Entertaining...The Dinner Party Part II: H'ors D'ouevres

And I'm back with Part II of my little series. See here for Part I.

As I mentioned earlier, I think it is crucial to have something to nibble on before dinner. Admittedly, there is overkill on my part...I suppose if you think about it, h'ors d'ouevres aren't really necessary, and I usually make too much. But this is my favorite part of the meal. I love snacky and small-type food. In fact, way way back when, my roommate and I would often have "appetizer dinners" because we both loved those snacky things so much. But now I'm a grown up and have to eat entrees too. Sigh.....

Anyways, I wanted to keep these relatively simple since the rest of the meal was a little more involved.

The Salumi platter was all purchased from a local Italian deli.  And the other two could be mostly prepped ahead of time, so there was very little last-minute cooking involved.

Salumi Platter: Grissini, Hot Sopressata, Aged Salami, Prosciutto, Oil-Cured Olives, Spicy Green Olives, Kalmatta Olives, Castelvetrano Olives

Next up was marinated mozzarella, another quick and easy starter:

Marinated Mozzarella
Makes 8 servings
1 8 oz container fresh mozzarella pearls (or cut larger pieces into bite sizes)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh herbs (I used parsley, basil, oregano, and chives....anything will work)
1 TB lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1. Finely chop the herbs and combine with the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Drain the mozzarella and add to the herb mix. Toss to coat. You can make this up to 3 days ahead of time, store in the refrigerator. Serve at room temp.

And finally, the crostini:

Bleu Cheese Crostini with Thyme Roasted Grapes
Makes 8-12 servings

1 loaf French bread (I purchased mine)
1/4 cup olive oil
6 oz bleu cheese
4 oz cream cheese
1 TB olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar
~1 1/2 - 2lbs seedless red grapes
2 TB olive oil
1 large bunch thyme
1 TB honey

1. Preheat oven to 350. Discard ends of bread loaf and thinly slice on a slight diagonal. Brush each side lightly with olive oil and place in even layer on baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden, 10-15 minutes. These can be made up to 2 days ahead of time, store at room temp in an airtight container until ready to assemble.

2. Let bleu cheese and cream cheese come to room temperature. Combine cheese, 1 TB olive oil, and white wine vinegar in food processor. Process until smooth. Can be made up to 3 days ahead of time. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator until ready to assemble. (I used a ziploc bag and then just snipped a corner off to squeeze it out onto the toasts when I was assembling the crostini.)

3. Preheat oven to 400. Wash and pat grapes dry. Remove from stems and toss with 2 TB olive oil. Spread sprigs of thyme out over a large baking sheet. Spread grapes over thyme and drizzle with honey. Bake until grapes are just beginning to burst, about 10-15 minutes.

4. To assemble: bring cheese spread to room temp. While grapes are roasting, spread cheese mixture over prepared crostini. Remove grapes from oven and top each crostini with a few grapes. Serve at room temperature.

And I'm back with Part II of my little series. See here for Part I.

As I mentioned earlier, I think it is crucial to have something to nibble on before dinner. Admittedly, there is overkill on my part...I suppose if you think about it, h'ors d'ouevres aren't really necessary, and I usually make too much. But this is my favorite part of the meal. I love snacky and small-type food. In fact, way way back when, my roommate and I would often have "appetizer dinners" because we both loved those snacky things so much. But now I'm a grown up and have to eat entrees too. Sigh.....

Anyways, I wanted to keep these relatively simple since the rest of the meal was a little more involved.

The Salumi platter was all purchased from a local Italian deli.  And the other two could be mostly prepped ahead of time, so there was very little last-minute cooking involved.

Salumi Platter: Grissini, Hot Sopressata, Aged Salami, Prosciutto, Oil-Cured Olives, Spicy Green Olives, Kalmatta Olives, Castelvetrano Olives

Next up was marinated mozzarella, another quick and easy starter:

Marinated Mozzarella
Makes 8 servings
1 8 oz container fresh mozzarella pearls (or cut larger pieces into bite sizes)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh herbs (I used parsley, basil, oregano, and chives....anything will work)
1 TB lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

1. Finely chop the herbs and combine with the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Drain the mozzarella and add to the herb mix. Toss to coat. You can make this up to 3 days ahead of time, store in the refrigerator. Serve at room temp.

And finally, the crostini:

Bleu Cheese Crostini with Thyme Roasted Grapes
Makes 8-12 servings

1 loaf French bread (I purchased mine)
1/4 cup olive oil
6 oz bleu cheese
4 oz cream cheese
1 TB olive oil
1 tsp white wine vinegar
~1 1/2 - 2lbs seedless red grapes
2 TB olive oil
1 large bunch thyme
1 TB honey

1. Preheat oven to 350. Discard ends of bread loaf and thinly slice on a slight diagonal. Brush each side lightly with olive oil and place in even layer on baking sheets. Bake until lightly golden, 10-15 minutes. These can be made up to 2 days ahead of time, store at room temp in an airtight container until ready to assemble.

2. Let bleu cheese and cream cheese come to room temperature. Combine cheese, 1 TB olive oil, and white wine vinegar in food processor. Process until smooth. Can be made up to 3 days ahead of time. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator until ready to assemble. (I used a ziploc bag and then just snipped a corner off to squeeze it out onto the toasts when I was assembling the crostini.)

3. Preheat oven to 400. Wash and pat grapes dry. Remove from stems and toss with 2 TB olive oil. Spread sprigs of thyme out over a large baking sheet. Spread grapes over thyme and drizzle with honey. Bake until grapes are just beginning to burst, about 10-15 minutes.

4. To assemble: bring cheese spread to room temp. While grapes are roasting, spread cheese mixture over prepared crostini. Remove grapes from oven and top each crostini with a few grapes. Serve at room temperature.