Canapés And The “One Bite Rule”

Just about everyone likes appetizers. Many of us prefer appetizers to the main course. Canapés are a great solution. Easy to make. Easy to serve. And most importantly, easy to eat. You have to love Canapés.

I have a “One Bite Rule” for eating while standing at a party. The rule is to stay away from anything that takes more than one bite to eat. The reason is simple, multiple bites of just about anything can get sloppy when trying eat, drink and converse while standing. The genesis of this rule dates back to a corporate cocktail party when I was thirty. A pesky BBQ chicken wing slipped out of my mouth and onto my tie. From that embarrassing moment on, I have lived by the one bite rule and still avoid chicken wings. Canapés are a simple solution to the “One Bite Rule”.”

If you can come up with a low carb solution for Canapés, you will have a winner. The problem with Canapés is that they are usually served on bread. I have tried serving them on cucumber and zucchini rounds with mixed results. Recently, I have worked on using Parmesan Crisps and low carb crackers. The parmesan crisps were a winner. Low carb crackers (based on almond flour) are pretty good. Combine with delicious toppings and you can’t go wrong.

We have been to a few weddings lately. The staple of every good wedding cocktail hour is an array of good Canapés. Those weddings inspired the following menu.

Flora Wedding Canapés

Canapés Menu

Parmesan Crisps

Low Carb Crackers

Shrimp Salad on Parmesan Crisp Rounds

Smoked Salmon Spread on Low Carb Crackers

Smoked Salmon with Wasabi Cream and Capers on Parmesan Crisp Squares

Seared Sea Scallop with Wasabi Cream and Dill on Parmesan Crisp Rounds

Seared Beef Fillet Mignon with Cucumber/Celery/Scallion Melange and Dill on Parmesan Crisp Rounds

Poached lobster with Wasabi Cream and Dill on Parmesan Crisp Rounds

Two versions of Parmesan Crisps (Rounds & Squares

Low Carb Crackers

We had a neighborhood supper club dinner party this week and a Canapés with a Spicy Shrimp Remoulade. The Canapés were a big hit. One of the reasons were the excellent texture of the pumpernickel round baked with a molasses butter. Not exactly low carb, but boy were they tasty. Once again, low carb is trendy, but sometimes the combination of carbs and fat can’t be beat.

Spicy Shrimp Remoulade Canapés

If you enjoyed this blog and similar other stories/supper club lessons follow me on Facebook and Twitter and subscribe to get future blogs at www.impromptufridaynights.com/blog and check out my book Impromptu Friday Nights a Guide to Supper Clubs. Published by Morgan James Publishing and available through most channels where books are sold.

Notes Can Be A Gift

Preparing for a dinner party can be stressful. You have developed your menu, planned all the detail, but you are afraid that in the heat of the final moments, you will forget something. Writing yourself some notes is a great way to minimize the stress and reduce the chances of something being left behind.

They say that apples don’t fall far from trees. My daughter Jenn has seen her father prepare for many a dinner party and place a few strategic notes around the kitchen. Lo and behold, she did the same thing when she was preparing her first Thanksgiving dinner for her new in-laws. They say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery, not only did Jenn replicate her father’s traditional Thanksgiving menu, she used his note trick to manage the stress. In hindsight I wonder if she followed the family tradition of forgetting the cranberry sauce?

Jenn’s Uncle John has been an important player in her life. He was her first babysitter in California. He served Jenn her first beer before she was a year old (pictured below). Most importantly, Uncle John schooled a young Jenn from Memphis on the ways of the big city when she first moved to New York. I’ll never forget Uncle John treating a twenty something Jenn to a makeover at Saks Fifth Avenue in the city and proudly announcing to the make-up artist and crowd of 10 tourists, that changing baby Jennifer’s poopy diaper was his first and last. You can’t buy memories like that one.

(Uncle John Nangle serving baby Jennifer her first beer. If we only knew…)

Jenn’s husband Ethan also had his Uncle John who was very important to Ethan and his brother Bret growing up in New York. Their Uncle John who taught them many things, left his rent controlled apartment to Bret when he retired several years back. Uncle John passed away recently and Bret wrote a touching tribute to his Uncle John:

When Uncle John retired and moved upstate, I lived in his apartment. And as much as I tried to make it mine, I never could; his presence there was too strong. Especially in his tiny kitchen, where, inside the cabinets, he’d taped valuable cooking lessons and recipes. I could never bring myself to take them down until I moved out. He was such a great cook, and I was too intimidated to ever try to make anything that he had. But there were about a half dozen warnings up in those cabinets never to use dish soap on the coffee filter, and I consider having lived that commandment my greatest personal tribute to him.

(A few of Uncle John Cahill’s kitchen notes)

Notes, and Uncle Johns have been a very important gifts. to both the Kenny and Begun Family.

You Are Stuck With Me

I have a list of people that I try to stay in touch with. If you are on that list, chances are you will be hearing from me, and, if you are really unlucky, you might have to put up with a culinary event like Stacy and Andrew Gordon did recently.

My daddy said to tell you that he beat you like a drum on your birthday. That message was delivered by a clever little 10-year-old with a twinkle in her eye. Even at 10 she was in on the fun. The sad truth is that her dad, Jerry MacDonald, did beat me like a drum pretty regularly on the golf course. That memory, and a history of fun evenings led to a culinary event at Stacy and Drew Gordon’s in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in Chicago.

Stacy and Jennifer at Age 10

The Kenny- MacDonald history is rooted in the friendship of Stacy and our daughter Jennifer. Both families moved to Memphis in 1990. We got to know each other through our daughters which has led to a lot of golf and even more fun evenings around the dinner table. The MacDonalds moved to Houston in 1996, but we have kept in touch because of those 2 little girls that are now great mothers and excellent candidates to be the next generation to enjoy supper clubs.

Susan and I were heading to Chicago for a wedding. Six years ago, we were in Chicago for a wedding and had a fun dinner with the newly married Andrew and Stacy at my chef friend Dean Zanella’s restaurant. Fast forward to today and we found a much different couple. Today they are the head of a growing family. Five-year-old Mack (named after my drum beating buddy) and three-year-old Brooke are the centers of their world. Knowing that dinner at a restaurant isn’t the same with the young family. I offered to host a culinary evening at their home. Poor Stacy was probably wasn’t too sure what she was getting her family in for.

We arrived at 2:30 in the afternoon with a parcel of goodies sourced from markets in one of the best culinary cities in the world. The afternoon was spent cooking in the kitchen with the whole crew. The highlight of the day for me was getting to interact with Mack and Brooke as they peeled garlic and tasted croutons, helping with the preparation.

Mack helping me cook

Stacy Gordon Dinner Menu (Click on highlighted item for recipe

Antipasti Platter
Kraft Mac N Cheese (for the kids)
Chopped Romaine Wedge Salad* With Mom Mom’s Vinaigrette
Grilled NY Strip With a Herb infused Compound Butter
Eataly Squash Ravioli With a Sage Brown Butter Sauce
Sorbet With Fresh Berries And Maple Syrup

Note: *Jennifer calls this the “Three Hour Salad”. She says that while it is one of her favorites, that I should try making it with 3 young kids hanging onto you. The preparation involves frying bacon, making croutons, slicing and dicing lettuce, olives, tomato, onion and making a homemade vinaigrette. What usually takes me 30 minutes, can take a busy mother of young children Three Hours. For the record it was Stacy’s favorite item on the menu. Prep time can be cut dramatically with store bought croutons and precooked bacon. The key ingredient and a must for flavor, is Mom-mom’s vinaigrette

The Crew At Dinner

Mack is very happy with his Mac N Cheese

Stacy and Andrew’s home is perfect for a supper club. I promised to host a celebrity chef supper club fund raiser for Stacy’s favorite charity. Sometimes being Stuck With Me can be an excuse for a fun evening. So let me know if you want me to host an Impromptu Friday Night.

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