These petite bites are perfect for entertaining aboard.
My husband and I just returned from a cruise on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 to Norway’s beautiful fjords. Our favorite part of the day was coming back to our suite balcony in the late afternoon, following our shoreside explorations, for a relaxing drink and a lovely tray of canapés left every day by our butler. Some of the best included:
⊲ foie gras in a pastry cup topped with fresh raspberries
⊲ local baby shrimp and crawfish salad on sliced cucumber
⊲ chicken liver pâté on cocktail rye bread topped with a fresh apple slice
⊲ duck breast slice on fruit bread with cherry jam.
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I resolved to start serving guests similar light and elegant offerings aboard to carry us over from cocktails to dinner. Canapés are simply petite bites served on a piece of bread, pastry, or vegetable slice as a tiny open-faced sandwich. Wonderful for entertaining, canapés are easy to prepare, using whatever veggies, fruits, cheese, meat, canned seafood, and jarred condiments you have on hand. No cutlery is needed to consume them! Plan on four to six canapés per person as a starter. Recipes serve four people.
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Smoked or Canned Fish and Caviar Canapé
8 oz. smoked or canned fish (e.g., salmon, trout, mackerel, sardines)
16 unsalted crackers
4 oz. sour cream
Small jar of black, red, or orange caviar
4 Tbsp. dill fronds (or 1 tsp. dried)
Cut smoked fish into 16 bite-sized slices. Place 16 crackers on platter and top each with a piece of fish, a dollop of sour cream, a half-teaspoon of caviar, and a dill frond (or pinch of dried dill).
Black Olive Butter and Radish Canapé
16 cured black olives, pitted and chopped (or black olive tapenade)
2 scallions, finely chopped
8 dill fronds, minced
4 Tbsp. butter, softened
¼ tsp. pepper
1 baguette, cut into 16 slices
4-6 red radishes, sliced thin
¼ tsp. each salt and pepper
Mix olives, scallions, dill, butter, and pepper in a bowl. Spread olive butter on baguette slices topped with 2 or 3 slices of radish on each. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.
Deviled Egg Canapé
3 Tbsp. mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. mustard
3 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and chopped
16 celery stalks, cut 3-4 inches in length
½ tsp. each sweet paprika, dill, pepper, and salt
Stir together mayonnaise, mustard, and eggs well into the mixture. Spread egg salad into the celery stalks and sprinkle with paprika, dill, salt, and pepper.
Additional ideas for quick canapés:
Horseradish Roast Beef: Spread mayonnaise and mustard on bite-sized bread slices, top with a slice of beef sprinkled with salt and pepper, and a dollop of horseradish.
Coronation Chicken: Mix 3-4 tablespoons of mayonnaise with chopped cooked chicken. Spread on fruit or nut bread slices or crackers and top with a dollop of chutney.
Shrimp or Crab Salad Lettuce Wraps: Fill Belgian endive leaves or firm small lettuce leaves with crabmeat or chopped shrimp gently mixed with mayonnaise, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a pinch of dill or parsley.
Cheese and Chutney: Top a baguette slice or crackers with quarter-inch-thick slices of cheese and finish with a dollop of chutney jam.
Celery Stuffed with Green Olive Cream Cheese: Mix cream cheese with chopped green olives and stuff into three-inch-long celery stalks. Top with a sprinkle of paprika.
Soft Cheese, Honey, Pepper: Spread a cracker with soft brie, blue, or goat cheese. Drizzle each canapé with honey (hot honey is fun!) and sprinkle with coarse black pepper.
Dessert Canapé: Spread thin, plain cookies (e.g., Tate, Otterbein, ginger snaps) with mascarpone or crème fraiche and top with fresh or dried fruit or fruit jam and chopped nuts.
-by Lori Ross
