Gouda Gougères with cumin seeds from‘Baking wtih Dorie’ by Dorie Greenspan
By Leslie Brenner
Let’s get this party started!
Whether you’re planning a drop-by-for-drinks-and-bites open house, or you’re scheming tasty nibbles to lead off a sit-down dinner, you’ll want finger foods that delight.
Here are our current faves — including two from new cookbooks.
Gouda Gougères
Light, airy, cheesy and tender, gougères are a favorite finger food in France. We love Dorie Greenspan’s spin — using aged gouda in place of the traditional gruyère, and adding the wam spice of cumin. Place them in a napkin-lined bowl or basket to keep them warm — and be ready for them to disappear quickly
RECIPE: Dorie Greenspan’s Gouda Gougères
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Five-Spice Mushroom-Walnut Pâte
Earthy and umami-ful, this splendid spread comes from Ever-Green Vietnamese by Andrea Nguyen — one of the most inspiring and useful cookbooks published this year. It can be made either vegetarian or vegan.
RECIPE: Five-Spice Mushroom-Walnut Pâté
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Jubilee Pickled Shrimp
Pickled shrimp are always crowd-pleasers. Our favorite version comes from Toni Tipton-Martin’s award-winning cookbook, Jubilee.
RECIPE: ‘Jubilee’ Pickled Shrimp
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Cacio e Pepe Coins
We’ve fallen — hard! — for these tender savory snacks from Nancy Silverton’s new cookbook, The Cookie That Changed My Life (another of this year’s most exciting titles). Make a quick dough packed with three kinds of cheese and enriched with crème fraîche, no mixer required, just hands. Roll, chill, coat with crushed black pepper, slice and bake. They’re incredibly tender and rich, and one recipe makes four dozen — a treasure trove. Serve them all, or bake half, and keep the other roll in your freezer, a secret stash.
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Crudités and Dip
It’s easy to arrange a big platter of cut-up vegetables. Add a fun dip (or two!) and you’ve got a party right there. Red Pepper-Harissa Dip makes the season bright; you can pair it with a Remoulade Sauce or Green Goddess if you want to mix things up.
Or go for a Thai relish — intensely fragrant, umami-forward, tangy and a little sweet. Ours is adapted from Leela Punyaratabandhu’s outstanding cookbook Simple Thai Food.
RECIPE: Red Pepper-Harissa Dip
RECIPE: Thai Shrimp-Coconut Relish
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Buñuelos de Bacalao
Light, hot and delicious, these cod fritters come from Claudia Roden’s The Food of Spain. Unlike most cod fritters, they’re made from fresh fish, not salt cod, so no need to soak, wait and rinse — they’re quick to put together. And so good.