| I have to admit that I'm a greater fan of soups than appetizers, since the latter tend to make a meal too filling, particularly if you are serving things to nibble while your guests arrive. In the 'Nibbles' department, my favorites are Kalamata olives, pate, cheese, or humus, served with water biscuits, those thin little wafers that have a very pure taste of wheat. Also, I think that Tortilla chips and fresh salsa or guacamole are quite a good compliment to before dinner drinks. Luckily, the Canales Family at Eastern Market, here on Capitol Hill, make excellen versions of both, so there is no need to go through the effort. While I have made pate in the past, this is generally only worth it if you have a larger crowd, since pate really has to be made in a casserole dish that holds a 3-4 lbs. to get the flavors really to meld. The one exception to this is chicken liver pate, which works well even when made in small quantities. The recipe I give here is based on one that I saw the Scottish roommate of a friend of mine make in London way back in the early 70s, and which I never forgot. It not only takes next to no time to make, it is thoroughly delicious. Chicken Liver Pate Take 1 lb. of chicken livers and saute lightly in butter with a couple of twigs of thyme over a medium flame, because you don't want the liver to get hard, but you still want it to be thoroughly cooked (about 3-5 minutes). Remove the twigs of thyme and add a shot of brandy, salt and pepper to taste, and put through the blender or food processor until smooth. You can increase the richness of the pate by adding a tablespoon extra butter while pureeing the liver. When the liver is reduced to a smooth paste, put it in a small deep casserole to cool. To prevent the top of the pate from getting brown, it is best either to cover it with a thin layer of melted butter, or if you want to go fancy, with veal stock gelatin. It is best to let the flavors meld for at least six hours, or up to 24 hours, in the refrigirator. With the seal of butter or gelatin, it won't go off. If you sealed the pate with butter, I prefer to take that off before serving, since that is not very appetizing. However, this tends to 'mar' the top a bit. In consequence, I generally put the pate upside down on a serving dish, with the crackers. If you used gelatin, of course leave the pate in the casserole, since that tends to be rather pretty. ********************************************************** One of the few appetizers that I make is the perennial summer favorite, Tomato and Mozzarella salad, whereby you really need to buy tomatoes that come from a farmer's market or that are grown in a garden. Sadly, I've not been successful at all in that area--this year I came up with a total of two rather tired looking specimens. By contrast, my basil has been quite spectacular and continues to reward me well into the fall. Luckily, Eastern Market has fresh tomatoes all summer long, and you can go around from one stand to another tasting samples until you find just the flavor you want. Tomato and Mozarella Salad Remove the stem end of the tomatoes, since that tends to be rather tough, and cut into medium slices and arrange on a large dish in a single layer. Sprinkle lightly with salt (or leave out the salt if you wish, since the Mozzarella tends to be slightly salty of itself). Cover the tomatoes with thinly sliced Mozzarella and chopped fresh basil. If you don't have fresh basil on hand, then don't try using dried basil. It's absolutely tasteless and when I go to a restaurant where they try to get away with this backup, I know I'm in for a disappointing meal (and have yet to be proven wrong). Crush black pepper over the dish and then sprinkle generously with a good quantity of olive oil. It is really worth having good oil, since it adds to the complexity of the salad and offsets the Mozzarella. It is best not to make this dish too long in advance, since it will go soggy. But you can certainly prepare it before your guests arrive. I hate having to be in the kitchen too much and leave my guests alone. ********************************************************** When I first arrived in England, I was invited to the home of the Head of the Department of German at Cambridge University. His wife was Swiss-born and an excellent cook. However, I still remember my bewilderment when we sat down to lunch and were each given a lovely deep bowl of soup but no spoon. As I later found out, it was the practice in their household (whether to save spoons or for some philosophical reason) literally to drink one's soup out of the bowl. While I never quite got over a certain feeling of awkwardness, even when I was invited on future occasions, I did take away with me a love for the cream soups that were inevitably served and, also, for the lovely deep bowls the soups were served in. Since then, cream soups are my preferred type of soup when having guests--though I do provide spoons. As it turns out, there is virtually an endless variety of soups you can make in this way, and they are all equally delicious and almost all equally simple to make. My summertime favorite cream soup is probably chilled green pea soup with lemon sorbet, though I'm also quite partial to a chilled lettuce soup with home made tomato sorbet, but that does require some extra effort. In winter, these chilled soups are replaced by hot cream soups made of spinach, celery, or of a combination of celery, carrots, and potatoes. In encountered the latter in many a Paris bistro and find it particularly hearty. It has the additional advantage of providing a subtle combination of flavors that always makes people wonder what is in it. And then, of course, there are the perennial favorites, Cream of Tomato and Cream of Squash soup. However, for those I simply tend to dress up the excellent cartons that are available nowadays at the supermarket, respectively adding a shot of vodka or sherry just before serving, and always a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of fresh parsely. Occasionally, I will also make a creamed cauliflower soup, but that tends to have a rather pronounced cabbage flavor, of which not everyone may be equally fond. |
| Appetizers and Soups |