>Elegant Canapés in the Making

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M-J’s elegant canapés begin with her home-made bread fashioned into toast platforms. They are now ready for filling with refined ingredients.
©M-J de Mesterton

Elegant Canapés

Canapés are elegant appetisers that use bread or toast as a base for decoratively arranged bits of food. Meats, cheese and vegetables are elegantly placed inside these toasted bread cups. These elegant offerings are always welcome with drinks before dinner, or as part of  a cocktail buffet.

>M-J’s Elegant Hommos bi Tahini

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M-J’s elegant recipe for hommos bi tahini, hummus bi tahine, tahina or whichever way you prefer to spell chickpea and sesame dip: mash the chickpeas and add sesame paste, preferably a very liquid one with lots of natural oil in it, and squeeze into this mixture the juice of a lemon, add salt, red pepper and olive oil to your taste. Mix until almost smooth. Serve hummus bi tahini with warm pita bread, Moroccan olives, shawarma, and whatever else you have on your meze table. Hummus is a perfect dip for summer entertaining. And without the addition of raw garlic, which no one will miss, this dip is more socially acceptable. The lemon component is very refreshing, the sesame paste is tasty, and the garbanzos (chick-peas) are light and airy. Combining these simple ingredients results in a magical dish that is very popular at parties.

©M-J de Mesterton

M-J’s Elegant Hommos bi Tahini

M-J’s elegant recipe for hommos bi tahini, hummus bi tahine, tahina or whichever way you prefer to spell chickpea and sesame dip: mash the chickpeas and add sesame paste, preferably a very liquid one with lots of natural oil in it, and squeeze into this mixture the juice of a lemon, add salt, red pepper and olive oil to your taste. Mix until almost smooth. Serve hummus bi tahini with warm pita bread, Moroccan olives, shawarma, and whatever else you have on your meze table. Hummus is a perfect dip for summer entertaining. And without the addition of raw garlic, which no one will miss, this dip is more socially acceptable. The lemon component is very refreshing, the sesame paste is tasty, and the garbanzos (chick-peas) are light and airy. Combining these simple ingredients results in a magical dish that is very popular at parties.

©M-J de Mesterton

M-J’s Elegant Guacamole

>M-J’s Elegant Guacamole

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>M-J’s Elegant Guacamole

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M-J’s Elegant Guacamole

Elegant Home-Made Tortilla Chips

MAKE YOUR OWN ELEGANT TORTILLA CHIPS  Posted at 12:16 PM on November 27, 2009

MAKE YOUR OWN ELEGANT TORTILLA CHIPS You don’t have to throw out your tortillas if they are past their prime. Make them into tortilla chips, which will be very popular with your family and guests, as they are pleasingly different from those bought in the store. Take a stack of tortillas and dust between the layers with salt, pressing it into them. Then, pressing into it with a large knife, cut the stack of tortillas into quarters. Lower a handful-at-a-time of the uncooked chips into bubbling hot oil. For this light and crispy batch, I used a combination of soy oil, which is now sold as “vegetable oil”, and lard. Peanut or corn oil are also good for deep-frying tortillas.

When the chips themselves have developed bubbles and are slightly brown, it’s time to remove them from the pot with a runsible or slotted spoon. Drain them on paper towels, and dust with more salt if desired. The cooking oil may be strained, refrigerated and re-used for French fries, yams or potato chips. My recipe for Elegant Guacamole goes very well with these tortilla chips. So do sour cream or crème fraîche, and a mixture of sliced jalapeños with melted Cheddar cheese, baked on top of the chips for a few minutes in a hot oven.

 ©M-J de Mesterton 2009

 M-J de Mesterton’s Elegant Guacamole Dip: Find the Recipe on Elegant Cuisine and Elegant Cook.

M-J’s Elegant Burger Canapés

See Elegant Cook for M-J’s Recipe