Mouth refreshing “pickles”

They are not really pickles… but how to say ? Small bits siding a dish.

Eringi tsukemono.

Spicy tomato agar.

スダチ sudachi is a small green citrus from the area of Tokushima. It is thought to have lots of medicinal properties to fight diabetes and allergies. And it’s fragrant, fresh, delicious too.

Eringi mushroom.

Eringi tsukemono :
I’ve used only the stalks for this recipe. I sliced them thinly, mixed with the juice of a sudachi, its cut peel and a pinch of sea salt. Cover. Let 1 or 2 days in the fridge, mixing twice a day.

Tomato juice, salt, powdered jalapeno chili and agar. I have not used enough agar for a solid result (you have to follow the proportions on the package). It’s still good and refreshing, but I need a spoon to eat it. Ideally, you want to make cubes that can be grabbed with chopsticks or a fork.

Gougères aux herbes

A classic appetizer or snack food from Bourgogne (Burgondy), the cheese gougères. Served freshly baked, still hot with wine or a drink. Mmmm…

It’s the same recipe as the choux (cream puffs, here). Today my cheese was the infamous process product, I’ve added a little nutmeg and some fragrant fresh herbs to compensate.

And rosemary.

Baked till golden. Devoured 1 minutes after the photoshoot…

Little buckwheat blinis

Warm, golden, firm, fluffy…and small. That’s the perfect blinis.

It’s ideal for small smoked salmon bites.

A yeasted dough with 30% of buckwheat flour, after an hour in a warm place, I added an egg (white beaten), cream.

Other version :

simple buttery blinis

As I don’t have mini-pans, I simply re-cut them.

With salmon, aneth, onions.

No wasting !

At coffee time, with the cut parts can be reheated, served with rose petal cream cheese, mikan mandarin marmelade and better to melt on top :

Amuse-gueules : bacon maki and green maki

Finger food to start the party. Let’s make 3 funny rolled bites.

Prune bacon maki. Sweet and bacon, a classic.

Oyster bacon maki. The 3 flavors of bacon, seafood and seaweed make the perfect harmony.

Green maki. A classic here. That’s a way to get lots of greens in one mouthful. I always find the party meals lack plants and easy to digest items. So I always include some.