Roasted New Potatoes and Blue Cheese — Appetizers For large Parties

Appetizers are never a "just". They take more time than an entreé because one must make more of them. Appetizers need to fit the event as well. An intimate sit down dinner merits an intricate appetizer, while a party for 100 requires easy-to-plate bites that people can eat while standing up and drinking and talking.

The hunt for new, interesting appetizers is constant. For the next week, we’ll be featuring our favorites starting with simple recipes suited for large parties and moving onto the most involved.

First up: Roasted New Potatoes and Blue Cheese

Ingredients:
New Potatoes
Blue Cheese
Cream
Chives

One note before you go shopping- use the cheap and cheerful blue cheese. There isn’t much point in using Italian gorgonzola or French Bleu d'Auvergne. They bitter out when combined with cream. Use something domestic. Chef Cannella uses an Oregon blue — which is laid back and easy to work with. You will need a pound.

Buy potatoes about the size of a golf ball. This is a one-bite appetizer and people get weird when they start to choke. For 100 people get four pounds, you’ll have extra.

Do a day ahead:
Cut the potatoes in half and use a melon baller to make a hole in the center.
Boil in one-pound batches.

Make blue cheese filling by mixing cheese with cream.

Depending on the cheese you’ll need to mix in anywhere from a tablespoon to four. Watch the consistency, it should be a little thicker than frosting.

Keep in mind the blue cheese will melt in the roasted potatoes and will stiffen in a refrigerator. Put mixture into the piping bag and refrigerate.


At a half hour before serving time:
Let the piping bag sit somewhere to warm (but not melt)
Roast the potatoes until they are golden brown.
Let cool on a sheet pan.
Pipe cheese.
Garnish with chives.

You can garnish with anything you like, but make sure whatever it is won’t wilt in the heat of warm blue cheese.