Nowadays, such a format of festive treats as a buffet is becoming more and more popular. If the guests are young and want to dance, they are bored of sitting at the table. Then free the space of the apartment. A table with snacks stands against the wall so as not to disturb anyone. And in the middle we will arrange a dance floor. Chairs if necessary, then in a minimal amount. The buffet reception requires special table setting. Since the guests do not sit, but eat while standing, they do without appliances. Consequently, the dishes at the buffet should be such that it was convenient to pick them up in your hand and, without staining your fingers, send them to your mouth. The best treats in this format for guests are skewers. Recipes and ideas for various dishes will be presented in this article. Let's start, as at the banquet, with cold appetizers. But the salads in the buffet version, we put not in a common dish, but in portioned baskets of puff or shortcrust pastry. What else is served on the first meal? We look further.
Sandwiches
What is the secret of the buffet? Dishes on it can be prepared from inexpensive products. But they look very elegant and elegant. The main focus of this feast format is on aesthetic design. Therefore, we serve not simple sandwiches, but elegant little canapes on skewers. Recipes and their options are very numerous. All products that you were ready to put on a regular sandwich can also be placed on the canapes. But such an appetizer should be built, so to speak, vertically. That is, slices of bread should be small, neatly and evenly cut. In addition to a baguette, croutons, matzo, crackers, croutons can be used as the bottom layer of such canapes. Whole grain bread rolls are also suitable. Often these products are used for canapes: hard cheese, feta cheese, feta; slices of ham and sausage; black and red caviar; olives and olives; quail eggs; grapes; salmon fish; shrimp and seafood. You can grease canapes with butter. But with the same success, various creams are suitable, for which it is worth using mustard, mayonnaise, soft cheeses, etc.
Canapé Ideas
So, having some of these products, it is quite possible to cook simple snacks on skewers. Recipes do not require any cookery skill from you, rather, the inspiration of the artist. However, one must also have taste. After all, not all products are combined with each other. Here are the simplest and cheapest canapé recipes. Peel the fresh cucumber and cut into small round slices. Grind rye bread in the same way. We do our best to make its slices similar in diameter to slices of cucumber. A small amount of soft cream cheese (Philadelphia is best) is mixed with finely chopped dill. We spread bread with this mass. Cut red fish into slices, and then into slices. We put one on a greased bread. Place a slice of cucumber on top. Then another piece of fish. And the next slice of cucumber. At the very top should be an olive (preferably black). To fix it, we pierce the entire culinary structure with a skewer.
Canapes with avocado and smoked salmon
This is another idea of a skewer snack on a festive table. Recipes here are of very little importance. You are free to replace one product with another. For example, instead of salmon, use another fish - smoked mackerel, trout or salted salmon. The main thing is that they can be cut into thin slices. Cut white bread (crumb without crust) into cubes with a facet of 3 centimeters. Fry it in butter until golden brown. We take out the flesh from one avocado and knead it with a fork. Add a spoon or two of sour cream, three zest, mix finely chopped chives. Season with black pepper. When the croutons are completely cooled, put on each coffee spoon a mixture of avocado. Slice the fish, unfolding in a spiral, prick on a skewer.
Meat canapes
Usually such sandwiches are made in the form of small boats, where a thin slice of fish or ham / sausage serves as a “sail”. You can make bacon snacks in exactly the same way . Recipes on skewers recommend frying it until transparent and throw it on napkins to remove excess fat. But if the ham remains soft, it can be rolled up and stabbed with a skewer. Sour green olives and garlic are organically combined with this ingredient. How to cram the last component in holiday canapes? There are two ways. The first is to fry croutons in garlic oil or grate fresh bread with a clove. The second way is this. Finely chop the garlic and mix it in mayonnaise, which decorate the appetizer. Here's an example of a recipe for canapes with bacon. For this appetizer you will need baked puffs, which we cut into identical squares. String the olive on a skewer, then pierce the slice of bacon and at the end we pierce the point with the dough.
Unexpected form of familiar dishes
Some salads can be served not only in portioned baskets, but also as a snack on skewers. The recipes for such dishes are simple. Nowadays, few festive tables do without a “Greek” salad. Its feature is that all the ingredients are cut large. Great for skewers. String a piece of oregano, black olive, cherry tomato and a ball of mozzarella on a skewer. If we use feta, as required by the classic Greek salad recipe, then place the cheese between the olive and the tomato. Here is another idea for a similar snack. Many people like spring salad of fresh cucumber, radish and cottage cheese. Replace the last ingredient with a mozzarella ball. We pierce the three main components of the salad with a skewer. You can supplement this set with a leaf of greenery.
Sophistication itself
So imperceptibly from canapes and salads we switched to cold appetizers on skewers. The recipes of such dishes are so numerous that we can easily choose the right one. If you want to impress your guests with festive and delicious snacks, prepare such a canapé without bread. The set of products here is: fresh cucumber, quail eggs, creamy soft cheese and red caviar. But to make the appetizer look really elegant, we need a curly knife and a pastry syringe. First, boil hard-boiled several quail eggs. We clean them and cut them into halves. My cucumber. Uncleaned, cut it with a curly knife into semicircles thick enough to put them with an edge. With the tip of the skewer we pierce the half of the egg from the side of the yolk. Then we thrust a cucumber into a semicircle - where there is a peel. We collect cream cheese in a pastry bag with a nozzle "rose". Squeeze the bud into half the eggs. Decorate with red eggs on top.
Original cheese plate
Brie, Camembert, mozzarella, feta, feta cheese ... Everything you want to amaze your guests, you can serve on skewers. Dessert cheeses in France are often served with fruits, most often with grapes. This berry looks beautiful, easily pierced, does not let juice. Exactly what is needed, and therefore grapes are often used in recipes for appetizers for buffet receptions on skewers. For the cheese plate, we select two large clusters of blue and green. It will be better if the grapes are with little seeds or without them at all. We cut various delicious cheeses into cubes. The grape berry should be on top of such a canapé. Some varieties of cheese (blue and green with mold, feta cheese) are quite fragile. So that the canapes do not fall apart under the pressure of the skewer, its base should be some kind of solid ingredient - cracker, puff, cracker.
Ideas of light vegetable "kebabs"
If the format of the reception is a cocktail party, where the main dish is drinks, prepare skewers appetizers quickly and inexpensively. Recipes give some advice on what such canapes should be made of. Vegetables and cheeses, gourmet seafood - such snacks will be appropriate for alcoholic cocktails. The simplest recipe includes three ingredients. This is hard cheese, canned pineapple and pitted black olives. The first two ingredients need to be cut into cubes. Alternately string on the tip of pineapple, olive and cheese. Skewers with feta, slices of cucumber, tomato, bell pepper look beautiful and festive. They are crowned with green olives.
Hot appetizers on skewers: recipes
You can also grill vegetables and serve as the main course. Stuffed holiday food recipes often use stuffed foods. For example, fry champignon caps, fill them like baskets with a quail egg and bacon. Do you like eggplant "Mother-in-law's tongue"? Then in a blue slice we wrap the curd mass with garlic, fix the roll with a skewer so that it does not turn around. Here is another hot snack idea. We steam the prunes. Carefully cut one side of the berry to remove the stone. Walnuts (100 grams of nucleoli) are calcined in a dry pan, chopped with a rolling pin. Hard cheese (150 g) rub with small chips. Mix it with nuts, two tablespoons of sweet wine and 1 tbsp. l sour cream. We put this mass in the refrigerator for an hour, or even more. Stuff the prunes with cheese filling, fasten the edges with a skewer.
Main course
The buffet format is not always limited to snacks. But how to serve the main course so that guests can take it with their hands and not get dirty? Of course, like a little kebab! Recipes of appetizers on skewers suggest taking some satiating ingredients. It can be chicken breast, champignons, ham, sausages and even cutlets. Such a saturating component must be supplemented with a refreshing ingredient. For example, a slice of fresh or pickled cucumber, cherry tomato, half a radish, and if the fish appetizer, then a slice of lemon. Here is an idea for a hot meal. Young zucchini cut into thin and long strips, salt on both sides. We spread on a greased baking sheet, bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about seven minutes. Chicken fillet cut into thin strips. Squeeze a clove of garlic on it through a press, sprinkle with spices. While the meat is marinated in this way, three 50 grams of hard cheese. Grind fresh greens of dill and parsley. Pieces of chicken are laid on strips of baked zucchini. Sprinkle with cheese and herbs on top. You can add a little mayonnaise. We turn a slice of zucchini roll. Fasten with a skewer. Sent to the oven for another half hour.
Snacks on skewers for children: recipes
We have already mentioned that the aesthetic design of dishes is of great importance for the buffet table. And for the children's table, the culinary specialist must show the real skill of the sculptor. When the little hero of the occasion invites friends, they all plan: 1) to play and 2) to feast on the cake. But there is no way to eat mashed potatoes, soup or something like that, which, according to the children, is boring. Let's surprise them with unusual snacks on skewers. Recipes suggest making them in the form of:
- Fungi (on a leg of a quail egg we plant a half of cherry tomato, we adorn the amanita with dots of mayonnaise).
- Ships (boat of bread, liver paste, sails from slices of cheese fluttering on a skewer mast).
- Penguins (quail egg framed by black olives and boiled carrots).
Dessert
At the end of the meal, you can also serve snacks on skewers. Sweet profiteroles will be an excellent base for such canapes. And on top of the kebabs you can put a variety of fruits. To do this, such gifts of gardens and forests that do not let juice. Alternate sweet and sour fruits for balance. For example, cocktail cherries, a kiwi cube, a slice of mandarin, grapes can be strung on one skewer. In such fruit kebabs, other products are also used. For example, puff jelly, marmalade. You can make a snack based on the Oreo principle. Brown (soft) biscuits alternate with squares of vanilla marshmallow.