THE PLEASURE OF ENTERTAINING AT HOME

Staying home and keeping safe during COVID-19 shouldn’t mean just ordering food in. Make a list of the dishes you cook well, especially the ones that have garnered oohs and aahs!

For family and close friends, I ask beforehand what they feel like eating. Plan on having interesting hors d’oeuvres, salad, pasta, entrée, and something sweet for the finale. Think about variety, the contrast in taste, color, and texture. It can be simple or elaborate, and most foods can be prepared in advance so you can relax just before your guests arrive.

PARTY FOODS

Dinners can sometimes be too heavy. A selection of finger foods and some good wine or Champagne is often enough, especially for late-night parties like Noche Buena or New Year’s Media Noche. Party foods include canapés, dips, hors d’ oeuvres, nibbles, relishes, spreads, wraps, skewers, fruits, and pastries. It provides a creative cook an outlet to create a juxtaposition to delight the eye as well as to satisfy and amuse the palate because of its pleasing contrast in flavor and texture. The French have another more charming term for party foods besides hors d’ oeuvres “outside the work” of the main meal: Amuse-Bouche or amuse-the-mouth. The implication is that sustenance takes second place and these are treats purely for pleasure.

Feel free to travel the globe from classic American appetizers or Graze and Mexican Antojitos or little whims, to Scandinavian Smorgasbord, the Italian Antipasto or before the meal. Samozas of India, Spanish cuisine offers Tapas or ‘lids’, after the bread slices that were once laid on top of wine glasses to discourage flies. Greek, Turkish or Middle Eastern cuisine offers Meze or Mezethes with a wide array that includes humus, baba ghanoush (roasted eggplant dip) and dips eaten on triangles of pita bread. And, dumplings are a fine example of Dimsum, literally translated from Cantonese, means “dot-hearts”, small treats that touch the heart.

CANAPES:  A French word meaning ‘a couch’. Canapés are served on bread, crackers or a pastry base. It may be very simple consisting of a spread with canapé butter and decorated with a little meat, fish, egg or cheese, a sprig of parsley or watercress, or a slice of pimiento, pickle, olive or lemon.

Canape Butter(Photo from dreamstime.com)

Cream 1/4 cup butter with any of the following:

• Anchovy Butter: 2 teaspoons mashed anchovy fillets and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Good with a slice of hard cooked egg.
• Caper Butter: 1 tablespoon minced drained capers
• Chili Butter: 1 to 2 tablespoon chili sauce
• Curry Butter: 1/2 teaspoon curry paste or powder. Good with fish.
• Parmesan Butter: 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. Good with egg and meat.
• Wasabi Butter: 1 to 2 teaspoons wasabi
• Sardine Butter: 2 tablespoons mashed sardines, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon minced onion
• Shrimp Butter: 2 tablespoons chopped cooked shrimp, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice. Serve with additional shrimp or a slice of egg. 

DIPS & DUNKS:  These savory mixtures are soft enough to be scooped up with crackers, potato chips, corn chips, cooked shrimps, cocktail frankfurters, crudités (vegetable sticks), and pretzels. They can be built on endless flavor combinations using sour cream, cheese, yogurt, crème fraiche, salsa, vegetables or bean base.

Cheese & Pineapple Dip

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup Cream
• 1/4 cup canned crushed pineapple, well-drained
• 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• Salt to taste
• Chili sauce

Procedure:

1. Mix ingredients thoroughly. Cover and store in the refrigerator until needed. Best served with potato chips, tortillas or crackers.

Cheese & Bacon Dip

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup cream
• 1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 2 tbsp chopped rendered bacon
• 1 tbsp chopped onion

Procedure:

1. Mix ingredients thoroughly. Cover and store in the refrigerator until needed. Best served with potato chips, tortillas or crackers.

Cheese & Onion Dip

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup cream
• 1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 1 tsp chopped green onions
• 1 tbsp pared and chopped cucumber, drained
• 1/4 tsp salt or to taste

Procedure:

1. Mix ingredients thoroughly and keep refrigerated until ready to be served. Best served with potato or corn chips, or crackers.

Hummus(Photo from dreamstime.com)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups canned garbanzos, rinsed and drained
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1/3 cup tahini or blended toasted sesame seeds
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
• freshly ground pepper
• finely chopped parsley
• paprika

Procedure:

1. Place the first 9 ingredients in a blender or food processor. Puree until smooth. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of water as needed to obtain soft, creamy consistency. Correct seasoning. Transfer to a shallow serving dish. Chill and just before serving, drizzle surface with 1 tbsp olive oil. Garnish with parsley and a sprinkling of paprika. Serve with warm pita bread triangles.

HORS D’OEUVRE: Hot or cold appetizers, and unlike canapes, hors d’oeuvre do not have bread or crackers as the base for other foods. It is usually eaten at the table with a knife and fork before the main dish. Among these are aspics, caviar, seared chicken or goose liver, seafood, artichokes, asparagus and salads that are not sweet.

Rockefeller Oysters

Ingredients:

• 4kg oysters, steamed
• 1/2 cup minced cooked spinach (well-drained)
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tbsp soft butter
• Hollandaise Sauce*
• Parmesan cheese
• Mozzarella cheese
• cayenne pepper

Procedure:

1. Arrange oysters on the half shell in a baking pan. Mix spinach with garlic and butter. Dot each oyster with spinach mixture and cover with hollandaise sauce. Garnish with Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese and dash of cayenne. Run them under a broiler to melt the cheese.
2. Imbed the oysters in a plate of rock salt. Serve with lemon wedges.

*Hollandaise Sauce:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 to 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• dash of pepper

Procedure:

1. Heat butter until bubbly. Meanwhile place egg yolks, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a blender. Turn blender on and off quickly then turn to high speed and slowly add butter in a very thin but steady stream.

COCKTAILS:They are served at the table with a sauce or dressing and are not to be confused with the alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks. Seafood, fruits and vegetables are the ingredients frequently used. Shrimp cocktail with a tangy sauce is probably the favorite cocktail especially before a steak dinner. Cocktails are always served cold and mostly well chilled.

Shrimp Cocktail(Photo from dreamstime.com)

Ingredients:

• 1kg shrimps
• water
• parsley or celery
• salt and pepper to taste
• shredded lettuce
• lemon slices

Cocktail Sauce: Mix

• 5 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp catsup
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp chopped onion
• 1 tsp chopped celery
• sea salt
• Tabasco pepper sauce

Procedure:

1. Cook shrimps in boiling water with parsley, salt and pepper until it turns pink. Remove the shells keeping the tail intact.
2. Arrange lettuce at the bottom of cocktail glasses; dunk the shrimps in Cocktail Sauce and arrange at the rim. Garnish with lemon and serve cold.

RELISHES:Cold and crisp vegetables, and other foods such as cottage cheese and preserves are relishes. Cherry Tomato Wine Jam is a relish.

SPREADS:These are mixtures that are more firm than dips and to be spread on crackers, bread or toast with a knife or teaspoon.

Caviar Pie

Ingredients:

• olive oil for brushing
• 5 large hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 cup chopped red onions, drained
• 2 (8 oz.) cream cheese
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 4 to 6 ounces of black and/or red lumpfish caviar, well-drained
• lemon slices

Procedure:

1. Lightly brush with olive oil the sides and bottom of an 8-inch spring form pan.
2. Mix the chopped eggs with mayonnaise and place mixture on the bottom of greased pan as the first layer.
3. Sprinkle the chopped onion as the second layer and spread evenly over the eggs.
4. Blend the cream cheese and sour cream. Using a spatula, gently spread the mixture over the onion as third layer, being careful not to mix the layers together.
5. Cover the pie with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours  or up to a day.
6. When about to be served, delicately dot small amounts of caviar over the cream cheese/sour cream mixture. If using red and black caviars, dot alternately. Spread it evenly over the pie with the back of a teaspoon.
7. When ready to unmold, have a plate at hand that is at least 1-2 inches larger in diameter than the spring-form pan. Wipe the blade of a knife with olive oil so that it will glide gently around the pan sides to loosen the pie. You may need to clean the knife with oil twice. Put the bottom of the pan on which the pie is setting on a large plate and garnish the sides with lemon slices around to hide the spring-form bottom on which the pie sits.
8. Serve with lightly toasted slices of baguettes or plain crackers. Best served with ice-cold vodka or Aquavit.

Pate de Foie Gras de Poulet(Photo from dreamstime.com)

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp chopped bacon
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp minced onion
• 1 cup chicken liver, trimmed
• 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp dry sherry wine or brandy
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground thyme
• dash of ground cloves
• extra-virgin olive oil or melted butter

Procedure:

1. In a skillet sauté bacon with garlic and onion. Add chicken livers and season with salt and pepper. Add water and cook covered over medium heat until almost dry. Cool.
2. Place chicken liver mixture in a blender or food processor and add dry sherry, mayonnaise, butter, nutmeg, thyme and cloves. Process until smooth, then correct seasoning. Transfer to small crocks and seal with extra-virgin olive oil or melted butter. Chill.

Edith Singian, a book author and journalist, is known for her foolproof recipes. Seldom will you find a collection of culinary delights that have been precisely tested and retested, all written on a kitchen counter down to the last measurement. No secrets! Her work speaks for itself and her test kitchen expertise and more than 40 years of cooking and baking experience have made her one of the most sought-after recipe and menu development consultants in the country today.