What are your favorite cocktail party appetizer recipies?

Until some of our more creative cooks come along with ideas, here are a couple quick things.

You could combine a cheese tasting with the wine tasting and have a wide assortment of cheese cubes.

Here is a link to search for appetizer recipes already posted here if you want to browse some of them. Just type the word appetizer for your search criteria.

http://www.able2know.com/forums/search.php?mode=results

I'm not a wine drinker so don't feel very helpful. I know enough to know that there are some foods that just don't go with wine at all. Other then that, I'm not sure what types of food compliment the various wine varieties.

Bored!

Hey yeah..Bored!! Hi gal.

One of my favorites is Bruschetta...quick easy and painless. Plus, good. little k has a recipie here for that somewhere I believe.

Fruit and Chesse seem to be your only options left..maybe someone can be creative though.

Actually, Bruschetta is a little sloppy for a cocktail party. The tomatoes fall off the bread and stuff.

I do have a carrot dip that is tasty and can be garliced to taste. The ingredients are cooked carrots, raw garlic, olive oil, salt. Blended til smooth. You decide how much raw garlic to add. The dip could be quite mild and served with crostini or pitta wedges.

If you do cheese, you'll need to stay with mild ones. Mozz, goat cheese, maaaaybe asiago. As far as fruits go, berries would be nice with wine. You can serve berries fresh with a sauce based on mascarpone cheese.

The classic cleanse the pallet food is cucumber. I'm not a big fan, so I don't have any good recipes for that vegie.

Most things with caviar.

Hi littlek, quinn and ci. thanks for the responses.

I love bruschetta (trader joe's makes a great one you just toss on bread) but I always make it so was trying to break out a little

Mmmm, mascarpone hadn't thought of that. I did find a very simple, quick easy recipe with goat cheese, pecans and grapes. I'll post it.

Caviar does go with everything (I guess, never had it) but it might be out of my budget!! I didn't mention that as a consideration though. So, okay, budget is also a factor

Nutty Goat Cheese Bites
Ingredients


1 French baguette, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 (8 ounce) tub spreadable goat cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
12 red seedless grapes, halved


Directions
1 Pour chopped nuts into a bowl, and set aside. Spread each bread slice with approximately 1 tablespoon goat cheese. Dip into the pecans to thoroughly coat the cheese. Arrange on a plate, and push a grape half into the top of the cheese on each slice.
Note:

Prepare shortly before serving, or slide plate into a resealable plastic bag to keep bread slices fresh.

http://appetizer.allrecipes.com/az/nttygtchsbits.asp

That should work. If this is a wine tasting, stick to things involving bread, cheese, nuts and fruit. Bruschetta is actually not a great thing to serve, unless you are tasting Italian or Portugeuse reds. The acidity in the tomatoes will kill any white wine without a balancing acidity, maybe a very tart Vinho Verde. My suggestion: Go with the appetizer you posted, make up a cheese platter, get nice breads and flatbreads or crackers, and some good fruit, arranged attractively on a platter. That's really all you need for a wine tasting, unless you are doing appetizers specifically matched to each wine.

Iknew one the food gurus would have good info on everything for ya

I drink more wine than you do water. And I've set up a couple of public wine tasting events for 100 people or so. Based on what I've been taught at seminars, and from my own experience, you really ought to stick to Baguette and mild cheeses. It's not so much that you don't want to overpower the wines you taste. More importantly, these breads and cheeses clear the palatte for the next wine. Of course, the order in which you serve your wines is the most important factor, moreso than food.

Yep, best to go sparkling, light whites, heavier whites, light reds, heavier reds, then lots of port and cognac to top it off.

You got it, Cav.

I hope so, I'm a professional chef!

I found this neat little site with some appetizer recipes. I like the sound of the prosciutto and melon.

Personally I like celery and carrots with a blue cheese dip, or some smoked salmon on bread, or stuffed mushrooms. I also love duck pate on crackers.

So'm I... sort of. I'll have to have you over to The Ospidillo Cafe sometime. We can share gumbo recipies.

Mmmm....gumbo....made one recently with a small muscovy duck, some smoked turkey sausage made by a local butcher and a really nice black roux...

I sort of like the traditional approach but yours does sound much more interesting. There's a big old Muscovy duck a'swimmin' around in a pond just down the road.
Hmmmmm.

Thanks grotto, cav and Heeven.

There is a woman from the wine shop coming to do the tasting. I've taken enough wine tasting courses that I probably could do it on my own, but its more fun when someone else does it. I get to learn something new.

Heeven, that site was great. I picked up some proscuitto last night but the melon wasn't looking too good.

Someone told me that BJs wholesale club had great premade appetizers. I didn't find much (okay any). But you can buy a 10 pound tub of feta. Mmmm, feta. Who on this earth needs that much? Is it me or is that place really not much of a bargain? You can get half the stuff they sell on sale for cheaper than their bulk prices.

Butrflynet, I never thanked you for the link. (I thought I had but didn't see it in my replies. I apologize for that).

I am going to try out some 'new' cheeses. The funny thing is are the variety of tastes of my guests. One woman who is coming doesn't eat ANYTHING new. I am stocking Ritz crackers and cheese spread for her. I love cheese shops. Its like a candy store to me.