Turn a can of Spam into a platter of festive hors d’oeuvres with help from a wedge of Brie, a spot of mustard, and your best cocktail toothpicks. Cooking cubes of Spam in a hot pan renders them crispy and tender, and a sprinkling of brown sugar while they’re still hot melts into a sticky-sweet coating that provides a welcome balance to the creamy slices of cheese and pleasantly bitter whole grain mustard topping each stacked bite.
Ingredients
Makes about 30
2
1
1
7
2
30
Special Equipment
30
Preparation
-
Step 1
Heat 2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Cook one 12-oz. can Spam, cut into ¾” cubes, tossing occasionally, until crisp and browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove skillet from heat; sprinkle 1 Tbsp. light or dark brown sugar over Spam and toss to coat.
Step 2
Arrange Spam on a platter and stack a piece of 7 oz. Brie, thinly sliced, cut into 1″ pieces, on top of each cube. Spoon about ¼ tsp. whole grain mustard over each piece of Brie.
Step 3
Run a toothpick through each of 30 cornichons; stick into a meat-and-cheese stack (this will keep it neat). Repeat for remaining stacks.