I need to WOW 'em HELP

[offwegotoneverland]

Three lilly dip with veggies

one small (or have large) sweet onion diced finely (vidallia's best but spanish will do)
1 tbls veg. oil/olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup each mayo and sour cream (light is fine or regular)
1/4 cup snipped chives
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbls additional snipped chives for garnish

serve with assorted veggies, use glasses to make carrots, celery, green beans and zuchinni "stand up" for serving along with cauliflower etc along the bottom of them. Try to get some veggies you wouldn't think of normally like jicama or celery root or even mini versions of normal ones.

If at all possible serve on white platter with the dip in a pottery bowl with brown/green colours

Dip instructions

saute onion and garlic in oil over med. heat until softened (do not brown about 5 minutes or so) allow to cool in a bowl (either serving or transport for maybe 10 minutes). Add other ingredients except garnish and stir to combine. Sprinkle garnish on top.

(the three lillies are of course the chive,onion and garlic but don't tell anyone that unless they ask)

 

[Mrs.Toad]

Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus is super easy to make, yet always impresses people because it's different.

Ingredients:
12 thin slices prosciutto
8 ounce package Neufchatel cheese, softened
12 spears fresh asparagus, hard ends trimmed off
olive oil or butter

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Spread prosciutto slices with Neufchatel cheese. Wrap each slice around an asparagus spear. Arrange wrapped spears in a single layer on a medium baking sheet that has been greased with butter or olive oil.
Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until asparagus is tender.
Serve warm.

---------------------------------------------------------

Stuffed cherry tomatoes are also easy, but more time-consuming:

INGREDIENTS:
2 pints cherry tomatoes
1/2 pound cooked shrimp - peeled and deveined
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
1 teaspoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley


DIRECTIONS:
Turn tomatoes upside down, using the stem end as the bottom. This will keep them from rolling all over the serving dish.
Cut a slice off the "top" of each cherry tomato, and scoop out the pulp using a melon baller or small spoon. Turn the tomatoes over to drain on paper towels. Refrigerate until ready to fill.
In a food processor, mix the shrimp, cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, horseradish, and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
With a pastry bag or small spoon, put the shrimp mixture into the cherry tomatoes and garnish with parsley. Refrigerate until serving, up to 8 hours. (these are best when served sooner, rather than later.)

 

[offwegotoneverland]

deconstructed gazpacho

Deconstruced is currently all the rage...it means taking apart the dish on the same plate but not mixing it together. Works best on rectagle shapes. You'll need tiny cups like expresso cups for this (check the dollar store for them).

Diced cucumber and pepper (red orange or yellow or mix of all three) toss with olive oil and splash of red wine vinegar and salt and pepper.

Bread Croutons...have crusty italian style loaf (or better yet plain no topping foccacia) sliced long ways. (lengthwise). Slice into "bread sticks", with pastry brush brush on olive oil that had about 1 clove of garlic minced added and salt and pepper. You'll need at least 1/4 cup oil for a full sized loaf. Broil until golden (watch carefully)

take fresh red or yellow tomatoes and peel (blanch in boiling water first), deseed and blenderize with about 2 tbls olive oil, salt pepper, and 1 tbls fresh lemon (a squirt of hot sauce would give it a little kick) add more or less salt to taste. Serve this part in the little cups with a few torn basil leaves. You could buy really really good tomoto juice for this step but hide the darn can!

Yellow will get you extra brownie points with the martha crowd.

Plate as follows....little cup on left hand side with tomoto "soup" with basil garnish...long skinny bread stick tilted on cup to slope down towards right side of plate (like a slide), small pile of the diced veggies at bottom of slide. (if you have enough sticks...cut some in half and have it propped against the other ones like a triangle shape your looking for a vertical note).

If you want extra extra points take a 1/4 cup measure and use that to "shape" the diced veggie parts into a circle.

Remember key term is "deconstructed"

 

[Chilehead Too]

Just wanted to share that we had an appetizer dinner at our house last night so I could try some of these recipes. I made the shrimp crostini, clams casino, chicken with peanut sauce , the asparagus and the deconstructed gazpacho. All were really wonderful, thank you. I'm still undecided which one to bring, but my DH voted for the gazpacho.

You should try and have appetizer night at your house for the family, it was a really big hit.