Skewer You

by Mona Frastaci

We’re all familiar with the standard barbecue skewers — meat, onion, tomato, bell pepper — but you don’t have to have a grill to make these bites a hot-spot of your party. Stack these babies with almost anything and you can practically even forgo the plates, turning your party into a diverse grab-and-go with less mess and cool presentation.

One-bite snacks, apps and sweets are perfect for small dinner parties too.

Here are some of my go-to’s:

“The Scandinavian Party Favor”: smoked salmon, cream cheese squares and capers — get the big capers or stick them to the cream cheese — plus a little black olive, red onion and small squares of toast for crunch.
Make it easy on guests by pre-stabbing and plattering bites.
Mini burgers, either pre-grilled or pan sautéed, with a spread of different options: 1) decadent clumps of Maytag blue and crispy bacon; 2) teriyaki burger stacked with chunks of fresh rum-infused pineapple; or 3) portobello mushroom and cheese. No more choosing between bacon-cheddar or mushroom-Swiss — you can have a taste of both.
Rosemary lemon sautéed chicken bites in a stone-ground mustard/wildflower honey glaze next to roasted red pepper and endive.
Baby spinach with Bartlett pear and seared filet mignon.
Panko-encrusted trout next to clusters of iron-skillet corn.
Baby apple fritters saddled up next to sea-salt caramel wedges.

Don’t forget dessert. My favorites to serve side-by-side:

Bite-size bricks of homemade double-chocolate cake and Merlot-marinated cherries serve along with double-stacked foil cupcake cups filled with vanilla-infused whipped cream for dipping.
Clusters of brown sugar-chile pecans next to granny smith apple and raisins or cranberries.