10 BEAUTIFUL OPENINGS TO AMUSE YOUR BOUCHE NOW.

For some people, dessert is the best part of a meal. But we tend to favor starters. We love amuse bouches. We love having our taste buds tickled with savories. We love the way umami treasures open us up with surprise and attention to the beauty of what lies in store for us in the dinner that comes next.

1. BAKED GOATS CHEESE CIGARS WITH HONEY & THYME

Baked Goats Cheese Cigars with Honey & Thyme, originally by Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook: Cosmopolitan Cook, and executed beautifully by Sam of Drizzle & Dip, are a great opener.

These slender cylinders make for an elegant bite. The tangy salty creaminess of the goat cheese, enhanced with lavender and thyme, all tightly wrapped in flaky filo layers, opens up your taste buds and readies them for whatever lies ahead.

They are served with a side salad of galia melon, radish, and cucumber, to further sharpen your senses.

2. MAAEMO AMUSE BOUCHE 8

Maaemo, a brilliant restaurant in Oslo, offers a repertoire of dishes that each look like artist compositions. They are created by chef Esben Holmboe Bang and his team. The amuse bouches are especially beautiful delights, as they open up what will prove to be an amazing meal.

The Nordic Nibbler shares a few fabulous openers with us.

Simply dubbed Amuse Bouche 8, this little jewel box is filled with prawns from Hvaler, served with tiny cucumber pearls, lobster mayonnaise, horseradish and smoked parsley sauce.

3. MAEMO AMUSE BOUCHE 1

Vivid orange rounds salty løyrom (Kalix bleak roe) are sandwiched between gorgeous “pucks” of frozen nýr (a fresh, acidic cream cheese) to open up your palate and your headspace to more magic to come at Maemo.

4.  MAEMO AMUSE BOUCHE 5

Perhaps the most pristine opener you can start with is a freshly opened sea urchin.

Titled Amuse Bouche 5, these purple spiny urchins are harvested by hand by a diver named Roddie Sloan off the coast of Nordskot in the Arctic Circle. A spoonful of this rich oceanic custard opens you up for a night full of sultry dreams.

5. PUMPKIN RUGELACH WITH SAGE & WALNUTS

Rugelach are rarely openers. This cookie typically ends a meal… or offers an interloper snack. But Arielle Clementine developed a savory version of this classic little pastry that will knock your socks off. She shared on Food52.

These rugelach have the same tender flaky cream cheese enriched pastry, but the surprise lies in the walnut, sage, and unsweetened pumpkin filling, sparked with flaked Aleppo pepper, and topped with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Divine!

6. SPICY KOREAN STYLE GOCHUJANG MEATBALLS

Spicy Korean-Style Gochujang Meatballs, by foxeslovelemons, as shared originally with Food52, are dark spicy nuggets that are perfect for opening up a Korean BBQ dinner, among others. Gochujang is a Korean chili paste, often used to perk up foods such as chicken wings. But here, in a genius recipe adapted from a recipe from Spoon Fork Bacon, it adds a spicy and smoky complexity to cocktail meatballs.

7. 10 MINUTE PARMESAN  & MUSTARD PINWHEELS

These are delightfully easy, rustically pretty, and totally delicious openers from Merrill Stubbs of Food52. Simply spread your favorite mustard on puff pastry strips, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, roll into pinwheels and bake until golden.

8. SALMON & LEMONY GREEK YOGURT SAUCE

This beautiful opener by Ali Rost, of Veggies by Candlelight, was adapted from a recipe by Sara Leah Chase, author of Cold-Weather Cooking. Salmon And Lemony Greek Yogurt Sauce, the most substantial opener featured here today is a great opening gambit if you are truly famished. It is so robust, it might make its way to your entrée plate.

Rost’s version of the crepes is gluten-free. And she presents thick slabs of peppered smoked salmon atop pillows of crepes and a cloud of sauce, rather than rolling traditional forms.

Salmon And Lemony Greek Yogurt Sauce

Ingredients:

Crepes

• 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, & squeezed in paper towels to remove excess moisture
• 3 large eggs (** or 2 large eggs & 2 egg whites)
• 1½ cups almond milk (** the original recipe calls for regular milk)
• ½ cup quinoa flour
• ½ cup brown rice flour
• 1 bunch scallions, trimmed and minced (** white parts only)
• ⅓ cup fresh dill, chopped (** use fresh here... it really does make a difference)
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• ½ cup water + more if needed for thinning the batter
• 1 to 2 Tbsp coconut oil

Filling

• 1 cup greek yogurt, plain
• 1 Tbsp grated lemon rind
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 shallots, finely minced
• 2 Tbsp capers, drained
• 2 tsp paprika
• 12 ounces peppered smoked salmon (** or smoked salmon sliced thin)

Instructions

To make the crepes

1. Prepare the spinach by de-frosting & squeezing in paper towels to remove all of the excess moisture. Set aside.

2. Blend the eggs and almond milk in a blender or food processor until well blended. Add the flours & blend until smooth.

3. Add the spinach, scallions, half the dill, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and blend again until very smooth.

4. Stir in the water and allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes.

5. Heat a seven- to eight-inch crepe pan over medium-high heat. Brush with coconut oil. Pour ⅓ cup of the batter into the pan... tilting it as you go... allowing the batter to evenly coat the bottom. Cook about two minutes, until lightly browned, turn the crepe over and cook about 30 seconds longer. Remove the crepe from the pan and repeat with the remaining batter, making 10 to 12 crepes.

To make the filling

1. Combine the greek yogurt, lemon peel, juice, shallots, remaining dill, capers and paprika. Spread each crepe with some of this mixture, then cover with a layer of smoked salmon.

 

9. CELERIAC & POTATO SOUP WITH MUSHROOM, WALNUT, & CELERY LEAF SALAD

Soup is a beautiful way to open a meal.

Celeriac and Potato Soup with Mushroom, Walnut, and Celery Leaf Salad, by Maja Lukic - Veggies & Gin, was inspired by a Deborah Madison recipe. But Lukic takes this velvety celeriac soup to a whole new level with her fresh, earthy petit salad topping. Via Food52.