Tapas

By special request from a Loyal Reader, following are the tapas I made for last week's dinner party.

Cool Ham Wraps
Break about 1/2 pound raw asparagus spears from bases. Steam top portion of spears for 5-6 minutes, until mostly cooked. Sprinkle with dill weed when done. While asparagus is steaming, cut about 1/4 pound ham into thinly-sliced strips about 2" long and 1" wide. Mix cream cheese and chives. Spread cream cheese mix on tortillas with moderate thickness -- more than enough to moisten but not so thick as to clump in mounds. Place ham strips and asparagus spears in top two-thirds of tortilla; roll tightly (should wrap about 2 times) so that the end of tortilla with only the cream cheese is on the outside. Cream cheese acts as a binder to hold the wrap together. Slice in half.

Chipotle Crab Spread
Add to food processor: 8 oz. crab meat (or imitation crab meat, which is a blend of real crab meat and haddock precooked in crab stock), lemon juice, 4 sticks celery, 1 quartered apple, chipotle powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper, and 1 tablespoon mayonnaise. Pulse food processor until mayonnaise is blended; repeat adding mayonnaise until desired consistency is reached. Chill until ready to serve.

Vegetable Fiesta
Crudite platter with celery, carrots, julienned raw bell peppers (red and yellow), and cucumber spears. Artfully arrange on platter, perhaps with crab salad.

Fruit and Cheese
Treat apple and pear slices in lemon water to prevent browning. Arrange apples, pears, grapes and kiwifruit in alternating columns with slices of varying kinds of cheese. Havarti, gouda (especially smoked), meunster, and white cheddar are good options for this platter. Crackers optional but good for starch content.

Fried Ravioli
Buy pre-made cheese raviolis from the deli section. (Who has time to make their own raviolis?) I prefer mine unbreaded; fry them one side at a time over medium heat in preheated olive oil. Do not overheat olive oil; it burns easily. Raviolis will require several flips until pasta softens and browns in oil. Drain well before serving.

Sweet Spinach Salad
1 lb. raw spinach leaves, 1 handful each dried cranberries, chunks of quartered apples, and candied walnuts. For more pungent taste, add several slices of raw Bermuda onion. Toss with vinagrette made from 1 part extra-virgin olive oil, 2 parts balsamic vinegar, a dash of salt, and a dash of sugar.

Mostly cold tapas; we lack extensive warming facilities here at La Casita Knoxvilla and our dining room table seats only four comfortably; so the dining room table was converted to a buffet spread and we and our guests ate outside on the screen porch, enjoying the nice weather and pleasant company.