Hors d’Oeuvres and Appetizers

This post comes from my friend Chef Todd Mohr who you may have seen in my Novice2Pro Chef Interview with Todd Mohr. You will also find Chef Todd in some cooking videos posted on my web site and cooking blog. If not, check out :

Just How Important Are Recipes

How to Cut an Onion

I will be posting more of Todd’s video’s but I wwanted to share with you a selection from one of his newsletters that I think will “inspire” you.

Inspiration – Hors d’ Oeuvres and Appetizers

Hors d’ oeuvres is translated as “outside the meal”. These one to two bite morsels are meant to stimulate the palate and appetite before the main meal. Today, hors d’ oeuvres events are more popular than ever because of the wide variety of attractive, artful items that can easily be created. Hors d’ oeuvres are en vogue.

Hors d’ oeuvres should be small, one or two bites. They should be flavorful and well seasoned, but not overpowering to shut down taste buds. They should also be visually attractive and compliment the meal to follow, or other hors d’ oeuvres to be served.

To provide a comprehensive list of hot hors d’ oeuvres would be virtually impossible, and limit-less. Global availability of food items, new products, and your creativity gives you license to create anything you imagine.

Some commonly encountered hot hors d’ oeuvres:

1) Filled Pastry Shells - Savory (unsweetened) tartlets, choux puffs, or other small dough products are most often baked to remove moisture content, then filled with warm meat, poultry, fish purees, or ragouts, garnished and served hot. They become soggy quickly, so must be prepared as closely to service as possible.

2) Brochettes / Skewers / Kabobs -
Hors d’ oeuvres brochettes are small skewers holding a combination of meat, poultry, game, fish, shellfish or vegetables. They are normally baked, grilled or broiled and served with a dipping sauce. Soaking wooden skewers in water before assembly can prevent them from burning.

3) Meatballs - Meatballs are made from ground beef, veal, pork, or poultry and served in a sauce buffet style. Fish and shellfish can also be bound with egg whites or veloute white sauces to create a fish “meatball”.

4) Rumaki - Traditionally, rumaki were made by wrapping chicken livers in bacon and broiling or baking them. Today, however, many other foods prepared in the same fashion are called rumaki. For example, blanched bacon can be wrapped around olives, asparagus, water chestnuts, scallops, or pineapple. Thinly sliced Italian meats like prosciutto or salami can be used in the same way.

5) Stuffed Wonton Skins - Wonton skins are an Asian noodle dough used to produce a wide variety of hors d’ oeuvres such as miniature egg rolls or puffs filled with cream cheese and crab. They can be filled with anything your creativity allows. Wonton skins can be pan fried, deep fried or steamed as for dumplings.

6) Endless Others - Consider phyllo dough wrapped around spinach and cheese filling, or vegetables such as mushroom caps or hollowed small red potatoes filled with sour cream and caviar or Roquefort cheese and walnuts. Tiny artichoke hearts or oyster shells filled with your favorite cheese, fish or shellfish are attractive appetizers.

There are really only two limitations on the type of food and manner of preparation that can be used for hors d’ oeuvres: the chef’s imagination and the foods at his or her disposal. The greatest ingredient you can add (any) holiday is your creativity. Invent something new this holiday and share it with friends!

One of the many cooking related gifts I received for Christmas was a cookbook from my daughter’s elementary school. It was filled with recipes sent in from various students’ parents. Funny, I sent one in but don’t see it listed. Hmmm.

Looking over the recipes, they are all very simple but you know they are exactly the kind of recipes busy families are preparing during the week. There are classics like Easy Shrimp Bake and Chicken Parmigian but there are a few more interesting looking ones like Greek Quesadilla with Tzatziki Sauce.

One of the recipes my wife served over the holidays was for Cheese Gougere or Fluffy Biscuits. Gougeres are made from a thick paste that is also used to make cream puffs and éclairs. It’s called pate a choux that is French for “cabbage paste”. When baked in a round form, the pastry resembles small cabbages. 

By adding cheese to the “cream puff paste”, you now have gougere. The secret behind the gougere is when the dough bakes; the moisture in them turns to steam and causes the small drops of dough to swell. The exteriors turn golden brown but the interiors become hollow.

We had a little problem with our Gougere. When we removed them from the oven the puffed up pastry fell. They still tasted great but something was lost in the presentation. You can see what I mean in my photo.

Not sure why they collapsed but next time I will add to the cooking time and see if that helps. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Gougere

2/3 cup of water
6 Tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
2/3-cup flour
¼ teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
½ cup Swiss cheese, finely diced

How to Prepare at Home

Adjust the oven rack to the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Always add an additional 5 minutes when you think your oven is at temp.

In a saucepan, bring the water and butter to a rolling boil and immediately remove it from heat.  Immediately add the salt & all the flour while continuously stirring with a wooden spoon until blended and a thick paste forms in the shape of a ball.

Return the pan to a medium-low heat for about one minute or until the pastry leaves the side of the pan. This helps remove any additional moisture. Be sure to keep stirring.

Remove the paste from the heat; transfer it to a mixing bowl and using a wooden spoon, stir in the eggs one at a time until the dough is smooth and glossy.  Blend in the cheese until it is completely incorporated into the dough. The consistency should be stiff but still allow you to dollop it from a spoon.

Using a pastry bag if you have one or just a spoon if you don’t, make 1-inch diameter dollops of dough to form a ring being sure the sides of the dollops are touching.

Using a pastry brush and egg yolk mixed with a little water, paint a glaze on each puff.

Bake 20 to 30 minutes until the dough puffs up and they are golden in color. Once golden, turn off the oven and let the Gougere sit for 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from oven and loosen the biscuits with a spatula. Let the biscuits cool and serve warm.

We had a dinner party for 8 over the weekend and served pork as the main course with a very cool eggplant Parmesan and a fennel and grape bread that I’ll give you the recipe for now and the others later this week.

Oh, I did start them off with the little appetizer stimulator we had at Solas’ the night before. All I did was cut a fig in half, top it with a little blue cheese and drizzled a little Pomegranate Merlot that I got at ClubSauce.com. I’m not sure if they are even make it any more but you could use any brand of Pomegranate drizzle or even try an aged balsamic vinegar.

I went to Club Sauce and didn’t see the Pomegranate Merlot but they do have an interesting Saba that would work. Saba was popular with the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks over 5,000 years ago so this stuff has staying power.

Fennel and Grape Harvest Bread
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

1-½ cups warm water (105°F to 115°F)
2 envelops active dry yeast
3-½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 cups red seedless grapes, stemmed, rinsed
10 tablespoons sugar
1-teaspoon fennel seeds

Prep the Ingredients

Since you are making 2 separate loafs, you will want to divide the ingredients into two except for the water, yeast and olive oil.

How to Make at Home

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