- Sometimes it's hard to get 'em in there.
(record scratch)
You gotta shove 'em in, you know.
Hello friends!
On this episode of "A Little Help,"
we're gonna make hors d'oeuvres.
Because look, we've all been there,
we have a bunch of people coming over,
it's not quite a dinner party, but also
it's not a put a bag of pretzels out situation either.
Ah, these pretzels are making me thirsty!
You want your guests to have an array of foods
to choose from, because some of 'em don't eat meat,
some of them only eat meat,
some of them are gluten-free,
or maybe this week they won't be, we're not sure,
we're never gonna be sure.
Either way, you want a variety, but most of all
you don't wanna spend all of your time
sweating in the kitchen, while your guests are
laughing it up and drinking all your wine in the other room.
I'm gonna show you how to make three easy hors d'oeuvres
with two variations each,
so you're gonna feel like you're making three things,
but you're actually gonna be serving six.
I'm also gonna show you how to choose foods
that can be prepped ahead of time,
which will save you a billion hours
so you can actually enjoy your own party.
Let's go.
(cheering)
Let's start with bacon, because everybody loves this (beep)
so let's give the people what they want.
I'm making bacon-wrapped dates and bacon-wrapped scallops
because you can totally wrap them the day before,
you can even cook them the day before
and then just heat them up before your guests arrive.
You can also cook them together because they require
almost the same amount of cook time,
and the same temperature.
These guys will be ready in about 15 minutes
and these guys take about 20, 25.
Easy peasy.
(laugh) Easy peasy, that's what adults say, right?
Okay, let's make-a the food.
We're going to take a Medjool date, one Marcona almond,
we're gonna stuff that bad boy with that crunchy boy.
We want the pitted dates,
so there's no pit to worry about in there.
And then we'll take a small piece of bacon,
and we're gonna wrap our date just like that.
Stick a little toothpick in,
so your friends can just grab 'em.
(ding)
And you're good to go.
Now for our scallops. You take one scallop,
you take a piece of bacon,
you roll the scallop in the bacon just like the date.
Toothpick, so your friends can grab 'em off the platter,
and that's it.
(ding)
So my oven is preheated to about 375.
I'm gonna stick these guys in,
and they'll be ready in a few minutes.
While our bacon buddies are in the oven,
let's make some crostini.
I've sliced up a baguette and I toasted it for
about five minutes, just until it's crispy.
I've also brushed it with a little bit of olive oil.
And now all we have to do is assemble.
Since all of this is just topping each piece,
it's really easy to make different kinds here
without adding extra work.
I'm gonna use some ricotta on each one,
and then I'm gonna top half of them
with roasted red peppers and basil,
and the other half with prosciutto and melon.
Let's also make a few without ricotta.
When you're hosting, it's important to make sure that
everyone feels welcome and taken care of
no matter what their dietary restrictions.
So, we'll make some for our vegan friends,
and some for our lactose-intolerant friends.
That one's for you, Cole.
- [Cole] Ha!
- (laughs)
Great, great choice.
"Ha-a!"
(laughs)
"Ha!"
(all laughing)
Crudités, which may be my favorite part of all of this
because of all the crazy colors,
it's like you're serving your friends art.
A few things to keep in mind with crudités,
shop seasonally if you can, because it really
makes a difference if you can find real fresh
seasonal vegetables from a market.
But, if you don't have a farmers market in your area,
supermarket produce is totally fine.
All you have to do is make sure that everything is washed
and properly groomed, and then you can start on your dips.
We're gonna make an herbed labneh dip,
and then we're also gonna do a pickled beet hummus.
Let's start on our hummus.
To our food processor we're going to add
two cans of chickpeas,
some pickled beets and a little bit of their brine,
about two tablespoons of tahini,
some chopped garlic, lemon juice, olive oil,
and salt and pepper.
That's it.
Ready?
(whirring)
And blend it until it's smooth.
So here we have our labneh, and for on top of our labneh
we're going to take a combination of chopped herbs,
I have parsley, dill, and cilantro in this.
We're gonna add some lemon zest, sea salt, black pepper,
some red pepper flake, and olive oil.
Lemon juice, lemon zest,
from zest bae.
(upbeat music)
And we're finished.
Six different hors d'oeuvres to choose from,
something for everyone, and each
and every one is absolutely delicious and easy to eat.
See, all you needed was A Little Help.
(upbeat music)
Thanks so much for watching.
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