Consider dietary restrictions and the weather when planning a menu for a crowd. Make easy appetizers like gourmet tortilla chips with salsa and cheese dip. Dairy helps relieve the heat from spicy foods.
When you’re cooking for a crowd, it’s always a good idea to keep in mind who you’re cooking for. You don’t want to serve a filet mignon or crab hors d’oeuvres to a group of vegetarians. Also, you should consider the time of year when planning a menu. Spring and summer dining tends to feature fresh flavors and light, airy textures, while fall and winter meals often boast rich flavors and substantial textures.
Once you’ve considered dietary restrictions and the weather, you’ll be ready to construct a menu. However, if you try to do too much, the cooking portion of hosting can get overwhelming. To make the experience fun, make easy appetizers. Easy appetizers let you focus on your main course and more importantly, your guests!
When the weather starts to get warmer, one of the easy-to-save appetizers that’s sure to impress is a gourmet round on tortilla chips that might involve more than opening a bag of chips, but won’t require a skilled chef either. For this recipe, you’ll need corn tortillas, lime juice, vegetable oil, ground cumin, salt, and chili powder.
Cut the corn tortillas into wedges like you would a pizza and place them on a baking sheet. Combine the oil and lime juice and defrost the tortilla slices on both sides. If you have a mister or spray bottle, use that, if not, simply combine the oil and lime juice in a small bowl and use a pastry brush or clean brush to apply. When the slices are moist, sprinkle them with a light sprinkle of the combined ground cumin, salt, and red pepper powder; sprinkle the flavoring on both sides. Place them in the oven and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius) for seven minutes, rotate the pan and bake them for another eight minutes, or until crisp and golden brown.
Serving your gourmet tortilla chips with any store-bought dip will still provide you with an easy appetizer. However, you can also buy store-bought chips and go for the dip. Out of the many, there are two simple and delicious appetizer dip recipes, a salsa and a cheese dip, that work well in tandem and have a unique taste that can’t be found in a jar.
A hot sauce and a cheese sauce work so well together because the cheese sauce will relieve the heat from the chiles in the sauce. The best heat reduction from spicy foods is actually a diary. Capsaicinoid molecules — the things that make food spicy — bind to taste buds and are reluctant to let go. Proteins called casein, found in most dairy products, form a stronger bond with capsaicinoids and thus remove them from the taste buds.
For the salsa, you’ll need 7 oz (199 mL) can chipotle peppers in adobo salsa, 2 cups (475 mL) chopped cilantro, 1 cup (200 mL) finely chopped tomatillo, ¼ cup (60 mL) of chopped red onion and 1/4 cup (60 mL) of fresh lime juice. Finely chop 2 chipotle peppers to measure 2 teaspoons (9.9 mL) and combine with the cilantro, tomatillos, onions and lime juice in a medium sized bowl. Cover and chill the sauce for about an hour before serving.
For the cheese sauce, you’ll need ½ cup (or 4 oz) of cream cheese and ¼ cup (60 mL) of goat cheese. It’s important to buy block cream cheese and let it sit to soften for a few minutes. If you prefer to use the fat-free variety, the recipe will be just as good. Combine the cream cheese and goat cheese in a small bowl and stir until the cheeses are melted. Spread the cheese mixture onto a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius) for 10 minutes, or until hot.
These simple starters will save you time and heartache when hosting. However, easy appetizers like these will save you without compromising on taste.
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