So you’re inviting friends over to watch the Academy Awards on Feb. 26, and you don’t want to serve them the same old chips and dip. Not to worry — the Journal asked three local chefs to come up with Oscar-worthy hors d’oeuvres recipes. The results are not only tasty but simple to prepare — and guaranteed to impress your guests.
WINTER CITRUS CEVICHE
Recipe by Matt Sieger and Rikki Garcia Sieger of the kosher Mexican food truck Holy Frijoles!
– 1 cup orange juice
– 1 cup lemon juice
– 1/4 cup lime juice
– 2 bay leaves
– 1 pound 2 ounces white sea bass (or any firm, white local fish), cut into 1/2-inch dice
– 1/2 small red onion, diced
– 1 jalapeño, seeded and chopped
– 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
– 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, picked from the stem and left whole
– 4 tablespoon torn mint leaves
– 1 cup winter citrus (blood oranges, mandarins, grapefruit), cut into chunks
– Kosher salt to taste
Mix orange, lemon and lime juices together in a medium bowl. Reserve half of the liquid and save in the refrigerator. Add bay leaves to remaining juice in a medium bowl. Toss in diced fish. Marinate for 4 to 6 hours in the refrigerator.
Strain off liquid and remove bay leaves from the juice mixture with the fish; discard.
Mix together remaining ingredients. Toss in fish and salt to taste (remember chips will add some saltiness). Serve with tortilla chips.
Makes 6 servings.
TORTILLA ESPAÑOLA
Recipe by Deborah Benaim, owner of dB Catering
– 3 large Yukon gold potatoes
– 1 liter extra virgin olive oil
– 1 yellow onion
– 10 large eggs
– 1 small bag potato chips, crushed by hand
– Salt and pepper to taste
Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and thinly slice them. Fry the potato slices in enough olive oil to submerge the potatoes in a nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat until golden and crispy all over, about 7 to 8 minutes. Set aside in a large bowl.
Pour out all the olive oil except for about 1/4 of a cup in the frying pan just used. Season with salt and pepper and caramelize the onion in the oil over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 to 6 minutes.
Take the bowl of potatoes and mix in the eggs, caramelized onion and hand-crushed potato chips. Season to taste with salt and leave to rest in the bowl for
an hour.
Heat a nonstick frying pan to a medium/hot heat, add a splash of olive oil and pour in the egg and potato mixture. After 3 to 4 minutes, turn the omelet. Finish cooking on the other side for about 3 to 4 minutes. Serve with homemade roasted bell pepper slices or store-bought piquillo peppers and a glass of your favorite
Tempranillo.
Makes 4 to 5 servings.
SICILIAN JEWISH CHICKEN MEATBALL BITES
Recipe by Elana Horwich of Meal and a Spiel cooking school, recipe blog and catering company
– Caramelized Onion and Fennel
– Jam (recipe follows)
– 2 pounds ground dark meat chicken
– 1 onion quartered
– 1 bunch Italian, flat-leaf parsley
– 1 1/2 cups raisins, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes
– 2 heaping tablespoons capers in salt from Sicily (Capperi di Salina or Capperi di Pantelleria)*
– 1 teaspoon salt
– 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
– 40-60 grinds from pepper mill
* Available in select Italian gourmet shops, such as Bay Cities Italian Deli & Bakery, or online.
Prepare Caramelized Onion and Fennel Jam; set aside.
Allow chicken to come to room temperature and place in a medium mixing bowl.
Place quartered onion in a food processor and pulse into a pulp. Add to chicken. Place parsley in food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add to chicken.
Drain raisins, add to food processor and pulse until finely chopped and partially pureed. Add to chicken.
Rinse capers and dry. Finely chop them with a knife until some are almost a “powder” and some of them are chunkier. Add to chicken.
Add the salt and pepper and mix up the chicken with your hands until it is completely amalgamated. (You can do this in advance and refrigerate, just bring it to room temperature before cooking.)
Heat a large pan over medium to medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. In the meantime, form 1-inch meatballs; don’t worry about making them perfectly rounded. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan and carefully drop in a first batch of meatballs, making sure they don’t touch one another. Cook on each side about 3 to 5 minutes, or until lightly cooked on the inside and well browned on the outside. Remove from pan, set on a paper towel to drain, add more oil to pan and continue to make more.
Plate the meatballs and top with a touch of Caramelized Onion and Fennel Jam.
Makes 25 meatballs.
CARAMELIZED ONION AND FENNEL JAM
– 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
– 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced into rounds and then cut in half
– 2 tablespoons fennel seeds
– 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Heat a wide sauté pan over medium to medium-high heat for about 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, followed by the sliced onions. Let them cook until they get quite brown and maybe a tiny bit burnt, too — about 20 minutes, depending on the strength of your heat.
Place the sautéed onions in a food processor and add fennel seeds and balsamic vinegar; bring to a puree.
Makes 1/2 cup.
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