Port and Paprika Chicken Bites

This tipsy tapas of Portuguese descent is intended as just a single bite, though we found it impossible to stop at just one.

• Quick Glance
• 20 M
• 30 M
• 11

Burrata with Asparagus, Pine Nuts, and Golden Raisins

A ridiculously rich, unthinkably creamy kin to mozzarella, burrata brings understated bling to every little thing. Prepare to swoon.

• Quick Glance
• 30 M
• 30 M
• 6

Pupu Platter

Remember when sitting around and noshing on crab rangoon and coconut shrimp was the height of chic? Some say it still is.

• Quick Glance
• 50 M
• 1 H
• 5

Red Chili and Cheddar Crackers

These can’t-stop-eating-them crackers boast actual aged Cheddar cheesiness. Stain-your-fingers faux Cheez-It-ness just can’t compete.

• Quick Glance
• 20 M
• 2 H
• 12

Broiled Buffalo Wings

These lip-tingling wings and to-dip-for blue cheese goodness boast far, far fewer calories than what you’d get at the neighborhood bar. Not that anyone will notice…

• Quick Glance
• 25 M
• 40 M
• 5

Blue Cheese Dip

Tired of settling for an ordinary blue cheese dip where you practically need a search party to find the few chunks of cheese swimming around in mayo? This one won’t disappoint.

• Quick Glance
• 5 M
• 5 M
• 3

Mussels Marinara | Cozze alla Marinara

Three ingredients. One pot. Less than 15 minutes. Barely gives you time to uncork a bottle of wine or crack open a beer…but somehow, we think you’ll manage.

• Quick Glance
• 5 M
• 25 M
• 4

Bibb Wedges, Radicchio, Endive, and Blue Cheese Dressing

Remember those insipid wedges of iceberg buried beneath blobs of bottled blue cheese dressing? This salad will erase all such memories.

Duck Prosciutto

Pig-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free, this home-cured prosciutto tastes beguilingly, deceptively complex and beguiling–who’d have thunk it’s as easy as heck to make?!

Sauteed Chicken Liver on Toast

Tuscan through and through, this classic first course snazzes up chicken livers with capers, butter, onion, anchovies, and a splash of that other Tuscan tradition.

Stilton and Walnut Crackers

Perhaps the simplest precursor to a dinner party ever. Just make the savory shortbread dough, freeze it, slice it, and bake it at the very last second. You’re welcome.

Grilled Porcini Mushrooms with Mint and Garlic

Boletus edulis–that’s the fancy-pants name for porcini–is hardly a come-hither sort of name, but with a taste like this, who cares?

Smoked Whitefish Brandade

Turns out an old brandade can learn new tricks. Here smoked sable stands in for salt cod, bringing a smoky richness to the garlicky potato purée–to great effect.

Sausage and Chutney Picnic Puffs

This easy-to-make, easy-to-transport picnic fare appeases the robust appetites of gents as well as the dainty sensibilities of ladies. Don’t mind if we do.

Smoked Shrimp with Three Dipping Sauces

Shrimp and longnecks. There’s little else a summer shindig requires, except perhaps these three eminently easy dips.

• Quick Glance
• 30 M
• 30 M
• 7

Spanish Gazpacho

Puree tomatoes, cukes, bell peppers, bread, vinegar, garlic, and olive oil until smooth, toss in the fridge until mind-numbingly cold, then slurp and sigh.

Sunflower Squash Fritters

These little blobs of deep-fried cornmeal batter and grated summer squash scream summer. They’re part hush puppy, part fritter, and lovely through and through.

A Trio of Deviled Eggs

Lovely is all we can think to say of this bevy of deviled eggs: classic, smoked salmon, and lightly truffled. Our favorite? Nope, we’re not going there.

Herbed Ricotta Dip with Vegetables

True story: This luscious little number inspired one toddler to dip and dunk his way through an entire bag of baby carrots. An entire bag. Behold, the power of the dipper!

• Quick Glance
• 20 M
• 20 M
• 6

Semolina Gnocchi | Gnocchi di Semola

This sexy, simple gnocchi is all Roman La Dolce Vita, made with semolina flour and not potato. See for yourself how seductive it can be.

• Quick Glance
• 30 M
• 1 H, 15 M
• 30