Well I can't say that I made any new year's resolutions about this blog but I at least wanted to get one post up for 2013. Especially after promising so much with the party menu from my last post, I confess I've been putting off the follow-up post because I didn't take any pictures of all the food once it was set out!! I was so busy ensuring continual rounds of hot drinks and hot appies that photo documentation fell by the wayside, but I still want to reflect on the experience. I learned 1) that menu could probably feed a party of about 60, whereas I had a party of about 36 - ergo much unused food; 2) mini-quiches are extremely popular; and 3) pumpkin seed brittle is a huge hit!
DRINKS
#1 Mulled wine by Jaime Oliver. Definitely would make this recipe again - extremely flavorful & the big perk is that you can make the syrup a week in advance and keep it in the fridge. On the day of the party, you simply heat the syrup with a bottle or so of red wine and voila! Done! I actually made three batches of syrup and used them all over the course of the party. The only change I made to the recipe was to reduce the sugar to about 150g for a single syrup batch. If needed you can always add more sugar later, but you can't take it out!
#2 Mulled cider. Went through almost 2 gallons! Excellent, really you don't need a recipe but you can use Bobby Flay's for a starting point. Use any combination you want of cinnamon sticks, orange, cloves, star anise, allspice berries, cardamom etc.
DIPS & CRACKERS
#1 Curried Sweet Potato Hummus. The most popular dip recipe by far -here's the recipe I created!
Curried Sweet Potato Hummus (*cut this recipe in half for a reasonable amount of dip*)
3 c. roasted (or cooked) sweet potatoes
1 c. cooked chickpeas
2 cloves garlic
1/8 c. sesame seeds (optional, can replace with 1/2-1 Tbs tahini)
Juice of 1 lime
2-3 Tbs olive oil
3 tsp madras curry powder
1/2 -1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garam masala curry powder
1/4 -1/2 c. liquid depending on texture of dip - can use broth from cooking chickpeas, or water from boiling sweet potatoes or a bit of orange juice
salt and or pepper to taste
1. If the garlic isn't minced, put it in the food processor first. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Process until texture and flavor is to taste. Best if it sits for 4 hours or ideally one day and readjust seasoning if needed the following day.
#2 Beet & Walnut Dip
I personally loved this beet & walnut dip made exactly to directions- so beautifully red and incredibly refreshing to eat. A great summer dip! Would be fantastic served alongside goat cheese.
#3 Hot Artichoke Spinach Dip
Of course, every single person I know loves a good hot artichoke spinach dip. This is a recipe I return to time and time again because it doesn't involve mayonnaise which is my complaint about many versions of this dish. I always laugh at this recipe because it says it feeds 54. I doubled it once thinking I would run out - don't double it unless you have to feed a football team :) It does make a lot, but we only had about 1 cup left at the end of the party :) I unfortunately have no idea where I originally got this recipe but it's not mine!
ARTICHOKE SPINACH DIP
1/4 c. butter (salted)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2- 10 oz packages frozen spinach
14 oz can artichoke hearts drained & chopped
8 oz package cream cheese
16 oz container sour cream
1 c. fresh grated parmesan cheese
1. Sauted garlic in butter until golden. Stir in spinach and artichoke hearts. Cook until tender (or heated through).
2. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cook until thickened about 10 minutes.
3. Spoon into casserole dish. Serve directly or can refrigerate for one day. To prepare from refrigerator: put the dish into an UNHEATED oven. Set to 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes-1 hour (covered) until heated through.
#4 Edamame
I made this edamame dip that looked beautiful but honestly I hated it and it required so much adapting that I completely unrecommend this recipe. I do have a good edamame dip elsewhere that I'll dredge up.
#5 Crackers! People were gobsmacked that we made about 400 crackers from scratch, but compared to the purchase price of raincoast crisps - making them yourself totally pays off. We also tried a new first of making crackers with the pasta maker. If you're making anything like wheat thins or a regular cracker, I'm convinced this is the way to go - makes a uniform thickness dough and thin enough that the crackers reach desirable crispiness in the oven!
Check out this recipe for Olive Oil & Seed Crackers. The two recommendations I would make are reducing the salt to 3/4-1 tsp. And you may need a bit more water in the dough so it doesn't fall apart when rolling through the pasta maker.
No comments:
Post a Comment