DIY Network

Quick and Easy Hors D'Oeuvres Start your meal off with a bang by serving Endive Spears with Dip and Salmon Roll-Ups. From "Home Made Easy" episode DHME-140

Delicious and elegant hors d'oeuvres are the perfect small bite of food and a great way to taste a lot of different flavors without filling up. Guest Karen Bussen, Home Made Easy's Entertaining Made Easy contributor, joins host Stephanie Lydecker and creates two great dishes.

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Endive Spears With Dip

Endive Spears With Dip

one 8-oz. container of store-bought cheddar cheese spread
2 Tbs. port or sherry
1 head endive (red or green) cleaned, spears separated
1 pastry bag with wide tip (floral or ribbon)

These are so easy and so delicious. All you need to do is pipe cheese spread into endive spears. The other great thing about this trick is you can really use just about any combination—any kind of spread or dip, and really any kind of base—sliced baguette, radishes, etc.

Start by fitting a pastry bag with a fun, slight wide tip. Then, in a small bowl, mix one 8-oz. container of cheese spread and 2 tablespoons of port. The spread should be firm, but not too stiff. And then fill the bag with the spread. Remember that the cheese spread can be made ahead of time and held in the pastry bag. But it's best to pipe the spread just before serving to keep it looking fresh. Then, simply pipe the dip onto the endive spears3at the non pointy end—and arrange them in a sunburst patter on a round platter. And you have a wonderful and pretty appetizer.

Yield: 10

Salmon Roll-Up

Elegant Salmon Roll-Ups

12 long-stem chives
4-oz. smoked salmon (sliced medium thin)
one 8-oz. container cream cheese
1 lemon (cut in wedges)
2 Tbs. capers

All you need to do is buy thinly sliced smoked salmon at your local grocery store or deli, which is easy to find these days. Trim the slices so that they are all approximately 3" long by 1-1/2" wide—and lay them out on a flat surface.

Chop up the leftover salmon scraps into small pieces and mix them into the cream cheese. Then, simply add a teaspoon of salmon cream cheese toward one end of the salmon slice and sprinkle a few capers on top of the cream cheese. Roll the salmon up into a neat package and tie it with a chive.

Serve them on a platter with lemon wedges. And you can use the leftover cream cheese for Monday morning bagels.

Yield: 12 Roll-Ups

GUESTS :

Karen Bussen
Author, Simple Stunning Weddings
E-mail: Karen@karenbussen.com
Website: www.karenbussen.com