Happy New Year....with some snacks!

HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

I hope all of you had an awesome New Year’s Eve and great start into 2015.

I know it’s a little bit too late to come up with some snacks for the party…but there’s always the next year and the next party.

So…I spend New Year’s Eve at a party with my boyfriend and friends. It was so much fun and the fireworks were amazingly beautiful.

Usally, when I’m welcoming the New Year with my family we always had fondue. But at the end of 2014, since I had been invited to that party, I went for some handy and delicious snacks.

Ham&cheese croissants, cheeseballs and a walnut chickpea spread….sounds tasty, right? And…they’re perfect for a little bite between two glases of champagne.

Ready? Here are the directions:

For the croissants, slice up one small onion. Dice 100g of ham and 100g of raclette cheese into small cubes. I recommend a savory type of cheese but feel free to take any cheese of your choice. Then heat up a pan and pour in one tablespoon of oil. Stir fry the sliced onion. As soons as it turns slightly bown add the ham. Stir fry for another couple of minutes and turn down the heat afterwards.

Meanwhile you can roll out the puff pastry. Make sure that the pastry isn’t too cold otherwise it will break. (Room temperature works best.) Take a sharp knife und cut the pastry into triangles. Spread about one tablespoon of cheese and the roasted ham onion mix on the wide side of each pastry triangle. Then, beginning at the wide side, roll up the whole piece. (For better understanding see the drawing.) Place each croissant on a lined baking tray. Continue the process until the entire puff pastry is used up. Bake your croissants for about 15 to 20 minutes at 200°C.

Meanwhile you can prepare the walnut chickpea spread.

Put 200g of walnuts into a blender. Blend until they are finely grounded. Then add 400g of precooked chickpeas and a little bit of water. Blend again until it’s smooth. You can always add more water if it’s too crumbly. Place the spread into a bowl and season with salt, black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Store it in the fridge until needed.

To prepare the cheesballs mix 250g of cream cheese and 100g of crème fraiche together in a bowl. Make sure that all is combined well then season with black pepper. Put it in the fridge to chill about ten minutes. This will make it easier to form the balls.

Afterwards take two teaspoons, form a dumblings and roll each of them in herbs, black sesame or curry powder. Place each of your cheeseballs on a round shaped cracker and store it in the fridge again until it’s needed. If you want secure the balls with a toothpick or cocktail stick.

And…new year, new design…here is a short summary of the ingredients. Let me know if you like it.

Enjoy your party snacks and have a wonderful 2015!!

Don’t forget to send me some pics!!! I’d love to see how you spend New Year’s Eve.

xo

Andrea