Finger Food Suggestions

Pakak

I’m attending an open house this weekend where I’m supposed to bring a finger food, snacky sort of thing. I’d really like to bring something done on the egg, if I can. While I’d thought of ABTs, in my opinion they aren’t very good unless piping hot. I cannot think of how to keep them warm until served, maybe up to an hour after being cooked. I’m trying to think of other things but keep thinking of similar roadblocks with keeping the food warm. Suggestions?

Nature Boy

Pakak,
I think salmon is a great dish. Grilled, smoked, whatever. It tastes great at room temp, and goes perfect on crackers.[p]One idear anywho.
Beers
Chris

YB

Pakak,
Bacon wrapped pickled watermelon rind is always a hit.
Larry

Gretl

Nature Boy,
...and you can take a hunk of already Egged salmon, chunk it up with a fork, add horseradish, cream cheese, chopped parsley, chopped shallots, hot pepper sauce to taste, and top with some finely chopped pecans (or leave out the pecans, for the Nut Challenged). This is a fabulous spread when served alongside crackers or baguettes, or as a filling in those little bite-sized pastry shell thingies in the frozen section.
Cheers,
G.

mad max beyond eggdome

Pakak,
try the flank steak rolls. ...you can make them a day or two in advance, keep em in the fridge, and let them go to room temperature prior to serving. . .great taste and presentation. . ...[p]ROLLED FLANK STEAK[p]1 good sized flank steak, butterflied and marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and herbs de provence. .
3 yellow/orange peppers - roasted and peeled (if you have never done this, see below)
about 1/3 pound thinly sliced prociutto
basil
parmegan cheese (canned shaker variety)[p]lay out the marinated butterflied flank steak, cover evenly with a layer of the prociutto. . .spread the roasted peppers along one long edge (they should cover about 1/4 - 1/3 of the steak. .
.sprinkle liberally with the basil and parmegan cheese. . .roll tightly in a log (you may need to use some tooth picks to hold them, i don't). ... lay them in a pan (i used a big ceramic dish
which worked quite well in the egg). ..drizzle some of the left over marinade on them. . .cook for about 45 minutes at 375 - 400 dome temp for medium. ..slice them into thin rolls. .
.makes a nice presentation. .. the recipe originally calls for them to be served at room temps, we like them warmer. . .your choice. [p]NOTES about butterflied flank steak and roasted peppers[p]1. you can ask your butcher to butterfly the flank steak or you can do it yourself. .. lay the flank steak flat, using a long knife to slice the steak into two thin halves be keeping the knife parallel to the cutting board (depending on your pan/dish, you can leave it in one big flat piece or slice completely through it and have two pieces (two are easier to work with into two small rolls). .. it is also easier to slice through if
you put the steak flat in the freezer for about a half an hour so that it is a little 'stiff'. . .[p]2. if you haven't peeled peppers before, you cut them into flat slices, put them skin side up in the broiler until they are black and burning on top. . .then pull them off and immediately put
them into a large zip-lock baggie for at least 1

Nature Boy

Gretl,
Since we are broke this year, I am thinking of making some kind of a smoked salmon spread for gifts. Your version sounds like the ticket! Thank you. [p]Also fixin to do a batch of jerkey...gonna try brisket and top round side/side this time.
Cheer back!
Chris

Car Wash Mike

Pakak,
I have one of those pyrex dishes with the microwave bag in the bottom. Usually keeps food very hot for 2-3 hours.[p]CWM

Car Wash Mike

Nature Boy,
I've been meaning to ask you lucky fresh seafood guys this. I had salmon one time that was cold smoked and flaked off very easy. Very tasty with crackers. Any ideas on this?[p]CWM

Chuck

<p />mad max beyond eggdome,[p]Thanks again for that recipe. We have eaten it hot and at room temp and it is very good either way.[p]Chuck

Squeeze

YB,
I will second those. Never would have immagined that they would be as good as they are.[p]-Kevin

Nature Boy

Car Wash Mike,
I have never done cold smoked salmon, but have found any cooked salmon to be good and flaky for crackers. Sometime I would like to get into doing some cold smoking though. Seems like a lot of possibilities.
Cheers
Chris

QBabe

Pakak,[p]How about Creamy Crab and Artichoke Dip? [p]Creamy Crab and Artichoke Dip with Spinich and Roasted Garlic[p]8 oz imitation crab meat, chopped
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup chopped onion
6 oz artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
¾ cup (3 oz) shredded Parmesan cheese
1 clove minced garlic
½ tsp Raging River Rub
6-10 cloves roasted garlic, (optional)
½ pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry, then finely chopped (optional)[p]
Pre-heat cooker to 375°. In medium bowl, blend together the cream cheese and mayonnaise until smooth. Blend the roasted garlic cloves into a paste. Add to cream cheese mixture. Stir in remaining ingredients and place mixture in a pie plate. Sprinkle with paprika or more Raging River Rub. Bake, uncovered, for 15-18 minutes, until heated through and lightly browned. Serve with crackers or french bread. [p]If you can cover and wrap it in foil, do the same as you would a hot butt...put it in a warmed cooler for the travel time. If it happens to cool off too much, you can pop it back in the oven for a couple minutes to bring it back up to temp if you had to....[p]Serve with bread or crackers.[p]Tonia
:~)[p]

Unknown

Pakak,[p]Chunks of smoked cheese, smoked bologna, smoked Spam and/or Dr. Chicken's double-smoked ham. Skewer the chunks on colorful toothpicks and push the picks in a grapefruit in the middle of an attractive tray or platter. Add toothpicks of large stuffed green olives to the grapefruit, too (you can smoke those, too, if you'd like).[p]Surround the grapefruit with crackers.[p]Lee[p]

Pakak

Nature Boy,[p]I just never have been much of a salmon fan. I *have* had some cold smoked salmon I really liked. At least that's what I think it was as it was very firm, flakey and relatively smokey. If I could replicate that somehow, I think I could become an addict!

Pakak

Gretl,[p]Wow, even not liking salmon all that much, that sounds pretty tasty! Might have to take it into consideration.

Pakak

YB,[p]Thanks for that suggestion. Those are something I *had* thought of because I bet it doesn't matter if they come to room temp. I never have had them, wrapped with bacon, before.

Pakak

mad max beyond eggdome,[p]That looks pretty tasty. I'm all for being able to make things ahead of time too!! Thanks

Pakak

Car Wash Mike,[p]That's an idea too but I don't have one. Maybe that's something for my Christmas list. LOL

Pakak

QBabe,[p]That sounds tasty too. I've had the "regular" version of this recipe before, but never the "modified for egg" version. Which brings up a question I came up with while shopping just a bit ago. I think I'll start another thread so it doesn't get buried tho. Thanks!

Pakak

QSis,[p]
Darn! All this stuff is sounding good. Only thing about your suggestions is - there's too many things I haven't attempted yet (smoked cheese, smoked bologna, Dr. Chicken's double-smoke ham). That sppoks me for this attempt, but I'd better gewt to practicing, hunh?

tn slagamater

Pakak, I had the GOOD fortune to cook next to YB at Eggtoberfest and got to FINALLY sample what I had heard about... bacon wrapped W/Rinds...Try them. You will not be disappointed... they went VERY FAST! YB let me have only one(1).Never got to talk to YB,(you Dawg) due to my wearing an orange HAT, which disappeared....Mr Toad claims he wore it, with great shame...

Mike in MN

Nature Boy,
Leftover smoked/cooked salmon goes great in a dip with cream cheese.[p]Like most dips, I don't go by a formal recipe. The approximate ingredients:[p]softened Philadelphia cream cheese (full or 1/3 lite)
plenty of salmon (or crab or smoked oysters or clams)
worchestershire or Pickapeppa sauce
onions (green, red, shallots, white, yellow, whatever)
chopped fresh garlic
seasoning (light on the salt, use something like Old Bay)
crushed red peppers for some heat[p]maybe some mayo, fish sauce, or clam juice to thin, if necessary.[p]This would also be my "filler" (substitute pulled pork) for ABT's[p]Wonder what I missed?[p]Mike in MN

Seattle Todd

Pakak,[p]Surprised that no one has suggested bacon-wrapped scallops yet. Very simple and they don't have to be piping hot, unless it's a long haul you can probably wrap them in foil and they'd still be delicious by the time you got to your friends' house.

YB

tn slagamater,
I guess Mr.Toad will wera anything....hehehe
Larry

Unknown

Pakak,[p]I do several appetizers for parties and I like hot wings of some type as they can be eaten hot, warm, or cold and still be good. I also use ABT's but like you say there are far better off the cooker but they can be frozen and still be reheated and come out pretty well. [p]Many of the appetizers I cook go into a crock pot for serving. I make these up in advance on the cooker and then freeze them for future use. If you have access at your event for hooking up a crock pot, be more than happy to give you a recipe for smoked meat balls that are very good. The meatballs can be smoked in advance, the sauce can be done in advance but it will take about 2 hours after thawing to get this appetizer hot at your event in a crock pot. Course you can start them at home and then transport them to your event. This is really not finger food as you will need some small paper saucers for serving along with some toothpicks. [p]You can e-mail me for the information if you are interested. [p]Dave[p]

wdan

Hey Mike,
I did a batch of ABT's this weekend and found some smoked chicken in the freezer. After thawing, it was still very good. The flavor got lost on the ABT's however. The peppers also seemed to be a bit hotter this time though. All my previous ABT cooks have used sausage that stood out quite purvasively. It's interesting how many different faces one can out on an ABT...It's kind of the Mr. Potato Head of BBQ![p]But here's my humble 2 pennies: Please don't ever take away my healthy splash of good ol' cheap Cabana Boy Rum (Coconut flavor) from my mixing bowl. Pina Colada mix works well too. Use either one of these with some cumin, worchestershire and some hot sauce. Bottomline: these things take some time to put together, so why not take a little extra time and put some extra flavor into the cream cheese...it's dying for company!

Mike in MN

WDAN,
Coconut Rum?[p]You musta had a bunch of that pumped into your system to think about putting it into an ABT! [p]I don't have any of that around, but I do have some Captain Morgans....probably get a similar effect.[p]Mike in Mn[p]

wdan

Mike in MN,
I love cooking with rum. Sometimes I even put it in the food![p]Seriously, I've used rum the last two times I've made ABT's. I originally used Pina Colada mix and really liked it too, but it was just a tad too sweet for me. The only thing too watch out for is that if you give too much of a splash (maybe ~1/4 cup?... I eye-balled it) the cream cheese gets a bit thin. I was particularly concerned about this on my last batch but was surprised how well everything stayed within its "borders" and actually firmed up quite nicely.