Hit me with your best appetizer cookbook and/or best appetizer recipes.
December 9, 2013 9:40 AM Subscribe
My bestest friends host a New Year's Eve party each year with the caveat that everyone bring an appetizer they've never made before to share. It's great fun and each year we've found a new favorite recipe and one that gets scrapped into the garbage after the first taste.
That said, I'd love to bring them an appetizer cookbook as a thank you for hosting AND bring the best damn appetizer ever. Cookbooks with great appetizer sections are okay, but I'd prefer a full-on appetizer cookbook recommendation. No restrictions to ethnicity or ingredients. Thanks!
We have had THIS book for years and we keep coming back to it. A lot of great recipes in it. The blue cheese puffs are a HUGE hit.
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 9:53 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by PuppetMcSockerson at 9:53 AM on December 9, 2013 [1 favorite]
I love appetizers, and one of my very favorite appetizer cookbooks is Chris Cosentino's Beginnings: My Way to Start A Meal. It's got lots of really interesting and unusual dishes as well as great versions of some classics, and everything I've ever made from it has been delicious and well-received at parties.
posted by rhiannonstone at 10:12 AM on December 9, 2013
posted by rhiannonstone at 10:12 AM on December 9, 2013
Feta Pesto Dome is one of my favorite appetizers. It has layers of cream cheese/feta, pesto, and sundried tomato. You can put it on sliced baguettes or crackers or whatever. It's super festive looking!) (photo)
Recipe:
You'll need:
-1 block of feta
-1 same-size block of cream cheese (1/3 less fat kind is fine)
-small jar of sundried tomatoes packed in oil (it's 7 or 75. oz)
-pesto
-smallest size jar of tomato paste
Get out a bowl. Line it with saran wrap. A small bowl. The actual amounts of the ingredients will depend on your bowl. The first time you make it, it will be more of an experiment, but from then on, you'll know about how much of each thing you'll need to fit YOUR bowl.
In your food processor, blend together the sundried tomatoes and a small amount of tomato paste. Keep adding tomato paste until you have a nice, smooth consistency.
Using a mixer, blend together the cream cheese and feta until nice and combined.
Okay, this is the fun part!!! Take a little ball of cheese, and flatten it in your hand until it looks like a little cookie. Pat this into the bottom of the bowl. This will be the tip of your dome! Make sure to smooth the edges until they totally touch the full diameter of the bowl. (imagine how it looks in the end result. nohmshomn?) Then spread on a layer of tomatoes. Then do another layer of feta (making a big cookie in your hand is a good way to start. Then you can kind of roll out snakes of cheese to fill in the gaps as you reach the larger parts of the bowl.). Then do a layer of pesto! then feta, then tomatoes, then feta!
The size of your bowl will actually determine how many layers you will have. It's good to end on feta, as it is the firmest layer. My bowl gave me feta, tomato, feta, pesto, feta, tomato, feta.
Then you put a layer of saran wrap over top of the bowl, and refrigerate overnight. You could probably get away with skipping this step, but it will provide best results. The next day, pull it out of the fridge, and flop it over onto a plate. VOILA! FETA DOME!!!!!!!!!!!! And dude it is SO DELICIOUS YOU WON'T BELIEVE YOUR MOUTH. I like it on whole grain baguette.
posted by orangek8 at 11:14 AM on December 9, 2013 [5 favorites]
Recipe:
You'll need:
-1 block of feta
-1 same-size block of cream cheese (1/3 less fat kind is fine)
-small jar of sundried tomatoes packed in oil (it's 7 or 75. oz)
-pesto
-smallest size jar of tomato paste
Get out a bowl. Line it with saran wrap. A small bowl. The actual amounts of the ingredients will depend on your bowl. The first time you make it, it will be more of an experiment, but from then on, you'll know about how much of each thing you'll need to fit YOUR bowl.
In your food processor, blend together the sundried tomatoes and a small amount of tomato paste. Keep adding tomato paste until you have a nice, smooth consistency.
Using a mixer, blend together the cream cheese and feta until nice and combined.
Okay, this is the fun part!!! Take a little ball of cheese, and flatten it in your hand until it looks like a little cookie. Pat this into the bottom of the bowl. This will be the tip of your dome! Make sure to smooth the edges until they totally touch the full diameter of the bowl. (imagine how it looks in the end result. nohmshomn?) Then spread on a layer of tomatoes. Then do another layer of feta (making a big cookie in your hand is a good way to start. Then you can kind of roll out snakes of cheese to fill in the gaps as you reach the larger parts of the bowl.). Then do a layer of pesto! then feta, then tomatoes, then feta!
The size of your bowl will actually determine how many layers you will have. It's good to end on feta, as it is the firmest layer. My bowl gave me feta, tomato, feta, pesto, feta, tomato, feta.
Then you put a layer of saran wrap over top of the bowl, and refrigerate overnight. You could probably get away with skipping this step, but it will provide best results. The next day, pull it out of the fridge, and flop it over onto a plate. VOILA! FETA DOME!!!!!!!!!!!! And dude it is SO DELICIOUS YOU WON'T BELIEVE YOUR MOUTH. I like it on whole grain baguette.
posted by orangek8 at 11:14 AM on December 9, 2013 [5 favorites]
I also asked this question last year and got some great ideas: delicious appetizers on the cheap.
posted by k8lin at 8:05 AM on December 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by k8lin at 8:05 AM on December 10, 2013 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by k8lin at 9:46 AM on December 9, 2013 [2 favorites]