Mushroom Chips

It doesn’t get easier than this: one of the hors d’oeuvre I’ll be serving on New Year’s Eve.

Mushroom chips

• 4 large king oyster mushrooms

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• kosher salt or sea salt

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Slice the mushrooms about 1/8-inch thick. Place the mushrooms on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush both sides with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and thyme. Roast for about 20 minutes, turning them over after the first 10 minutes.

Makes 4 servings

Meatball Nosh

I had a little cranberry sauce and a bottle of chili sauce and a small amount of ground beef. Not enough to use for dinner, so I made a version of the Elegant but Easy Cookbook recipe for cocktail meatballs (Marion Burros and Lois Levine). I didn’t have the recipe in front of me but remembered it was little meatball cooked in a combo of grape jelly and chili sauce. The version I made was delicious and just enough for a nice little nosh for 2. I made a fraction of the recipe below.

Gonna make these for New Year’s, when we have hors d’oeuvres at different points during the day (no actual dinner).

Cocktail Meatballs: heat 1-1/2 cups cranberry sauce, 1-1/2 cups chili sauce, 1/4 cup orange juice and 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger in a saucepan. Stir to blend the ingredients. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low. In a bowl, mix 1 pound ground beef (or use turkey or veal) with 1 egg and enough breadcrumbs to bind the mixture well. Make 1-inch meatballs and place them in the sauce. Cook for 35-40 minutes, spooning the sauce over the meatballs occasionally and turning them to coat all sides.

Makes 8 servings