411 on Hors d' Oeuvres

This blog is going to talk about “Hors d’ Oeuvres” (Orr-durves). Some people might think that these little 2 bite concoctions are for the fancy type and are super time consuming to make but that’s not the case at all!! You can make an array of hors d’oeuvres right at home. Hors d’oeuvres are a great way to utilize leftovers or things in your kitchen that are about to go bad. But before we go into that, let’s talk about what makes up an hors d’oeuvre.

Base: This is the most bottom part of an hors d’oeuvre. This can include anything from a slice of cheese, a cracker, bread, a cucumber or even a piece of fruit. This is the first layer to an hors d’oeuvre.

Spread: A spread can include things such as mayonnaise, butter or jam. It’s a flavor agent as well as a protector of the base. The spread is put on the base so the base won’t become soggy from the topping on the hors d’oeuvre. This is the second layer to an hors d'oeuvre. 

Binder: A binder would be used if some kind of food in the hors d’oeuvres needs structure. An example would be gelatin: gelatin can be added to a mousse of some kind so that it can maintain its volume. Not only is this great for presentation, but it is also great for its texture. It’d be a shame to pick up a salmon mousse barquette and you see a tiny pool of pink goo in a soggy piece of crust.

Aerator: Beaten egg whites or heavy whipping cream are perfect examples of an aerator. These items also give volume to mousses or other food items to make for a great presentation and texture. If they are over beaten they can appear grainy. The binder/aerator would make up the middle part of the hors d'oeuvre. 

Optional: Garnish: Sometimes an hors d’oeuvre can have a garnish such as caviar or fresh chopped parsley, but it really just depends on what’s being served. This would be the last part of the hors d'oeuvre. 

So like I was saying earlier, hors d’oeuvres are a great way to incorporate leftovers or things that are about to go bad in your pantry! If you have some bread about to go stale, you can take a cookie cutter cut out a fun shape, toast it lightly, rub on some raw garlic, add a small slice of tomato and some cheese and basil if you have it, and BAM! You have an amazing Italian style crostini hors d’oevre. A small splash of an aged balsamic vinegar would add a nice touch to it too! 

You could also thaw out some frozen shrimp, saute them with a little butter, salt, pepper and garlic and top with creme fraiche and cilantro. Serve on a butter cracker and you have heaven on a cracker!! Seriously, hors d'oeuvres are so simple and quick to make.

They are meant to be small because they are usually served before an appetizer or as an appetizer. You could host a party with just hors d'oeuvres if you wanted, just make sure you have a wide variety.  Here are some examples of what you could make: 

               This one is a spin on like a cooled seafood salad: Cucumber slice as the base, citrus mayo and cocktail style shrimp.  

Prosciutto and Melon on toasted bread

Gravlax, Dill Sour Cream and Hot Pepper flakes on a Cracker

Buckwheat Pancakes (Blini) with Creme Fraiche and Caviar

Toasted Bread Stars, Caramelized Shallots and Parsley Creme Fraiche

Rectangle cut white bread, tuna salad, two types of caviar and parsley garnish. ( I only used caviar in a few of these because I had them at my disposal in culinary school. You could easily use diced red and yellow bell peppers.)

Get creative with a display. We were given cool shaped Mirrors! 

I really hope you enjoyed this and you can become creative in making all kinds of hors d'oeuvres!

 Oh and if you are thinking that you are never going to be able to spell hors d'oeuvres, this is the way I learned. The first half is pretty simple Hors and then a single "d" with an apostrophe. But for the "o" part, just think of that song from the Wizard of Oz. The men who were guarding the witches castle near the gate that sung, "Ohhhhh weee ohhh...we ohhhhh ho." Well put in a letter for the sounds. O-E-U-VR-ES. You can't fail!! LOL! Enjoy and thanks for reading!! 

Pate A Choux aka Eclair Paste

 Pate A Choux    A.K.A Éclair Paste Yield: 3 lb. 2 oz

(Patt-A-Shoo)

Ingredients

Milk**                                      4 fl. oz.

Water                                       4 fl. oz.

Salt                                           1 ½ tsp.

Unsalted butter                         7 oz.

Bread Flour                             10 oz.

Eggs                                        10 ct.

Directions

1.) Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2.) Dice the butter into small cubes.

3.) Sift the bread flour to remove any lumps.

4.) Place the milk, water, salt and butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and make sure the butter is fully melted.

5.) Remove the mixture immediately and add all of the flour. Vigorously mix the dough by hand with a wooden spoon until all flour is incorporated.

6.) Replace the mixture to the stove over medium heat and continue to mix until the dough comes away from the sides. The dough should look relatively dry and should begin to leave a thin film on the saucepan. (It will look kinda lumpy)

7.) Transfer the dough to a standing mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat for a few seconds on medium speed, then begin to add in the eggs.

8.) Add in the eggs one at a time until the dough mixture is shiny but firm. It may not be necessary to add in all of the eggs. The dough should pull away from the side of the bowl in thick threads; it will not clear the bowl.

9.) Put a workable amount of dough into a pastry bag with a piping tip, or snip a small hole in a plastic bag.

10.) Pipe into the shape you want onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake immediately.

11.) Bake for around 35 minutes, cool completely and fill them as desired. Éclair Paste becomes really hollow when it bakes and can be filled with different things like whipped cream, pastry cream, chocolate mousse what ever you like! You can pipe these out into crème puff shapes and fill them with a flavored cream. You can also fill them with a savory filling such as a gravlax mousse or caviar.

** Cook’s Note: If you would like a crisper dough, replace the milk with an equal amount of water. 

Here are some pictures of what you can do with Éclair Paste

Eclairs filled with pastry cream and plain puffs

Puffs and Eclairs filled with pastry cream and covered with ganache.

                          Piped on melted white chocolate

 Designs made by dragging a bamboo skewer across the white chocolate lines in different directions. 

These are so easy and fun to make. Great for parties, center pieces and as house warming gifts. You can even take the little puffs and fasten them onto a large styrofoam cone with royal icing to make an edible centerpiece!! 

Enjoy this recipe! Thank you!

A Rainbow of Produce?!? Where??

HAHA I don't have a cool picture of a rainbow of produce, but you could make it happen in your kitchen. I am talking about variety here people!! It is so important that you add colorful foods into your diet and those colors speak to you in different ways. This blog will tell you what certain colored foods hold and what produce fall under certain colors. Also, I won't throw anything in there that you can't pronounce. :P


Okay our first color up is.... (drum roll please)...... RED!!
Fruits and vegetables that are red contain nutrients that help reduce the risk of prostate cancer, lower blood pressure, reduce tumor growth, lower LDL cholesterol (the bad kind, there is a good kind also lol), and support joint tissue in people who have arthritis. So some of the fruits and vegetables that qualify for the red category are: tomatoes, strawberries, beets, red bell peppers, grapefruit, red onions, red apples, raspberries, rhubarb, radishes and much more. 


Next color up is..... YELLOW/ORANGE produce!! These produce share a few of the same benefits as red produce but they also promote collagen formation and healthy joints, fight harmful free radicals, they are full of vitamin C, and encourages alkaline balance (keeping our body at a happy pH). Some produce that falls into this category are: apricots, carrots, lemons, mangoes, oranges, yellow peppers, summer squash, pumpkin, peaches, pineapples, and sweet corn. 


Third color up is......GREEN produce!! I think we can all think of a few different types of green produce, but what about their benefits. So, eating green produce can reduce cancer risks, normalize digestion time (salad before the entree of a dinner), support retinal health and vision and boost your immune system activity. Some of the produce in this category include: limes, honey dew melon, artichokes, spinach, romaine lettuce, cucumbers, sugar snap peas, celery, avocados, and green onions. 


Fourth color up is....... BLUE/PURPLE produce!! Now there are fewer of these types of foods but hold some of the best benefits of all of the colors. Some of their many benefits are: they fight inflammation, improve calcium and other mineral absorption, act as anticarcinogens in your digestive tract, limit the activity of cancer cells and boost your immune system. Some of the produce in this category include blackberries, blueberries, grapes, plums, purple cabbage, eggplant, purple Belgian endive, purple potatoes and black currants. 


Last but certainly not least is....WHITE produce!! lol there aren't very many of these produce either but they too have wonderful benefits. Some of which include: Reduce the risk of colon, breast and prostate cancer, balance hormonal levels, activate natural killer B and T cells (fight off infections and bad things in your body) and reduce the risk of hormone-related cancers. Some of these food include bananas, brown pears, potatoes, cauliflower, garlic, mushrooms, parsnips, onions, white peaches and white nectarines. 


All of this produce talk is making me soo hungry LOL seeing as how peach season is almost here. They get as big as soft balls where I live! lol I thank my mother for introducing me to a lot of great foods. She taught me their benefits as I ate them and now I am a healthy young woman. A variety of foods are so important not only for children but for adults as well, it is never too late to start eating healthy. Learn when these fruits and vegetables are in season and you will save a ton. If you want to eat seasonal foods year round, you can always preserve them or freeze them. If you don't have any at all, frozen produce is a great way to go also. If you can, buy from local farmers and help support your  community too. You can buy produce from local farmers stands or fresh markets for real cheap also. Make it a fun day for you and your kids, have them pick out what they want to eat!! Enjoy!


All of this info is from http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/fruits-vegetables.shtml

For Those Who Can't Cook...

 I’m sorry but I had to do this! I have to get it out. There’s not a whole lot in the world that I really dislike, but one of them would have to be when I hear that people say they don’t know how to cook. Oh my GOD! I can’t tell you how frustrated that makes me!! It makes me want to go up to those individuals and slap them across the face. If you know how to boil water or how to make ramen noodles in the microwave, you know how to cook! Although microwaves are not prevalent in many commercial kitchens, a lot of people have them in their homes. Believe it or not, microwaving IS considered a way of cooking.

I saw a woman on the cooking network who said she had been married for 27 years, and never cooked a single meal for the entire time she has been married. WHAT KIND OF WIFE IS THAT? That is so selfish and lazy of her to put all of the cooking on her husband. Like she didn’t even cut vegetables for a salad but she would go grocery shopping for the ingredients. If you were single and didn’t cook for yourself, what’s the point of having a kitchen? “OH but I need the sink to wash stuff.” Wash what? You don’t cook!! You won’t need a counter either because all you do it sit on it. GRRRR!!!

   I think that that is a huge turn off if someone never cooks or doesn’t know how to cook. How do those people expect to make a living at home or support themselves if they are single? Take out food gets expensive and microwave dinners are infamous for having tremendous amounts of salt. I think I have a solution for these people. Step into your kitchen and really get to know your appliances. Seriously try this some time and see if you won’t thank me later. Really look at your stove top, does it have gas burners or electric burners? Do you have numbers to measure heat on your stove or do you have words like warm, low, medium or high? All of these details are things you need to pay attention to when you go to cook.

          If you are watching food network and a chef is making pan seared fish, you are going to want to put your heat on medium-medium high, or if you have numbers put it between 6-7. If you want to cook vegetables, you can’t go wrong with a simple sauté. Warm some olive oil in a pan and add in the veggies. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. You don’t want to render out all of the nutrients so simplicity with vegetables is a must. If any of this is sounding like too much to handle, grow some balls and go and get cooking lessons. A lot of times you can get a great deal on a cooking class. Like $99 specials on a 2-3 day cooking class and you are getting the basic stuff. While you are there, they can teach you what utensils are the best to use for certain cooking processes, what are the best ways to cook certain foods and how to get the most flavor out of your ingredients. Everyone has potential in the kitchen, it’s those who don’t treat it like a chore that have fun with it. You don’t need someone to hold your hand to cook, you just need a little self confidence and some basic know how!