Tunafish and Olives Hors d'Oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Tunafish and Olives Hors d’oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

This simple hors d’oeuvres is salty and tastes great on hot, humid summer days.  You can use inexpensive tuna fish or ahi tuna to make this dish. 

I would serve this hors d’oeuvres with a somewhat sweet chardonnay musqué in Monterey County California to start a meal.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-2 (5-ounce) cans tuna fish packed in water

-1/4 cup mayonnaise

-1 teaspoon Tabasco™ sauce

-1 (6-ounce) can drained California black olives

Steps:

1-Drain tuna fish of water.  Mix tuna fish with mayonnaise and Tobasco™ sauce

2-Place tuna mix on toast.  Cut toast into fourths.

3-Top tuna fish squares with drained California black olives.

Bon Appétit!

By Ruth Paget, Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Egg and Ham Toothpick Hors d'Oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Egg and Ham Toothpick Hors d’Oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

I read a cookbook called Pintxos by Gerald Hirigoyen, a San Francisco restaurant owner from the Spanish Basque country, who wrote that the Basques like tapas that are more substantial than those from Andalusia and created pintxos. 

Pintxos seem to have a protein and “vegetable” and come delivered on a toothpick.  I created this pintxo and drank it with white Lillet on the rocks when I lived in Stuttgart, Germany.  Lillet is rather sweet.  In Monterey County California, I would drink this with Chardonnay Musqué.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-2 hardboiled eggs into fourths

-8 slices Spanish ham

-8 pitted green olives

-8 toothpicks

Toothpicks:

1-Place toothpicks in the center of a layered piece of salty, Spanish ham to form the bottom of the pintxo.

2-Place egg sections on top of the ham

3-Place pitted green olives on top of the egg sections.

4-Slide food off the toothpick all at once for a savory bite to go with a sweet, white wine.

Bon Appétit!

By Ruth Paget, Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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Deviled Eggs Hors d'Oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Deviled Eggs Hors d’Oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

These eggs are sloppy and meant to be that way.  When you refrigerate them, they solidify into a savory bite that tastes great before a main dish of fish and potatoes.

Egg cookers use very little water and give a perfect result every time.  I have listed a traditional method for boiling the eggs below though.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-8 large eggs

-1/4 cup Best® mayonnaise

-1/4 cup Heinz® mustard

-Paprika from Szeged Hungary

Steps:

1-Place 8 cups water in a boiling pan.  Place eggs in cold water and bring water to a boil.  Once the water is boiling, let it boil for 15 minutes.

2-Drain eggs and run cold water over them to stop cooking. 

3-Peel the hard-boiled eggs and cut in half with a wet knife for a smooth cut.

4-Remove yolks and place them in a mixing bowl.  Mix yolks with mayonnaise and mustard.  Place this mixture in the egg halves.

5-Sprinkle the tops of the eggs with the paprika.  Cover the eggs with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Bon Appétit!

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Sauteed Mushroom Hors d'Oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Sautéed Mushroom Hors d’Oeuvres Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Sautéed mushrooms taste great on T-Bone steaks and on toast.  I eat this hors d’oeuvres with a pot of Red Rose® tea here in California made with wild brown mushrooms from Oregon or Canada. 

However, white mushrooms work fine like the champignons de Paris that are grown caves in France.  The caves in the Santa Lucia Mountains around Monterey County California might provide good sites for mushroom cultivation, too.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

-1 pound washed and chopped mushrooms

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-2 tablespoons butter

-1 teaspoon dry garlic

-1 tablespoon dry parsley

-4 slices toast

-1 cup grated white cheese

Steps:

1-Sauté mushrooms in olive oil and butter until the mushrooms have reduced down to ¼ their original size.  This will take about 15 – 20 minutes.

2-Mix cheese and parsley into the warm mushrooms.

3-Toast bread and place mushroom mixture on toast.  Cut toast into fourths. 

4-Place toast slices on a tray and serve.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Baked Fish with Tomatoes Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

Baked Fish with Tomatoes Recipe Created by Ruth Paget

I made this dish in Detroit (Michigan) as a teen.  I liked how I could forget it and do homework while the apartment smelled like summer as snowflakes fell outside. 

This recipe is made for using frozen fish.  You will need a covered metal casserole to make this dish.

Serves 4

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ingredients:

-2 tablespoons olive oil

-1 large, peeled, and chopped onion

-1 teaspoon dry garlic

-4 frozen white fish fillets

-2 large, peeled, and chopped Idaho potatoes

-1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green peppers

-2 tablespoons water or white wine

-2 tablespoons Italian seasoning

-1 cup cream (optional)

Steps:

1-Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes.  Add water or white wine to the onion mixture and stir.

2-Place the onion mixture in the casserole.  Place fish fillets in the casserole.  Place potato slices around the fish.

3-Pour the diced tomatoes and green peppers on top of the fish fillets and potatoes.   Sprinkle the Italian herbs on top of the diced tomatoes.

4-Cover the casserole and bake for 1 hour.

5-Mix cream with onion mixture and tomatoes for a cream sauce, if desired.

By Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

Click here for:  Ruth Paget's Amazon Books

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