Party Snacks--To Welcome New Year

It's party time. Many days off, half days, and plenty time to meet family and friends. An excellent opportunity to relax, enjoy company, and have fun in these not so funny times.

So, without talking too much, I would like to share some ideas for party snacks that are easy to make and are great, especially for cocktail-style parties.

If you are lucky like me to have special tiny party dishes, which I got from Belgium, they are wonderful to serve individual single-bite portions, if not, larger serving plates would do as well.

Recently I have been making these simple snacks very often and because of their variety, they are likely to satisfy everyone.

Party Snacks

1. Use small ready-made phyllo shells and fill them up with pâté. Decorate with spicy red pepper and capers.

2. Cut slices of small Japanese or kirby cucumbers, top with slices of good quality smoked salmon, finish with wasabi mayonnaise, or crème fraîche, and chives or dill.

3. Wrap squares of persimmons in pieces of prosciutto or Serrano ham.

And here are other party snack ideas that I have already shared on my blog:

Party Ideas--Delicious Icebreakers

Bell Pepper Rolls--For Party Dinners

Crispy Artichoke Roulade--A Wine Party Snack

Festive Potato Wedges--Thanksgiving Snacks and More

Spicy Pecan Cookies--Something out of Nothing

Crispy Mushroom Crostini--Party Alternative to Crunchy Veggies

Blue Cheese and Pear Snacks for Wine Lovers

Spicy Chickpeas--Easy After Holidays Dish

It is hard to talk about food and share recipes when there is still plenty of holiday leftovers in the refrigerator and in the past days we almost never felt hungry between meals. But I am afraid my kids are done with all the Polish specialties and even every one's favorite borshch does not excite them too much any more. When given choice of some leftover dishes, my younger son asked "Maybe something different--a butter chicken?" So it seems I will have to cook something special for them today anyways.

Sometimes when I have no idea what to cook for kids I prepare some nutritious grains. Not often but once in while I make a chickpeas dish, which is high in protein and tasty. It is slightly spicy and everyone likes it. I think Asian recipes for grains are best. A great variety of spices nicely contrasts with the rather mild chickpeas and makes it taste interesting.

I like this dish because it is served with yogurt chutney, which goes very well with the tomato sauce in which chickpeas are cooked. I do not serve it with rice but rather with some Asian breads, which we dip at the end in the yogurt sauce. Because the day is rainy and lazy here is this easy, perfect for such time, recipe.

Spicy Chickpeas
(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients:
Two 15 oz cans of chickpeas,
6-8 medium tomatoes, chopped, or two 14 oz cans of diced tomatoes,
1 medium onion, chopped,
2-inch piece of ginger root, grated,
3 garlic cloves, minced,
3 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves,
2 tbsp vegetable oil,
1/2 tsp ground turmeric,
2 tsp garam masala,
salt and pepper to taste.

Ingredients for the Yogurt Chutney:
1 cup of European style or Greek yogurt,
3 spring onions chopped,
2 tbsp fresh chopped mint,
1 tsp roasted cumin seeds,
salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:
1. Heat oil on a frying pan. Fry for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and fry for another two minutes. Add turmeric and garam masala. Fry for a few seconds to make a smooth paste.
2. Add tomatoes to the pan with spices. Season with salt and pepper. Mix and add drained chickpeas. Simmer on low heat for about 15 minuets, or until tomatoes turn into thick sauce.
3. To make yogurt chutney mix all the ingredients in a small bowl.

4. Just before serving add chopped cilantro, mix with chickpeas, and serve with yogurt chutney on top.

Savory Stuffed Pastry-- for Borshch or for a Party

We never buy more flour than we do these days. This week, I have bought the fourth 4-pound bag of flour and I am sure I will need at least one more before the year ends, as my holiday baking is far from over.

I have already baked a lot of cookies. I and will make my Christmas cakes by the end of this week. And, yesterday, I baked four sheets of small pastry that I will serve with clear borshch, for which the recipe I have just posted. I baked them until they turned slightly gold, let them cool down, and froze them for later. I can reheat them in the oven, whenever I need them, and serve them warm.

I made two different types. I used my own old recipe and another one from my friend. In both recipes, the stuffing is made with cabbage and porcini. This time, for change, I stuffed half of them with fried white cap mushrooms and the other half with the paste I made from white beans. The latter have a very neutral taste and can be served to accompany any clear broth soup like, of course borshch, but also chicken broth, beef broth, or tomato broth. They are also excellent alone, served warm, as party snacks.

Savory Stuffed Pastry

Ingredients for the pastry:
2 and 1/2 cup all purpose flour,
2 sticks of room temperature butter,
2 tbsp vegetable shortening or extra two tbsp butter,
3 egg yolks,(save whites for the glazing),
4 tbsp sour cream,
1 sachet (1/4 oz) of fast rising dry yeasts or 50 g fresh yeasts,
1/2 tsp salt,
1 tbsp coarse salt or caraways seeds for finishing.

Preparation:
1. In a medium bowl mix egg yolks, yeasts, and sour cream.
2. Sift flour into a large bowl, add 1/2 tsp of salt, butter, and shortening. Working with hands rub in the butter into the flour until it forms small crumbles. Add the yolk mixture and make a smooth dough. Wrap in plastic foil and let it chill in a refrigerator for an hour.
3. Preheat oven to 370F. Grease with butter a large cookie sheet.
4. Dust your working surface with flour. Unwrap dough and roll it out into one large disk. Cut it out into 2x2 inch squares. Put a tsp of filling on each of them. Fold them into triangles. Push two edges with a fork to secure the filling. Brush tops of the pastry with whites and sprinkle with caraway seeds or coarse salt. Transfer to a cookie sheet.

5. Bake for 30 minutes, until gold. If you intend to freeze them, bake them only until they are just slightly gold.

Bean Filling

Ingredients:
1 can of white beans of any kind,
1 small onion chopped,
2 tbsp olive oil,
1/4 tsp ground red paprika,
1/4 tsp ground caraway seeds,
1/4 tsp ground coriander,
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste,

Preparation:
1. Heat oil in a frying pan. Add onion and fry until transparent.
2. Open a can of beans and rinse them on a colander.
3. Add spices and onion. Using a hand blender puree the beans into a smooth paste.
4. Divide among the pastry cut into squares.