Can anyone provide their tried and true seafood appetizer recipes? Your help is appreciated! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Curried Shrimp Dip

16 oz. softened cream cheese
1/4 cup mayo
1/2 tesp. curry powder
Salt & Pepper to taste
8 oz. tiny canned shrimp; drained or 8-10 large frozen shrimp, cooked and chopped
1/4 cup scallions; chopped
1/4 cup celery; chopped
2 hard boiled eggs; whites and yolks chopped separately

Blend cream cheese, mayo, curry powder and salt & pepper in bowl. Spread in shallow, round serving bowl leaving 1/2" margin at edge. Layer shrimp on top of cheese mixture leaving 1/2" margin at edge. Repeat with layers of scallions and celery. Layer chopped egg white over scallions/celery mixture. Fill center with chopped egg yolk. When done, it should look like a colorful "bulls eye." CHILL OVERNIGHT.

Serve with party rye bread and/or crackers.

Hot Seafood Artichoke Dip

1 cup Parmesan cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
1 can artichoke hearts - chopped fairly fine
1 can small salad shrimp - drained
1 can crabmeat - drained
several shots of Tabasco sauce

Mix all ingredients together. Put into a microwave safe dish and heat. When hot, sprinkle with paprika or snipped chives for garnish. Serve with crackers.

Shrimp Dilly Dip
(courtesy of fellow TTOL'er Daix (JD's)

1/4 cup "Hellman's" mayo (the only "real" mayo from a store)
1/4 cup sour cream (full strength, no-light stuff)
8 oz Philadelphia brand cream cheese, softened
6 oz canned tiny shrimp, rinsed, well-drained
2 T. minced yellow onion
Dill Weed to taste, more the better in my book.

Mix all together, cover, refrigerate for at least an hour to allow flavors to meld.

Great on crackers, celery sticks, bagels, blah, blah...

awesome, thanks for these!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

Hi Kimmers. Your recipe sounds exactly like my regular hot artichoke dip but with the addition of seafood and no mozzarella. Also, mine is baked. I think I will try adding the seafood next time! Thanks!

The quintessential appetizer shrimp cocktail ! It is amazing, the difference in taste, with the roasted shrimp, which you cook yourself. I don't bother to make her sauce, just use jar stuff. Just make sure you use a fair sized shrimp, not a 'little' shrimp. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

thanks again!

SHRIMP POLENTA
½ box (about 1 1/3 cups) polenta
4 cups chicken stock
1 pound cooked shrimp (tails removed) cut to ½ inch pieces
½ bunch green onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. Old Bay
1 tbsp. dill
¼ cup grated Parmesan Cheese
S & P (to taste)

1. Bring the chicken stock to a boil and add the onions, garlic, dill, S&P and Old Bay,
2. Simmer for 1 minute…
3. Add the shrimp & parmesan cheese and GRADYALLY add the Polenta stirring constantly
4. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir constantly for 5 minutes, until thick (almost like cookie dough).
5. Spray an 8x8 Pyrex dish with Olive Oil cooking spray.
6. Put the polenta in the Pyrex dish and smooth the top and cover with Saran Wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. (The polenta will get the consistency of cold stick margarine).
7. Cut polenta into 8 rectangles and sauté in Olive Oil until both sides brown and get a nice golden crust.
8. Serve as an appetizer, side dish or main course for dinner. Bon Appétit!

It looks interesting as a side dish, but it somehow doesn't seem like an appetizer to me. Do you serve it with some type of a sauce or something, when you use it as an appetizer?

I used them for an appetizer once...
you just cut the polenta up in about 1.5" squares and sauté...
Sprinkle with fresh grated Parmesan Cheese when browned and still hot...
Can be served at room temp. but hot is best...

OK, cut up in smaller pieces, makes more sense. Still seems unusual for an appetizer.. Better side dish??

For how many people?

approx 15

Not all appetizers are finger food. In fact, I would consider hors d'oeuvres and appetizers as two separate courses, although technically I suppose they're the same thing. But certainly an appetizer can be a seated course, like roasted baby artichokes or little teeny cups of soup (although again, I guess at a formal party the soup course would also be separate!).

Anyway, it depends on the occasion. I think all of the above suggestions are good! I have a recipe somewhere for a spicy lobster dip, but it's a bit overwhelming if there are more courses to follow it- better for strictly-finger-food occasions.

You are absolutely correct. I stand corrected.