Canapes #1: Parmesan & Onion Canapes

Years and years ago, I had this little appetizer cookbook. I never made anything out of it, because I didn't entertain much, but I liked to flip through and read the recipes. There was this one recipe that sounded really yummy and I always intended to make it someday. But, during the course of a move (more than thirteen years ago), the book was misplaced. It actually didn't occur to me to just search for the ingredients - I just kept my eyes open for that one book. Silly, right?

A few months ago, I bought a copy of this (now out-of-print) book called A Slob in the Kitchen. I stuck it with my cookbooks, and then forgot all about it, until a couple of weeks ago when I did some reorganizing and spotted it again. I spent some delightful time reading through it. And I found THE recipe. Or at least it's close. I couldn't wait to try it, but I had to wait until I had company coming that would eat them with me.

When I knew my friend Julie was coming over for an afternoon, I verified with her that the ingredients sounded yummy, and put my plan in action. They turned out great, but I have some notes. Plenty good though, for the two of us to plow through. (My husband doesn't like mayo and our other guest didn't make it in time.)

Kiss-Me-Not Canapes, adapted from A Slob in the Kitchen

Ingredients
Thin white bread
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. finely-diced sweet onion

Directions
Use a round cutter to make small rounds. (The book called for 1" - I just used the cutter I had, seemed about right.)

Optional: lightly toast the rounds in the broiler (keep an eye on them - it won't take long)

Mix the other ingredients and spread onto the bread. (See my picture? Spread it a little thinner than that. Set the canapes onto a cookie sheet covered with foil or parchment paper.

Broil for about 7 minutes.

Serve while warm. (We just ate them right off the rack. Informal gathering and all.)

Notes: My friend Julie and I really enjoyed these. I went a little heavy on the toppings because I wasn't making that many and didn't want the stuff to go to waste (didn't think it would keep long). After about ten minutes, they seemed a little soggy, so I popped them in a non-stick pan and toasted the bottoms of the canapes that way. Using a little less of the topping mixture or toasting the rounds first might help. I would probably get (thinly) pre-sliced bread to save some time. Also, larger slices would probably result in less wasted bread.