Take the ingredients of a Greek salad and
turn it into a layered dip, served with pita
chips. Photo courtesy
SouthByMouth.Blogspot.com.

Yesterday, we discussed layered dips, beginning with the layered Mexican dip, also known as a layered bean dip and seven-layer dip. We also introduced a layered Middle Eastern dip.

In Part 2, we travel beyond Mexico and the Middle East to Greece and India.

If you use a base of nonfat Greek yogurt layered with vegetables, your dip will be low in calories.

GREEK LAYERED DIP RECIPE

Ingredients

Preparation

1. SPREAD seasoned yogurt across the bottom of a shallow bowl.

2. LAYER with diced tomatoes, cucumbers and olives.

3. SPRINKLE with crumbled feta and oregano/parsley.

INDIAN LAYERED DIP RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. BLEND together the sour cream and curry. Spread across the bottom of a shallow glass bowl, baking dish or pie plate.

2. ADD layer of coconut and peanuts, followed by the layer of paneer cheese.

3. BLEND cream cheese with chutney and layer on top. Sprinkle with green onions.

A warm pizza dip. Photo courtesy MyBakingAddition.com. See recipe below.

 
4. SERVE with pieces/slices of Indian bread: chapata, naan, pappadum or whatever you can find (try an International supermarket). Or, pita chips will do nicely.
 
WARM PIZZA DIP RECIPE

Ingredients

 
*Create your own Italian seasoning with dried spices, 1/4 teaspoon each basil, marjoram and oregano plus 1/8 teaspoon rubbed sage.

Preparation

1. PREHEAT oven to 350°F (175°C).

2. BEAT sour cream, cream cheese and Italian seasoning on medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Spread evenly over the bottom of the pie plate.

3. LAYER other ingredients in the order listed.

4. BAKE for 10 to 12 minutes until heated through; top with mozzarella. Continue baking for 4 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

5. SERVE warm with toasts.

Here’s a recipe variation from the blog, MyBakingAddiction.com.

MIX & MATCH: OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS FOR ANY LAYERED DIP

You can add any ingredients to the layers that appeal to you. Some ideas:

It couldn’t be easier: drizzle the cheese with
honey and sprinkle the almonds. Photo
courtesy VermontCreamery.com.

We adore mild, creamy goat cheese with its subtle tang. We’re always looking for an excuse to eat it.

So how about this couldn’t-be-easier hors d’oeuvre or appetizer for entertaining? Simply:

 
What’s your favorite easy hors d’oeuvre? Let us know!

Learn all about goat cheese and our other favorite cheeses in our Gourmet Cheese Section.

Grilled beef and horseradish-yogurt spread
on a baguette. Photo courtesy Nature’s
Flavours.

Even if you live in Maine, it’s still warm enough to grill outdoors. So the next time you have a cocktail party or a simple wine gathering, grill your hors d’oeuvre. (In French, “hors d’oeuvre” is used for both singular and plural forms of the noun. Americans who don’t know French add an “s” at the end.)

Start with canapés: finger foods composed of a base and topping, meant to be eaten in one bite. The name is the French word for sofa: the topping sits upon the “sofa.” The topping itself is called the “canopy.”

(Punsters: You can make a “couch potato” by topping the base with a potato-based food, such as cubed ham and potato salad with grainy mustard-mayonnaise and capers, or mashed potatoes mixed with salmon caviar.)

Miniature versions of grilled cheese (slice a regular sandwich into quarters) can be enhanced with chutney or any of these wonderful gourmet grilled cheese recipes. We’ve served several different grill cheese on the same tray: blue cheese, cheddar and smoked Gouda, for example.

To plan your grilled hors d’oeuvre, select a base, a spread (which acts as a flavorful binder between the base and the topping) and a “canopy.”

MIX & MATCH YOUR INGREDIENTS

Pick Your Base

There are many different bases for canapés, ranging from pastry shells to tortilla chips. Here’s the best selection for grilled canapés.

Pick Your Spread

Many canapés are simply a base and a spread, such as cheese, pâté or relish. With grilled canapes, a different type of spread serves as the binder between the base and the grilled “canopy.”

Hors d’oeuvre on grilled pita wedges and grilled polenta rounds. Photo courtesy AddSomeLife.com.

Pick Your Canopy (Topping)

 
Pick A Garnish
 
Garnishes add another layer of flavor, along with color and visual appeal.

 
ANOTHER GRILLED OPTION: SKEWERS

Canapés aren’t the only hors d’oeuvre that can be grilled. Skewers, in fact, are the obvious choice.

With a skewer instead of bread base, you save the carbs; but you often replace the calories with a dipping sauce.

You can pick up a book about grilled appetizers: Appetizers On The Grill.

Find more of our favorite hors d’oeuvre recipes.

When pulling together hors d’oeuvres for cocktails, it’s easy to reach for baguette slices or crackers and pile on a topping.

But here’s an alternative that doesn’t get soggy, has better nutrition and fewer carbs: the cucumber. You can place sliced meat and cheese, a shrimp with dill sauce, or other favorite directly atop a slice of cucumber instead of the bread or cracker. You can even make bite-size “cucumber sandwiches” using two slices of cucumber and a filling.

Or, you can “stuff” the cucumber for a more impressive presentation:

STUFFED CUCUMBER HORS D’OEUVRES

1. Peel and cut cucumbers into half-inch circles and carefully scoop out a well with a melon baller or other device.

2. Optionally, you can use a small cookie cutter to make scalloped/floral shapes, as in the photo (do this before you scoop out the well).

3. Then, fill the well with anything you like. Some of our favorites:

Cucumbers stuffed with salsa. Photo courtesy Elegant Affairs Caterers | New York.

 
BLUE CHEESE SPREAD RECIPE

The better quality the blue cheese and cream cheese, the better this tastes. We use organic cream cheese (less gumminess, more flavor) and Gorgonzola or Roquefort (check out our favorite blue cheeses).

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE: In a medium bowl, mash softened cream cheese until softened. Mash in blue cheese.

2. TASTE: Blue cheese is typically salty, but adjust with salt and pepper if needed. You can make this up to a week in advance. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

3. ASSEMBLE. Top cucumber slices with cheese spread. Since this is a thick mixture, you don’t need to create wells; but you can certainly do so if you like the aesthetic.

4. GARNISH: Top with a thin slice of fig and/or a toasted nut.

Find more of our favorite hors d’oeuvre recipes.

Not another pig-in-a-blanket: Kobe beef hot
dog lollipops. Photo courtesy Elegant Affairs Caterers.

Today is National Lollipop Day. But lollipops are more than sugar-on-a-stick. There are also savory lollipops, popular as hors d’oeuvres at cocktail parties and snacks at kids’ parties.

The difference between savory lollipops and other food-on-a-stick—such as corn dogs and kebabs—is the size: single bites, in the case of lollipops. Lollipops add a touch of whimsy, a new way to present the classics.

Just in time for weekend fun, here are two recipes from Andrea Correale, owner and founder of Elegant Affairs Caterers, a company in metropolitan New York that is one of the leading Hamptons caterers and event planners (she has catered events for L.A. Reid, Mariah Carey, Russell Simmons and P. Diddy, among others).

While the two recipes below require preparation, you can make simple variations without planning ahead.

Just keep a package of six-inch bamboo skewers on hand. Then, if you need an hors d’oeuvre or kid treats in a hurry, you can look in the fridge and freezer and make lollipops from whatever you have: meatballs, chicken nuggets, hot dog and sausage chunks and cubes of cheese, with a dipping sauce.

If you don’t have wheatgrass or other food to anchor the sticks, put them in a short jar, or lay them on a tray.
 
KOBE HOT DOG LOLLIPOPS

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Flour the puff pastry sheet and add Cheddar to one side of the sheet. Evenly distribute and flatten with your hands.

2. Place one end of the pastry dough over cheese end and fold over. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough.

3. Mix mustard and eggs and brush Dijon egg wash all over dough.

3. Take hot dog, place at edge of dough. Take puff pastry and roll around hot dog. Use egg wash to adhere.

4. Cut away the excess dough and pinch the ends together. Repeat with each hot dog.

5. Place on a carving board and cut the ends off. Slice into 3/4″ thick pieces.

6. Place on a parchment-covered baking sheet and bake for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Insert a skewer into each piece and place in a wheatgrass-filled tray.

WHITE SESAME CHICKEN LOLLIPOPS

You can also make these with tofu for vegetarian guests.

Sesame Chicken Lollipops. You can substitute tofu. Photo courtesy Elegant Affairs.

 
Preparation

1. Sift flour with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch, baking soda and baking powder. Mix together soy sauce, water, vegetable oil and a pinch of sesame oil; stir into flour mixture until smooth. Fold in chicken pieces until coated with the batter, then cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

2. Heat oil in a deep fryer or large saucepan to a temperature of 375°F. Drop in the battered chicken pieces and fry until they turn golden brown and float to the top of the oil, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

3. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds to garnish. To serve, skewer chicken pieces using long wooden skewers. Lie on a platter with the dipping sauce, or stick into a 2-day-old loaf of round bread.

MISO DIPPING SAUCE RECIPE

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. In a small bowl, whisk together miso, water, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and salt.

2. While whisking, gradually add peanut and sesame oil until you have a creamy dressing.

3. Serve with White Sesame Chicken Lollipops.

See the Elegant Affairs website for more delicious party ideas.

Here’s an easy hors d’oeuvre or snack that’s delicious and different: cherry tomatoes with a choice of flavored sea salts.

Simply set out toothpicks and let family and guests enjoy a succulent cherry or grape tomato with a dip of flavorful salt.

Choose salts with contrasting colors, flavors and textures (crunchier coarse salt versus fine grain). Here we’ve used:

 
There are many other wonderful choices, from pink Himalayan sea salt to crunchy smoked Maldon sea salt from England, which has unique, pyramid-shaped crystals.

A martini of cherry tomatoes with three flavored salts. Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE
NIBBLE.

Check out the large variety of gourmet salts in our Salt Glossary.

Yesterday we introduced dessert verrines, dishes layered in small glasses. They can be either sweet or savory; the goal is to create a visually-stunning and sophisticated small bite.

Today, we take on savory verrines, popular as appetizers or cocktail food. You can also serve them as sides with a main course.

Think of three to five foods you enjoy together, then layer them in a glass.

We especially like to turn leftovers into savory verrines. They hardly seem like leftovers when they’re placed in such glamorous surroundings.

SAVORY INGREDIENTS CHECKLIST

Here’s a beginning list; you’ll no doubt have more to add.

How to get people to eat their veggies: top
mashed cauliflower and curried carrots with
Greek yogurt or sour cream. Verrine glass
from Starfrit.

One of our favorite combinations:
Guacamole, sour cream and salmon mousse,
topped with smoked salmon. Photo courtesy
Wallmonkey.

 
To top it off, you can use one or more garnishes:

GARNISHES

 
VERRINE COOKBOOKS

If you read French, there’s a larger selection. Here’s what we found in English, but we expect to see more as publishers catch up with the trend”

Berries, pistachio sour cream and sweetened Greek yogurt. Photo courtesy Wallmonkey.

Looking for some appetizer or dessert excitement? Make verrines (vair-REEN, in French).

Verre is the French word for glass; verrine, which means “protective glass,” is an assortment of ingredients layered “artfully” in a small glass.

Verrines can be sweet or savory: The idea is to layer foods that provide delicious tastes in small bites.

In addition to serving up a variety of tastes and textures, verrines should have splashes of color for eye appeal (grape tomatoes, raspberries, herbs).

The idea has been around for a long time, but in recent years has come back to prominence in France.

While specialty verrine glasses exist, you most likely have vessels at home that will do the job just fine: juice glasses, rocks glasses, shot glasses, even small wine goblets.

And you don’t have to start big—you can hold off on the foie gras mousse, cubed Sauternes gelée (Sauternes [a sweet wine] in plain gelatin) and stewed rhubarb, topped with crème fraîche, candied apricots and chopped pistachios (we made this one last week).

Instead, start by making the foods you serve every day more exciting by serving a verrine as a side. For example:

 
How many layers should you prepare? Three to six.

SWEET INGREDIENTS CHECKLIST

This is hardly an exhaustive list, but it’s a good start for inspiration.

A classic verrine: different flavors of mousse,
cookies and meringues. And the small size
means portion control! Photo courtesy
Payard.

ALSO SEE: Savory verrines.

VERRINE COOKBOOKS

If you read French, there’s a larger selection. Here’s what we found in English, but we expect to see more as publishers catch up with the trend:

Tapenade-topped crostini with a garnish of
fresh tomato. Photo by Kelly Cline | IST.

Back in our college days, a fashionable new restaurant opened in midtown Manhattan. It had a menu that was very exciting for the time.

For starters, instead of serving butter or olive oil with the bread basket, there was an exotic dip: creamy and a bit salty with the flavor of seafood. The bread basket included delicious and sophisticated slices of Melba toast.

We learned in short order that the toasts were called crostini (cruh-STEE-nee) and the dip was tapenade (TAH-pen-odd). They became our favorite hors d’oeuvre for years to come.

In addition to helping us maintain our food-forward-thinker status, tapenade was ridiculously easy to make. Just open three cans or jars, place the contents in the food processor with some seasonings, and pulse.

The recipe for crostini even easier. Both recipes follow.

Delicious with wine, beer and cocktails, these recipes are a reason to invite friends and neighbors for a casual get-together. Or make them for Mother’s Day.

TAPENADE RECIPE

You can substitute green olives for the black olives (some people use a half cup of each). If you don’t like anchovies, leave them out. If you don’t like anchovies and tuna, you can substitute artichoke hearts, cooked eggplant, mushrooms, red bell peppers or sundried tomatoes. This is an easy recipe to customize to your own preferences.

If you want to spare the carbs (crostini), tapenade is also delicious with crudités.

Ingredients

 
NOTES
(1) Canned olives are famously bland. If you like a stronger olive flavor, buy better-quality olives in the jar or from an olive bar—although you may need an olive pitter to remove the pits.
(2) We find that the oil in the drained tuna and anchovies is often sufficient. Process the mixture without the added olive oil; then decide if you need it. The added olive oil will give the tapenade a thinner consistency. If you’d like it thinner still, add more olive oil, bit by bit.
 
CROSTINI RECIPE

Makes about 25 slices.

Ingredients

 
Preparation
 
1. PREHEAT. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. SLICE. Cut thin baguette slices on the bias.
3. COMBINE. Mix the oil and salt and pepper. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat one side of the bread slices with oil. Place on a cookie sheet and bake until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Yield: about 24 slices. At the table, we serve a plate of crostini with a bowl of tapenade and let guests top their own crostini. For passed hors d’oeuvre or an hors d’oeuvre plate, serve them already topped.

You can serve the crostini plain or with a garnish: chopped tomatoes, a strip of pimento, some fresh herbs or whatever you have on hand.

(3) Because the bread is toasted, you can use day-old baguette. In fact, we typically make crostini whenever we have a leftover loaf.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TAPENADE AND PESTO

Pesto is typically based on basil although can use other ingredients, from greens (arugula, spinach) to sundried tomatoes. Tapenade is always based on olives. While pesto can be used as a dip, it is actually a sauce, used to coat other foods. Tapenade is a spread that can be used as a dip.

Pesto
Pesto, the Italian word for pounded, is an uncooked sauce made with fresh basil or other vegetable or fruit, plus olive oil and other ingredients. The sauce originated in Genoa, Italy. The classic pesto alla genovese is made with basil, olive oil, pine nuts, Parmesan and/or pecorino cheese and garlic, plus salt. There are many variations on the original recipe; some use herbs or greens instead of basil (arugula, cilantro, spinach, e.g.) or focus on other ingredients (pumpkin, sweet red pepper).

Tapenade

Bruschetta are larger than crostini, and grilled rather than oven-baked. Photo courtesy California Asparagus Commission.

Tapenade is an olive-based spread, typically used as an hors d’œuvre, on crackers or bread. It can be used in recipes as well; for example, to stuff fish fillets. We serve it as a condiment with grilled fish, atop or to the side.

Olives were among the first domesticated crops. Olive pastes and spreads—chopped or ground olives mixed with olive oil—have been served in the Mediterranean region for thousands of years. The “classic” tapenade recipe enjoyed today was invented less than 100 years ago by the chef of the Maison Dorée in Marseilles, who added anchovies and capers to a black olive spread. The word comes the from Provençal term for capers, tapéno. Some recipes add tuna as a variation.

And yes, there are olive pestos, that add olives to a traditional pesto—hold the tuna, capers and anchovies!

As for the tapenade: You can use it to top bruschetta or crostini.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BRUSCHETTA & CROSTINI

Both bruschetta and crostini are Italian recipes based on toasted bread. The difference is twofold: size and toasting method.

 
Both will be a welcome addition to your culinary repertoire.

It’s time to celebrate National Pigs In Blankets Day.

Ask for some pigs in blankets in the U.K., and you’ll get a cocktail sausage wrapped in bacon (more like a pig in a pig, we think).

At IHOP, the International House Of Pancakes, you can chow down on pork sausage links rolled in a pancake “blankets.”

But across the U.S., what caterers declare to be the most popular hors d’oeuvre is a cocktail frankfurter in a pastry blanket. And don’t forget the mustard.

Culinary historians have tracked the first recipes for modern pigs in blankets—small cocktail franks baked in flaky crust—to 1950. According to FoodTimeline.org, these pastry-wrapped piggies are likely direct descendants of Victorian-era canapés.

The earliest recipe found in American cookbooks that was called “pigs in blankets” was published in the 1930. But there was no frankfurter or other sausage: it comprised oysters wrapped with bacon.

You know which little piggie recipe won out. So head to the market, grab some cocktail franks and a roll of croissant dough, and join the Neelys in the video, as they demonstrate how easy it is to make pigs in blankets.

We highly recommend Dijon mustard (check out the different types of mustard).

While pigs in blankets are classic cocktail fare, we find them even more delicious with beer. Enjoy!