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amuse bouche

Appetizers/ ColdApp/ Salads

Tomato Crab Amuse Bouche

Amuse your guest with this crab salad

When I made crab cakes recently I decided to save some crab and the next day I made this delicious crab salad. What I did with the salad was make a cute little amuse bouche. Last year on several occasions I bought crab and was so disappointed with my finished recipe I did not think I would ever buy it again. I’m glad I did and I just love this little stuffed tomato.

A while back I was looking at a catering magazine and saw a little stuffed tomato that someone made and it was stuffed with some type of risotto. There was no recipe so I had to come up with my own version of what to fill the tomato with. What I really like about the look of this appetizer is that the tomato is blanched and peeled. I used campari tomatoes, blanched for about 3-4 seconds and then plunged into ice water and then slipped the peeling off. The crab salad was a perfect light filling. This little blanched, peeled tomato would make the perfect vessel for any type of salad you may want to put in it, just put up something at the market for a filling and you have a gorgeous appetizer.

This may have to be a knife and fork appetizer but would make a good first course to any meal if made bigger. I added a grilled shrimp to the top of each. In fact, I cut the shrimp in half because it was too big for the tomato.

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Appetizers/ ColdApp

Watermelon Amuse

Are you amused by a bouche?

Have you ever seen watermelons growing in a field. What a beautiful sight to see all those plump juicy spheres covering acres of farm land. Makes you want to jump out of the car and go grab one.

When we were kids (I’m a twin and I use to refer to us as “we”) our grandfather once took us to the field where one of his trucks was being loaded with watermelons to take to market. This is the same grandfather that took us out into the hay fields to learn to drive while dodging the bales of hay. What fun.

Also the same “papa” who never bought a watermelon or any other produce from a farm stand on the way to Florida vacations without asking for a taste before buying anything. I so want to do that at the store because sometimes what looks like a delicious watermelon turns out to be a disappointment when cut open.

Recently I saw this watermelon cube on www.pinterest.com . It was sitting alone with a pool of balsamic in the center and I immediately thought why not add a pearl of mozzarella and a tiny basil leaf and have a cute little amuse bouche. An amuse bouche is suppose to be just one bite but it is hard to eat just one of these.

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Appetizers/ HotApp

Little Bites

Little Bites to tingle your tastebuds! — Amuse Bouche

I had never heard that word (Amuse Bouche) until I came back from our NYC trip in September and I was telling a friend I work with about a little potato appetizer we had at Gramercy Tavern. She said “oh, you had an Amuse Bouche”. (pronounced uh-MYUZboosh) And I have been obsessed ever since with these little bites. The chef at Gramercy Tavern actually sent me that recipe which I plan on making during Thanksgiving holidays. The one we had that night (and I guessed right on the recipe) was a choux pastry puff that had mashed fingerling potatoes mixed in and they were deep fried in grape seed oil and when done, an olive tapenade was piped into the center of the puff and was served on a bed of sea salt. We only had one each, but that was enough for me to know I wanted the recipe.

You won’t find Amuse Bouche on any restaurant menu because they are usually compliments of the chef. Sometimes chefs use the amuse bouche as a way to try out different recipes that may become an appetizer on their menu. An Amuse Bouche is a one bite appetizer served before the meal meant to tantalize your taste buds. In French the word means “mouth amuser”.

Recently I have checked out two books from our library in search of some different little bites I can try for some parties I’m catering. The books are Amuse Bouche by Rick  Tramonto (chef/partner at Tru in Chicago), and Small Bites by Jennifer Joyce. I have found several I want to try out during the holidays.

Here are two Amuse Bouche recipes I have tried, nothing fancy, but cute and yummy. The third appetizer I did in these little bamboo cones. Wouldn’t be classified as an amuse bouche because it is more than one bite but thought it was worth posting. The burger and melon appetizers I thought up my self (like I said, nothing fancy)

This tiny burger is a take on “sliders”, much smaller and cuter I think. I’ve been wanting to make a mini burger for a long time so I thought why not try an amuse bouce burger. Anyway, here’s what it looked like.

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Isn’t this the cutest thing ever. No recipe needed. I used wheat bread, toasted it and then using a 1″ cutter, cut out little buns. Then I fried up some little burgers about 1″ size, put a squirt of mustard (any kind) on the burger. Top this with another piece of toast (bun), then a slice of grape tomato, tiny onion slice (those cute little onions that are the size of a dime) and little chunk of baby dill to finish it off. You could also use small slice of cheese on burger if you wanted. Just cut it out using your 1″ cutter. Put one on a plate, dot with mustard, for dipping and serve. Wouldn’t a few julienned fries be a cute garnish for the plate.

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