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ArcaMax Publishing > Home & Garden > Recipes > Recipes by Zola

Bacon Tomato Mini Tarts

Pacing your Party for "A Stress-Free Cocktail Party"

Lots of folks think staging a cocktail party is easier than a dinner party. When, in fact, a cocktail party can be a little trickier than dinner. There are usually more small details involved in a cocktail party so, for some, it turns out to be more stressful than they planned.

I was witness to a cocktail party recently that became one of those stressful ones. I was an early arrival so I had an opportunity to observe the hostess while she prepared for the guests. I noticed her go into high stress mode. It was not pretty. She began barking orders at guests that volunteered to help. It was obvious she was more concerned about getting the party right, and less concerned about whether her guests had fun. In my mind that's backwards. The most important element is your guests and their comfort, but I want to make sure you have fun too.

You can have your appetizers, your drinks and enjoy your guests. Here are some hints that I devised as a result of watching that hostess. I realized that a low-stress cocktail party starts with the menu plan and runs right through service and clean up.

Hint #1. Plan a simple menu. For a cocktail party for 12 that means a maximum of five dishes. You don't have to plan that each person will eat every item you serve. Most catering companies will tell you to plan about 6 pieces to be eaten per person. This is for a party billed as "cocktails". If you think your guests are really planning to make a "dinner" out of your cocktail party, up that number, but I never plan 24 of each item for a cocktail party with 24 guests. If you are serving 7 dishes at that size of cocktail party that's 168 items. You'd have too much food. For my small to medium cocktail parties I make a single recipe of each dish, (usually serving 10 - 12) and call it a party. For a party of 12, 5 dishes serving 12 people each gets me 60 pieces. For a "cocktail" party that's enough. For a cocktail party that's going to be eaten like a roving dinner, see Hint #2.

Hint #2. For a "heavy hors d'oeurve" party make 2 of your five dishes an "entree-style" item. They might be tiny sandwiches, a small slice of lasagna, larger tarts, etc. They tend to be on the heavier side in contrast to something balanced on a slice of cucumber. In America people love substantial appetizers. You can serve both, but make sure they have a couple of substantial things if they are planning to make that their meal.

For menu ideas you can go to my website: www.dinnerwithzola.com. Check under Party Menus. You'll find cocktail party menus and you can download the recipes. All free.

Hint #3. Pace your Service. The biggest stressor I've observed at a cocktail party is the host trying to get all of the food served at once. This is not necessary. People don't all arrive at once and unless you want to just set out a buffet that's all ready, your cocktail party need not be served all at once. I reduce my front end workload by only setting out the cold/room temp. appetizers first. I always make a bowl or two of a fancy nut mix. Men love a bowl of nuts with their first drink. By doing this I can greet the guests as they arrive and have a glass of wine with them. When I see that over 50% of my guest list has arrived I begin serving things that have to be baked or heated at the last minute. Heated items have been in the oven since just before the party started, so all I have to do is take them out, platter them and bring them to the guests. You get lots of oohs, and ahhs, when you bring out warm food. They'll dive in. And you can set the platter in front of a group and let them serve themselves. Just have little plates or cocktail napkins sitting near by. If I serve something that needs to be baked, I choose items that don't take more than 15 minutes to bake so they are paced 15 minutes apart, which leads us to Hint #4.

Hint #4. Know when to quit. I never plan to serve food for more than 2 hours. If your guests have not arrived by then they deserve to eat cold/room temperature items. They know when they are that late not to expect a full buffet of warm appetizers. Next time they'll arrive earlier.

Hint #5. Clean up. I do clean up as I circulate through the party. Pick up dirty napkins and toss them. Pick up empty glasses and get them all in one place. I can do that and still have a conversation. Even better is having help. We live in a college town. There are always college kids who would like to earn a little extra money. $10 an hour even. For a cocktail party of 24, I might hire one college student for 3-4 hours. It's easy to train them. All they need are instructions to look for the napkins and dirty dishes, they can help you serve if you want to pass your appetizers, and they can be washing platters at the sink in down times. They don't need a bartending license. They are extra hands.

I just ask them to wear a white shirt and black pants or I make them theme T-shirts with craft glitter made for clothing. Somewhere it stays "staff" on the shirt; just like you see at rock concerts and private clubs in major cities. They get a souvenir of their work and your guests know who the helper is. For 40 guests I hire two. Many folks pay for a sitter when they come to your party. Your hired help is a bonus for you. Kind of a party-sitter. And clean up is so much easier when they help. They can have most of it done while you are chatting up your guests and you just put things away later.

With help, or on your own, follow these hints for a stress-free cocktail party. Relax and enjoy! Here's a perfect cocktail party appetizer recipe.

Recipe: Bacon Tomato Mini Tarts
Servings: Makes 24 mini tarts.

Ingredients:
1 pound low sodium bacon cut into small slices (crosswise) and cooked to crispy
1 package grape tomatoes cut into quarters
1/2 cup diced white onion
1 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp dried Italian herbs
1 (7.5 ounce) package of refrigerated flaky biscuits

When the bacon is cooked and crispy, drain it on paper towels and let it cool. With your knife, cut it into slightly smaller pieces but don't make it into tiny bits and crumbles. You want to still taste the bacon chunks. Mix the bacon, tomatoes, onion, cheese, garlic, mayo and herbs in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

Open your biscuits. Separate each biscuit with your fingers into 3 thin disks instead of just one. You'll need a mini muffin pan if you want your tarts to have"middle." If you don't have a mini muffin pan, you can have mini "pizzas" instead by using a regular-sized muffin pan. If you have the mini muffin pan, take each biscuit disk and urge it into the muffin hole so it slides to the bottom and up the sides to form a tart crust. You can use your knuckle to get the middle of the crust to go to the bottom. If you are using a regular-sized muffin pan, the biscuit dough will just sort of sit flat in the bottom of the muffin indentation.

Put a heaping teaspoon of mixture in each indentation. The whole mixture and the biscuit dough will make 24 tarts or mini "pizzas." Bake them at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes until browned on the edges. Let them cool slightly in the pan and then remove to let them cool. You can serve warm, room temperature or even store refrigerated and then re-heat and serve later.

Send email to Zola at zolacooks@gmail.com.



This news arrived on: 07/28/2008

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