In the heart of December, friends and families gather to enjoy long nights and laughter, despite the winter chill. They celebrate the season and welcome the new year, happily fueled by a variety of festive foods.
Classic holiday appetizers include smoked and aged cheeses with crackers and bread, as well as pretzels, roasted nuts, and homemade, cheddar-laced bread sticks. A bowl of Ranch dressing surrounded by fresh vegetables makes a welcome, salad-like side.
Always popular, dips can range from chunky salsa to creamy crab or blue cheese. Served with sturdy chips, an old-fashioned dip, such as marinated artichoke hearts minced with mayonnaise or onion soup mix blended with sour cream, will quickly disappear.
A little different and remarkably tasty, hummus is a blend of pureed garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, and seasonings. Creative cooks can change up its flavors by adding chopped olives, diced sweet red pepper, or spicy hot chili pepper oil, depending on preferences.
From Susan Righetti, proprietor of Santa Maria-based Susie Q’s Brand, comes a tantalizing offering called Frankly Retro Appetizers. To make, simply combine sliced hot dogs, prepared mustard, Susie Q’s Sherry Citrus Rib Glaze, and Original Santa Maria Style Seasoning in a saucepan, heat, and serve.
“I became familiar with a similar recipe many years ago at Rancho San Juan in Los Alamos,” Righetti wrote in an e-mail. “The cook at the ranch was a wonderful lady by the name of Bucky Cooper. She was a legendary hostess and an incredible cook.
“Another old standby,” she continued, “is one of my most favorite apps. I learned to make it from a dear family friend, Evelyn Donati, who still lives here in Santa Maria. … This recipe can be prepared ahead and kept in the freezer, and you can thaw them out as needed.”
Describing a kind of salami roll, Righetti related that it’s made by cutting the ends from a large sourdough baguette or four French rolls, and carefully hollowing out the interiors, leaving the crusts intact. In a blender or food processor, process chunks of one entire dry salami (skin removed) until fine, and then blend well with four sliced green onions, a dash of Tabasco, eight ounces cream cheese, and one teaspoon Susie Q’s Santa Maria Style Seasoning.
“Pack the mixture firmly into the hollowed out bread,” Righetti explained, “filling from one end to the other. Wrap each roll individually in plastic wrap or foil, place in a Ziploc bag, and freeze. When you’re ready to serve them, thaw them for fifteen minutes at room temperature and cut into quarter-inch slices.”
For hot hors d’oeuvres, Morovino Winery’s Tipsy Mushrooms incorporate five pounds whole mushrooms, nine bouillon cubes, two cups water, four tablespoons butter, one teaspoon each dried dill and black pepper, one-and-one-half teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, three cloves minced garlic, and nearly two bottles of Morovino Zinfandel.
Cook the ingredients slowly for four to six hours, remove and reduce the liquid over medium heat, add it back to the mushrooms, and serve with toothpicks.
“If the mushrooms have turned black,” Mrs. Vino (Morovino co-owner Andrea Bradford) wrote in a recent Morovino newsletter, “you are doing this right. They look weird, but taste GREAT!”
If the party food consists entirely of appetizers, be sure to include some sweet bites among the savory to serve as a finale to the extended grazing. These will match with sweeter beverages, such as eggnog and mulled wine, and also satisfy guests with a yearning for sugar.
A simple, yet delicious blend of cream cheese and caramel sauce makes a perfect foil for sliced apples, while dried fruit and squares of light and dark chocolate provide handy nibbles.
Turn a wheel of Brie into a sweet treat by spreading it with jam, wrapping it in refrigerator crescent roll dough, and drizzling with maple syrup. Bake in a 350-degree F. oven for 25 minutes and serve warm with crackers.
Maryam Zarkesh, who represents Santa Maria’s Panera Bread, suggests the bakery’s Cranberry Walnut Panettone as an appropriate addition to the holiday spread.
“Panettone is a typical bread of Milan,” she wrote in an e-mail. “It’s one of the city’s symbols and is a Christmas dinner staple.”
The bakers at Panera Bread make a sweet dough of egg, sugar, butter, and cream cheese, and then fill it with candied orange peel, cranberries, and walnuts. When the panettone comes out of the oven, they top it with a crown of powdered sugar.
Appetizers can serve as a prelude to a feast or an extended meal of small bites. Savory, sweet, cutting-edge, or retro, they satisfy hungry guests and fuel the fun of seasonal celebrations. m
K. Reka Badger likes to wear a crown of powered sugar to all the holiday parties. E-mail comments or ideas to rekabadger@hotmail.com.
This article appears in Dec 17-24, 2009.