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| An hors d'oeuvres party |
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Risotto cakes
Make risotto in the way that you would any normal risotto but use more liquid so that the rice is cooked through and starchy (as opposed to being al dente and soupy)
1 cup Arborio rice
1cup dry whit wine
3½ to 4 cups hot stock (chicken or vegetable)
1 shallot minced
1 Tblsp olive oil
3 Tbs butter
½ cup grated parmesan
salt and white pepper
Over med. high heat saute the shallots in a Tbsp of oil and then add the rice and let it be well coated and “sweated” for a minute or so. Add the wine and stir with a wooden spoon as it incorporates and evaporates. Add the stock a ladle (4 oz or so) at a time and stir constantly until all the liquid is used up. The rice should be cooked through. If it is not, add some more liquid until the rice is cooked. Before all the stock is absorbed, add the butter and then the cheese. Allow to cool.
To make the cakes:
Make balls with about a tablespoon of risotto and press a dimple into the middle with your thumb. Pass the cakes in flour and fry for about a minute ‘til golden brown. Allow to cool but do not refrigerate. Fill the dimple with a dollop of whipped mascarpone and a julienned slice of prosciutto.
Sweet potato gaufrette with balsamic glazed duck
To make the potatoes:
Peel 1 large sweet potato and slice it using a mandoline (a special cutting instrument used in Asian as well as French cooking for making thin uniform slices. The comb blade should be used for gaufrettes). Halve the sweet potato and slice it, beginning with the flat edge, on the mandoline set at about 1/8” thickness. With each slicing stroke, turn the potato a quarter turn which will form light lattice pattern.
Place the chips, a few at a time, into 375° frying oil. Fry for a minute or more on each side (until crispy brown).
Transfer to a paper towel and season with salt. This can be done a day or two ahead of time and stored in an airtight container (but be careful that the chips are completely cooled before storing.)
The duck:
glaze:
1 ½ T maple syrup
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic
½ tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp chopped chives
2 magret (large) duck breast, skin and fat removed
combine the first ingredients to form a glaze. Coat the duck in the glaze. Wipe off the excess glaze on the side of the bowl (so as to retain the excess). Place the duck in a hot skillet and sear on all sides. Transfer to a 350° oven for about 5minutes, reapplying more glaze every couple of minutes.
Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool. Slice the duck in thin slices and place on top of the sweet potato chips.
Garnish with a fresh oregano leaf
Baked shrimp toast
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 T mirin
1 tsp sesame oil
¼ tsp salt
2 teaspoons soy sauce
12 oz cleaned shrimp diced
3 T chopped parsley
1 T chopped chives
1 baguette 3/8” slices lengthwise in 6 inch sections
The marinade:
Heat the oil and saute the garlic and ginger until aromatic and lightly browned. Add mirin, sesame oil, soy sauce, and salt and heat briefly. Transfer into a marinating bowl and allow to cool.
Add shrimp, parsley and chives and marinate, covered and chilled, 1 hour.
To make the toast:
Toast the slices of bread in a 350° oven until crisp (about 8 minutes depending on moistness of the bread).Remove from the oven and increase oven temp to 500° Cover the toast with the shrimp mixture (using all of it). Pack it on well and make sure that every part of the toast is evenly covered. Bake for about 15 minutes until the topping begins to take on color on the points. After the toast has cooled, slice into small triangles garnish with a few sesame seeds and a small sprig of cilantro and serve warm.
Flour tortilla pizzetini
Makes 36 hors d’oeuvres
3 large (12”) flour tortillas
For oven dried tomatoes:
18 plum or pear tomatoes
Olive oil
Kosher salt
2 sprigs fresh rosemary rough chopped
Halve the tomatoes and mix with the oil and herbs. Season with salt and pepper and lay the tomatoes evenly on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roast in a 200 oven for 12 hours (until tomatoes are almost dry)
For roasted garlic:
2 large heads of garlic
4 Tsp olive oil
Cut top ¼ inch off heads of garlic to expose cloves. Place garlic in small baking dish. Add oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to coat. Turn garlic cut side up. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake until garlic skins are golden brown and cloves are tender, about 55 minutes. Cool. Squeeze garlic cloves from skins.
To make pizzetini:
½ lb whole milk mozzarella
Fresh basil leaves
Place the tortillas directly on a hot grill or hot electric range heating element very quickly (about 5 seconds each side). Just enough to give a little burned color and crisp the tortilla a bit. Use a 1 - 1 1/4 “ round cookie cutter to cut the tortillas into 12 rounds. Place them on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper and top each with a halved roasted tomato and a clove of roasted garlic. With a fairly coarse cheese grater, grate the cheese into a bowl and place a little dab on each hors d’oeuvre. Place in the oven until the cheese is melted. Remove and garnish with a small sprig of basil.
New Zealand mussels with pernod cream
For pernod cream:
1 minced shallot
1 tsp butter
¼ cup very finely diced fennel
2 oz pernod (or ricard or pastis)
8 oz heavy cream
1 T chopped chives
Blanch the finely diced fennel in salted boiling water until soft (about 7 minutes). Drain and reserve. Saute the shallots in the butter over medium heat. Do not let the butter burn or the shallots take on color. Add the fennel and increase the heat to high. Take the pan away from the flame and add the pernod (pernod will flame so be careful when replacing the pan on the fire).
The mussles:
1# (about 24) new Zealand green lipped mussels
½ cup dry breadcrumbs
2 T olive oil
New Zealand mussels are a frozen product. Thaw them slowly in the fridge or more quickly, sealed under running water. Combine the breadcrumbs with the olive oil. Put a tablespoon of pernod cream on each mussel. Place the mussels side by side on a sheet tray and sprinkle with some breadcrumbs (do not pack the breadcrumbs on—just a sprinkle). Place in a 400 oven for about 10 minutes, until lightly browned.
Toasted corn cups with tuna tartare
For the tuna tartare filling:
2 6-ounce thick tuna steak
1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4c miso
2 T mirin
1T sesame oil
2 med avocado, peeled, pitted, diced
2 jalapeño chile, seeded, minced
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup chopped red onion
juice from 1 fresh lime
Brush tuna with oiland season generously with salt and pepper. In a very hot thick bottomed skillet, sear the tuna on all sides--- about 1 or 2 minutes per side. Cool tuna; dice into uniform ¼ in cubes. Combine tuna, miso and all remaining ingredients in a chilled bowl. Do not overmix and refrigerate immediately.
The tortilla cups:
cut 2 inch circles from the tortillas with a round cookie cutter and place them into the holes of a cupcake tin. Push the rounds all the way to the bottom. The side will fold a little bit on either side. That’s desirable. Apply vegetable oil lightly with a kitchen paintbrush and bake in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes to become crisp.
Remove the cups and after they’ve cooled,
To finish:
place a tablespoon of tartatre in each one topped with a wisp of baby herbs
Roasted fingerling potatoes with truffle crème fraiche
The truffle cream:
2 cups heavy cream
1 T buttermilk
1 oz truffle oil
12 ea. Fingerling potatoes
3 T vegetable oil
Kosher salt
6 oz slab bacon
Chopped chives
Scrub the potatoes well. Cover them with cold salted water and bring to a boil. Boil for about 5 minutes, remove from the heat and strain. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut in half lengthwise (some larger ones may be quartered). Toss in a bowl with the oil and salt and place on a sheet pan and roast at 400 for about 20 minutes until brown and soft. Remove and allow to cool to room temperature.
Cut the slab bacon into 1/4” cubes and panfry until crispy.
Scoop out a small amount of the potato centers with a melon baler. Pipe in a bit of the truffled crème fraiche and top with some crispy bacon. Sprinkle chopped chives on top.
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