Truly sleight of hand and no cheating! And in general, it’s an edible fantasy! That’s how you can talk about such a whimsical, interesting and no less tasty snack “Penguinchiki made of olives and cheese“. Such difficult wonders on the festive table will decorate it and lift the mood of everyone who not only wants to enjoy the taste, but also just admire the work of art.
Ingredients for making penguins from olives and cheese:
- Large olives (black) – 25 pieces
- Olives of medium size (black color) – 25 pieces
- Carrots of medium size – 1 piece
- soft cheese – 100 grams
- Garlic – 2-3 cloves
- Parsley – to taste
Inventory:
- Toothpicks
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Spoon
- Piala
- Garlic press
- Tray
Cooking penguins from olives and cheese.
Step 1: make the legs and beak for the penguins
In order to make the legs and beak of our snack, we need carrots. You can cook it. But I do not recommend doing this, as carrots become softer after cooking and may not hold the shape of the nose or legs. So, we take a knife and cut our orange vegetable crosswise into circles on a cutting board. Then we cut out a small triangle on each circle. We get a large part – these are the legs, and a smaller segment – the beak.
Step 2: make a tie
To make a tie on the little penguin’s belly, you need soft cheese. It is also called creamy. Cheese can be of any brand, both classic and with the addition of various spices. It has a salty taste and a soft consistency. But I advise you to take ordinary cheese without aromatic additives, such as Philadelphia or Feta, and add garlic and herbs to taste. If you don’t have cream cheese at hand, and you don’t have the time or desire to look for it specifically in the store, then there is still a way out. You can replace this ingredient with fatty cheese or by mixing heavy cream with cheese, adding a small portion of butter to this mixture. In addition, such ingredients will give you more freedom in terms of adding spices. With the help of a knife, a cutting board and a garlic press, we chop the ingredients. Place chopped garlic and parsley in a bowl with soft cheese and mix everything well with a spoon. You can add salt to taste. And what is important, do not overdo it with spices, as they can interrupt the taste of cheese and spoil the impression of olives. Thus, you should get a very thick curd mass, such that it would be possible to sculpt from plasticine. This will significantly facilitate further work with the dish and save your precious time.
Step 3: make the belly
We have two types of olives: large and smaller. Large ones are needed for the body, and small ones are needed for the head. We take those olives that are larger, and we begin to make magic over them. To make a hole for a tie, it is necessary to make an incision along the entire length of the olive with a knife. Then it’s very simple – with the help of the same knife, we fill the hole with cheese mixture. This should be done so that the space inside the olive is filled, and the cheese mass expands the cut itself. Thus, this place will resemble a light tie on a dark background.
Step 4: make the body of the penguin
Our little penguin will not stand, if his spine is not made of a toothpick. We pass a wooden stick through the body of an olive. Next, we fix it with the help of a single leg of a carrot from below so that the whole structure can stand vertically. You need to slide the toothpick in such a way that the lower part, visible from the body, was small in length, sufficient for planting a carrot leg on it. The main part can be made as big as you want, because it will be convenient to take your creation for it.
Step 5: make an incision for the beak
Now we take a smaller olive and, with the help of a sharp tool, make a triangular slit across it, just below the middle. You can take a knife with a thin tapered endso as not to spoil the olive fruit and do the intended action in one movement. The main thing is not to make the cut too bigbecause like a carrot beak, it can hold poorly, as a result, it can easily fall off at the most inopportune moment.
Step 6: make a beak and attach the head
The little olive is ready for further actions and you can start the final stage of assembling our miracle. Now we take a piece of a carrot triangle and insert it into the head of our little penguin, just in the slot made a little earlier. All components of the body are ready. Therefore, string the head on a toothpick and our snack is ready.
Step 7: It’s time to surprise your guests
An appetizer of cheese and olives is prepared very quickly. We serve the penguins equipped for work and defense on a tray, decorating our creation with the remaining greens and pieces of carrots.
Bon Appetit!
Advice:
– Try to cut the carrots into rings wide enough to make your little penguin more stable. At this point, it is better to overdo it with thickness than to make them too thin.
– The triangular piece of carrot ring used for the beak, on the contrary, should not be too thick. Since it has a purely decorative function, it can and should be made thinner so as not to spoil the appearance of the dish in the process of turning the ingredients into a penguin’s head.
– For additional decoration of penguins from olives and cheese, you can take a fresh cucumber, cut it into slices and use it as a hat, putting it on a toothpick on top of the head. In principle, you can use anything for these purposes that suits your taste and appearance. In such dishes, you should show your imagination, which will allow you to shine your culinary skills in front of guests and not leave anyone indifferent to your efforts.
