Housewarming Spread

My wife and I were married a little over a year ago, and bought our first house earlier this year.  One of the things she was looking forward to most was hosting parties.  With all the new wedding gifts, and a brand new house as the venue, we wasted little time in inviting our friends over for a housewarming get together.

We decided to have a spread of appetizers and snacks for our guests in lieu of preparing a formal meal.  Many items were store purchased and sliced for presentation (meat & cheese tray, sliced veggies, hummus, dip, mini toasts, wraps, and olives).

I baked my own bread to dip in the romesco sauce with goat cheese.  This is a favorite of ours, for sure!  Romesco sauce has roasted red peppers, tomatoes, and almonds.  Heat that up with some goat cheese and you’ll have an appetizer that people will rave about!  You can also just use a marinara sauce out of a jar -- but it isn’t quite as delicious.

 

My wife made spiced nuts, Rocky Road popcorn, as well as some lemon & candied ginger sugar cookies.  The popcorn is just microwave popcorn that you melt chocolate chips & marshmallows into, and then add peanuts.  Make sure you sift out the kernels, though, or they will get stuck in the chocolate & marshmallows.  Ouch.

She also made sangria using a lot of fresh fruit (lemon, lime, apple, oranges).  It is a really fun & refreshing party beverage.  Here is the full menu:

• Romesco & Goat Cheese with Fresh Bread
• Celery, Cucumber, Carrots, Cherry Tomatoes, and Red Peppers with Hummus
• Meat & Cheese Spiral Wraps from Sam’s Club
• Mini Toasts with Sundried Tomato Mustard and a Garlic Aioli
• Pepperoni, Mozzarella, and Salami tray
• Dried sharper chesses
• Black Olives
• Potato Chips with French Onion Dip
• Spiced Mixed Nuts
• Rocky Road Popcorn
• Sangria
• Wines
• Beer

We have subsequently had guests over for Sunday brunch, a backyard BBQ, and a taco bar party with margaritas & mojitos.  It is a fun way to spend time with your friends, show off your house, and hone your cooking skills.  Hosting a party can be a lot of work, but it’s also a lot of fun!

Red Beans & Rice with Kielbasa and Mustard-Braised Collard Greens

These red beans & rice would also fall into the “semi-homemade” category.  I start by slicing a kielbasa, Polish sausage, or Adouille into bite-sized pieces and sear them in a pan.  In an effort to be more health conscious, I used Turkey Polish sausage this time.  I added a little oil and some crushed red pepper flakes -- since Turkey can be a little less flavorful than a traditional Kielbasa.  But you really can’t tell the difference after the dish is all put together.  There are a lot of bold flavors here to carry it home.

Let the meat get a hard sear on one side and then flip them over.  I use tongs to meticulously get both sides seared.  But you can probably just move them around with a spoon or spatula.  I used a Knorr brand Red Beans & Rice packet next (hence the “semi-homemade” label).  Deglaze the pan with the water, add the packet, and simmer with the lid covered.

The turkey choice is a direct result of my wife’s positive influence on my eating habits.  Another would be her insistence on having some vegetables.  We bought collard greens this time.  Cut the ribs out of the center of them, and wash them.  You will want to pat them dry and shake off any excess water.  Then I put some sliced onions into a pan with olive oil, minced garlic, and salt & pepper.  Add the greens and sauté them until they get soft.  You may want to cover them at first to soften up the leaves.  Then we like to add Dijon mustard and red wine vinegar.  It adds a really nice acidity to balance with the richness of the kielbasa dish.

They can be served together as in this picture, or in separate dishes if you prefer.  If you want to bulk up the beans & rice, you can add a red bell pepper or maybe even some tomatoes.  I like to top mine with some Louisiana hot sauce and serve with corn bread.

Banana “Ice Cream”

This is a great trick we learned from Food Network.  If you puree frozen bananas, they eventually take on the consistency of ice cream.  It’s really cool!  It works best if you let the bananas turn brown & ripe and really sweeten.  Cut the bananas into slices and throw them into the freezer overnight.  You may want to cover them so they don’t take on a “freezer taste”.  Then blend them up in a food processor until they start to look like ice cream.

You can add honey for added sweetness; but they’re delicious on their own.  Peanut butter is also a nice addition for a twist a la “The King’s” fried peanut butter & banana sandwiches.

We have topped them with chocolate sauce, nuts, or fresh berries.  This photo has strawberries, raspberries, pecans, and a molasses cookie.

This is a really fun thing to do in the kitchen.  And you can indulge and not feel guilty because after all, it’s just bananas.  So go nuts!

Mediterranean Shrimp with Pesto Pasta and Radish Salad

Sometimes you have to let what you find at the grocery store be your inspiration for meals -- well, an episode of “Grill It, with Bobby Flay” doesn’t hurt either.  This week shrimp skewers were our inspiration for this great summer dish.  The skewers make them really easy to grill, with just a light coating of olive oil and a little salt & pepper.

Then they go into a bowl with sautéed (or grilled) cherry tomatoes, onions, and garlic.  Smash up the cherry tomatoes so they create a sauce of sorts.  Then we made a quick pesto pasta to serve along with a radish salad in a lemon vinaigrette. 

The Mediterranean flavors of tomato, garlic, and lemon were all throughout this wonderfully bright meal.  Thanks for the idea Bobby, and we should give our friend Molly credit for inspiring the radish salad.

*One quick note:  be sure not to overcook your shrimp or they can become tough & rubbery.  They don’t take long at all.  Just wait for them to turn a nice pink color.

Taco Salad with Ground Turkey and Fresh Tomatoes

This quick, fun, delicious salad is a staple for our household.  It is semi-hommade, for sure.  But if you need to throw something together quickly, you’ll love this Taco Salad.  This is a great option for those nights when you don’t have the time to put some serious effort into dinner.  And I'm fairly certain that it covers all the major food groups, so you've got that going for you ... which is nice.

We use ground turkey instead of beef, and nobody can tell the difference.  Start with a bag salad, add the browned turkey meat with taco seasoning, and then go wild with the toppings:

Tortilla Chips

Shredded Cheese

Fresh sliced Cherry Tomatoes

Lite Sour Cream

Salsa

Taco Sauce

Hot Sauce

Avocados

Green Onions (we cut them right on top with kitchen shears)

Whenever we struggle to come up with a quick dinner idea my wife says, "Taco salads?" and my answer is always "Yes."

Breaded Chicken Cutlets with Grilled Zucchini Squash & Homemade Tomato Sauce

Our friend Eric picked some lovely yellow & green zucchini squash from his garden for us, so I decided to come up with a recipe where I could grill them.  I sliced the squash into 1/4” rounds and lightly coated them with olive oil.  Then they get seasoned simply with salt & pepper and put on the grill (seasoned side down).  Season the top side as well.  They only need about 5 minutes on each side.  You can speed the process up by throwing them in the microwave for about five minutes first.  I used tongs on the grill.  And a little char is OK – we actually like it.

Then I split a chicken breast into two cutlets.  A quick egg wash and then into some wheat Italian bread crumbs.  I added a little salt & pepper for taste.  Then I spray a baking sheet with non-stick and bake for 20 minutes at 375º.

You can use a marinara sauce out of a can, but I used diced tomato, yellow & green bell peppers, garlic scapes, parsley, oregano, balsamic vinegar, crushed red peppers … and of course, salt & pepper.  Sautee the garlic with the peppers in olive oil for about five minutes over medium heat, and then add the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar and simmer over low heat until the rest of the food is ready. 

This was a hearty, healthy, fresh summer meal that is sure to please.  And it packs in the vegetables ... so you can feel proud of yourself.  Enjoy! 

Three Cheese Soufflés

I went to the cookbook and found a recipe that I had previously flagged because I wanted to try it.  I had never made (or eaten) a soufflé before, but they sounded good.  So why not?

There are a lot of eggs in them, so they're a bit eggy.  I guess it was like a really airy quiche.  They had Swiss, sharp cheddar, and Parmesan cheese.  So it was nice & sharp.  I liked them and so did The Mrs.  So I guess they were a success.  

Next time we're going to try Chocolate Soufflés.  That should be interesting.

The O.B. (Original Blog)

(Here is an e-mail from the first time I documented a dinner I was particularly proud of)

We got up this morning and drove to the farmer's market (a usual Saturday morning activity), and we bought kale, Swiss chard, sweet corn, tomatoes, candy onions, and kohlrabi.  So tonight we decided to have a pretty labor-intense dinner with fresh vegetables.  I actually started marinating two butterfly pork chops last night in a Jamaican jerk sauce that I made from scratch.  We served that over rice, with sautéed Swiss chard, and a cold nectarine-corn salsa.  We also cracked open our second bottle of champagne from our wedding night that we saved.

We were trying to recreate our honeymoon experience.