THE RELUCTANT GOURMET COOKING COMMUNITY

[deblishes]

I'm looking for some easy recipes or even ones to freeze.appetizers or finger foods. I am preparing for my sons wedding in sept. Iam getting a little nervious I would be thankful any ideas, and by the way I am new to the site and I just want to say Hi :D

[jfield]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum!

Weddings can always be a bit stressful, so it's a good thing you're starting to get some ideas early. How many guests will there be? Will it be formal or casual? What do the bride and groom want to have for appetizers? There are lots of folks here who can give you some great recipes. It would be nice to hear a little more about the tone of the event and any food preferences so we know exactly what you're looking for.

[deblishes]

There will be about 75 to 100 guest and the bride and groom has totally left it up to me to choose the menu. I thought maybe just lots of different appetizers mini sandwiches etc. deserts also I think I like the idea of mini's. I am making baked Ziti and some types of cheese breads and a tomato salad. Then I would like to have a desert table and also a table with just a assortment of different types of finger foods. along with veggie table and fruit table

[jfield]

Wow, you've really been given carte blanche to run with whatever you want! Cool!

How about mini eclairs or cream puffs for the dessert table? You can pipe and freeze the dough, bake off when you have the time, and then freeze them once baked and thoroughly cooled. Revive and crisp them up in the oven for a minute or two before you're ready to fill them.

Pate a choux

2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
7 oz. butter
10 oz. all purpose flour
5-7 whole eggs and maybe an odd egg white

Bring water, salt, sugar and butter to a boil in a large pot. Turn down heat to medium and dump in flour all at once. Stir thoroughly until the mixture looks kind of like mashed potatoes. Let cook, still stirring, for about another minute or so to let some of the water cook off. The mixture should not be shiny. Dump all that into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on medium/low with the paddle attachment for a couple of minutes to cool it a bit. Add an egg on low until it's beaten in, then increase the speed to medium to thoroughly incorporate. Scrape down the bowl. Continue adding eggs in this manner, one at a time, until the mixture oozes very slowly off the beater when it's raised, kind of like a lava flow. If it just sits there, it doesn't have enough eggs. The batter will sort of "slump" down off the beater when you turn off the mixer. If any drops off the beater when it is raised, it should end in a smooth point, not a jagged stalactite. Check after adding 4 eggs. If it still seems like mashed potatoes, add another egg. If you feel like you're getting close, but not quite there, add an egg white. I wish I could be more precise, but it really depends on your flour, the humidity, the temperature--all sorts of factors.

Anyway, when the pate a choux is the right consistency, put it in a pastry bag. It will be sticky, so be forewarned. Use a round tip about the size of the diameter of a pencil, or just snip off the end of your bag to that size. Pipe lines on parchment-lined sheets about 1 1/2 inches long and about an inch apart. At this point, you can freeze these guys. Freeze until hard, then stack your parchment sheets, roll them all up together and put them in a freezer bag until you're ready to bake.

At baking time, preheat your oven to 400 degrees, F. Bake from frozen until light golden and well puffed, about 20-25 minutes. I hope your oven has a window, because you don't want to futz around with them by opening the door. After they're puffed and golden, turn down the heat to 350 degrees, F, and continue to bake until they are dark golden and firm. Test them by gently squeezing the sides of a couple of them with tongs or your fingers. If the sides are firm, they're ready to go.

Remove from the oven, poke a wee hole in one side with a knife to let the steam escape and let them cool completely. You can pile them all in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer at this point until you're ready for them. Otherwise, keep going. Fill a pastry bag with your desired filling: vanilla or chocolate pastry cream, flavored whipped cream--whatever you'd like. Use a star tip--the serrations will help you poke into the firm pate a choux. Poke the tip in and twist a little to break through. Then, pipe in some of your filling. When they're filled, you can dip their tops in some warm ganache and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Easy ganache

equal parts excellent quality dark chocolate, finely chopped, and heavy cream.

Bring the cream just to a boil. Pour over the chocolate. Let stand a minute or two. Whisk well to form a deep, dark, shiny emulsion. Cool at room temperature to a good "dipping" consistency, then dip the tops of your eclairs in.

I will post a pastry cream recipe if you'd like it, plus some more ideas later. I must go attend to dinner now. :D

[deblishes]

Wow, that sounds lovely, I would love the filling recipe. Thank you so much for your ideas and your time, freezing this will help alot with time.and they sound delish. again thanx

[jfield]

Here's the pastry cream recipe. You can make it chocolate by straining the basic mixture over some finely chopped chocolate to taste.

Pastry cream

1 quart whole milk
8 oz. sugar, divided
½ teaspoon salt
*1 vanilla bean
4 whole eggs
1.9 oz. corn starch (fussy, but trust me)
2 oz. butter (unsalted, please)

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, cook milk, half the sugar, salt and split and scraped vanilla bean until just below a boil.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, corn starch and the other half of the sugar.

Temper the milk into the egg mixture and then put everything back on the stove over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly and quickly, until the mixture has come to a boil, boiled at least 30 seconds, and has gotten very thick. Remove from heat and strain this very thick mixture into a clean bowl. Stir in the butter until melted. Put a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pastry cream and chill.

*It’s not the end of the world if you don’t have a vanilla bean. Just leave it out and stir in 1 teaspoon or so of vanilla, or the flavoring of your choice, along with the butter.

Enjoy!

[ninjabut]

At my DDs wedding, we had a big hit with several cheeses. Add some dried fruits and this can become quite yummy!
The favorite cheese was a local Portugese cheese that is made locally! We got the cheese at the farm for !/2 the price we saw it at the chi chi grocery store!
Check around! You'll be surprised!
This is also nice, but labor free. They can cut their own cheese! =)
I also grew and made pasta pesto (grew the basil and tomatoes) for the dinner.
Appetizers are tough, though, cause you have to make so many!
Try Allrecipes and type in appetizers. HTH nancy

[jfield]

Good ideas, Nancy. The less prep for the hostess, the better, especially when weddings can be so stressful anyway. Expanding on your idea a little, have some different jams, honey, fruit and nuts to accompany the cheese. Simpler is often better, for many different reasons :)