Creative Summer Cocktail Party Hors D' Oeuvres

Lemon-Parsley Gougeres

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 5 large eggs
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3 chopped scallions
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley

Put 1 cup of water, butter, salt and cayenne in a pot and bring it to a boil. Let the butter melt completely, take off the heat and stir in your flour over low heat. Beat in 4 eggs until fully incorporated, and then stir in zest, scallions and parsley. Put this in a piping bag and pipe 1-inch rounds onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Preheat your oven to 400 and whisk your last egg and a teaspoon of water in a small bowl; use this to brush each puff. Bake each until golden brown, which should take 20 minutes. Serve right away.

Tuna Nicoise Crostini

• 1/4 cup pitted green olives
• 2 hard-boiled eggs
• 5 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 3 ounces broken-up white tuna, drained of its oil
• 2 tablespoons cleaned and chopped capers
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
• Salt and pepper
• Crostini

Chop up half of your olives and slice the other half, setting both aside. Remove the yolks from your eggs and discard them – or better yet, save them for use in another dish. Put your egg whites in a bowl and mash into ¼” pieces. Add your mayonnaise, tuna, olives, caper and tarragon, then season with salt and pepper. Put a large spoonful of this over each crostini, and garnish with any leftover tarragon. Serve immediately.

With these two recipes, you’ll be on your way towards a memorable cocktail party.