Hail to the Chef

FORGIVE THE TITLE-I CAN’T RESIST A GOOD alliteration. But it’s true that there’s nothing better to have in your cooking repertoire than a bunch of appetizer recipes. Most appetizers are fabulously tasty, and many are good for you, too (though not all; the cheese straws, brownies, and cookies below are pure sin). When you want to throw a fancy reception or a party and you don’t want to drag in waiters and bartenders to lend a hand, whipping together a big bunch of appetizers is a surefire way to feed a crowd and keep them happy without having to go through the trauma of a big sit-down dinner. Even at the White House, the number of affairs where we field a wide assortment of appetizers for guests to nibble on far exceeds the number of big State dinners we host each year. One real advantage of this kind of spread is that it makes it so much easier for people to mingle and talk. Washington really is a fairly small town, so the guests at most White House receptions are likely to have met one another before. But even when they haven’t, conversations always start at the appetizer tables. Usually it’s just advice not to miss a particularly succulent item in the array; but from such simple beginnings, real conversations grow.

And if you put out the right kind of appetizer spread, people can truly make a meal out of it. The recipes below, some of which Mrs. Campbell chose for her receptions this year, are easy to make, easy to eat, and work well together as a display. With a wide variety of colors, textures, and tastes, these items create a wonderful appetizer party. All are made with ingredients easily available at any supermarket. (Though I have to say, it’s nice to grow your own herbs. If you have a sunny window, a few pots overflowing with chives, basil, sage, and parsley can really punch up your cooking. And they’re very easy to grow.) Most of these recipes can be prepared ahead of time, so you can enjoy your own party. Even the ones that need to be prepared right before the party are fast. Each recipe also stands well on its own, so you can also add them to your regular meal rotations if they strike your fancy.

Enjoy the party-and happy noshing!

Ollie

APPETIZER PARTY MENU

Blue-Cheese Straws

Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

Asparagus Spears and Lemon Butter

Garlic-Green Bean Bundles

Mini Red Potatoes with Sour Cream, Cheddar, and Chives

Bacon-and-Cornbread Muffins

Little White Rolls

Sugar-Cured Ham with White-Wine Honey Mustard

Chicken-Fried Beef Tenderloin with White Onion Gravy

Brownie Bites

Gingerbread Men

BLUE-CHEESE STRAWS

½ pound blue cheese, softened

½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons heavy cream

¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

3 cups flour, sifted

½ cup finely chopped smoked almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Place blue cheese, butter, and cream cheese in bowl or mixer. Cream them together. Mixing by hand, add the rest of the ingredients, one at a time, until fully incorporated.

Turn the dough out on a floured board. Roll out to a medium-thin dough (about ¼-inch thick). With a sharp knife, cut the dough into ½-inch-wide strips. Twist each strip until it is a loose spiral from top to bottom and lay the spirals on an ungreased cookie sheet, not touching their neighbors.

Bake until strips are golden brown, 5-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks and let cool.

Store in tightly covered tins lined with wax paper until ready to serve.

STUFFED CHERRY TOMATOES

1 8-ounce block cream cheese, softened

¼ cup sour cream

1 small bunch chives, washed and chopped, about 3-4

tablespoons (Reserve 1 tablespoon for garnish.)

2 cloves garlic, cleaned and minced

20 fresh basil leaves, washed and cut into thin strips

Pinch kosher or sea salt, to taste

1 pint cherry tomatoes, washed and dried

Make the filling by combining the first six ingredients in a bowl and stirring well. Place in a pastry bag fitted with a large star point, if desired. Otherwise, the filling can be spooned into the tomatoes. Set filling aside.

Using a sharp paring knife, cut a small slice off the bottom of a cherry tomato so that it will sit firmly on its tray without rolling around. Cut an X into the top of the cherry tomato with the same knife. Either use a watermelon baller to remove the pulp from the tomato, or squeeze it gently over a waste bowl to get the pulp out. Repeat with all the cherry tomatoes, laying them out in rows on the serving tray, ready to be filled.

Pipe the cream-cheese mixture into the prepared tomatoes, or spoon it, for a more rustic look.

Sprinkle finished dish with reserved chopped chives. Serve chilled.

ASPARAGUS SPEARS AND LEMON BUTTER

1 pound fresh asparagus stalks, washed, tough stems cut away

¼ pound butter (if unsalted, add ¼ teaspoon salt)

Fresh cracked pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

Juice of one medium lemon

Place asparagus in a steamer basket. Place steamer basket into a large pot with about a half inch of boiling water in the bottom, and cover. Steam asparagus until bright green, but still a bit crisp, about 3-7 minutes, depending on the size of the asparagus.

While asparagus is steaming, melt butter in a small saucepan. Add salt, pepper, parsley, and lemon juice and whisk well. Pour into serving bowl.

Remove steamed asparagus. Place on oblong platter. Place the bowl of butter on one end of the platter with a small ladle for guests to pour it over their asparagus as they serve themselves.

Serve warm.

GARLIC-GREEN BEAN BUNDLES

Two pounds fresh green beans, washed, ends and strings removed

1 pound good-quality smoked bacon, sliced

½ cup olive oil

3 cloves garlic, cleaned and minced

Preheat oven to 350° F.

On a sheet pan, cookie sheet, or jelly-roll pan (a large, flat pan with an edge sufficient to prevent the grease you’re about to make from running all over your nice, clean oven), divide the green beans in bundles of roughly 10-12 beans, with beans bundles laid out in parallel formation.

Wrap each bundle loosely with a slice of bacon, tying it on top with a simple knot and arranging the loose ends artistically.

In a bowl, whisk the olive oil and the garlic. Brush oil liberally over the green-bean bundles.

Bake until the bacon is cooked to taste and the green beans are warmed through, approximately 15 minutes.

Remove bundles to a serving platter, using a spatula. Serve warm.

MINI RED POTATOES WITH SOUR CREAM, CHEDDAR, AND CHIVES

2 pounds small red new potatoes, scrubbed, peels still on

1 cup sour cream

1 small bundle fresh chives, washed and chopped (about 4 tablespoons)

6 slices precooked bacon, crumbled

Kosher salt, to taste

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

3 ounces good sharp Cheddar cheese, finely grated

Boil the red potatoes in enough water to cover until they are fork-tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain the potatoes, and let cool enough that they are easy to handle.

Cut each potato in half. On the uncut end of each half, slice away a small amount of peel and flesh so the potato half will sit flat and securely on a platter. Using a melon baller or a spoon, scoop out the middle of the potato. Arrange the prepared halves on a broiler-safe serving tray.

Make the filling by mixing the sour cream, chives, bacon, and salt and pepper to taste. If the bacon is very salty, I often don’t add additional salt. Spoon filling into potato halves. Sprinkle with grated Cheddar cheese. At this point the tray can be set aside, or even refrigerated, until ready to cook.

Place under broiler until cheese begins to melt and filling begins to bubble, about 3-5 minutes.

Serve warm.

BACON-AND-CORNBREAD MUFFINS

½ cup canola oil

¾ cup cornmeal (preferably stone-ground, but regular will work if you can’t find the good stuff)

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

3 tablespoons cold butter

1 cup buttermilk

2 large eggs, beaten

½ cup grated Cheddar cheese (Sharp is what I prefer, but use a cheese you like eating.)

1 bunch chives, washed and chopped (about 4 tablespoons)

8 slices precooked smoked bacon, chopped into ¼-inch strips

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Put 1 tablespoon of canola oil into each well of a standard 12-cup muffin pan, and place muffin pan into oven to heat the oil.

Meanwhile, working quickly, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar together into a large mixing bowl. Cut in the butter until the butter is blended in. Add buttermilk and eggs all at once, and stir just until ingredients are barely blended. A few lumps are fine; this batter gets tough if you overwork it. Add the cheese, chives, and bacon, stirring only until the ingredients are roughly mixed in.

Pull hot muffin tin from oven. Drop batter into the muffin cups, filling each roughly three-quarters full. The hot oil should make the batter bubble and brown on the sides. Place pan into oven and cook until muffins are done and golden, roughly 20-25 minutes.

I like to serve them hot, but they’re great at room temperature, too.

LITTLE WHITE ROLLS

I have to make an admission here: When it comes to bread making, I cheat. The pastry chefs at the White House do most of the baking, so it isn’t a problem at work. But at home, I use a bread machine. I set it on the dough setting and let the machine handle the kneading. Then I shape the dough by hand and let it do a final rise in the pan or pans of my choice. I actually like kneading bread by hand, but I’m busy, so I sacrifice the fun of kneading for the time I save by letting the machine handle it. The instructions here are for any standard bread machine.

2½ tablespoons (1 standard packet) granulated dry yeast

4-4½ cups bread flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup nonfat dried milk

1 egg, beaten

1-1½ cups lukewarm water

⅓ cup olive oil

Set your bread machine to the dough setting. Add the yeast, 4 cups flour, sugar, salt, milk, egg, 1 cup water, and the oil to the bread machine vessel. Turn on bread machine. After 4 minutes, look at the dough. If it’s too floury, add water a few drops at a time, until the dough looks right. If it’s too runny, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough looks right. The dough should look smooth and have a texture that feels roughly like the lobe of your ear when you pinch it-yielding but resilient. Balance the flour and water additions until you reach that middle point where the dough comes together nicely in a ball without being too watery or too stiff. Then walk away and let the machine do its thing. Most machines take around 1 hour and 20 minutes to 1½ hours to run the dough cycle. The machine will usually beep when it’s finished.

When the dough is done, unplug the machine. Grease the wells of two standard muffin tins with a spray-on like Pam or Baker’s Choice, or rub with shortening. Pinch off balls of dough roughly the size of golf balls, and place a ball in each muffin-tin well. When manipulating the dough, it makes the resulting bread prettier if you stretch the pinched dough ends to the back of the ball, and put that side bottom down in the tin, leaving a smooth, rounded surface at the top of each roll.

Cover the tins with a damp dish towel and set aside to let rise until doubled in size. This time can vary enormously, depending on the temperature of the site where you are resting the dough. The warmer it is, the faster the dough will rise. In a busy commercial kitchen, where the temperature often hovers around the 100° mark, it generally takes about 30 minutes-but if it gets much hotter than that, the yeast will start to die and the bread will start to cook, so don’t let the air temperature get over 100°. In a 70° home kitchen, it can take as long as two hours. A long, slow rise time often imparts more flavor to the bread. I find that putting the tins in a cool oven over a pan filled with hot water is just about perfect. The heat from the water warms the space, and the steam keeps the dough from drying out.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Place the muffin tins in oven. Bake until rolls are golden, roughly 15-20 minutes.

Remove from oven. Let stand until rolls are cool enough to handle-usually about 5 minutes-then pluck them out of the muffin tins.

Serve warm.

For all you purists, if you prefer working this dough by hand, feel free to do it. The only thing that’s different is that you’ll need to proof the yeast-that is, dissolve it in the warm water along with the sugar, and let it get bubbly-before you mix the ingredients. Then knead until smooth, let it rise, punch it down, let it rise again, punch it down again, put it in the pans, and continue as the recipe indicates.

SUGAR-CURED HAM WITH WHITE-WINE HONEY MUSTARD

Ham is the ultimate convenience food when you’re feeding a large group. It arrives in the kitchen fully cooked, seasoned, and sometimes even spiral sliced-though I much prefer slicing my own. All a cook has to do is warm it through and cut it up to serve it. Naturally, most chefs feel the need to put a more personal stamp on a ham, so there are thousands of recipes for glazes, garnishes, and rubs to augment the flavor of a purchased ham. Any of these will work, but I tend to go with pure simplicity: I like the flavor of a sugar-cured ham. And I find that a thin coating of plain old molasses augments the flavor perfectly. But if you don’t like molasses, feel free to glaze your ham any way you see fit. (I’ve got a friend who swears by dumping a can of ginger ale on the ham when he puts it in the oven. I’ve tried it. Surprisingly, it’s good.) The most important thing when serving this dish is to pick a good ham to begin with.

1 good-quality sugar-cured ham, sized to fit the crowd of people you’re feeding (I generally go with 3- 5 pounds for home use, but any size will do.)

1 cup molasses

Preheat oven to 300° F. (Ham needs a slow cooking process to keep it from drying out and the sugar glaze from burning.)

Wash ham well in cold water. Place ham, fat side up, in a roasting pan on a rack, and place in oven. Cook 15-20 minutes per pound. Pull ham out of oven and carve off any excess fat, leaving about ¼-inch fat layer on the meat. Carve into the remaining fat with any decorative pattern desired-I usually go with 1-inch crosshatches. Brush ham with molasses. Put back into oven for 20 minutes, until glaze begins to bubble and brown.

Remove from oven. Place on serving platter. Slice into serving-size portions. Serve warm with White-Wine Honey Mustard on the side, and rolls and corn muffins handy, in case any guest feels like making a sandwich. Most of them will-you can trust me on this.

WHITE-WINE HONEY MUSTARD

1 cup good Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons white wine

2 tablespoons honey

Mix ingredients and chill. Serve with ham.

CHICKEN-FRIED BEEF TENDERLOIN WITH WHITE ONION GRAVY

This is an old-fashioned Texas crowd pleaser. In Texas, this is traditionally done with round steak, but here at the White House we upgrade to tenderloin. Feel free to use round steak, if you prefer.

Canola oil, for frying

2 pounds (roughly) beef tenderloin, cut crosswise into ½-inch steaks

1½ cups flour

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon salt

Fresh cracked pepper, to taste (I use about ½ teaspoon.)

2 cups buttermilk

WHITE ONION GRAVY

3 small onions, cleaned and sliced into thin rings, rings teased apart

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

Salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 200° F.

This is a stovetop recipe, and you’ll need a big, sturdy skillet, preferably cast iron, though any heavy-bottomed metal pan will do. Place about ½ inch canola oil in the pan, and set over medium heat. The oil should be at about 300º, or hot enough to make a drop of water dropped in it dance and sizzle, to fry the steaks.

While the oil is heating, place each steak between two sheets of good plastic wrap. Pound the steaks with a meat mallet to tenderize and to make them thinner. This ensures that the beef will cook through fully when it’s put in the skillet.

In a large resealable bag, pour in the flour, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Close the bag and shake to mix.

Put the buttermilk in a bowl.

Place a steak in the bag of seasoned flour and shake to coat. Remove the steak and dip it in the buttermilk, then put it back in the seasoned flour and shake to coat again. Once all the steaks are coated, it’s time to fry them.

Place a few of the steaks in the hot oil-you want the steaks to fit easily, with room to move around and not touch. I find frying 3 at a time works well for me. Fry until golden brown, about 3 minutes, then turn over and fry until golden brown on the other side. Remove cooked steaks to a warmed plate, and continue frying the rest of the coated steaks until done. Place the steaks in the oven to keep them warm while you make the gravy.

To make the gravy, pour off some of the oil in the frying pan. Leave a layer of oil sufficient to cover the bottom of the pan lightly. Add onions, and fry until brown and tender, stirring occasionally, 6-8 minutes. Gently scatter the flour over the cooked onions, stirring constantly until flour begins to brown and turns into a thick paste, about 3 minutes. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly. Gravy will thicken. Taste, and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve the steaks on the warmed platter, with a big bowl of gravy next to them, or plate the steaks individually, ladling a nice scoop of gravy over each.

BROWNIE BITES

¾ cup good-quality cocoa

¾ cup canola oil

2 cups sugar

4 eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1½ cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

24 pecan halves, for garnish (optional)

FROSTING

¼ cup butter, softened

½ cup cocoa

1½ cups confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

⅓ cup milk

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Place the cocoa, oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla into a large mixing bowl and stir until the cocoa is fully incorporated, and the mixture is smooth and glossy. Add dry ingredients all at once and gently fold the wet and dry ingredients together. Stir just until the ingredients are mixed. Too much stirring makes the brownies tough.

Place foil (paper cups will shred, so using foil is important) baking cups into 2 12-cup muffin tins. Spray with cooking spray or grease with shortening. Fill the cups two-thirds full with the brownie mixture.

Place in oven and bake until the mixture is just set, and lovely cracks appear on the surface of the brownie bites, about 15-20 minutes. Remove cups from tins and let brownie bites cool.

To prepare the frosting, place the softened butter in a large mixing bowl. Add cocoa, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla, and blend until the mixture is fully mixed. Add the milk, 1 tablespoonful at a time, and continue beating the frosting. When the frosting looks glossy and forms soft peaks, it’s ready to use.

Frost the brownies in their foil cups. Garnish with pecan halves, or the garnish of your choice. Serve.

Other options for garnishes include everything from mini- chocolate chips to a sprinkle of coconut to a fan of candy corn-cute in the fall-to white chocolate curls to chocolate-covered coffee beans to peanut butter cups to peppermint patties to other chocolates. Tailor your garnish to your anticipated diners. If you’re feeding mostly adults, go for sophistication. If you’re feeding lots of kids, raid the candy store. The pecan halves are a compromise-both adults and kids like them, and the people who don’t like nuts can easily remove them. But the sky’s the limit as far as garnishing these goes.

GINGERBREAD MEN

3 cups flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground cloves

¼ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon salt

1 pinch ground pepper (optional, but it gives the cookies a little bite)

Scant 1 teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup butter, softened

½ cup brown sugar, well packed

¼ cup white sugar

1 large egg

½ cup molasses

Raisins (optional)

ROYAL ICING

2 tablespoons meringue powder

Fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon

Roughly 2 cups sifted powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, blend the softened butter, then add the sugars, and cream at medium speed until smooth and fluffy. Add in egg and molasses. Reduce speed to low. Gradually add in flour. Batter will be stiff. Divide batter into workable batches (I usually divide it in thirds), wrap each batch tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Pull the first batch of dough from the refrigerator. Roll out on a floured board until dough ¼- to ⅛-inch thick. I aim for a roll of dough about 8 inches wide. That makes cutting out 8-inch gingerbread men really easy. I then cut out gingerbread men freehand from the dough using a very sharp paring knife. Luckily, a gingerbread man is easy to draw, even for the artistically challenged. You can also use cookie cutters, if you have them. Remove the dough that isn’t part of the cookies, then gently lift the gingerbread men with a long spatula, and place them on ungreased cookie sheets. If desired, add raisins for eyes and mouth. Otherwise, these can be piped on after baking. Continue rolling out gingerbread men until all cookies are shaped. The unused dough can be kneaded together and rolled out at the end. If you plan to hang these cookies as decorations, be sure to cut a large hole where you want to insert the hanging ribbon. I find a sturdy drinking straw is the perfect tool to get a nice-sized hole, but canapé cutters or a toothpick can function equally well.

Bake cookies until gently browned on bottom, about 8-12 minutes. Remove from oven. Let cool for 5 minutes. (This makes the cookie stronger and less prone to breakage.) Remove gently from cookie sheets with a long spatula, and set on a wire rack to cool.

To prepare royal icing, mix the meringue powder with the lemon juice in the bowl of an electric mixer. Gradually add the powdered sugar. Stop adding sugar when the mixture holds stiff peaks and is of good piping consistency.

Load icing into large piping bag fitted with a small circular tip. Pipe clothes and features on the finished cookies. Lay the cookies out flat for the icing to dry. Once they are very, very dry, serve them, or store the finished cookies packed in a tin in layers separated by waxed or parchment paper.

The better the spices, the better the cookies. I get my spices online at The Spice House, which has outlets in Milwaukee and Chicago, as well as an excellent mail-order site at www. thespicehouse.com. I’ve found the spices I get there are simply the best available.

Piped royal icing makes for beautiful cookies. But kids much prefer these iced with buttercream icing and decorated with chocolate chips for the eyes, nose, mouth, and buttons. That’s also faster. But since these cookies are wearing their party clothes, I’m giving the royal icing version here.