Moroccan Beef Hors d’Oeuvres

This lovely little nibble is always a big hit at parties. It adds a hearty touch to round out a menu of veggies, dip and canapes. The spices and salt break down the meat as it marinates overnight, resulting in tender, delicious morsels.

If you have a chaffing dish, or even a fondue pot, you may want to use it to serve the Moroccan Beef Hors d’Oeuvres to keep them from getting cold. If you have any left over, count yourself lucky because these are totally snackable.

The key here is to use dry heat, like that of a flat griddle rather than a frying pan, which will hold the moisture and stew the meat.

Moroccan Beef Hors d’Oeuvre – makes 4-6 party nibble servings, 2-4 dinner servings

1 lb sirloin tip, cut into 1 inch cubes.
2 T + 1 T olive oil
1 clove garlic, pressed, or crushed and minced
1 1/2 t paprika
1 1/2 t cumin
1 t ginger
1 t turmeric
1 1/2 t paprika
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t sea salt
1/2t freshly ground black pepper

Combine 2 tablespoons of olive oil with garlic in a large bowl. Combine salt and spices in a small separate bowl.

Pat the meat dry and toss with the olive oil mixture. Using your hands, rub the dry spice mixture into the meat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or up to over night.

Spread a griddle with the last tablespoon of olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. Add the meat and sear all sides. Cook to desired doneness.

Serve with miniature appetizer forks or picks. Also great served over couscous.

Mushroom Canapés

These are great little party nibbles and they’re really easy to make too, which is good because they tend to go fast. The shiitake mushrooms bring a good bit of mushroom flavor and the white mushrooms carry the rest – very civilized of them. As they bake, the pastry rises around the mushrooms, forming a shallow cup. The mascarpone acts as an adhesive as it melts, leaving behind the rich flavor of cream.

I normally like to make things from scratch, but puff pastry is the one exception. My only rule is to use puff pastry made from real butter, rather than hydrogenated soybean oil because you can really taste the difference. Puff pastry made with hydrogenated soybean oil has a waxy mouthfeel as opposed to butter based pastry which does not. Dufour is a good one, but I’m sure there are others around.

Mushroom Canapés- yields 32 canapes

14 oz. natural butter-based puff pastry
2 T butter
1/2 lb white mushrooms, diced
1/4 lb shiitake mushrooms, diced
1/4 C sherry
4 ounces mascarpone cheese

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms. Sauté 10 – 15 minutes until mushrooms have softened, juices have been extracted and then evaporated off. Add sherry, reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered until the mushrooms turn a deep brown and most of the liquid is gone. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl and refrigerate to cool.

Lay thawed puff pastry on a cutting board and roll out to about 8 x 16 inches. Using a pizza wheel, cut the pastry dough into two 8 inch squares and then into eight right triangles (see picture). Cut those triangles in half again, so that each piece is 4 inches on the longest side on the longest side.

Take mushrooms from the refrigerator, add mascarpone and mix to combine. Salt to taste.

Working on a baking sheet, scoop one heaping teaspoon of the mushroom mixture onto the center of each triangle.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes until puffed and lightly browned. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Ingredient origins: Pastry – New York, Mushrooms – Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, Butter – Maine, Mascarpone – Wisconsin, Sherry – California