Hors D'oeuvres
Ever find yourself slapping your forehead moments before guests are due to arrive? You've worked up a fantastic entrée. The dessert will be a glorious success. Dinner, then, is assured. But you have forgotten how to start, and there's only time left to slap some crackers on a plate and dig around in the back of the refrigerator for old remnants of various soft cheeses of dubious parentage.Gillian Duffy to the rescue. The culinary editor forNew Yorkmagazine has called a number of New York caterers to task, and has reached down into her own recipe file to come up with a slim volume dedicated to hors d'oeuvres.Duffy dividesHors d'Oeuvresinto winter and summer sections, but what the rhyme or reason might be is elusive. Basil in winter recipes is hardly fresh and seasonal, as she suggests. Why spicy Indian fish cakes say summer and chicken guacamole clucks winter is anyone's guess. But this weak-kneed organizing principle is hardly a detriment to the valuable information and ideas in the book.While the notion of hors d'oeuvres screams out fussy details and tons of picky, annoying tasks all piled on at the very last minute, don't shy away. Duffy is an ace hand-holder and is to be commended for avoiding all such busy work. Her selections, for the most part, are streamlined. The biggest job in this book would appear to be roasting eggplants for baba ghanoush, and that should done well ahead of time anyway to let the flavors meld.If you are planning a gathering of any kind, start with Gillian Duffy'sHors d'Oeuvres, then work up to the rest of the meal. It will be a challenge to overtake at the dinner table many of the flavors you have set out among the cocktails. And the leftovers will serve you far better than little refrigerated packets of mysterious soft cheeses.--Schuyler Ingle