Holiday Hors d’oeuvres To Cheer About
December 4, 2003

For me, making hors d’oeuvres is like balancing my checkbook: something I know I have to do, but I don’t get very excited about, especially during the holiday season. Unless you have a kitchen full of elves to prep for entertaining, a good basic idea that comes packaged with infinite variations is the ticket. To snap me out of my Scroogey attitude, I gave myself a challenge: create a bread based hors d’oeuvres that is easy, economical and exquisite. The result, Cornbread Canapés, was a nice surprise (like discovering an extra fifty bucks in my checking account.) The range of these little beauties will blow your mind: there are as many creative combinations for this canapé as there are snowflakes falling from the sky.

Cornbread Canapés
Yields 30-35 Canapés
Cornbread provides the base for a myriad of toppings from shrimp salad to cream cheese and jelly for the kids. Simply follow the standard recipe on a cornmeal box for cornbread. Add 1 teaspoon of turmeric (optional, but your cornbread will be a nice bright yellow) and substitute buttermilk for the milk. Use enough buttermilk to turn the cornbread mixture into a “pancake batter” consistency. Spray a 12 x17″ cookie sheet (sided) with a non-stick spray and pour batter in. Spread it out evenly in the pan and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 10-12 minutes. Carefully monitor the color: you don’t want it browned! When cornbread is cool, use a round cookie cutter 1-1 ½ inch diameter (oh go ahead, use that gingerbread girl if you want to!) Trim down the rounds with a bread knife if they seem too thick. These can be baked one day ahead, store carefully wrapped in plastic. I suggest using crème fraiche, cream cheese or marscapone for the anchor topping; sour cream or mayo could work in a pinch. You can decorate your canapés an hour before your guests arrive. A few ideas:

- Chopped caramelized onions and garlic with minced fresh parsley
- Crème fraiche topped with caviar or smoked salmon
- Caramelized apples with foie gras paté
- Marscapone or cream cheese with any kind of salsa, fancy jam or specialty spread
- Brie with minced fresh herbs
- Creamy goat cheese with roasted red peppers and minced cilantro
- Apple butter, peanut butter or Nutella for the junior set

Kim Dannies is a graduate of La Varenne Cooking School in France. She lives in Williston, VT with her husband, Jeff, and three college–aged daughters who come and go. ©2008