DIY Food

The Last-Minute Hors d'Oeuvre

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December 31, 2014

Inspired by conversations on the Food52 Hotline, we're sharing tips and tricks that make navigating all of our kitchens easier and more fun. 

Today: A last-minute hors d'oevre to keep your guests happy -- and make you look good.

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We know how it goes around this time of year: a family member (or two, or three) calls, and says they're twenty minutes away. But there's no need to panic -- as long as you have some puff pastry lying around in the freezer (store-bought or homemade), you'll be able to place an hors d'oeuvre on the table with minutes to spare!

Watch Merrill whip up puff pastry pinwheels filled with parmesan and mustard in a flash, then come up with your own combinations, sweet or savory, and share them with us in the comments. 

This video was shot and edited by Kyle Orosz

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • Kitchen Counter Culture
    Kitchen Counter Culture
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    Lakshmi Sundar
  • ChefJune
    ChefJune
  • Bevi
    Bevi
  • Katelinlee
    Katelinlee
gheanna

Written by: gheanna

My two (current) favorite foods start with the letter D: doughnuts, and dumplings. If a dish has bacon in it, I will most likely eat it. If I could marry honey butter, I would.

11 Comments

Kitchen C. April 8, 2015
I have a friend who does these with Marmite . They are delicious, as yours look too.
 
Lakshmi S. January 1, 2015
You could make it Indian style by grating some "paneer" (indian cottage cheese) and mixing it with a bit of curry powder and cilantro. Looks pretty as well!
 
ChefJune December 31, 2014
It's also okay if you planned to do this all along! ;-) Puff pastry is an item that should never be missing from your freezer.
 
Bevi December 31, 2014
This shape is cute, and the ingredient pairings are endless: https://food52.com/recipes/15280-binocular-bites-roasted-tomato-blue-cheese-and-dried-fig-manchego-cheese
 
Katelinlee July 2, 2013
I put the leftover egg wash from pie crust (etc.) in there with a mix of cheeses (usually parm and gruyere/swiss from onion soup) and whatever herbs I have on hand. The egg helps keep the cheese in place.
 
SundayDinners December 16, 2012
I mix it up, but this year's holiday snacks table featured pinwheels with gruyere and a sprinkling of chopped mixed green and black olives. They were gobbled up.
 
oobeto December 9, 2012
I like prosciutto and pesto, also sundried tomato pesto and chèvre.
 
j.r. G. December 9, 2012
Olive or sun dried tomato tempenade.
 
ejm December 5, 2012
i go for proscuitto or something similar and grated cheese - emmenthal or comte etc. You can make in advance and freeze, well wrapped. Then heat the oven to 400 or so and pop them in.
 
amysarah December 4, 2012
This is a great reason why puff pastry in the freezer is money in the bank. One suggestion: instead of rolling the pastry into a log, if you roll it towards the center from opposing sides - meeting halfway - you get a palmier. Equally as easy, and kind of pretty. (Also, pesto/grated parm; prosciutto/honey mustard/parm; and chutney/grated sharp cheddar make great fillings too.)
 
mia88 December 4, 2012
nice