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Cocktail party snacks for the holidays
Holiday entertaining means snacks of some kind are on the menu. Jennifer English, the James Beard Award-winning founder and host of the Food and Wine Radio Network, and the owner of Flavorbank.com, hosted the “History of Bar Snacks: Crispy Crunchy Trends” at the 2008 Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans this year. Here are a few of her recipes that might come in handy for the holidays at your home.
Truffled Potato Chips: This is one of the easiest and most delicious ways to transform an ordinary potato chip into a masterful mate for a well mixed drink. “I always keep a bag of thick cut unsalted potato chips, very good truffle oil and flake sea salt on hand to make these in a minute,” says English.
What you’ll need: 1 bag kettle brand unsalted potato chips, good truffle oil in a Misto mister, flake sea salt, freshly ground pepper (fine grind).
Instructions: Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread contents of one bag of unsalted potato chips on a cookie sheet in an even layer, using caution not to damage the chips. Using the Misto, spray a light and even coat of truffle oil over the chips. Heat for 5-7 minutes. Remove and sprinkle immediately with salt and pepper. Transfer to a clean, shallow cloth lined bowl and serve.
Berbere Popcorn: Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s Afrikya Foods features a classic Ethiopian Spice blend called Berbere, which is the heart of the cuisine and flavors of Africa. Flavorbank has married this intoxicating blend with butter and a dash of salt to dress up popcorn.
What you’ll need:10 cups hot air popped popcorn, 12 green cardamom pods, 4 tablespoons good unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon Afrikya Foods Berbere spice, 1 tablespoon organic sugar
Instructions: Pop the popcorn and cardamom pods together in a hot air popper for best results. The popcorn will fluffily discharge into the serving bowl leaving the heavier cardamom pods behind. The cardamom pods flavor the popcorn gently. On the stove, gently melt the butter being careful not to brown. Add the Berbere spice and sugar and incorporate fully. Drizzle the butter, spice & sugar mixture evenly and thoroughly over the entire batch of popcorn. Toss to coat evenly.
Royale Olives: “I think that the pink peppercorn is nature’s perfect bar snack.” Says English. “A single pink berry, all on its own fills the palate with sweet, nutty, floral perfume and flavor. It works brilliantly with creamy things. I take large queen olives and remove the pimento and add a creamy peppery replacement. These take a little bit of care but are completely worth it.”
What you’ll need:1 jar supersized queen olives, 8 oz. block French feta Cheese, Flavorbank Pink Peppercorns, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, Freshground Flavorbank Tellicherry Black Pepper, 1 Tablespoon olive oil
Instructions: Drain olives, reserve liquid and remove pimento inners from olives. In a small mixing bowl combine softened French feta cheese and 2 tablespoons whole pink peppercorns, lemon zest & 5 twists of fresh ground Flavorbank Tellicherry bold black pepper. Carefully fill the centers of each olive with the feta mixture. Toss gently in a bowl with olive oil and serve on a fabulous pick with an accent bowl of pink peppercorns.
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