Have you ever been told to bring an appetizer to a party and drawn a blank on what to prepare? I’m the one who brings a fruit plate and/or dessert as party appetizers. But not anymore!
To celebrate two of my friends’ birthdays, I hosted an Apps-Luck girls’ night.
4 mouth watering appetizers your guests will love
1. Tuna Poke
Ingredients
- Gourmet Grocery prepared tuna poke (she gets hers at Bristol Farms)
- Sesame rice crackers
- Avocado
It’s important to get rice crackers because they perfectly compliment the tuna. Adding fresh avocado gives this dish a great finish. Each time this is served, everyone eats it up right away. I like to also add chopped cucumber to this dish!
2. Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus
Ingredients
- 1lb or 2 dozen trimmed asparagus; thick is better to hold shape
- 10 slices fresh prosciutto from the deli counter
- Freshly sliced Parmigiano-Reggiano
The key to this dish is to use the freshest ingredients.
Directions
- Blanche asparagus until bright green and then immediately submerge in ice bath
- Cut slices of prosciutto in half or size to wrap around two times
- Shave FRESH Parmigiano-Reggiano with a slicer and sprinkle on top.
3. Oven Baked Soft Pretzels
Ingredients
- 1 Envelope dry yeast
- 1 tbs Sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 cups Flour (any kind)
- 1 egg for glaze
- Coarse Salt (or cinnamon sugar)
My friend Holly made her mom’s recipe for hot pretzels, and they were delicious! She walked in with them fresh out of the oven. What a great way to enjoy this comfort food. And it does not look too hard to bake. I love how she prepared them with her daughter who made round shapes because she had a hard time making the pretzel shape. These were made with love. Thanks for the recipe to Holly’s mom, Jill!
Directions
- Dissolve yeast in 1.5 cups warm water in a bowl
- Add sugar, salt
- Blend in flour with your hands
- Lightly flour the board and knead dough until smooth
- Cut off dough, roll into a pretzel shape
- Put onto lightly greased (use spam) cookie sheet
- Brush egg and salt
- 425 for 12-15 minutes (will rise in the oven). The convection oven works great
4. Tin Roof Brussel Sprouts
This dish is always a favorite! Makes a great side for dinner too. I’ve made this dish several times and it’s so good. The only difference in the recipe from the restaurant? The restaurant briefly deep fries them. I found the hardest part about this recipe is getting all the ingredients. Once you have everything ready and chopped, it only takes a few minutes to make.
The following is Tin Roof’s public recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. Brussels sprouts
- 3 T. butter
- 1 tsp. minced garlic
- 1 tsp. minced anchovy (optional but in my opinion, important)
- 1 T. lemon juice
- 1 tsp. capers
- 1 tsp. chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 slices of ciabatta bread
- 3 T. extra virgin olive oil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Remove ends and rough outer leaves from Brussels sprouts. Cut in half lengthwise.
- Put in a bowl and add 2 T. olive oil. Toss Brussels sprouts in oil and then lay out on a sheet pan.
- Roast for 20-25 minutes until lightly caramelized. The more caramelized, the better.
- Brush ciabatta with 1 T. olive oil. Grill or toast ciabatta.
- When Brussels sprouts are roasted/caramelized, heat up small saute’ pan.
- Melt butter and add garlic and anchovy. Cook for several minutes until garlic turns a golden color.
- Add lemon juice, capers, parsley and salt & pepper. Toss sprouts in the sauce until thoroughly coated.
- Put grilled ciabatta in the bottom of the bowl. Pour Brussels sprouts over bread.
So there you have it. A round-up of 4 mouth watering appetizers your guests will love. Some easy, some take a little work. But all party worthy. Will you try any? I can’t wait to hear which ones you like.
If you enjoyed this post, you will love these other recipes on my site:
The Most Delicious Cranberry Orange Scones
Flavor Your Life with an Ounce of Salt. A lifestyle blog by Jen Oliak.
