges down with the tines of a fork. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before baking. Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until browned and crispy.

Makes 24

Scallion Cakes - a Three-fer Celebration

Scallion Cake

It’s almost Chinese New Year and also Ed’s birthday and also Super Bowl. I can think of no food that would be more perfect for all three occasions than Scallion cake. Crispy. Delicious. Freezable.

SCALLION CAKES

• 3 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 cup boiling water

• 1/3 cup cold water

• vegetable oil

• 4-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

• 3 scallions, finely chopped

Place the flour in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the boiling water and mix at medium speed until a rough dough has formed. Let cool for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the cold water and mix until the dough forms into a ball. Knead for 4-5 minutes or until smooth and elastic (you can do all this in a food processor). Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Using a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface, roll one piece of dough into a 10-inch circle. Brush the dough with about 1-1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Sprinkle with about 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Sprinkle with about one tablespoon of the chopped scallion. Roll the circle jelly roll style. Form the rolled dough into a coil. Press down on the coil to flatten it slightly. Roll the coil into circles about 1/8-inch thick (don’t worry if some of the dough breaks and the scallions pop through slightly). Repeat with the remaining dough, salt and scallions. Keep the circles separated. Heat a small amount of vegetable oil in a skillet large enough to hold the circles. Cover the pan and cook each circle, one at a time, over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes per side, or until browned and crispy. Add more vegetable oil to the pan as necessary for each circle of dough. Drain the fried circles on paper towels. Cut each circle into 8 wedges. Serve hot. Makes 48 pieces

Mushroom Chips

It doesn’t get easier than this: one of the hors d’oeuvre I’ll be serving on New Year’s Eve.

Mushroom chips

• 4 large king oyster mushrooms

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• kosher salt or sea salt

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Slice the mushrooms about 1/8-inch thick. Place the mushrooms on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush both sides with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and thyme. Roast for about 20 minutes, turning them over after the first 10 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

Gougeres for the Win!

These little puffs of crispy pastry are an absolute gift to anyone who cooks. Choux pastry — once you make it the first time you understand how fabulous these are. Make them plain and they are profiteroles (pour some fudge sauce over them). Add cheese and herbs and they become gougeres for cocktail nibbles (eat them as is or cut them open and fill with all sorts of things such as egg salad or smoked trout). Make them plain and bigger and they’re cream puffs. Lots of variations. Here’s one for Choux pastry swans.

In the meantime, here’s the recipe for gougeres:

Herb and Cheese Gougeres (Choux Puffs)

• 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons water

• 1/4 pound unsalted butter, cut into chunks

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• 4 large eggs

• 1-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh mixed herbs, or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Gruyere cheese

• pinch cayenne pepper

• egg glaze: 1 large egg mixed with 2 teaspoons water, optional

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cook the water and butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and salt all at once. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well blended and begins to come away from the sides of the pan. Remove pan from the heat and let the
mixture cool for 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, blending thoroughly after each addition. Add the herbs, cheese and cayenne pepper and blend them in thoroughly. Drop 1-inch mounds of dough from a teaspoon onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Leave space between the mounds for the puffs to rise. For a
shiny surface on the puffs, lightly brush the tops of the mounds with some of the egg wash. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the puffs are lightly brown and crispy. Lower the heat to 300 degrees and bake for another 5-6 minutes. Turn off the heat but leave the puffs in the oven for 3-4 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature. Or cut them open and fill them.

Makes about 60

Persimmon Salsa

I’m continuing my search for some new nibbles for our New Year’s Eve hors d’oeuvres fest — and found a definite!

Persimmon salsa (I’m fortunate to have found some lovely persimmons in the market).

This is a yes because not only is it delicious, it’s also quick and easy to make and so colorful and inviting for a celebration.

Btw — this is also a nice side dish with grilled meat, fish or chicken. And maybe even useful for a Superbowl party — don’t pass this by!

PERSIMMON SALSA

• 2 Fuyu persimmons

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

• 2-3 teaspoons finely chopped chili pepper

• 1/2 cup chopped red onion

• 1 teaspoon very finely grated lime zest

• 2 tablespoons lime juice

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 tablespoon honey

• salt to taste

Chop the persimmons into small pieces and place them in a bowl. Add the mint, chili pepper, red onion and lime zest and mix to distribute the ingredients. Pour in the lime juice, olive oil and honey, sprinkle with salt and toss the ingredients. Let rest for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Makes about 2-1/2 cups 

Meatball Nosh

I had a little cranberry sauce and a bottle of chili sauce and a small amount of ground beef. Not enough to use for dinner, so I made a version of the Elegant but Easy Cookbook recipe for cocktail meatballs (Marion Burros and Lois Levine). I didn’t have the recipe in front of me but remembered it was little meatball cooked in a combo of grape jelly and chili sauce. The version I made was delicious and just enough for a nice little nosh for 2. I made a fraction of the recipe below.

Gonna make these for New Year’s, when we have hors d’oeuvres at different points during the day (no actual dinner).

Cocktail Meatballs: heat 1-1/2 cups cranberry sauce, 1-1/2 cups chili sauce, 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger in a saucepan. Stir to blend the ingredients. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low. In a bowl, mix 1 pound ground beef (or use turkey or veal) with 1 egg and enough breadcrumbs to bind the mixture well. Make 1-inch meatballs and place them in the sauce. Cook for 35-40 minutes, spooning the sauce over the meatballs occasionally and turning them to coat all sides.

Makes 8 servings

Mango Salsa

When the weather gets warmer I like to make foods that I can bring outside, that can sit for an hour as we nibble and sip a cocktail or two before dinner.

This salsa is a perfect example. It’s fresh fruit, citrus and a bit of heat thanks to the chili pepper. It’s colorful, so it’s nice for company. And it stays fresh for a while.

I use this salsa as an hors d’oeuvre and serve it with corn chips but it also makes and excellent side dish for burgers, grilled chicken or fish.

Remember this for summer picnics. Memorial Day weekend. Father’s Day. July 4th! Labor Day.

What I’m saying —- it’s a keeper!

Tropical Dip and Chip

• 1 large ripe mango

• 1 ripe avocado

• 1/4 cup chopped red onion

• 1 teaspoon chopped jalapeno (or other chili) pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated lime zest

• 1 tablespoon lime juice

• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro (or use parsley)

• salt if desired

• corn or plantain chips

Peel and pit the mango and avocado. Chop the fruit into small pieces (or use a food processor) and place the pieces in a mixing bowl. Add the red onion, chili pepper, lime zest, lime juice and cilantro. If using a food processor, process on pulse to desired consistency. Taste for seasoning and add salt if desired. Serve with chips.

Makes about 2 cups

Lox and Cream Cheese Dip/Spread

It’s almost new year’s weekend, so I’ve been cooking for our annual New Year’s Eve hors d’oeuvres fest (storing a lot of stuff in the freezer).

These are some of the items I’ll serve at various times during the day: Marinated Mushrooms (a cinch to make); Potato-Carrot Latkes; Romanian Cheese turnovers; Scallion Cakes; Almond Chicken Nuggets; Hot Dog en Croute, and some others, plus a couple of dips, like hummus.

This Smoked Salmon and Cream Cheese dip is a definite for our smoked fish hour. It’s amazingly easy to put together, so if you need something last minute, this is for you.

Lox and Cream Cheese Dip/SPREAD

• 4 ounces smoked salmon

• 1 cup cream cheese (8 ounces)

• 1/3 cup dairy sour cream

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

• 2 chopped scallions

Chop the smoked salmon into small pieces and set aside. Cut the cream cheese into chunks and place in a food processor. Add the sour cream, lemon juice, dill and scallions. Process on pulse until the ingredients are relatively smooth and well blended. Add the smoked salmon, pulse a few more times to distribute the pieces evenly.

Makes 1-1/2 cups