>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 Burger Canapés

See Elegant Cook for M-J’s Recipe

M-J’s New Mexico Chile Almonds

M-J’s Roasted New Mexican Chile Almonds, © 2007

Soak one pound (16 ounces) of raw almonds in brine (I use health-promoting Himalayan salt) and red chile powder (New Mexican is the best). A teaspoon of sugar or honey added to the brine will ensure that the mixture adheres to the nuts. I like to use agave nectar when it is available. After ten minutes, drain them and spread almonds out on a baking sheet. Reserve the chile/salt liquid. Roast in medium-hot oven for half an hour. Test for crunchiness only when completely cooled. If they are not tasty or crunchy enough for your taste, repeat the process by just dredging the almonds in the reserved liquid, then bake again for ten to twenty minutes, being careful not to burn the nuts. Almonds ought not to be eaten raw, as they contain a small amount of cyanide until they are roasted. A three-pound bag of Diamond Raw Almonds from California is available at Sam’s Club for about ten dollars. These roasted nuts are an excellent party offering. Roasting the nuts this way is superior to coating them with oil, because your guests, even if they’re not opposed to the stuff, won’t welcome it all over their clothes.

>M-J’s New Mexico Chile Almonds

>

M-J’s Roasted New Mexican Chile Almonds, © 2007

Soak one pound (16 ounces) of raw almonds in brine (I use health-promoting Himalayan salt) and red chile powder (New Mexican is the best). A teaspoon of sugar or honey added to the brine will ensure that the mixture adheres to the nuts. I like to use agave nectar when it is available. After ten minutes, drain them and spread almonds out on a baking sheet. Reserve the chile/salt liquid. Roast in medium-hot oven for half an hour. Test for crunchiness only when completely cooled. If they are not tasty or crunchy enough for your taste, repeat the process by just dredging the almonds in the reserved liquid, then bake again for ten to twenty minutes, being careful not to burn the nuts. Almonds ought not to be eaten raw, as they contain a small amount of cyanide until they are roasted. A three-pound bag of Diamond Raw Almonds from California is available at Sam’s Club for about ten dollars. These roasted nuts are an excellent party offering. Roasting the nuts this way is superior to coating them with oil, because your guests, even if they’re not opposed to the stuff, won’t welcome it all over their clothes.

Elegant Canapes and Dessert: Pâte à Choux; Choux à La Crème; Petits Choux au Fromage

Pâte à Choux; Choux à La Crème; Petits Choux au Fromage

Croquembouche: Photo and Recipe Copyright Elegant Survival, 2008 (click image to enlarge)

Two Cups Makes about Forty Choux or Puff Shells

In a two-quart, heavy saucepan, boil one cup of water,
Six tablespoons of butter,
One teaspoon of salt,
One teaspoon of sugar (OR one 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, depending upon whether the choux-paste will be used for cream puffs or savoury cocktail offerings),
and a pinch of nutmeg.

When butter has melted, remove pot from heat.
Pour into the mixture one cup of flour. Beat with a wooden spoon until the lot is blended.
Put pot back on cooker at high heat, and continue to beat until the contents separate from the sides of the pot. Remove pot from heat again.

Now, you will need four large eggs.
Making a well in the potful of paste, break one egg into it. Beat it into the mixture, and repeat with the following three eggs, one at a time. Continue beating by hand until the paste is smooth.

You are now ready to fill a pastry bag and squeeze the paste onto a buttered baking sheet. In the absence of a pastry bag, you may use a gallon-sized, disposable zipper-bag like Zip-Lock, cutting off a 1/2 inch at one corner of it to emit pâte à choux. If this is still a problem, you may use a spoon to drop the paste onto the baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 425* Fahrenheit.

Use the pâte à choux while it is still warm.

Form the pâte à choux into one-inch diameter circular mounds, 1/2 inch high. Space them two inches apart.

Brush each mound very lightly with beaten egg.

Bake for about twenty minutes. When the puffs are double their original size, golden brown and crusty, they may be removed from the oven. Make a 1/2 inch slit on the side of each puff to release steam.

I like to fill these puffs with Crème Pâtissière, or pastry cream:

In a 3-quart mixing bowl, beat
One cup of granulated white sugar into
6 egg yolks. Continue beating until the mixture is pale yellow.
Add one half cup of full-fat milk.
Beat in one cup of sifted white all-purpose flour. Mix this very vigorously until the small lumps of egg-yolk disappear into the flour and sugar.

Boil 4 cups of full-fat milk. Add it gradually, in a small stream, to the egg and flour mixture, while stirring. Pour the mass into a heavy 6-quart saucepan and set the stove burner on medium high heat. Stir with a wire-whisk or an electric mixer, careful to include the mixture at bottom of pot. Scrape the bottom of the pot with a spatula at intervals. When this reaches the boiling-point, turn down the heat to low, continue to beat for 2 to 3 minutes in order to cook the flour thoroughly. Don’t let the custard at the bottom of the pot get scorched.

Remove from heat, and incorporate one tablespoon of butter and one teaspoon of vanilla.

Choux à La Crème

When the crème patissière is cool enough, use it to fill choux. Dust choux with powdered sugar, drizzle with melted chocolate or with hot caramel sauce.

Crème patissière will keep in the refrigerator for a week, or may be frozen.

Petits Choux au Fromage

To make these savoury cheese puffs: omit the sugar, add a half-teaspoon of cayenne pepper, and add a cup of grated Swiss or Parmesan cheese to the warm pâte à choux. Bake at 425*F for about twenty minutes or until golden brown. Pierce to release steam from each cheese-puff.

~~Copyright M-J de Mesterton, 2008

Parmesan Pine Nut Cocktail Crisps

Every time I make these simple pan-cooked wafers, no matter how irregularly shaped they may be, they are consumed with great enthusiasm. I’m not bragging; it’s just because the ingredients in them are so pure,  and they complement wine or drinks perfectly.

Heat a flat, large frying pan or griddle to medium-high. No need to grease it; the Parmesan cheese will provide enough fat while cooking to ensure the wafers won’t stick.

Grate two cups of Parmesan cheese, any brand. You can even chop it up in a food-processor or a blender.

Add a half-cup of chopped pine nuts (pignolia in Italian or piñon in Spanish), and mix well.

Season with a little red pepper. Don’t add salt, because the cheese is salty enough.

Place a tablespoonful of this mixture on the hot griddle, and spread into thin round shape, about 3 inches diameter. These constructions can be a bit lace-like, as the melting cheese bits will form a strong matrix and will hold together. Repeat this process as many times as you can fit on your pan at once.  There will be no need to flip these over; just remove them when they are golden brown, and set them on your serving tray. I like to line mine with a large paper lace doilie to soak up some of the fat.

Tip: these Parmesan Pine Nut Crisps can be moulded while still warm in miniature muffin tins, then filled with compatible ingredients.

Parmesan Pine-Nut Cocktail Crisps must be prepared right before your party. They’re so simple to make that your guests can watch you do it without rattling your nerves. These are perfect snacks for the person on a low-carb diet, since they are virtually carb-free.

Recipe Copyright M-J de Mesterton, 2008

The next time I make these for a party, I’ll show a photo of them here at Elegant Cuisine.

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