Wild coctail snacks from days gone by, (Recipe Thread)

[old Grump]

Post them if you have any old favorites, cocktail snacks, fondue recipes, any hors d'oeuvres meant to be eaten by hand from the 60's 70's, and just for you youngsters I guess we can include the 80's.

Here is one from the 70's I picked off another forum that I dearly want to try.

Devils on Horseback
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Stuff a whole fresh date with a chocolate covered almond.
Wrap it with a small piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick.
Dip it in soy sauce, roll it in brown sugar.
Place them on a buttered cookie sheet 1" apart.
Bake 15-20 minutes until bacon is crisp.
Allow to cool 15 minutes before serving.

[coppertales]

but take whole water chestnuts, wrap in bacon and marinate an hour in soy sauce, then bake until the bacon is cooked.

Take some Velveeta cheese, add a can of Rotel tomatos and peppers, heat until hot. Dip in with Freto scoops.

Take some oysters, pop open the shell and dress with your favorite condement and slurp down.

Take Triscuts, put on a slide of cheese to cover cracker, add a slice of bacon and a slice of jalipeno, then broil until done. Partially pre cook the bacon first.....chris3

[Mark Ducati]

One of my faves as a kid was also very easy....

Mom used to take that Rye or Pumpernickle cocktail bread (its a loaf, presliced, squares about 2.5" x 2.5")... she'd lather them up with garlic butter, toss on some sliced green onions, then top with shredded swiss cheeze and broil until the cheese bubbles and gets a hint of brown on it.

[O.S.O.K.]

Rumaki:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups teriyaki sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
• 12 ounces fresh chicken livers, halved
• 1 (4 ounce) can water chestnuts, drained and sliced
• 12 slices bacon, cut in half
• 1 quart oil for frying

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together teriyaki sauce, garlic and ginger root. Place chicken livers and water chestnuts in the mixture. Marinate in the refrigerator at least 2 hours.
2. Heat oil in a large, heavy saucepan to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. Wrap each half slice of bacon around one chicken liver half and a slice of water chestnut. Secure by skewering with small skewers or toothpicks.
4. Carefully lower skewered wraps into the hot oil in small batches. Deep fry 3 to 4 minutes, or until bacon is evenly brown and of desired crispness. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.

----------------------------

Another varient of this is just the water chestnuts wrapped in bacon with toothpick through, like Coppertails sez - dip in soy but then mix 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 catsup and dip them in that - pop in to the oven until the bacon is done and the bbq sauce carmelizes - very good.

[mriddick]

Honey... Honey on a biscuit, honey on toast, on about anything... I don't think there's a better or healthier sweet snack going.

[Sergis Bauer]

Post them if you have any old favorites, cocktail snacks, fondue recipes, any hors d'oeuvres meant to be eaten by hand from the 60's 70's, and just for you youngsters I guess we can include the 80's.

Here is one from the 70's I picked off another forum that I dearly want to try.

Devils on Horseback
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Stuff a whole fresh date with a chocolate covered almond.
Wrap it with a small piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick.
Dip it in soy sauce, roll it in brown sugar.
Place them on a buttered cookie sheet 1" apart.
Bake 15-20 minutes until bacon is crisp.
Allow to cool 15 minutes before serving.

This is a variation on a Spanish classic I've seen now and then at Tapas bars, and made myself. The "base version" is just dates stuffed with chopped almonds and wrapped in bacon. The combo of textures/tastes is awesome. Your version may be moreso.

[Dr. Gonzo GED]

Basic "Crustitni":

Sliced Baguette (as manny little round slices as you want, @ 1/4 - 1/2 inch thick works well)
Tomato paste (or tomato sauce if you don't have paste)
Fresh minced or crushed garlic
Fresh sliced tomato
olive oil (extra virgin is good but not necesary)
Basil or itallian seasoning. (fresh chopped basil yeilds the best flavor, but is by no means necesary. Dried spices still tase awesome for this!)
Parmesan or Asiago cheese. Any of those dry cheeses that go good on pasta will work.

Lay out your bread slices on a baking sheet.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Scrape some tomato paste across them. Just a light coating, it's pretty strong stuff.
Add the tomato slice.
Sprinkle a little of the garlic on it.
Sprinkle a little cheese on it.
Drizzle with olive oil again.

Place sheet under broiler until cheese is bubly brown and the edges of the crustini bread are browned.
WARNING, This takes as little as 30 seconds sometimes! Stay by your crustini. The difference between perfect and burned is about 15 seconds!

When they come out, sprinkle with fresh basil. Serve and enjoy!

Top Secret Meatballs:

1lbs lean ground beef
1lbs Italian sausage, (or other pork sausage)
@ two handfuls of bread crumbs. (Crushed crackers work well too. My lady swears by saltines.)
2 eggs
@ 2 table spoons of Garam Masala (Thats the secret! )

Mix all the ingredients well in a big bowl. Form into meatballs of your desired size.

In a skillet on high heat, brown the meatballs in hot oil. Just a quick sear to seal up the outside.

Place browned meatballs evenly spaced apart on a baking sheet. Bake on center rack of oven at @ 350 untill they are cooked all the way through.

Rest and serve!

The secret "garam masala" adds a fantastic mystery flavor to meatballs, meatloaf, or even burger patties. Slightly sweet, very savory, it doesn't take much. You can adjust the portion to your personal taste. I've found it works well in small doses. Just a little kick of flavor and your meat will taste delicious in a way that's hard to place. Too much and it will taste like indian food. Not bad, but it ruins the secret. (and overpowers the meat) But once you get that ratio dialed in the way you like it, watch out!

This Masala secret was given to me by a horrible ex-girfriend. For all of her shortcommings and evil personality flaws, she did make the best darn meatloaf on the planet. A tall claim, but I swear it's so.

[O.S.O.K.]

My company sells a New Orleans BBQ Shrimp spice pack that is awsome.

You just add the spices to melted butter and some water - makes a sauce that you then broil head-on shrimp in. You serve the shrimp in a bowl with the sauce with some fresh lemon slices - on a big platter of cut french bread or pistolettes.

Hard to describe how good it is - a New Orleans standard that was invented at Pasqual Menali's -

Anyhoo - here's our web site if anyone wants to order it: http://www.louisianafishfry.com

It's under "enree mixes"

[El Laton Caliente]

Two of Mom's favorites... (RIP)

Sausage Balls I'm guessing here, Mom & I do it by hand fulls & pinches)

Two Cups Bisquick
One Egg
Milk until thick dough
One Jimmy Dean Roll Sausage (Reg if for Women & Children, Hot for us Guys!)
One Cup Grated Cheddar of Monterey Jack Cheese (Pepper Jack for the Man's Man)

Brown & break up Sausage in smallish pieces like browned ground meat.
Mix Bisquick & egg in mixing bowl and add milk until about good for drop biscuit
Fold in Sausage & cheese
Roll into balls and place on cookie sheet
Bake at +/-325 until brown, say 15 to 20 minutes.

Tortilla Roll Ups

Fresh package of flour tortillas
Philadelphia Cream Cheese
Now you can use your imagination... Make Cream Cheese Spread from:
Onion Soup
Or
Drained Crushed Pineapple
Or
Roasted Peppers (Green Chillies or Italian, or BOTH!)
Or
What ever you think might be good!

Spread cream cheese mix thinly on each tortilla
Roll tightly
Slice about 3/4" thick
Place on serving platter and place in frig covers to chill

If you make them the day before, place in sealed container so the tortillas don't dry out.

[Gunner1558]

Simple and easy:

Smoked baby oyster wrapped with bacon, pinned with a toothpick.

Bake in the oven on a cookie tray until the bacon reaches the crispness you like.

There is no right or wrong as long as the bacon is cooked.

Serve hot. Enjoy!

[El Laton Caliente]

Not for Christmas, but great for New Years! The ultimate drinking finger meal.

Low Country Boil

You need a large pot and an outdoor burner to boil. I have pots in 5, 6, 10 and 25 gallon and burners from a standard turkey fryer to a home made weed burner style for the 100 quart pot. A basket strainer makes unloading easier, especially in the large pots.

Sausage, Andoulli is best, but another good spicy sausage can be used. A pox on the house of anyone that uses a cheap hot link!!! Or anything the has Earl Campbell's name on it!

Sack(s) of crayfish
Crabs! Whole, cleaned or complete. In the south I use extra large blues, but I have used dungeonous. I suppose in a pinch you could use king parts or snow parts.
Four/Five LBS of shrimp per sack of crayfish
I've added oysters and scallops if I had them. Fresh shark chunks do well also, but less firm fish become just stock.
Five LBS bag of red and/or yellow potatoes per sack of crayfish
Four or five sweet corn on the cob per sack cut into three or four pieces
A bag of onions peeled per Sack of crayfish (a few less will do)
A whole Cauliflower head per sack or two of crayfish (optional, but GOOD, soaks up spice so use more)
Garlic, LOTS of garlic, heads are OK, elephant if you want.

Prep:

purge the crawfish by soaking in salted water and draining, I do this in a ice chest.
you can make easy peel shrimp and devien them if you want
potatoes, remove eyes and wash with brush
peel onions but don't cut off the root too close, you want them to hold together
pull the leaves off the Cauliflower, leave whole
Remove excess skin from heads of garlic
Corn, wash & cut into less than whole lengths

Now let's spice the water...

Liquid crab boil, there is not a substitute. Bags and flakes will not transfer spice well enough. I pour it in until a spoon full of water is hotter than I want to eat the food... About 1/4 cup per 5 gallons or more...
I always add minced garlic even if I have whole heads in it. You can add garlic powder, but minced is better.
Cayene pepper, fresh is best but powdered will do. Base the amount on women and children present. For a guys only party, burn their ass!
Pepper corn, black, a half dozen plus per gallon (coonasses don't do this)
Sea salt to taste... I go lite...
Bell pepper, I deseed a couple per 5 gallons of water
Paprika, for when you need red powder and can't put enough cayenne in.... LOL
Extra bay leaves, one or two per gallon
Squeeze in a lemon or two per 5 gallons and throw in the husks!

Cooking!

Add spices to water and bring SLOWLY to a boil. This allows enough time to drink beer before the real work starts. When boiling turn down so you can drink more beer.

Taste the water, it should be much more spicy than you want the food, and slightly salty.

Add the potatoes and sausage. Boil about ten minutes, add corn, add other trimmings according to cooking time. Shrimp should be last and added about one to two minutes before removing from fire.

Remove & drain...

Cover picnic table with news paper and serve with coctail sauce. Another normal method is using beer flats lined with aluminum foil. Any real man would have drank the case of beer off the flat at this point...

[old Grump]

One of my faves as a kid was also very easy....

Mom used to take that Rye or Pumpernickle cocktail bread (its a loaf, presliced, squares about 2.5" x 2.5")... she'd lather them up with garlic butter, toss on some sliced green onions, then top with shredded swiss cheeze and broil until the cheese bubbles and gets a hint of brown on it.

We do that but with full size slices of pumpernickel, also do it on wheat hamburger buns cut in half and on English muffins.

Most of the rest are getting copied into my recipe file for trying and I do believe after the first of the year I will be making a BBQ Shrimp Spice order. I am a sucker for that stuff.

The top secret meatballs is no secret in this house but I do one thing a little different when I have it available. I mix the Jimmy Deans Sausage half and half with ground venison. meat balls or meat loaf for main meal or patties done on the grill for burgers with a different taste. For breakfast we use the burger patties to make our own egg McMuffins. Beats the dickens out of McDonalds.

Keep them coming.

Here's another snack item I can't do anymore because of the sugar:

Snickerdoodles

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Mix butter, sugar and eggs. Add remaining ingredients. Roll into balls the size of walnuts.

Roll in a mixture of 2 tbsp. sugar and 2 tsp. cinnamon.

Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes in 400 degree oven.

[caaraa]

Hmmmm ... I'm going to have to think about that one

[El Laton Caliente]

The BBQ Shrimp is good, messy by good. Best with fresh french bread.

[Partisan1983]

TAG.


I am so gonna try some of these. Great post OG.


Thanks guys.

[old Grump]

After slaving over the counter and fiddling with the oven and stove the holiday snack maker deserves a break, What better reward than a good..........

Hot Buttered Rum

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
2 cups light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Pinch ground cloves
Pinch salt
Bottle dark rum
Boiling water

In a bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt. Refrigerate until almost firm. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the butter mixture into 12 small mugs. Pour about 3 ounces of rum into each mug (filling about halfway). Top with boiling water (to fill the remaining half), stir well, and serve immediately.

May I suggest you use one of these rums to make it a great drink. Never, never, never use a light rum or a cheap rum.

Angostura 1824 12 year - Trinidad
Mount Gay Extra Old - Barbados
Flor de Cana 21 year - Nicaragua
Pyrat XO Reserve Planters Gold - Anguilla
Pampero Rum Aniversario - Venezuela
Zacapa 23 year - Guatemala

It isn't exactly a cocktail snack but you need a good cocktail to go with the snack.

[El Laton Caliente]

Back at you OG

Hot Toddy

Boiling Water
1½ shot Christian Brother's Brandy
Teaspoon Honey
Squeeze of lemon

Pour boiling water into a mug, add Brandy, lemon juice and honey, stir.

Of the brandys that will not empty your wallet, we far perfer Christian Brothers. (B&J sux) A good burbon wiskey can substituted. Do not heat the water with brandy in it in the microwave, it evaporates the best part...

[old Grump]

I have had hot toddy's but never with brandy. They used Old Fitzgerald 100 proof sour mash bourbon. Ordinarily I drank Jack Daniels Black but that was good. Honey and lemon and I think they might have put something else in it but I'm not sure.

[El Laton Caliente]

I think the original hot toddys were brandy and it wasn't until we heathern from America started making decent burbon did that get substituted. Both are in the bartender's bible.

[JVD]

I like Jim Beam in my hot toddies.