Appetizers, but for lunch

I'm a sucker for a good appetizer, and think cocktails/wine and app parties are one of the very nice parts about being a grown up because you get to decide what to eat and when. But there are only so many of those parties to go around, and making a supper array of appetizers just for two people can seem like a lot of work and generate a lot of leftovers and preparation dishes that make it seem less fun.

So if I want to try out a new appetizer recipe ahead of one of those parties, I find making one for a weekend lunch to be a good alternative. Paired with a soup and fruit, one appetizer can be the star of the show.

Smoked salmon cheesecake

This no-bake cheesecake-ish recipe is from Kateryna's Cafe site. It called for a six-inch springform pan, which I don't own, so I opted for using two 4½-inch tartlet pans with a removeable bottom. Because the volume isn't the same between the two, I ended up with two tartlets of lower height, but they still looked reasonably looky paired on a plate with crackers. I considered making them in six of my mini cheesecake pans, but didn't feel like fussing that much, although I think it would make a dandy one-serving first course for a sit-down dinner situation.

Ingredients

2 ounces Ritz crackers (or use Schar's entertainment crackers if you want to make it gluten free)
1 large handful arugula
1 teaspoon olive oil
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces smoked salmon, divided
1 tablespoon finely chopped chives
Zest of ½ lemon
Fresh dill for garnish

Method

Blend crackers, arugula and olive oil in a food processor until finely chopped. Press mixture into the bottom of your pan or pans, depending on available pan size (see headnote). 

Combine cream cheese, 2 ounces of smoked salmon, the chives and lemon zest. Spread over the crust. Refrigerate until lightly set. I gave it several hours since I was making it well ahead, but the recipe said to allow at least 15 minutes. Remove from pan and top with remaining 2 ounces smoked salmon and garnish with fresh dill.

Rating: Fine. It's fast to fix and reasonably looky on a plate. It's not the wower I expected based on its ingredient list, however. As I say, it's fine, but just fine. Maybe some finely chopped red onion in the cream cheese mixture would help, or maybe shallots? The zest of the entire lemon? I feel like it's just a nudge away from living up to its looks.

Baked ricotta with tomatoes

Adapted from "Vegetarian Heartland" by Shelly Westerhausen

Ingredients

1 pound ricotta
1 teaspoon honey
1 egg
3 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, divided
Zest of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
5 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tablespoon butter

Method

Preheat oven to 400. Grease a 9-inch round pie plate or dish.

Combine ricotta, honey, egg, garlic, 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, lemon zest, salt and pepper. Spread mixture in prepared dish. Push tomatoes into the mixture, cut side down. (Arranging them in concentric circles would make it prettier than the randomness I achieved the first time I made it.) Bake for 30 minutes, then top with the butter, tilting the pan to distribute it once it melts. Bake for 10 more minutes. Garnish with remaining 1 teaspoon thyme leaves and a bit more pepper.  Serve warm.

Rating: The first time I made this, it was fine, but blander than I might have expected. I barely detected the garlic, so I tried it again and tripled the amount of garlic. I wanted this to be a winner because it's so fast and comparatively pantry friendly. I also added the zest of a lemon the second time. There was a reference I didn't pick up on until later because it's in neither the ingredient list or instructions in the original recipe, but the note on top of the recipe recommends using an organic lemon for the otherwise unmentioned zest, and adding it made a significant difference. 

Tuna mousse

From Food & Wine magazine's 2001 cookbook

Ingredients

1 6-ounce can tuna packed in olive oil, drained
¼ cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
1½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Sliced toasted baguette for serving

Method

Combine tuna, mayo, onion, cream cheese and lemon juice in a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Add parsley and pulse to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for at least an hour. Serve on toasted baguette slices.

Rating: This is why I generally aim to try new recipes in advance of giving them to guests, just in case there's a dud. This works flavorwise, but while it sets up a tiny bit in the refrigerator, it never reaches a consistency I would call a mousse. As Dave said, it's more of a tuna sauce. I opted to turn the rest of it into the sauce for a tuna noodle casserole and call it a day, because I don't think this one is worth trying to finesse. It's a pity, because I really wanted to like this. When Dave asked what I was making and I told him tuna mousse, he said that sounded like an odd animal combination and went away muttering something about fish with antlers. I think fish with antlers would have been a charming nickname for an appetizer, but alas, it's not to be.

Crabbies

From "The Healthy Carb Diabetes Cookbook," by Jennifer Bucko and Laura Rondinelli, a book I picked up when a family member was diagnosed so I could more carefully cater appropriate options.

Ingredients

1 8-ounce can lump crab meat
1 8-ounce container lite cream cheese with chives and onions
5 whole wheat English muffins, halved

Method

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine crab meat and cream cheese. Spread mixture over open face English muffin halves. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Slice each half into quarters if you want to serve them as appetizers. They're figuring two of those quarters a person as a serving for a total of 7 carbs.

Rating: It's certainly very fast to make. Flavorwise, it's reasonably tasty and if you have one un-quartered open-faced English muffin as lunch along with a bowl of soup and fruit, probably still not too horrible dietwise for those of us who aren't slavishly carb-watching. But while cutting it into quarters makes it more diet-friendly, it also makes it unappetizing on a plate. Small appetizers can be cute, but these are just ragged looking, I can imagine a plate full of these things sitting among an array of appetizers on a table and being the ones no one tried, becoming more sad as they cooled. (I do think they were best served warm.) I suppose if I added some chopped chives as a garnish it might help, but again, I think I'm not thinking this one is worth trying to finesse, especially given the price of a can of crab meat.

Leftovers: Since I wasn't about to bake off all five muffins, we have leftovers. I'm thinking it could make a good stand-in as a base for a crab meat rangoon pizza, which would be tasty, but definitely not as diet friendly.