Juicy Post: 2021 Winter Horses Doovers (Hors D’oeuvres) Edition

A Civilized Solitude

To quote Bette Midler, I have my standards; they’re low, but I have them.  Covid 19 may have enforced our isolation, but I’ll be damned if I give up my civilized half hour or so with a glass or two of wine (or a cocktail if the bartender is up to it) and a few horses doovers (hors d’oeuvres). There is a nice sense of civility to having prepared something to eat, setting the table, and then sitting down with a glass of something divine and hors d’oeuvres. One of my favorite scenes in the film Amelie, is the sequence shot through her window. She sets her placemat at a table, lays the utensils needed in an orderly fashion and pours something into a glass, then sits down in solitude to enjoy her aperitif and dinner. No Netflix or scarfing down fried rice from a takeout container over the kitchen sink — ah, mais non. With the fact in mind that we aren’t clinking glasses with friends, this third edition of Winter Horses Doovers presents three I discovered and kept throughout the varying periods of lockdown and hibernation. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you two crackers and a dip!

Oh Sourdough

Victoria Sackett, KD’s sharp-pencilled editor, and I both came late to the sourdough frenzy engendered by the lockdowns of 2020. But here we are with our jars of starter threatening to bubble over, and neither of us can bear to just pour the necessary discard down the drain. (Victoria’s jars of starter are multiplying like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice scene from Fantasia). Here is an excellent alternate solution in the form of a savory cracker for hors d’oeuvres that keeps well in any sealed container and does not have to be reheated in the oven to crisp up. It is inspired by a recipe from a website Love And Olive Oil: I found that rolling the dough was much easier than pushing it through a pasta machine as the writer suggested. You can bake it as one sheet and then break it apart like our Lavash recipe from Peter Reinhart. That said, however, I love my multi-wheeled pastry cutter, so I roll out the dough thinly on a Silpat and then  use this nifty tool to make crackers. It’s a snap to pick up the sheet with the neatly divided dough and place it on a half sheet and slide it into the oven.  When baked, the divisions come apart easily. Try this cracker also with the unctuous avocado and chili dip from Munir Mahmud.  Cin-Cin.

Here We Go Again

I know, I know, the following recipes are from yet another Alas Out Of Print Book (otherwise known as AOOP) – The Best OF Gourmet, this one published in 1992. The first is a different type of cracker from the one above. It has a bit of crunch from the cornmeal, and it needs to be baked until the edges are really golden brown. I always reheat left-over ones in the oven to recrisp them. Sometimes I top them with poppy seeds and some flaked sea salt before baking. This dip, produced in a few minutes in your blender or processor. is perfect for one or two, and the batch provides more when you finally get to open your doors to your friends. It freezes pretty well too, just in case you need to have more on hand to celebrate with your vaccinated besties. I usually divide the dip into small containers holding a quarter or third cup and then freeze. I have tried doing something similar with smoked salmon but its popular lightly briny flavor gets lost in the other ingredients. Smoked trout is a bit more assertive. Save the smoked salmon for sliced dark bread and butter.