>Elegant Canapés in the Making

>

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

>Make Your Own Elegant Tortilla Chips

>

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.

Make Your Own Elegant Tortilla Chips

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 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 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

Elegant Hummus bi Tahina Dip

 

M-J’s elegant recipe for hommos bi tahina, hummus bi tahine, 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 natual 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 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.

M-J de Mesterton’s Cornish Pasties

Cornish Pasty Made by M-J de Mesterton

I’ve been making Cornish pasties since the age of 20. My mother wrote a book about the pasty and its history which was published in 1990, but my method and ingredients differ from hers. The following is  my pasty (pronounced “pass-tee”) recipe: I will not formally transcribe my recipe and method for making pasties, because  I never use measurements. I can tell you, however, that they are made with a short crust containing both butter and lard, water, a teaspoon of malt vinegar, and unbleached, plain white flour. Since salted butter is used in the dough, add just a dash of salt to it.  I add sea-salt and hand-milled pepper to the filling, which consists of  four ingredients, diced very finely: tri-tip steak, which is always well-marbled and never tough; ordinary, high-starch brown-skinned potatoes, turnips, butter bits, and white or Spanish onions. The finely-diced beef and vegetables are tossed together in a mixing bowl with the salt and pepper before being laid upon the dough, dotted with butter and enclosed. The edges are crimped, either on top or on the side of the pasty, and a couple of well-placed slits are made in the top to allow steam to escape. The final product is brushed with a beaten egg mixed with a teaspoon of cream. The pasties are then baked in a very hot oven for close to one hour. Once the pasties have cooled for about twenty minutes, serve with an oil-and-vinegar-dressed lettuce salad. Offer Cornish cream, Spanish or Mexican Crema, or sour cream as an optional condiment. The pasties depicted here, which I made,  are the optimum size for a meal; the dough for them was shaped into a ball about half the size of a woman’s closed hand, then was rolled out and cut around a 7″ luncheon plate.  Making giant pasties just isn’t elegant, nor is it traditionally Cornish. I also make miniature pasties for parties, by using a tin can or the bottom, inner ridge of the same luncheon plate as a cutting guide. These mini-pasties are easily eaten by hand with a cocktail napkin to catch any pastry-flakes. For a basic short-crust guide, please see my Elegant Apple Pie recipe.~~Recipe and Pasty Photos Copyright M-J de Mesterton

Cornish Pasty Made by M-J de Mesterton, Copyright 2009