[M_Six]

We seem to have a thread for lots of food/drink stuff, so why not one for finger food?

I love Havarti and smoked Gouda, but other than blue cheese, I've yet to meet a cheese I didn't like. Same with olives. As long as they're not stuffed with blue cheese, I love them. I'm also a big fan of summer sausage and pepperoni. Stack some cheese and summer sausage on some pumpernickel squares or a decent cracker, and I'm in heaven. Today we bought some spicy bread-and-butter pickles. Haven't tried them yet, but I'm hoping they go well with the aforementioned cheese and sausage.

What do you snack on or offer to guests as appetizers or finger food? I'd love some suggestions. Feel free to offer wine/beer pairings as well.

[Nuckle]

I love to make jalapeño poppers for guests.

Largest jalapeño peppers you can find. Cut them in half and dredge out the seeds and veins.
Monterey Jack cheese
Cream cheese
Boneless chicken breast
Pound out the chicken breast and then season them with Greek seasoning
Grill them just to the point of safe to eat
Cut the breast into slices or chunks
Put the chicken, jack cheese and cream cheese into a blender and turn the contents into mush
Fill the half pepper with the mush
Wrap the whole pepper in bacon
Season the outside with cayenne pepper
Grill direct until bottom side is done
Turn off bottom heat and turn up all heat opposing until tops are cooked and brown
Serve with ranch as a dipping sauce

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by Nuckle

I love to make jalapeño poppers for guests.

Largest jalapeño peppers you can find. Cut them in half and dredge out the seeds and veins.
Monterey Jack cheese
Cream cheese
Boneless chicken breast
Pound out the chicken breast and then season them with Greek seasoning
Grill them just to the point of safe to eat
Cut the breast into slices or chunks
Put the chicken, jack cheese and cream cheese into a blender and turn the contents into mush
Fill the half pepper with the mush
Wrap the whole pepper in bacon
Season the outside with cayenne pepper
Grill direct until bottom side is done
Turn off bottom heat and turn up all heat opposing until tops are cooked and brown
Serve with ranch as a dipping sauce

Not a big fan of jalapeños, but those sound tasty.

[AlpineWhite_SJ]

Usually do 2-3 cheeses - triple cream or brie, something like an aged cheddar or other richer hard cheese and maybe a milder Iberico or Manchego. Olives - Kalamata would be the go-to usually. Thinly sliced apple slices and dried fruit like cherries or apricots are a good addition. For meats, lean toward Speck ham or iberico ham, calabrese sausage, and prosciutto. Serve with some water cracker varieties or something like a sourdough olive oil and sea salt flatbread cracker.

We’ll also do smoked salmon, or a goose liver pate on occasion.

As for wine - pretty much any red/white will do well with some of the above.

[roastbeef]

pizza rolls and cabernet.

[Rmtt]

I'm simple,

Some Boarshead turkey slices, place some good cheese in it, any type of sliced pepper....roll it up and skewer with a toothpick. Place in oven until cheese is on the verge of melting.

[dreamingat30fps]

At home I usually just eat olives and feta cheese since that's what we typically have in the fridge. When we go out to places I love getting charcuterie boards when they have them.

However I have yet to find a meat or olive oil that matched the one I had in Spain at a particular restaurant. All the food in Spain was great, but only one place had the best olive oil I've ever had and one of the best hams I've ever had. I have been looking for something like it ever since and have yet to find it. The olive oil had a green tint to it and tasted like actual olives. The ham was like a serrano ham but with this amazing taste of hazelnuts. Never found anything like it, even in other parts of Spain.

[M_Six]

This lunch was at an out of the way place in the UK we stumbled upon because we were avoiding a traffic jam. Just pure luck we found it. Awesome food.

[EL Jeffe 5]

I like Hot Pockets

[m630]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

At home I usually just eat olives and feta cheese since that's what we typically have in the fridge. When we go out to places I love getting charcuterie boards when they have them.

However I have yet to find a meat or olive oil that matched the one I had in Spain at a particular restaurant. All the food in Spain was great, but only one place had the best olive oil I've ever had and one of the best hams I've ever had. I have been looking for something like it ever since and have yet to find it. The olive oil had a green tint to it and tasted like actual olives. The ham was like a serrano ham but with this amazing taste of hazelnuts. Never found anything like it, even in other parts of Spain.

Spain does have some of the best food in the world, and the meat you are likely thinking of is Iberico ham, which can be the most pricey in the world. I luv it!

[m630]

Now to the thread. Luv cheese and olives. Love Love them! Whether for holidays or for a nite at home, you can't go wrong.

Now being from NY, not sure about that summer sausage name, but give me italian style cured meats all day long with my cheese and olives, and Im happy, along with a nice bottle of wine of course!

Id also suggest the inclusion of tomato as a great accent!

For the holiday I always do big spreads to start, sometimes as many as 10 or more cheeses along with different salami and soppressata and also pepperoni and prosciutto di parma.

If you luv olives and onions, i may suggest a traditional Bariese app, its made with green (sicilian) olives and vedalia onions and its made like a pan pizza. I do it two ways, the traditional way is made like a pie, ie another layer of dough on top of the pie, but for many friends and for parties to lighten it up I delete the top dough and just make as a sort of onions and olive pizza if you will. its devine!

Also, simply adding burrata to anything makes it great!!

Ive also gotten into roasting shishito peppers a few different ways, they are crowd pleasers every time I put out.

Ohh the options here, and Im hungry!!!

[AlpineWhite_SJ]

Originally Posted by m630

Spain does have some of the best food in the world, and the meat you are likely thinking of is Iberico ham, which can be the most pricey in the world. I luv it!

Yep, that’s the Iberico. If it’s Iberico Bellota, the pigs are free range and given an acorn diet before slaughter - it’s the finest grade of iberico ham and does have that nutty flavor. It’s $$$$ - costco was selling full legs for ~$500 which is a bargain. Most places they are $1,000. It was also banned in the US until 2008. You can get platters of sliced meat for a lot less - Online retailers like La Tienda have it.

[AlpineWhite_SJ]

Originally Posted by m630

Also, simply adding burrata to anything makes it great!!

Ive also gotten into roasting shishito peppers a few different ways, they are crowd pleasers every time I put out.

Ohh the options here, and Im hungry!!!

I forgot a crostini with Burrata and the Shisito peppers. Those were our go to end of summer snacks, especially the peppers. Great to snack on while you’re having a glass of wine and grilling.

[m630]

Originally Posted by AlpineWhite_SJ

I forgot a crostini with Burrata and the Shisito peppers. Those were our go to end of summer snacks, especially the peppers. Great to snack on while you’re having a glass of wine and grilling.

sounds great! I sometime make the shishito with thick bacon lardons and add a fresh cut jalepeno or serrano to spice it up!!

[m630]

Originally Posted by AlpineWhite_SJ

Yep, that’s the Iberico. If it’s Iberico Bellota, the pigs are free range and given an acorn diet before slaughter - it’s the finest grade of iberico ham and does have that nutty flavor. It’s $$$$ - costco was selling full legs for ~$500 which is a bargain. Most places they are $1,000. It was also banned in the US until 2008. You can get platters of sliced meat for a lot less - Online retailers like La Tienda have it.

its awesome, when i go I try to have it as much as possible, even had with eggs!!!! along with the amazing fresh bread, and some olive oil you are set!

[M_Six]

Oh, how I miss New England tomatoes. Something about the soil there makes them taste so much better. The tomatoes here in corn country are almost all hothouse or hydroponic and have little or no taste at all. Even ones grown in someone's garden are flat compared to the ones we used to get back east. The French would attribute it to Terroir.

[dreamingat30fps]

Originally Posted by m630

Spain does have some of the best food in the world, and the meat you are likely thinking of is Iberico ham, which can be the most pricey in the world. I luv it!

Maybe, just found it strange we didn't find it anywhere else in Spain. Same with that olive oil. Even traveling around the US we come across a lot of specialty olive oil makers and we always try to stop at all of them, no one has had anything close to it.

[chassis]

This.

Korčula, Croatia, great food through the entire country. Great food, in fact, through all of western Europe. The US food scene is utterly broken, with few exceptions in some major cities.

On the plates:
- dates
- nuts
- ham
- cheeses
- green herbage (arugula in this case)
- chickpeas
- jam
- oil
- melon
- olives
- octopus
- peppers
- fish, both shell and finned
- citrus

[AlpineWhite_SJ]

Originally Posted by chassis

This.

Korčula, Croatia, great food through the entire country. Great food, in fact, through all of western Europe. The US food scene is utterly broken, with few exceptions in some major cities.

I think it’s gotten a bit better overall, but still has some ways to go. You certainly find more interesting restaurants in smaller cities across the country than you used to be able to, say 10-20 years ago. A lot more variety and fresh ingredients outside of the major cities than I used to see. But we eat at home most of the time so the food scene is whatever we make it

[chassis]

Originally Posted by AlpineWhite_SJ

I think it’s gotten a bit better overall, but still has some ways to go. You certainly find more interesting restaurants in smaller cities across the country than you used to be able to, say 10-20 years ago. A lot more variety and fresh ingredients outside of the major cities than I used to see. But we eat at home most of the time so the food scene is whatever we make it

Agree that the food-at-home scene is what you make it. That is helped, at the same time, by widespread availability of fresh high quality ingredients. This is not the case in many, likely most, areas outside major cities in the US.

Sources of high quality fresh fruit and vegetables, and high quality bread, meat, cheese and dairy products is poor outside of major cities. Kroger, Meijer, Walmart, (super) Target and the like are selling low quality products. In many locations outside of major cities, there are no viable alternatives, outside of small and seasonal farmers' markets often with limited product selection.

I enjoy cooking and consider myself pretty good at it. The food supply industry needs to come along for the ride. I am willing to pay premium prices for the products I am seeking. In my particular part of the world, there is no one for me to give my money to.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by AlpineWhite_SJ

Yep, that’s the Iberico. If it’s Iberico Bellota, the pigs are free range and given an acorn diet before slaughter - it’s the finest grade of iberico ham and does have that nutty flavor. It’s $$$$ - costco was selling full legs for ~$500 which is a bargain. Most places they are $1,000. It was also banned in the US until 2008. You can get platters of sliced meat for a lot less - Online retailers like La Tienda have it.

I had Ibérico Bellota tenderloin for the first time at Curate in Asheville this year. It was unbelievably good. https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh...&postcount=685

I ordered a tenderloin from La Tienda to try to grill it myself but FedEx delivered it 4 days late, which I rejected. We’ll get to try again in 2020.

With respect to original question of thread, a cheese plate with an aged extra sharp cheddar, Manchego, Parmigiano Reggiano and some soft cheese (goat this Christmas Eve) is our go to when entertaining. Quality crackers, flatbreads, breads, etc. also make a big difference.

[m630]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Maybe, just found it strange we didn't find it anywhere else in Spain. Same with that olive oil. Even traveling around the US we come across a lot of specialty olive oil makers and we always try to stop at all of them, no one has had anything close to it.

Lets talk olive oil, as it is the foundation of all good food, imho. seriously.

I suppose I take for granted where I live and the availability of high quality products as well as family/friends in Italy.

So for all, Olive oil is a product just like many others, there are good and then so so, and you should understand what the grades are.

Extra Virgin - for eating, drinking cooking, its all that I use. It is the first pressing of the olives

Virgin - second pressing of the olives.

Pure - third pressing of those same olives!

anything after pure is likely not 100% olive oil, there is no 'light' olive oil in reality.

so then you want to focus on Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and like many things, there is a very wide variety and price points, but trust me, like with everything, you get what you pay for.

Olive oil is green, it has to be if its from green olives! if it doesn't have a green tint well that tells you the quality.
However, many people many not appreciate this and think that buying a bottle of oil for a few $$ is all the same..no, olive oil is pricy when you buy high quality and rightly so as its the foundation for all that you eat when you cook and want to eat great food. I often have family friends send me by the gallon fresh pressed oil from Sicily. Now I know that is not possible for most, so I have a great option from a grower that has expanded globally.

If you would like to experience that taste which you are looking for, I may suggest you look up this company and order from them. I suggest you adopt a tree and get the full package. It will change your life.