thebigfatnoodle

Amuse bouches: ponce or pleasure? Try my milk and cookies before you decide…

Posted by thebigfatnoodle on August 5, 2011 · 2 Comments 

the trio of amuse bouches I made for the bigmonster

Ever since the bigmonster and I returned from a French wine tour this year, I have been singularly obsessed with amuse bouches. I adore them! To the point where, for his celebratory 40th birthday dinner with friends, I spent more time planning a trio of amuse bouches than I did on the rest of the birthday menu itself. So why the fascination with amuse bouches when they can seem a bit poncey?

Well, just like how sorbet can cleanse one’s palate between courses, amuse bouches are meant to whet one’s appetite before the meal starts. But that’s not the reason why I love them…

Firstly, there’s the surprise element – you and your guests never know what you’re going to get when you’re served one in a restaurant.

Making cookies of the savoury kind

Then there’s the emotional element; someone cared enough to make an extra little treat just for you. Even today when it’s common for most restaurants to offer customers an amuse bouche, it still makes one feel that extra bit special, and who doesn’t like to feel like they’re being spoiled from time to time?

Honestly though, I unashamedly especially love them because they always look so pretty and cute; they are miniatures gone mad, and therefore can be turned into such silly, silly fun, brilliant!

My mini milk and cookies but not as you normally know them

Amuse bouche – translated literally from French as ‘mouth amuser’

Haven’t you ever sat staring at a menu and wanted to order 5 of the dishes listed instead of picking 1 or 2? In reality though, you don’t really want to have all those dishes, you just wish you could have a taste of them… For me, making an amuse bouche is a chance to go complete doolally and let my imagination run wild; I can turn cocktail drinks into appetisers, or take old recipes and turn them into silly mini ‘new’ constructions.

They are harmless fun because they are just one mouthful of taste to help your tastebuds on their way to the main attraction…

Bite sized biscuits to go with my savoury milk

They appeal to me in the same way petit fours do; why restrict yourself to one kind of cake when you can try four? There shouldn’t be any guilt involved too since they’re really just mini morsels and therefore not even as calorific as a full sized portion of cake, right? 😀

So, I took advantage of the dinner I made yesterday to have some fun in the kitchen today. Here’s my first amuse bouche recipe for you and it’s called ‘milk and cookies’. If you fancy trying to make it, here’s the recipe.

Have a brilliant weekend.

Lots of love

thebigfatnoodle