New Year’s Eve at home? Sure. For those of us who plan to say goodbye to 2023 in the serenity of our own abode, a meal showcasing delicious appetizers can sound like a great idea. It can be a welcome opportunity to invite the neighbors to drop by and join in the scrumptious fun.
I’ve chosen three tempting appetizers from Natasha Kravchuk’s new cookbook, “Natasha’s Kitchen: 100 Plus Easy Family-Favorite Recipes You’ll Make Again and Again” (Clarkson Potter).
In 1989, when Kravchuk 4 years old, she and her family entered the United States as refugees from Ukraine. She writes that her mother was an amazing cook and spoiled her family with delicious meals; Natasha didn’t cook until she got married and had her own family to nurture. In 2009, she began blogging about the joy she found in the kitchen, creating, and sharing recipes. She revealed both her triumphs and her failures. Her audience grew and grew.
To follow are her irresistible nibbles that are perfect for New Year’s Eve.
Smoked Salmon Crostini
“I’d been making these elegant but surprisingly simple crostini for years, and just when I thought they couldn’t get any better, I made one final adjustment,” Kravchuk writes about her Smoked Salmon Crostini.
After tasting a version that added a garnish of petite lemon slices, she tweaked her formula. She admired the tartness that the citrus added and adjusted her recipe to add lemon juice and zest to the herbed cream cheese concoction that is spread on the crostini, before the smoked salmon, cucumber, and fresh dill are added.
Yield: 25 crostini
INGREDIENTS
1 (16-ounce) baguette
Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
Herb Cream Cheese:
1 medium lemon
6 ounces plain cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion (dark greenportion) or chives
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill, plus more for garnish
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 small garlic clove, pressed or grated
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Assembling:
1/2 unpeeled English cucumber, cut into 25 thin slices
8 to 10 ounces thinly sliced cold-smoked salmon
Cook’s notes: A culinary confession: When I’m in a pinch, I substitute Boursin’s soft herb cheese for the from-scratch herb cream cheese.
DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare crostini: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the baguette diagonally into 25 slices and arrange them in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush both sides lightly with olive oil and bake 5 minutes, until the edges are crisp, and the centers are still soft. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
2. Prepare Herb Cream Cheese: Remove zest from the entire lemon, grating and finely mincing it in the process (a Microplane rasp grater is great for this); set aside. Juice the lemon and reserve 1 1/2 teaspoons. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, green onions, dill, mayonnaise, garlic, salt, and reserved lemon juice. Use a fork to mash the mixture until it is uniform.
4. Assemble: Spread a thin layer of herb cream cheese on each of the toasts and top with a slice of cucumber and a slice of salmon. Transfer crostini to a serving platter as you top them.
5. Sprinkle the finished crostini with more dill and reserved lemon zest. Serve right away or cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 4 hours.
Source: “Natasha’s Kitchen” by Natasha Kravchuk (Clarkson Potter)
Cheese-and-Bacon-Stuffed Mushrooms
“As quickly as this decadent appetizer comes together, I guarantee you that they’ll disappear just as quickly,” Krawchuk writes. “They not only look enticing on the platter, but their gooey, bacon-studded stuffing really does sell itself.”
Avoid washing your mushrooms because they absorb water and can become soggy. Clean the mushrooms by wiping them with a damp paper towel.
Yield: 24 stuffed mushrooms
INGREDIENTS
Vegetable oil or extra-light olive oil, for greasing
6 strips regular-cut bacon
4 ounces plain cream cheese, softened (room temperature)
1/2 cup shredded or freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves, plus more for garnish
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
24 cremini mushrooms, about 1 pound, stemmed
Cook’s notes: Pop out the mushroom stems and they are good to go. You could also use white or button mushrooms. If you use larger mushrooms, they may take longer to cook.
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat a rimmed baking sheet with oil and set aside.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook bacon for about 3 minutes per side, until crisp and browned. Transfer the bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to cool. Chop into small bits and set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, Parmesan, garlic, parsley, salt, and pepper. Use a fork to mash the mixture together, then add half of the bacon bits. Continue stirring until incorporated. Divide filling evenly between the mushrooms (about 2 teaspoons of stuffing per mushroom). Sprinkle the remaining bacon bits over the top.
4. Arrange the mushrooms on the prepared baking sheet, evenly spaced, and bake for 15 minutes, until mushrooms are softened, and the tops have started to brown in spots. Transfer the mushrooms to a serving platter, sprinkle with more parsley and serve.
Source: “Natasha’s Kitchen” by Natasha Kravchuk (Clarkson Potter)
Crispy Coconut Chicken Strips
Kravchuk explains that this dish was inspired by a popular Coconut Shrimp recipe, revealing that she thinks the juicy chicken strips are better. She includes a spicy-sweet dipping sauce made quick and easy by combining sweet chili sauce and apricot preserves.
Yield: 8 to 10 tenders
INGREDIENTS
Dipping Sauce:
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
1/4 cup apricot preserves or apricot fruit spread
Coconut Chicken Strips:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 to 1 1/4 pounds chicken tenders (8 to 10)
Extra-light olive oil or vegetable oil, for frying
1 lime, sliced into wedges, for serving
Cook’s notes: To reheat, you can crisp them in an air fryer at 350 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes or in a standard oven set at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until heated through.
DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare dipping sauce: In medium bowl, combine chili sauce and apricot preserves. Mix well. Set aside.
2. Prepare chicken strips: Set up three medium shallow bowls. In the first, add the flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper; whisk to combine. In the second bowl, use a fork to thoroughly beat together the eggs. In the third bowl, stir together the coconut and breadcrumbs.
3. Dredge two chicken tenders in the flour mixture, turning them to coat well, then tap off any excess. Coat chicken in the egg, allowing any excess to drip back in the bowl. Finally, roll the tenders in the breadcrumb mixture, using your hands to gently press the crumbs into the chicken to help them adhere for a nice thick coating. Transfer the breaded chicken to a plate and repeat with remaining tenders.
4. In a large cast-iron skillet or heavy pan over medium heat, add about 1/4 inch of oil — enough to generously coat the bottom of the pan. Once the oil is hot (about 350 degrees), add half of the chicken tenders. Don’t be tempted to cook them all at once; crowding the pan will cool the oil and make it difficult for the chicken to crisp up — no one wants soggy breading. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through. An instant read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the tender should register 165 degrees. Transfer tenders to a serving platter.
5. Add more oil if needed and allow it to come back up to temperature and strain out any large pieces of breading so it doesn’t burn. Repeat with the remaining chicken tenders. Serve warm with dipping sauce and lime wedges.
Source: “Natasha’s Kitchen” by Natasha Kravchuk (Clarkson Potter)
Award-winning food writer Cathy Thomas has written three cookbooks, including “50 Best Plants on the Planet.” Follow her at @CathyThomas Cooks.com.
