Way back when, in the later stages of my chef’s apprenticeship, the executive chef of the hotel I worked at had faith in my culinary creativity. Proof of that came when someone ordered two-dozen assorted canapés from the room-service menu and he would bellow, “Eric, get on that!”
Assorted meant 24 canapés of at least four types, all made with fine ingredients, but those ingredients were determined by the person making the canapés. Luckily, being in a hotel kitchen filled with food, there were lots of things to work with.
There was a catch, though — those canapés had to be whipped up in 30 minutes or less.
Before I tell you how I accomplished that, let me tell you how these tasty treats were named.
In my book Everyone Can Cook Everything, I note that canapé was originally the French word for “couch.” Its meaning broadened in France in the late 18th century when a chef thought the bite-size pieces of bread that served as the base for appetizers were like couches, but instead of supporting people, they supported savoury toppings.
These days, canapés are also made with other bases, such as crackers and crisp rounds of vegetables, such as cucumbers.
When working in the hotel and deciding what assorted canapés to make, I always kept in mind that canapés are meant to be bite-size and easy to eat, not chunky pieces of bread with equally chunky food on top.
They’re also meant to be elegant, so a piece of marble cheese and slice of kolbasa on a yellow-mustard-smeared soda cracker was not an option.
Lastly, because I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare those canapés, I also remembered that just a few fine ingredients tastily combined was often all that was needed to create a divine canapé.
All these years later, I still use the same approach when making canapés, and that fact is highlighted in today’s recipes. All five combine just a handful of easy-to-find ingredients that are easily prepared into one tasty, attractive-looking bite.
The only difference was that I made them at home, not in a professional kitchen. Without a hotel kitchen fridge full of food, I did have to run out and buy ingredients.
And to speed the process, I included ready-to-eat items such as olive-rich tapenade, silky smoked salmon, creamy Camembert and fine paté.
All of today’s recipes could be made an hour or two before serving. Keep refrigerated until needed.
Two of the recipes use a piping bag fitted with a star tip to swirl on an ingredient. If you don’t have one, you could purchase one at stores that sell a good selection of kitchenware. You could simply spread the cheese or paté on the cracker, but it wouldn’t look nearly as attractive.
Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Canapés
These breadless canapés, with creamy cheese and silky salmon, use crisp cucumber rounds as the base.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: None
Makes: 16 canapés
16 (1/2-inch thick) slices English cucumber
1/3 cup spreadable herb- and garlic-flavoured cream cheese
8 thin slices cold smoked salmon (lox), each cut in half
16 to 32 thin twirls of lemon zest
Use a small spoon or melon-baller to scoop out some of the centre portion of each cucumber slice. Set cucumber slices on a serving platter.
Place the cream cheese in a small piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe about a teaspoon or so of the cream cheese into the centre of each cucumber slice.
Now artfully twist and set a half smoked salmon slice on top of the cream cheese. Garnish each canapé with twirl of lemon zest or two and serve.
Note: Spreadable herb- and garlic-flavoured cream cheese is sold in 250-gram tubs at most supermarkets.
Goat Cheese, Tapenade and Asparagus Canapés
These Southern French-style canapés combine crisp bread, tangy cheese, bright green asparagus and tapenade.
Tapenade is an olive-based relish sold in the deli section of many supermarkets and fine food stores.
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: a few minutes
Makes: 16 canapés
16 thin slices of baguette (see Note 1)
• extra virgin olive oil, for brushing
200 grams soft goat cheese, at room temperature for easier spreading
1/3 cup tapenade
8 (2-inch long) fresh asparagus tips, each halved lengthwise and blanched (see Note 2)
Set an oven rack six inches below your oven’s broiler. Preheat the broiler to high. Set the baguette slices on a baking sheet. Lightly brush them with olive oil. Broil the bread until lightly toasted. Cool toasted bread to room temperature.
Divide and spread each piece of bread with goat cheese. Divide and top the cheese with a teaspoon or so of the tapenade. Set a half piece of asparagus on each canapé and they are ready.
Note 1: The baguette I used was fairly narrow, about 2 1/2-inches in diameter. Don’t use a wide baguette or your canapés won’t be bite-size.
Note 2: To blanch asparagus tips, bring a small pot of water to a boil. Add the asparagus, cook 1 minute, and then drain. Cool asparagus in cold water, drain again, pat dry and it’s ready to use.
After trimming the tips off the asparagus spears to get the amount you need for this recipe, save the rest of the spear to slice, stir-fry and serve as a side dish for a meal the next day.
Paté Canapés with Chutney and Pistachios
Paté-topped melba toast accented with sweet chutney and rich pistachios. The recipe calls for a smooth-style of paté, such as those made with chicken, duck or goose liver, or mix of livers.
You can actually buy any type of paté you like for this, as long as it can be piped or spread onto the melba toast.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: None
Makes: 16 canapés
16 round melba toast (see Note 1)
250 grams smooth paté
8 tsp mango chutney
2 Tbsp shelled, unsalted pistachios (see Note 3)
Arrange melba toast on a serving platter. Place the paté into a piping bag fitted with a star tip. Pipe paté onto each piece of melba toast. (If you don’t have a piping bag, you could also simply spread the paté on the melba toast.)
Place 1/2 tsp of the chutney in the centre of each canapé. Set some chopped pistachios on each canapé and they are ready.
Note 1: Round melba toast is sold in boxes in the cracker aisle of most supermarkets.
Note 2: Mango chutney is available in the Asian foods aisle of most supermarkets.
Note 3: Shelled, unsalted pistachios are available at bulk-food stores and in the bulk-foods section of some supermarkets.
Camembert Canapés with Mandarin and Cranberry
In these cracker-based canapés, fine cheese is accented, seasonally, with mandarin orange and cranberry sauce.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: None
Makes: 16 canapés
16 water crackers (see Note)
8 tsp mayonnaise
200 gram round Camembert cheese, cut into 20 small wedges
16 small mandarin orange segments
8 tsp whole berry cranberry sauce
16 tiny parsley sprigs
Arrange crackers on a serving platter. Set 1/2 tsp of mayonnaise in the centre of each cracker. (The mayonnaise will help hold the cheese and orange in place once on the cracker.)
Set a wedge of cheese and segment of orange on each cracker. Place a small spoonful of the cranberry sauce in a place somewhere between the cheese and orange. Garnish each canapé with tiny parsley sprig and serve.
Note: Crisp and light water crackers are sold in the cracker aisle of most supermarkets. I used Carr’s brand.
Stilton, Pear and Walnut Canapés
Rich blue cheese set on seed-rich Raincoast Crisps, a popular “gourmet” cracker sold at most supermarkets. These easy-to-make bites are then divinely accented with walnut, pear and a touch of honey.
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: None
Makes: 16 canapés
16 Raincoast Crisps or similar type of seed-rich cracker
200 grams Stilton or other good-quality blue cheese
16 thin, small pear slices (see Note)
16 walnut halves
• liquid honey, to taste
Divide and carefully spread cheese on each cracker and then set on a serving platter. Top the cheese on each cracker with a walnut half and slice of pear. Just before serving, lightly drizzle each canapé with a touch of honey and serve.
Note: If making these canapés an hour or so in advance of serving, coat the slices of pear lightly with lemon juice before using. This will prevent them from oxidizing and browning while the canapés are sitting, waiting to be enjoyed.
Eric Akis is the author of the hardcover book Everyone Can Cook Everything. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.