Easy Dinner Party Appetizers
While many people enjoy hosting parties, others are overwhelmed by all the work that goes into entertaining guests, especially when it comes to cooking. However, cooking for a dinner party does not have to be stressful. Get your guests started on the right foot with a few appetizers. Many of the most delicious appetizer are actually quite easy to make, even if you are a kitchen novice.
Bruschetta
Bruschetta is a simple but popular appetizer. All you need to make bruschetta is toasted, hearty sliced bread (such as ciabatta) and some toppings, most often tomatoes and basil. Gordon Ramsay offers an excellent tomato and prosciutto recipe in his "Fast Food" book. To execute this recipe you need just a few ingredients: cherry tomatoes, bread, basil, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, a garlic clove and prosciutto.
Slice your bread into several large slices (about 1 inch thick) and toast each slice. As the bread toasts, combine quartered cherry tomatoes, basil leaves, 1 1/2 tbsp. of red wine vinegar, 4 tbsp. of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Once the bread is finished, rub each bread slice with a garlic clove and then top with a helping of the tomato mixture (about 1 tbsp.). Drape two pieces of prosciutto over each slice of bread and you are all ready to serve.
Buffalo Chicken Fingers
Many foods, from vegetables to chicken wings, taste great in buffalo-style sauce. A healthy option is to pan-fry chicken tenders in olive oil and then smother them in wing sauce. To make an authentic style , combine three parts hot sauce and two parts butter (or butter substitute) in a pan. Melt the butter, stir and let the sauce cool. Meanwhile, combine 1 cup of flour or corn starch with 1/2 tsp. of freshly-ground pepper, 1 tsp. of salt, 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder and 1 tsp. of cayenne pepper. Coat raw chicken tenders in olive oil and dip the tenders into the flour mixture. Heat 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a pan a fry each chicken finger. As the edges of the tenders start to brown, flip the tenders over (about three or four minutes). Continue cooking until the other side is browned. Let the tender cool on a brown paper bag to soak up some of the grease. Once cooled, put the tenders in a large plastic bag with the wing sauce. Shake the bag until all the tenders are evenly coated. Serve with blue cheese dressing and celery.
Parmesan Dates
Due their sweetness, dates work quite well with saltier pairings, such as bacon. The editors of "Cook's Illustrated" magazine recommend dates stuffed with Parmesan cheese. All you need to execute this dish are dates, Parmesan cheese and walnuts. Cut open each date and take out the pit. Next, slice your Parmesan cheese into 1-inch pieces (you will need a block of Parmesan cheese to do this instead of shredded Parmesan). Put the Parmesan in each date followed by a walnut half. Melt the cheese slightly by baking the dates in the oven at 400 degrees F for a few minutes. However, the dates are just as delicious cold.
If you are feeling particularly adventurous, wrap each Parmesan-stuffed date with bacon and fry it in a skillet until the bacon is crispy.
Tags: Parmesan cheese, wing sauce, cherry tomatoes, chicken tenders, chicken tenders olive