Hors-d'œuvre & Canapés

Salut! Yesterday was an incredibly delicious class. We were making some Hors-d'œuvre in my cooking class and I found it very useful. You see, as I'm still planning my future as a little child does when the teacher asks: "What do you want to do when you grow up?" Well, one of my possible answers is: Being the owner of a Catering Service!

I finally found something that I might be slightly more than good at in the aspect of cooking. "Hors-d'œuvre" is a french expression meaning "Out of the work (Opus)" and it refers to the first course of a meal. They could be Bruschettas, Canapés, Dumplings, Cold cuts, Mini-skewers and other appetizers too. [Watch the images for reference].

  

The amount of Hors d'œuvre that you can make is as vast as your imagination. You can make them from practically anything that you fancy with the sole condition of keeping them bite size appetizers. Their main purpose is to entertain the guests while the main meal arrives. There are also these things called "Amuse-guele" or "Amuse-bouche" [meaning Mouth amuser in French] that are bite-sized appetizers which differ from the Hors d'œuvre in the fact that these were chosen and made by the chef so the customer have a glimpse of the meal to come. 

And speaking of other appetizers, Tapas are very well known for being these Spanish snacks perfect for guest who are not that interested in eating a full course meal. 

I'm gonna leave you a simple recipe (One that I made yesterday) so that you can include it in your "Recipiary". 

Cherry tomatoes filled with smoked salmon

Ingredients
Cherry Tomatoes 
Cream Cheese
Mayonnaise
Smoked Salmon
Salt
Green Pepper 
Lemon


Steps
1. Wash and hollow the cherry tomatoes and put them upside down in a towel paper so they can eliminate the excess of liquid they have. If you want to make them stand, cut the base of the tomato. You may also want to keep the tomatoes' caps to use them as decoration afterwards.
2. Chop the Salmon in tiny bits and make a Dip with the Cream cheese, the Mayonnaise and the Salmon.
3. Mix the Dip according to your preference and add salt and pepper to your taste. 
4. Add some lemon drops as it enhances the flavor of your Dip (and correct the amount of salt added in case you put too much in).
5. Proceed to fill the tomatoes with the Dip and decorate them as you please. 

Decoration
As you can see in the picture above, I used leek, chopped parsley, caviar, capers and the rest of the Salmon that I didn't use. 

Enjoy your tomatoes!