When entertaining friends, picking a theme for a party is sometimes the most difficult choice. Do you go for innovative, fun party food or Martha Stewart style sophisticated canapés?
During the summer, laying out a spread for family and friends tends to lean towards the laidback and effortless. No one wants to slave over a hot stove more than necessary. Even for the cook, it’s time to kick back and enjoy good food, wine and music.
Red Seal chef Gail Hall likes to satisfy hungry guests with easy and delicious summer finger foods. The St. Albert Gazette caught up with Hall, a dynamo on the Edmonton food scene for the past 31 years, while she taught a “mini foods for summer entertaining” class for Metro Continuing Education.
In a three-hour demonstration class, she blitzed through five make-ahead summer poppers.
Do you need a perfect sipper with a twist? Start with Mango Gin Soup served in a shot glass.
Bring attention to your cooking skills and listen to guests rave about your Mini Chicken Sliders with Lemon and Cumin served on fresh, out-of-the-oven Bannock Buns.
A sure-fire crowd pleaser, especially on sports nights, is Mini Panini with Italian Meats and Cheeses. And the most important part of the meal is the sinfully delicious Mini Gingersnap Ice Cream Sandwiches.
Hall made her mark as owner-operator of Gourmet Goodies, a catering company that at its peak employed 65 full-time employees and 35 part-timers.
But after 18 years serving tens of thousands of local foodies and celebrities such as David Copperfield, Tony Bennett and Meatloaf, Hall wound up the business.
“I got to the point I didn’t want to make 500 sandwiches at lunch,” said the forthright Hall.
But she didn’t quit. She simply switched gears and opened Seasoned Solutions, a loft cooking school that regularly hosts hands-on classes with a regional focus. Twice a year she arranges global culinary tours.
An enlightened epicurean, food activist and food writer Hall simply loves to impart her encyclopedic knowledge and passion for cooking with others.
While Hall quickly whipped up various dishes at Metro’s mini food class, she delivered a steady stream of information often laced with wry humour.
We quickly learn she prefers visiting markets and specialty shops for quality, variety and well-informed staff. Food is fresher, more flavourful and offers alternatives to big box stores more generic offerings – a key factor in planning memorable nibblers.
The Italian Centre Shop is on her list for cold meats, mayonnaise and Pinocchio ice cream while Evooluton is highly recommended for pure, untainted olive oils and balsamic vinegar.
She recommends shopping at Earth’s General Store for flour, at Planet Organic for cheeses and trying Vital Green Farms certified organic whipping cream.
“It’s 54 per cent butterfat. You literally have to look at it for 10 seconds and it will turn it into whipped cream.”
And she cautions about labels that sometimes imply a product is high quality.
“There are three levels. Certified organic is what you want to hear. That means that vendors follow organic guidelines and pay to be licensed as certified organic. Organic means that producers follow the guidelines but don’t pay the heavy fees to be considered ‘certified.’ And ‘natural’ can mean anything. All food is natural.”
And Hall encourages foodies to read labels closely. One example is ice cream. Many enjoy the summer refresher, yet few are aware that the food industry uses carrageenan (edible seaweeds) and cellulose (powdered wood fibre) as fillers.
“The butterfat is removed. Cellulose is bleached and powderized and it becomes an agent added to dairy to give it a full mouth feel.”
Throughout all the nuggets of advice, a meal magically comes together and is set up buffet style for students to savour and enjoy.
At one point she asks how the food tastes.
“There’s no noise. That’s a good sign.”
Homemade finger foods are always a crowd pleaser. Red Seal chef Gail Hall shares a few of her recipes.
Mango Gin Soup
2 mangoes, peeled and pitted
2 oranges peeled and pitted
2 cups orange juice
2 tbsp. lime juice
3 oz. gin
Fresh mint leaves as garnish
Purée mangoes and oranges in a food processor until smooth. Add juice and gin. Mix for 10 more seconds. Chill and serve in shot glasses. Garnish with mint leaves.
Mini Chicken Sliders with Lemon and Cumin
1 cup fresh white bread crumbs
1 lemon juice and zest
1 lb. coarse ground chicken breast, boneless, skinless
tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
tsp. chili flakes
1 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
2 tbsp. red bell pepper, finely diced
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
20 small buns (2 inches in diameter)
cup mayonnaise
cup mango chutney
1 cup shredded head lettuce
In a large bowl, soak bread crumbs in lemon juice until liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Add ground chicken, spices and red bell pepper. Mix gently and thoroughly. Shape into one and one-half inch meatballs. Will yield 20.
In a large sauté pan, heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Add meatballs and cook, turning gently until browned on all sides. Transfer to a baking dish (or barbecue) and bake at 350-degrees F for 10 minutes.
While burgers are in the oven, prepare buns. Split in half horizontally. Add a tsp. of mayonnaise on top and a tsp. of chutney on bottom. Place cooked burger on bottom. Top with shredded lettuce.
Cover with top of bun and skewer with toothpick.
Bannock Buns for Mini Sliders
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tbsp. baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup water or milk
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 400 degree F. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Cut in butter finely until it resembles coarse oatmeal. Gradually add enough liquid to make soft dough.
Knead several times until a ball forms. Flatten or roll in a circle about one inch thick. For regular sized biscuits cut three or four inch circles. For mini biscuits, cut into one and a half to two inch circles.
Place on a prepared baking tray (covered with parchment or lightly greased) and bake for 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned. Cool and slice in half width wise.
Mini Panini with Italian Meats and Cheese
1 French baguette, inch slices on diagonal
cup mayonnaise
4 oz. thinly sliced Genoa salami cut to fit on the baguette
4 oz. thinly sliced capicolli cut to fit on baguette
4 oz. thinly sliced mozzarella
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
cup pimiento peppers, sliced into thin strips
cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Arugula leaves washed and chopped
Spread mayonnaise on both sides of baguette. Place Genoa salami on baguette in a thin layer followed by capicolli, mozzarella, red onion and pimentos. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper and cover with arugula. Place baguette slice on top.
Serve cold or place paninis on a plate or heat up on grill pan and grill for several minutes until bread is toasted and cheese is melted.
Mini Gingersnap Ice Cream Sandwiches
cup unsalted, softened butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. cinnamon
cup molasses
tsp. ground cloves
tsp. ground ginger
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
tsp. salt
3 to 4 cups vanilla ice cream
2 cups melted dark chocolate optional
In mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light. Add egg, cinnamon, molasses, cloves and ginger. Mix well. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt and add to creamed mixture. Mix well and roll into small round balls and then roll in sugar. Flatten into two-inch rounds on cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F. for eight minutes.
When cookies are cool, place one and one-half tbsp. ice cream on a cookie and flatten to the edges. Top with a cookie and freeze until firm. Dip half the cookies in melted chocolate and freeze until cookie is set.
Store in a covered container for up to two months.
