Juicy Post: Horses Doovers Summer Edition and a Contest

Horses Doovers: The Sequel

We had no idea that KD readers would be so enamoured of Horses Doovers: Winter Edition, so here is our Summer Edition with recipes for little somethings to have with drinks when the heat is on. I am inspired by one of my friends, who frequently has guests over for what is really a meal of appetizers with a couple of different wines. While the international winter winner was the roquefort pinwheels, most US KD readers downloaded the spiced pecans from Flour Bakery in Boston. And yet my favorite one to make for cocktails in cold weather is the bacon wrapped dates stuffed with Parmesan. The not-so-new recipes here are just what summer drinks need. Crabmeat Parmesan Triangles can be prepped the day before and then popped into the oven. Peter Reinhart’s lavash recipe can be made any time, broken into shards, and kept in an airtight container. Just serve with your favorite dips. The Italian melon one requires no cooking and can be wrapped several hours before you start crushing the ice for daiquiris. The Crabmeat Parmesan Triangles I have made for years are from a 1994 issue of Gourmet Magazine. I found out that it is really an equally tasty but easier version of the Canapé Lorenzo from Louis De Gouy and Galatoire’s Restaurant in New Orleans. Not much is written about him, but he was the chef at the Waldorf and wrote The Gold Cookbook in 1946 (which I have). He was also a co-founder of Gourmet Magazine and published sixteen cookbooks.

Recipe

Crabmeat Parmesan Canapés

A scrumptious triangle of hot crab and parmesan to have with drinks. Easy, too.

Print Recipe

Yield 36

Ingredients

• 9 slices of white sandwich bread (homemade or from a good bakery)
• 1 cup fresh crab meat, lump is recommended
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 4 scallions (with some green) chopped fine
• 1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400FnCut the crusts from each slice and cut each slice into 4 triangles
2. Toast the bread on a baking sheet until golden - about 5 to 10 minutes depending on your type of oven.
3. With your fingers, crumble the crab meat pieces so that they will blend more easily with the other ingredients when mounded onto the toasts.
4. In a bowl, stir together crab, mayonnaise, salt and pepper to taste, parmesan cheese, scallions
5. Add a bit of lemon juice to brighten the flavors.
6. Reduce the oven temperature to 375FnSpread the crab mixture on toasts and arrange on baking sheet.
7. Bake canapés in the middle of the oven until puffed - about 10-15 minutes.

Notes

• You can make the toasts and the crab mixture a day ahead and refrigerate.nBag the bread triangles and seal and cover the crab mixture tightly.nYou can assemble the canapés before the final baking about an hour ahead - just cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake.nI have frozen the toast triangles topped with the crab mixture, unbaked and then put them in a freezer bag and they bake off satisfactorily - not quite as good as when you bake them fresh.

Details

Adapted from: Gourmet 1995

In the shop, before the advent of the Tartine Bakery bread book and Ken Forkish’s Flour Water, Salt, Yeast—both excellent in what they teach—the Ur book on breads in La Cuisine was Peter Reinhart’s classic, The Baker’s Apprentice. We carried it when it was first published in 2001 and kept selling copies until we closed the shop in 2018. The current version is an updated 15th anniversary edition. So Mr. Reinhart has proven that this book is not a flash in the bread pan. Should you want to know more about how to approach a wider world of bread making, but with a real hands-on approach and truly helpful rather than artsy photos, purchase this book. I actually read it at night when I really want to understand a certain technique, as his writing is quite engaging. But back to his lavash: I use a tapered rolling pin so that I can get the dough paper-thin, as he advises, and I roll it out on Silpat, which fits onto my carbon steel baking sheet. I can’t tell you how much fun I have choosing herb, spice, and salt combinations to dash across the top before it’s baked. Sometimes I just use Fleur De Sel or Maldon Salt and freshly ground Rainbow Peppercorns. I serve his lavash with this addictive dip from Munira Mamud, which I found in the cookbook, Together, written to raise funds for a community kitchen after the hideous Grenfell Tower fire in London.

Recipe

Lavash Crackers

Such an easy cracker to make. Keep in tightly sealed container and serve with your favorite salsas and dips.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (191gr) unbleached bread or all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp(3.5gr) fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp(1.5gr) instant yeast
• 1 tbs I21gr) honey or sugar
• 1 tbs (14gr) vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup (112gr) room temperature water
• 1 egg white whisked with 1 tbs water for egg white wash
• Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, paprika, cumin seeds, caraway seeds are Peter Reinhart's suggestions.

Instructions

1. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, salt, yeast, honey or sugar, oil and just enought water to bring everything together in a ball.nYou may not need all the water so just add gradually.nSprinkle some flour onto your counter and transfer dough to counter.nKnead for six minutes until the dough components are thoroughly integrated.nUse the windowpane test or check the temperature with an instant read thermometer (I use Thermapen) to get a reading betwen 77 and 81F or 25-27CnAllow dough to rise until it is doubled in bulk - about 2 hours (or in fridge overnight)nPreheat oven to350F (177C)nI roll it out on a Silpat that fits my baking sheet, but you can roll it our on a lightly floured counter or use a bit of oil on the counter as Peter Reinhart suggests.nYou want a u0022paperu0022 thin sheet of about 15x12 inches or 38c30cm.nYou can allow the dough to rest for 5 minutes and then transfer it to a parchment lined bake sheet.nMist the dough with water spray or brush with egg white and sprinkle with choice of seeds, spices and salt.nYou can pre cut the crackers before baking if you prefer.nBake for 15 to 20 minutes - the cracker sheet should be lightly golden.nAllow the lavash to cool before breaking into shards or separating crackers.

Notes

• I have made this with both all-purpose and bread flour. The texture of the lavash is a bit different with each style of flour.nBread flour made the cracker a bit chewier, and the all purpose flour made a crisper cracker.nBoth are nice.

Details

Author: Peter Reinhart

Adapted from: The Baker's Apprentice

This no-cook entry for our Summer Edition of Horses Doovers is due to the diligence of the Resident Wine Maniac in our house. A triple treat on a toothpick is a delicious combination. I was surprised at how good it was. And once again it comes from a Gourmet Magazine issue published in 1992. It was written up as an Italian antipasto, and even though getting the sizes of the three components is a bit fiddly, once you get them all lined up on a platter, covered with plastic wrap, and refrigerated, you are good to go. I cut the melon in half like a grapefruit. Scoop out the seeds and then slice two 1 1/4-inch rings. Slice the rings in half and remove the rind with a flexible knife. Then cut slices as you would a stick of butter. These I cut in half, but you can leave them larger if you prefer. I cut the taleggio into approximately the same size. The prosciutto gets sliced or torn into thinner strips (about 1/2 inch). Sandwich the melon and taleggio pieces (you can smoosh the taleggio so that it fits the melon), then wrap the prosciutto around and secure with a toothpick. I place them on a paper towel on a tray and cover with cling wrap because usually I make them several hours ahead of a party. That takes care of the melon leaking moisture while waiting to be devoured. Bring them out a half hour before you start pouring something bubbly.

Recipe

Prosciutto, Taleggio u0026 Melon Bites

Delicious antipasto combination on a toothpick. A KD summer favorite.

Print Recipe

Yield 24

Ingredients

• 1 2.2 lb (1kg) green melon such as honeydew.
• 1/3lb (152gr) Taleggio cheese, rind removed
• 1/4 lb (114gr) prosciutto, thinly slicedntoothpicks

Instructions

1. Cut the melon in half  like a grapefruit.nScoop out the seeds and then slice two  1 -1/4 inch rings.nSlice the rings in half and remove the rind with a flexible kinfe.nCut 1/2 inch slices  as you would a stick of butter. These I cut in half, but you can leave them larger, if you prefer.nCut the taleggio into approximately the same size.nThe prosciutto gets sliced or torn into thinner strips (1/2 inch approximately).nSandwich the melon and taleggion pieces  ( you can smoosh the taleggio so that it fits the melon) and then wrap the prosciutto around and secure with a toothpick.nThese measurements are all approximate; do not feel like you must be an architectural engineer!nSave the prosciutto trimmings and use in a pasta dish.

Notes

• I place them on a paper towel on a tray and cover with cling wrap if I am doing these several hours ahead.nThe melon pieces over a long period of time can leak out moisture.nWe have been known to just eat these and maybe some salted Marcona almonds with Prosecco and then go out for ice cream.

Details

Adapted from: The Best Of Gourmet 1993

What Is Your Favorite Horses Doover Recipe?

And since we want to hear from you about your favorite Horses Doover inventions (hereafter known as HDs), we’re holding a contest for your favorite little bites to have with a cocktail or a mocktail. It can be your own original recipe or an adaptation of an existing one. Certainly tell us a bit about the recipe itself, such as whether there is some family history to it. Did you make it up with ingredients you happened to have on hand, and was it a wild success? Or it can be your take on something you tasted in a restaurant or at a party and recreated. We want to know all about how it came to be your favorite Horses Doover.

First Place winner will receive the best bread knife on the planet (we tested so many) from Messermeister. We figured that most of you already have a chef’s knife that you are happy with, but have denied yourself a first-rate bread knife.

Second Place winner will receive one of Ernst & Company’s chic and functional painted canvas bags that I fell in love with on my trip to Sicily.

Third Place Winner will receive one of our large prints of the hilarious Roger Blachon poster commissioned by L. Tellier in France that we call “Chaos In The Kitchen”.

Rules of Engagement

• To enter, you have to subscribe to the newsletter. You can subscribe here.
• You can enter more than one recipe.
• Entries accepted from July 5 through July 31.
• Recipes will be tested and photographed during August.
• Winners will be announced in the Juicy Post of September 3.
• You must include at least one photo.
• 24–36 portions is suggested but not a game breaker.

Let the games begin! Good luck to all.