The festive season can be somewhat stressful with lots of gatherings and endeavouring to make things extra special. Sometimes, however, less is more. These Four Festive Party Starters are just that, simple-to-prepare appetizers that are full of flavour and wrapped in holiday red, white and green. The key is selecting the best quality ingredients. With quality ingredients, you don’t need to do much other than let the flavours shine through.
Sign up to my newsletter today to receive the recipes for these Four Festive Party Starters and read on for a few tips on each of the recipes.
Prosciutto-Wrapped Pear with Goat Cheese
Be sure to have your pears and goat cheese at room temperature before you make these. Cold temperatures will dull the flavour of both the cheese and the fruit. Not to mention that the cheese will spread more easily at room temperature. The prosciutto should be very thinly sliced, which means it will be more easily handled while it is cooler. But it will warm up quickly enough while you are plating them. My favourite prosciutto is Pingue Prosciutto from Niagara Food Specialties. And I really enjoy the Artisan Chèvre from Ontario’s own Crosswind Farm. I usually buy the plain one but there are many flavours to choose from. The Cranberry Orange would be lovely for this recipe.
Balsamic Beet Dip
A stunning ruby red colour, this dip is great served with a cornucopia of colourful vegetables and/or crackers. Rye crackers (like these from Blackbird Baking) are a traditional flavour pairing with beets. And if you have the time and artistic inclination, you could arrange your vegetables like a wreath, with the Balsamic Beet Dip in the centre. The folks at Eating Well Magazine offer a stunning example of a festive crudité wreath on their website. If you want to speed up the dip-making, you could purchase pre-cooked, vacuum-packed beets and then flavour them with a spice blend. All year I’ve been hooked on the Ritual Artisan Spice Blend from Hurtberry Farm in Port Perry. I bought it at the Niemi Family Christmas Market last year and it would make a great gift for any foodies in your life. This year I’m buying double!
Red & Green Devilled Eggs
Okay I admit this one is a little more time-consuming. But this is certainly a more nutritious use of time as compared to painting hard-boiled eggs at Easter. One egg packs a whopping 6 grams of protein in merely 77 calories and is full of nutrients. For just one example, egg yolks are among the highest food sources of choline. Choline is good for you for many reasons but one of which is liver health. And this time of year our livers can use all the help they can get. I included this recipe because I personally love devilled eggs, especially when someone else has made them. 😉
Baked Brie with Cranberry Sauce
Baked brie was one of my mom’s go-to party apps. The main tip to pass along here is to let the baked brie cool a bit before serving. My mom was catering a book event at the local library she worked at and she served a very large wheel of baked brie straight from oven to table, so it would be ready and waiting once the author had concluded his talk and the reception began. Unfortunately an enthusiastic guest cut into it immediately, leaving much of it running over the table and on to the floor while the author was still speaking. So be sure to let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes in the kitchen first. Needless to say an excellent quality brie will make this most delicious. For an interesting twist, try Buffalo Bliss, which H.O.P.E. Eco Farms (a cooperative in Aylmer, Ontario) produces using the milk of water buffalos. It’s not quite as apropos for the holidays as reindeer milk cheese but that is difficult to come across outside of Scandinavia and Finland.
I’ve highlighted many local farmers and food artisans here and I hope you will give them (or your own local equivalents) the gift of your support, both when doing your festive shopping and all year round.
I wish you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season!