A friend recently served us slices of amazing crusty grain bread with a small bit of goat cheese, an avocado slice, toasted garlic and a squeeze of lime. It so refreshingly simple and delicious. I also love smoked trout, horseradish sour cream and fig jam on bread or crackers. And I agree on a good spread of cured meats, cheese and dried fruit.
Press individual wonton wrappers into mini cupcake molds & bake until golden. At this point you can put just about anything in them. They will taste great, have a nice crunch & a wow factor way above their pay grade :)
Genoa salami sliced thin. Spread on cream cheese mixed with a bit of horseradish-to taste . Then roll it up. Put on platter with cocktail rye or pumpernickel. Easy and yummy.
Top slices of toasted baguette with thin slice of apple, pear, or Asian pear, top with slice of Cambozola cheese put on baking sheet and put in 400 degree oven for about 5 minutes, until cheese softens and just barely melts.
Slice the tops off of cherry tomatoes, scoop out the flesh and fill with your favorite tuna salad, chopped shrimp salad, ground ham salad, or vegetarian rice salad, or mix chopped smoked salmon, capers, and minced purple onion in whipped cream cheese and use to fill the tomatoes.
It doesn't get much easier than this http://food52.com/recipes/25262-spanish-fly-olives-almonds-and-anchovies The hard part might be finding the boquerones (white anchovies in vinegar, guaranteed to convert anchovy haters).
Anything with a baguette, like
Baguette slices, topped with crumbles of blue cheese and honey, put in the over for just a few minutes for the bread to get a nice crunch, have the cheese and honey melt.
Giada de Laurentis' pea pesto crostinis spread on baguettes slices, topped with parmesan and half a grape tomato slice.
Merrill's recipe for pinwheels is super simple, quick to make, and taste great. You can change the combination of ingredients. In addition to the recipe's suggestions, I've also used sun-dried tomatoes and mozzarella, tapenade and goat cheese, chipotles and cheddar, pesto... the possibilities are endless! http://food52.com/recipes/19963-10-minute-parmesan-and-mustard-pinwheels
Almost anything with puff pastry (palmiers, cheese straws, etc). I'd search for "puff pastry" within appetizers. Spiced nuts, mixed olives, and a nice cheese board are always great and require no cooking at all. The baked feta recipes on this site are great too.
How easy do you want to go and how heavy? We had friends over the other night and I made a pretty heavy dinner so for our snack-with-cocktails I served a little dish each of olives, marcona almonds, really good potato chips and cherry tomatoes. Super easy. Maybe not super impressive but dinner was good.
White Anchovies on baguette toasts. Bruschettas of all kinds, make the toasts, purchase the toppings. Canned Piquilo Peppers, sauteed in olive oil with sliced garlic. Bake a wedge of brie, topped with chopped sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, olive oil at 400* for about 12-18 mins until it melts. Serve with toasted baguette rounds.
Sliced ham...Spread with cream cheese. Lay in a green onion...roll it up. Slice it like a sushi roll.
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Hummus and pita bread.
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Shrimp cocktail. Served in plastic Champagne type glasses..with a bit of shredded lettuce topped with cocktail sauce..and a wedge of lemon on the side.
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Small clear plastic glasses (like a airline plastic glass)..fill just a bit of ranch dressing and put in veggie sticks (celery, carrot, blanched green beans).
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Get some Slate Tiles from home depot...wash them and coat with just a touch of mineral oil..(cheap from wal-greens--in the laxative section)
Use those for cheese board..and sliced deli meats. (or use a wood cutting board or pizza peel)---add some of those cocktail rye bread things with a small bowl of good mustard..and some jams and jellies to go with the cheeses. Also..offer a some mini gherkins dill pickles and a bowl of olives with some tooth picks in a shot glass.
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Baguette slices, topped with crumbles of blue cheese and honey, put in the over for just a few minutes for the bread to get a nice crunch, have the cheese and honey melt.
Giada de Laurentis' pea pesto crostinis spread on baguettes slices, topped with parmesan and half a grape tomato slice.
Voted the Best Reply!
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Hummus and pita bread.
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Shrimp cocktail. Served in plastic Champagne type glasses..with a bit of shredded lettuce topped with cocktail sauce..and a wedge of lemon on the side.
---
Small clear plastic glasses (like a airline plastic glass)..fill just a bit of ranch dressing and put in veggie sticks (celery, carrot, blanched green beans).
---
Get some Slate Tiles from home depot...wash them and coat with just a touch of mineral oil..(cheap from wal-greens--in the laxative section)
Use those for cheese board..and sliced deli meats. (or use a wood cutting board or pizza peel)---add some of those cocktail rye bread things with a small bowl of good mustard..and some jams and jellies to go with the cheeses. Also..offer a some mini gherkins dill pickles and a bowl of olives with some tooth picks in a shot glass.