Three Amuse Bouche with Ham, Shrimp, and Goat Cheese

Why This Trio Works

There is nothing better than starting dinner with a teaser - a small bite that wakes up the taste buds for everything to come.

These three little recipes are delicious on their own, but they're designed to complement each other: warm against cold, creamy against crisp, sweet fig and Biscoff against salty duck and Parma ham. Each one uses a different serving style too - a spoon, a glass, and a finger-food roll - so the plate looks impressive with very little effort.

Best of all, two of the three can be fully prepped in the morning (see the make-ahead section below), so you only sear the shrimp just before serving.

This recipe has been adapted from a Dutch blog called Hap en Tap.

Amuse Bouche with Duck and Cream Ham

• Duck breast fillet - Thinly sliced duck breast meat. It is smoked, which gives it a salty taste. This is delicious in combination with the creamy ham mousse and sweet Biscoff cookies. 
• Cream cheese - Use a natural cream cheese at room temperature (this will make it easier to mix)
• Ham - Cooked ham from the charcuterie department. 
• Biscoff cookies - Or Dutch Speculaas. These cookies are flavored with winter spices such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice, and pepper. Crumble the biscuits, and you get a delicious dipper for this duck amuse-bouche.

Salad Amuse with Cucumber, Parma ham, and Figs

• Cucumber - use an English cucumber. Wash the cucumber (better use an organic one) and slice the cucumber lengthwise with a vegetable peeler or cheese slicer. You can drape this nicely in a glass.
• Fig Jam - A full-bodied sweet jam made from fig.
• Dried apricots - Cut this sweet dried fruit into small cubes and mix with the Parma ham.
• Goat's cheese - Buy soft goat's cheese, natural, and crumble it over the ham.
• Pine Nuts - Toast the pine nuts before adding them to give them a nice nutty flavor.
• Balsamic Glaze - This is reduced balsamic vinegar. This makes the taste sweeter and full. Use this as a dressing in the salad.

Shrimp Amuse Bouche

• Chicory - Stew this vegetable in the orange, honey curry sauce, and it will get a mild taste. Chicory is sometimes known for its bitter flavor. But you can quickly solve that. Cut the back of the chicory and then remove the core. This way, you remove the bitter part from the chicory.
• Butter - Use unsalted butter to fry the chicory briefly.
• Honey - To sweeten the chicory sauce.
• Curry powder - Curry and chicory are a delicious flavor combination, and this sauce proves that once again.
• Orange - Use an organic orange. Grate the zest (make sure you don't grate the white, as it is bitter. You also use the juice to give the sauce more flavor.
• Stock - A delicious fish stock as a base for the curry orange sauce. If you don't have fish stock, use vegetable stock.
• Cream - To make the sauce creamy.
• Shrimp - Large shrimp that you serve in the sauce. I have used cooked shrimp that I fry briefly, but you can also use uncooked shrimp. Bake the latter until they are pink. Do not forget to remove the intestinal tract. You do this by making a slight indentation on the back and pushing it out with a toothpick.
• Chives - It has a light onion flavor and colors well with the amuse-bouche.
• Sesame seeds - Sesame seeds have a delicious nutty taste. Sprinkle this as a garnish and seasoning on the spoon before serving

Amuse Bouche with Duck and Ham Mousse

1. Place the ham and cream cheese in a good processor and pulse until you have a smooth mousse. Put aside.
2. Grind the Biscoff cookies fine until you've got crumbs.
3. Place a slice of duck breast fillet in front of you and add a tablespoon of ham mousse. Roll up.
4. Spread the cookie crumbs over a plate and dip the ends of the duck roll in the biscuit crumbs.

Salad Amuse with Cucumber, Parma ham, and Figs

1. Divide the fig jam among the glasses.
2. Place strips of Parma ham and cubes of dried apricot on top.
3. Crumble the goat cheese on it.
4. Fill the rest of the glass with cucumber slices and pine nuts, and sprinkle with balsamic glaze.

Shrimp Amuse Bouche with Chicory

1. Melt butter in the pan and fry the prawns lightly until they are pink. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Braise the chicory strips in the butter for 2 minutes.
3. Add the honey, curry, orange zest and juice and stock. Raise the heat to high and reduce to ⅓ of the volume.
4. Pour in the whipped cream and let it reduce to yogurt thickness. Spoon some sauce onto an amuse-bouche spoon and place a shrimp on top. Garnish with orange zest, chives and sesame. Serve hot.