I was recently asked to do the food for a church event. The directions were to do "Fancier hors d'hoeuvres as opposed to just cookies and punch." I was definitely excited to take this on because I'm a huge fan of hors d'hoeuvres (this is basically just a fancy french phrase to mean a starter or appetizer) because it's not a full on meal, but it's savory and delicious. My goal was to have food that didn't require any utensils or even plates, if you didn't want. After making a huge list of things that I wanted to make, I finally edited it down to 5 things: 3 savory and 2 sweet.
My first appetizer was a blue cheese and basil stuffed date wrapped in prosciutto. This picture just shows the dates with blue cheese and basil, but I wanted you to be able to see the inside since they aren't as photogenic once they are wrapped in prosciutto. I got my dates at Global Foods- which is a fabulous international grocery store in Kirkwood. I highly recommend going there because they have really great prices on produce and especially on fresh herbs! Their prices for fresh basil, rosemary, thyme, sage, etc. cannot be beat. Anyway. I got pitted dates so that they were already cut open for me. And then it is very simple. You put a leaf of basil along with a little bit of blue cheese inside and then squeeze it closed a little. After you finish that, you wrap it in prosciutto- I got about 4-5 dates wrapped with just one piece of prosciutto. Aldi actually sells prosciutto for a really good price if you are wondering where to get it. If you don't have Aldi where you are, you can get it at any grocery store. But it usually is a little pricier. You can use bacon instead if you prefer. Once you wrap it in prosciutto, you stick a toothpick in it to keep the prosciutto on there. Plus the tooth pick makes it easy for people to eat them once they are done. Set your oven to 400 then bake for about 10 minutes to just melt the cheese inside. Now listen to me. You may be thinking- yeah that's nice but I don't like dates. Trust me on this one, you will like these dates. I have yet to meet a person who didn't like them. And you might also be thinking that you don't like blue cheese. Trust me again, you will like this. The blue cheese flavor is not very strong. This dish is perfect for a party or event if you want something a little fancy, but easy to make. I first had these at a New Years Eve party last year and have been wanting to recreate them ever since. YUM
My next app was a mini caprese salad. And these are sooooo easy. All you do it take a toothpick and spear a chunk of mozzarella, a leaf of lettuce and a cherry tomato. And voila you are done. I also finished them off with a drizzle of balsamic glaze which added the perfect flavor. And these are always a crowd favorite and they look pretty!
My last savory option was a simple cucumber sandwich that I learned from a friend a year or so ago. The bread I used is just a french baguette, but you can use any bread or cracker that you want. Then you take a small tub of whipped cream cheese and mix it with a dry packet of Italian dressing seasoning. Spread that on the bread and then top with a slice of cucumber and a sprinkle of dill. Easy, easy , easy. And super delicious. This is another one of those "Oh but I don't like cucumbers" things. I had multiple people tell me they don't like cucumbers and still ate 5 or 6 of these babies. So try it! It's so good.
For my first dessert option I decided to do mini strawberry and cream pavlovas. I have been wanting to make these for quite a while and finally had the opportunity to make them. I will say- they take quite a bit of time to make, but they were soooo worth it. A pavlova is basically just a merengue type pastry. Similar to the texture of a macaroon or a lucky charms marshmallow. You can find the recipe for these here. You can also top them with whatever fruit you want. I just chose strawberries because they were on sale and there are more of them in a container.
I did make another dessert. They were mini oreo cheesecakes. And let's just say that I consider them a #pinterestfail. I wouldn't say they were gross, but in my opinion they were not good and not blog worthy. So I will spare you the recipe on that one because I was definitely not a fan and will not be making them again. But hey you have to have your failures too, right?
So that was my adventure of doing "fancy hors d'hoeuvres" for a small event. It's always fun to have an opportunity to make things you have been wanting to make for a while. Hope you are having a happy Thursday! More restaurant recommendations are coming your way soon.
Love,
Grace
