Now that we have 3 small kids we are not "New Years Eve" people. We were also shift workers for a long time (he a firefighter and I worked in healthcare), so often our holidays were not celebrated on the actual day. I do love getting dressed up once in awhile for a party, and I love appetizers. They are my favorite part of a wedding or party, or at a restaurant - I would always choose tapas. One bite or a small plate of everything on the menu. So, in honor of the kick off of winter party season, here are some appetizers you can serve or bring to holiday parties, before or after new years.
Caprese Bites
I feel like all I eat over the holidays is carbs, at least this has a vegetable in it, where you can feel like you ate some sort of nutrition. If you arrange them on a round platter, you can make a wreath and it's easy to bring to any party. All of theses elements can be made ahead of time also and refrigerated until you pull them out.
Ingredients:
- Balsamic Glaze (you can also buy this in the store, it is also very good)
- 1 1/2 cups balsamic vinegar
- 3 tbss brown sugar
- 1 tsp of vanilla
Salad:
- 12 ounces grape tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes)
- 10 ounces fresh cherry-sized bocconcini (mozzarella) balls
- 2 tbs olive oil
- Handful fresh basil leaves
- flaked sea salt and ground pepper, to season
Preparation Directions: To make the glaze: Combine the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook while stirring over low heat for 4-5 minutes, or until sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to medium setting and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until reduced by one-third and thickened like syrup.
For the salad: Wash and dry the tomatoes. Pull basil leaves from stems and wash and dry. Drain the mozzarella balls. Skewer the tomato, then a basil leaf, followed by a mozzarella ball. If the basil leave if large you may wrap it around a tomato to skewer it, or fold it. Arrange them all on a platter, and you can make a wreath shape with space to put the bowl of balsamic. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with any additional basil left over.
To serve, place the bowl of balsamic glaze in the centre of the wreath, or you can drizzle it on top, if you don’t make a circular shape.
Mongolian Glazed Meatballs
These are easy to place in a large warmer or crockpot and perfect for toothpicks. They are also not spicy, so child friendly. This is from cafe delites, but I use apple cider vinegar because Shaoxing wine is not always easy to find.
Ingredients:
Meatballs
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 3/4 cup Panko or breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbs low sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbs Shaoxing (Chinese) wine or apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbs minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 1 cup thinly-sliced or chopped green onions (4 green onions)
- Kosher salt and pepper , to taste
Mongolian glaze
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 4 cloves (or 1 tbs) garlic, minced
- ½ tbs minced ginger
- ½ cup low sodium soy sauce
- b cup water
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbs hoisin sauce
- 1 tbs oyster sauce
- 1 tbs ground white pepper (or ½-1 tbs red chilli / powder)
Preparation: Preheat oven to 200EC | 400EF. Make the meatballs: Mix together all of the meatball ingredients in a large bowl until well-combined. Spoon out 1-inch of meat mixture with a cookie scoop (or tbs), shape into balls and place onto 2 large baking sheets or trays lined with baking or parchment paper or foil. It should make about 60 mini meatballs. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until golden browned and cooked through.
While the meatballs are baking, make your sauce. Heat a non-stick pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Whisk ALL of the sauce ingredients together in the pan until well blended. Bring to a simmer and continue cooking until sauce thickens, while stirring occasionally to prevent burning or sticking on the bottom of the pan (about 8 minutes).
When meatballs have finished cooking, add half of the meatballs into the pan and gently coat each meatball generously and evenly in the sauce. Transfer the glazed meatballs to a serving dish or tray (or keep warm in a small crockpot) with a slotted spoon and add in the remaining non-coated meatballs to the sauce. Coat and transfer to serving dish. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and sliced green onions (if desired), and serve warm with toothpicks or mini forks.
During my time in pastry school, I learned a very important secret. I always wanted to do everything the hard and labor intensive way. And there is a great benefit to learning the process, croissants definitely made me question my life choices, a semester of artisan breads was so interesting and I can make some great bagels now. But here is the secret: the frozen pastries at the grocery store are fine. Are they amazing? No, but they are fine. It is ok to buy a piecrust when you are short on time. Puff pastry? Please, don’t spend days folding and chilling butter.
Puff Pastry Cheese Twists
This uses the frozen puff pastry and the only prep is defrosting it. Kids will also be happy to help you twist and bake and then eat this cheesy bread. The main way these wont work, is if your oven isn’t fully preheated the pastry wont puff.
Ingredients:
- 1 sheet of puff pastry
- 1/3 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- ¼ cup parmesan, shaved
- 2 tsp garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ½ tsp salt
Preparation: Preheat an oven to 220EC (430EF). In a bowl, mix the shredded cheese, grated parmesan, garlic, salt, and oregano. Using a pastry brush, brush the beaten egg across the puff pastry. Place the cheese mix over half of the puff pastry sheet. Fold the pastry in half and brush with some beaten egg. Place the rest of the cheese mix over the half. Cut the pastry into 1 cm (1/2 inch) wide strips, use a sharp knife or a pizza cutter. Twist the strips slightly and place onto an oven tray lined with baking paper. Repeat until you have done all the strips. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the twists with the egg. Place into the preheated oven and cook for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Once golden browned, remove and allow to cool. Serve & Enjoy.
