Small Bite Reuben Puffs

for the gougere:

1 cup water
1 stick butter
1/cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 cup grated or finely diced Swiss or Gruyere
Caraway seeds

for the filling:

1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
3-3 1/2 ouz cooked corned beef, finely diced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tbls finely chopped onion
1 tsp spicy brown or horseradish mustard
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup packed kraut, well wrung & chopped

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a saucepan over medium heat, bring water and butter to a boil. Add both flours, garlic powder and salt all at once. Stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until fully incorporated (wet shiny look will disappear). Mix in the grated cheese.

Drop the batter by rounded teaspoonfuls, 2 inchs apart, onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with caraway seeds. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire racks to cool.

In a mixing bowl combine all the filling ingredients. Mix well. Split puffs. Add filling. Serve.

While looking for something else I noticed that Betty Groff, in one of her cookbooks, has a recipe for Reuben Croquettes. I'm thinking a nice small plate presentation might be to lay out a miniatureized true Reuben (remove the crusts from the bread, make the Reuben, then divide in quarters), one of my puffs, and one of her croquettes to make a Reuben Plate.

BTW, if you're unaware of it, choux paste is one of the most creative things going. A basic recipe is the same as above, but using all white flour, and adding a tablespoon of dry mustard. What I do, instead of dropping them by spoonfulls, is to pipe the mixture. I make different shaped puffs---circles, triangles, crescents, squares---and use a different filling for each. For instance, chicken & gorgonzola salad might go in the crescent; ham & cheese in the triangle; the Reuban spread in the circle; barbecued duck in the square. They all go out on a serving platter for guests to help themselves.

One of the most creative ingredients available for small bite enthusiasts are won-ton wrappers and egg role skins. The ways you can use them are unlimited.

For instance, using round won tons (if you can't find them, use a cookie cutter to make them), push a wrapper into a mini-muffin tin. A shot glass will help you get them started evenly. Bake in a hot oven until they crisp up and change color slightly. Cool on a wire rack.

This won-ton cups last two days longer than forever if sealed in a zipper bag. Fill them with whatever strikes your fancy.

Use the won ton wraps as the wrapper for pot stickers. To make fried won tons (you remember my crab-stuffed recipe, with the peach gastrique). As a substitute for ravioli dough. To bake instead of fry, fill the wrapper. Dip in egg wash, then into Panko crumbs. Bake. I make a killer mushroom puff that way.

When you're making won ton cups, and have the oven on anyway, use your cookie cutters to create all sorts of "crackers" from egg role skins. Don't forget decorative stuff while you're at it. For instance, using a corrugated cutter, make a disk. Then use the next smaller size cutter to cut out the center. You'll wind up with a large ring and a small cracker. Bake them at the same time as the cups.

If you want to take the time, make stencils in shapes you like and cut the skins to those designs. How about a fish-shaped cracker holding smoked salmon, for instance? Or a scallop shell holding a tiny portion of Coquille St. Jaques? Or......

Depending on desired end result you can leave won ton wraps square, or make them round. Use just one, folded over on itself. Or use two to make a larger bite.

Like I say, unlimited possibilities.

Cathy, if you're going to make those little bread boxes, something to keep in mind: It is much easier to work with a Pullman loaf than a standard one, if you can buy one (or if you have the special pan needed to bake one).

You start by cutting the loaf the long way, then into strips and cubes. With the Pullman, you get greater productivity for the same amount of work, is all.

Cutting things like that, incidentally, is one of the very few times an electric knife comes in handy.

Thanks for all the wonderful and inventive tips! By the way I love my electric knife and am tickled pink to have another use for it, was given to me as a gift!

If you're going to get involved much in small bites, one of the best tools you can buy is a multi-sized melon baller, or several of them in different sizes.

So much of this involves hollowing out small items. Those bread boxes, for instance. And small fruits and veggies (cherry tomatoes, baby pattypan squash, cukes, zucchini, etc, etc.). Melon ballers are ideal for this.

Dishers (spring loaded servers, like ice cream scoops) come in about 40 sizes, and are also ideal for size and portion control. My most commonly used one is a two-tablespoon size. I didn't buy it from a professional supplier, however, so don't know the number (dishers are made in sizes from 1/2 ounce to 40 ounces, and are numbered to represent the number of ounces. For instance, a quarter cup size would be a 4).

Cookie cutters, as I've hinted, in assorted shapes and sizes are great tools for small plating. Not only to cut things, but to be used as molds. I also use various diameters and lenghs of PVC tubing as molds. And, of course, you can always buy ring and square molds from pastry supply shops.

Keep in mind that presentation is everything with small bites. As much as possible you want each to look exactly like all the others of that type.

I also haunt party stores and the like, collecting fancy picks and short skewers. Although I much prefer other ways of doing things, sometimes a pick is the only way to hold things together. The pick, itself, should therefore become part of the presentation.

A mandoline is almost de rigeur in many cases. If you're going to be slicing baby vegetables, for instance, a mandoline is the only way to assure thin, even slices. Ditto to make vegetable chips, whether potato or other root veggies. Just be careful using it---a mandoline is the most dangerous tool in the kitchen, even more dangerous than a dull knife.

If you can find one, a mini-bun pan is worthwhile. I have one I'd bought from King Arthur. But they're out of stock, on what looks like a permanent basis. And I haven't been able to track them down elsewhere. The problem is, most recipes make enough dough for 24 mini-buns. But the rack is only 12 up.

A cake decorating kit, and a selection of larger piping tips, is invaluable, as you'll be doing a lot of fancy applications of sauces, dips, etc. Squeeze bottles also make sense for this purpose.

As with ingredients and techniques, this should just be a start to getting your juices flowing. You're imagination will let you see all sorts of uses for tools and found objects designed for other purposes.