Appetizers tease
the taste buds and awaken appetite.
Appetizers tease and stimulate the appetite, awakening the taste buds before a diner settles down for a main meal. These tasty morsels feature chicken, beef, pork and seafood prepared in a number of ways. Some are hot; some are cold. Some are very light while others are more substantial. Appetizers are usually quick and easy to make because they contain so few ingredients.
Chicken
Buffalo wings make a nice pre-dinner treat.
Chicken wings come in a wide range of flavors. Classic Buffalo wings provide a taste explosion of heat cooled off by a cold blue cheese dressing and celery. Wings can also be drenched in barbecue, honey mustard, teriyaki and sweet and sour sauces. Another well-received chicken appetizer is rumaki, consisting of chicken livers and almond slivers wrapped in bacon and sometimes marinated in a soy sauce mixture. Chicken salad can be offered on a cracker or bread crust or scooped into a timbale shell. For an afternoon tea, chicken salad in crustless tea sandwiches will be a hit.
Beef and Pork
Nachos make a substantial appetizer.
Meatballs will never go out of style. Swedish meatballs are flavored with sour cream, but guests will also appreciate meatballs in a barbecue sauce or a pizza-flavored sauce.
For casual parties, consider nachos, an easy nosh that is made by sprinkling a taco-flavored meat sauce, cheese, refried beans and other taco goodies over tortilla chips.
For a cold treat, spread cream cheese flavored with horseradish onto thin slices of roast beef and roll into pencil-shaped appetizers. A variation of this includes turning the beef into a paste in the food processor, mixing it with the cream cheese and horseradish sauce, then spreading on a flour tortilla. When chilled, these can be sliced and served with toothpicks.
Seafood
Shrimp cocktail is a well-received appetizer.
Serve a cold shrimp salad made of chopped shrimp, celery, finely chopped walnuts and mayonnaise in baked pastry cups or toasted, hollowed-out dinner rolls. Angels on horseback, oysters wrapped in bacon, are easy crowd pleasers. Offer calimari rings breaded with a beer or tempura batter along with a spicy cocktail sauce.
For a touch of sophistication at a cocktail party, bring out crispy phyllo envelopes filled with smoked salmon, melted brie cheese and sauteed mushrooms. Crab rangoon, made of cream cheese stuffed in a wonton wrapper and fried, will disappear quickly, and for those who love raw oysters, serve them on the half shell with cocktail sauce.
Cheese
Brie can be baked and covered in a sweet or savory topping.
Cheese balls come in as many flavors as there are cheeses. Built on a base of cream cheese and mixed with cheddar, gouda, feta, brie or Swiss cheeses, plus a variety of herbs, these party favorites sit on trays replete with an array of crispy crackers. Casual parties provide a good setting for cheese-stuffed jalapeno peppers. An elegant appetizer is a wheel of brie baked in a crust and served with fruit toppings such as fig preserves, or a sweetened cranberry and nut sauce. Savory toppings can be created using a variety of ingredients including garlicky mushrooms, prosciutto or bacon, sun-dried tomatoes, olive tapenade or pine nuts.
Tags: cream cheese, Appetizers tease, Buffalo wings, cocktail sauce, flavored with, served with
