Roast Beef Canapes

From the Hartford Courant -

The Basics

December 26, 2002|By BILL DALEY And CHRISTOPHER PROSPERI Christopher Prosperi is chef-owner of Metro Bis restaurant in Simsbury. Bill Daley is a food writer and restaurant reviewer with The Hartford Courant.

We used a biscuit cutter to make bread rounds to serve as the canape base. If you don't have one, don't despair. Cut the bread into strips, triangles, rectangles or whatever shape catches your fancy.

This recipe calls for the leftover roast beef to be sliced into strips, but you can always cut the roast beef into slices -- especially if you deft at wielding a carving knife or a slicer. (Deli-sliced roast beef also works.)

Tiny cornichon pickles are crisp and sharp, not at all like the usual sweet gherkins served up on buffet tables. You may need to do some searching for them.

* 3/4 pound leftover cooked roast beef

* 12 slices white bread

* 2 tablespoons butter
1 cup horseradish sour cream sauce (below)

* 2 tablespoons chopped chives

Cut the roast beef into 1/8-inch slices. You'll need about five or six slices for this dish.

Stack the slices and cut into thin strips about 1/8 inch wide and 2 inches long. You will need about 1-1/2 cups of roast beef strips. Set aside while you prepare the toast rounds. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Using a biscuit cutter, cut 2-inch rounds out of the bread slices. You should get two rounds per slice (save the scraps to make bread crumbs).

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Brush each bread round with butter on both sides and place the rounds on a baking sheet.

Position the baking sheet on the middle rack of the preheated oven and bake the rounds for 5 minutes or until the bread is golden brown. Remove from oven and allow the rounds to cool and crisp.

Begin assembling the canapes. Arrange the toast rounds on platters. Place about 2 tablespoons of the roast beef strips on top of the toast. Top with a dollop of the horseradish cream sauce and garnished with a cornichon pickle and chives. If you want to be fancy, partially slice the cornichon and arrange the slices in a fan shape on the canape. Makes 24 canapes.

HORSERADISH SOUR CREAM SAUCE

This sauce is the savior of cold meats everywhere. It's creamy piquancy is also a great foil to corned beef.

* 1 cup sour cream

* 1/4 to 1/2 cup prepared horseradish

* 1 teaspoon black pepper

* 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl. Use immediately or refrigerate.