Wedding Canapes

I helped with some canapes at my sister in laws wedding on the weekend. It was fun but not a habit forming experience. The process was pretty straight forward it just required some prep. Obviously I did this on a much larger scales than what I am adding here but these should be the approximate measurements of the things I made for home use. To add to that, I also made a large batch of Beetroot and Feta Dip but used cottage cheese instead of feta.

Pastrami Bites:

Toasted French stick slices

Sliced pastrami

Horseradish sour cream
Oven roasted capsicum in slices
Basil leaves

Its pretty much just that. Bread, pastrami, 1 tsp horseradish sour cream, slice roasted capsicum, 1 basil leaf. Repeat until you have enough for your needs.

Crab and Corn Bites:
1 container of Phillips Bay Crab Meat

125 gms ricotta

3 tbs sour cream

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 clove garlic minced

1 handful of basil leaves, shredded

Kernels from 1 cob barbecued corn

Salt and pepper

Grilled prosciutto crumbled

Thin slices of spring onion

Melba toasts

This is essentially the filling from my Crab, Blue Cheese and Ricotta Ravioli recipe but on toasts with some tasty garnishes. Easy though. Combine the crab, ricotta, sour cream, 1/2 of the lemon, garlic, basil, corn, some salt and pepper in a large bowl. Check for seasoning and add more of what you think it needs (eg lemon) if necessary. Spoon 1 tsp or so of crab mixture, top with some crumbled prosciutto and a slice of spring onion.

Artichoke Dip:

I saw Guy Grossi do something similar on Italian Food Safari as an entree and I thought it would be brilliant in dip form. The first time I made this I used fresh artichokes - I wouldn't bother again, they are so fibrous. Bottled artichoke gives the same result as far as flavour is concerned and requires heaps less bother. If you do plan on starting from scratch, bake for at least 2 hours as 45mins wasn't even close and I had to push the lot through a sieve.



 

1 bottle Always Fresh Marinated Artichoke Hearts

250 gms cottage cheese

125 gms sour cream

Few slices Parmesan cheese

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Some liquid from the artichoke jars

Salt and pepper

Blend the drained artichokes with the Parmesan. Combine the artichoke mix in a bowl with the cottage cheese, sour cream, salt and pepper and 1/2 of the lemon juice. Check for seasoning and add more as necessary (salt, pepper, Parmesan, lemon juice). If the mixture is too thick, thin out with some of the liquid from the artichoke jars. Serve with crusty toasted bread.