After writing about holiday hors d'oeuvres and appetizers for the past week and a half, I am yearning to throw a little party for my husband and I, complete with cocktails, Prosecco, and many savory bites, like these toasted corn cups, filled with a mixture of shrimp, persimmons, lime and cilantro. Never has a personal cocktail party sounded so good as it did yesterday, after a relatively harrowing afternoon.
Yesterday was the day for my 6-year old son's annual eye exam. He has been wearing glasses for a couple of years and is a trooper about the whole thing. Eye exams, however, top the list of his least favorite things. There is only one reason for this - the dreaded eye drops. On the way to the appointment, he announced, "Mum, I would rather kiss a toilet than have drops put in my eyes." Hmm - not a good sign.
When it was time for his appointment, he willingly jumped into the examination seat and tried to pull the phoropter (okay, I looked that one up on Google) in front of his face so he could pretend he was Luke Skywalker in an X-Wing Fighter jet. He breezed through the first part of the exam and made no mention of kissing toilets...until it was time for the eye drops.
After the miserable failure of gentle persuasion and coercion, the nurse realized my son was not going to be a willing participant. I pulled him onto my lap and held down his hands as she pried his eyes open and administered the drops. I was steeled for the crying and complaints, but was not prepared for top-of-the-lungs yells of "It burns like acid!" I was certain that the next time I looked in the mirror, there was going to be a "Worst Mother" tattoo emblazoned on my forehead. A big glass of red wine would have been a welcome sight at that moment. Alas, the nurse did not seem keen on supplying this frazzled mother with alcohol. Something about liability. All I could do was wrap my arms around my son and rock him, and remind myself that this is one of the stories that I will laugh about later. My son, completely straight-faced looked up and said, "You see, Mum? That was much worse than kissing a toilet." Give me strength.
The recipe:
Toasted Corn Cups:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Working with one corn tortilla at a time, place tortilla in the pan and heat for about 15 seconds on each side.
Transfer the tortilla to a work surface and lightly brush each side with canola oil. Using a 2 ½-inch circle cutter, cut two circles from tortilla and press each circle into the hole of a mini muffin tin. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Bake until the tortilla cups are crisp and just beginning to brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer the cups to a wire rack and allow them to cool.
(Make ahead: The corn cups can be made 2 to 3 days ahead and stored in an airtight container. Before serving, lightly toast them on a baking sheet in a 250 degrees F oven for 3 to 5 minutes to make them crisp again.)
Shrimp & Persimmon Salsa:
In a medium bowl, combine roughly chopped cooked shrimp, diced persimmon, lime juice, red chile flakes, cilantro, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.
Using a 1 teaspoon measure, fill each corn cup with shrimp mixture.
Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve immediately.
Other hors d'oeuvres with shrimp or persimmons:
Cookin' Canuck's Pan-Fried Brie Cheese with Persimmon Salsa Canapes
Cookin' Canuck's Garlic Roasted Shrimp with Jalapeno Cocktail Sauce
Hedonia's Coppa-Wrapped Persimmon
Recipe Girl's Margarita Shrimp Bites with Southwestern Sauce
Rasa Malaysia's Vietnamese Sugar Cane Shrimp (Chao Tom)
Shrimp & Persimmon Salsa in Toasted Corn Tortilla Cups
Toasted Corn Cups from Martha Stewart's Hors d'Oeuvres Handbook
Toasted Corn Cups:
12 6-inch yellow (if they're very pliable) or white corn tortillas
3 tablespoon canola oil
Shrimp & Persimmon Salsa:
12 oz. peeled and cooked shrimp, roughly chopped
1 medium Fuyu persimmon, cut into ½-inch dice
2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
¼ teaspoon red chile flakes (or more to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
Toasted Corn Cups:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Working with one corn tortilla at a time, place tortilla in the pan and heat for about 15 seconds on each side. Transfer the tortilla to a work surface and lightly brush each side with canola oil. Using a 2 ½-inch circle cutter, cut two circles from tortilla and press each circle into the hole of a mini muffin tin. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
Bake until the tortilla cups are crisp and just beginning to brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer the cups to a wire rack and allow them to cool.
(Make ahead: The corn cups can be made 2 to 3 days ahead and stored in an airtight container. Before serving, lightly toast them on a baking sheet in a 250 degrees F oven for 3 to 5 minutes to make them crisp again.)
Shrimp & Persimmon Salsa:
In a medium bowl, combine roughly chopped cooked shrimp, diced persimmon, lime juice, red chile flakes, cilantro, salt and pepper. Stir well to combine.
Using a 1 teaspoon measure, fill each corn cup with shrimp mixture. Garnish with a couple of pieces of chopped cilantro. Serve immediately.
Makes 24 hors d'oeuvres.
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Sandy
Fantastic recipe as usual!
Thanks for sharing!
Sandy
http://r.evie.ws/view-review/working-woman-s-cookbook
retro sweets
Ah, you really have a glass of wine in those situations. My son also screamed like what when we went to the EENT to remove the foreign object he stuck in his ears.
This looks like a yummy dish! i need to research on persimmons though as i never tried them on any of my dish. do they taste like tomatoes?
A Canadian Foodie
They are beautiful. I cannot imagine the flavour as I haven't eaten persimmon proper. Love the cup idea, and haven't used it for ages... so thanks for the reminder. (Miss you stopping by)
🙂
Valerie
Nancy
Too bad we don't live closer because I would have brought you a glass of wine!!
These little cups are gorgeous - I make ones that are very similar but instead of persimmon I use mango - will have to try with persimmon though!!
Belinda @zomppa
Kids put it in perspective, eh? These look so delicious!
Claudia
My son has a condition that requires careful monitoring of the eyes. It was painful to talk him into the dreaded eye drops twice a year. It passed and he still hates it (now age 23) but when it's your kid - you just want to absorb the pain for them.
That said, these are definitely the loveliest small bites and I am imaginging them with a glass of Prosecco which makes me very happy.
Deborah
Poor little guy - I hate having things put in my eyes, too! These appetizers are some of the prettiest I've seen! I wish I was throwing a party right now!
Rebecca
These look amazing! Can I please come to you cocktail & hour d'oeuvres party??! I've always wanted to try perissmons but don't really like sweet foods. This looks like the perfect way to eat them!
Anna
Oh Dara, that's the cutest appetizer ever, and the combination sounds delicious.
dario (foodpixels )
They look goRRRgeous and for sure they must be delicious; I can see myself devouring half a dozen of little babies without a blink of an eye 🙂
Dario