Different hors d'oeuvres
We are currently in the midst of preparing for the 1997 Charleston Conference, one aspect of which is an hors d'oeuvres party at our house for fifty or sixty people. With that in mind, we have decided that the one cookbook that is not on the market (or at least not found by us) is one that focuses on appetizers which can be made ahead of time and frozen for later use. Numerous cookbooks have two or three recipes of this type, but very few highlight numerous recipes that adapt to this type of entertaining. In previous columns, we have listed a few of those that we have found, such as Rag Mops and Miniature Shrimp Quiche. Our freezer is already filling up with those favorites and now we are working on some new recipes. In each case, we make a "batch" of the appetizer, freeze a couple of pieces separately and then try re-heating the test pieces to see if they lend themselves to freezing and re-heating. Anything that works well will be made in a larger quantity. We have found several that meet our criteria and they are included in this column. We are working on a few more that may appear in the future. One in particular, a version of the shrimp quiche that uses mushrooms in place of the seafood, looks promising.
If you have any ideas for do-ahead appetizers, please let us know. We still have a week or so left to prepare!
