Dinner Party Extraordinaire: Entrees

Coming up on the main part of the dinner, I will mention everything I cooked, but special, doting, loving attention will be given to one of my most favorite things I've ever cooked: shredded chicken tacos. If I could buy enough chicken and chipotle seasoning, I would start a food truck, passing these out to all the miserable strangers I meet and helping spread sunshine across the world. What a wonderful life it would be.

Pizzas

(shout-out to my lovely students who inspired me to be more creative than I thought possible)

- TJ's pizza dough

- pizza or marinara sauce

- salami circles

- fresh basil

- mozzarella rounds

- Roma tomatoes

- Proscuitto

- Cornichons (mini-pickles)

- boiled eggs

Though the party saw only the advent of the basic pizzas (basil, mozzarella, tomato vs. salami, proscuitto, shredded mozzarella), my students and I had a bake off where they made some very interesting pizzas. My favorite was probably the Mickey Mouse pizza, which was shaped into everyone's favorite mouse head by use of numerous kitchen tools in non-traditional ways. It was then given true personality with sliced hard-boiled eggs for eyes and tiny sliced cornichons pieces for a mouth that resembled the coal mouths of snowmen. This was atop the marinara sauce, shredded mozzarella, salami circles and proscuitto. My student claimed it was delicious and ate every bite.

Sliders

- ground beef (1 lb.)

- Garlic and Herb goat cheese (1/3 to 1/2 cup)

- sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (1/4 to 1/3 cup)

- bread crumbs (1/2 cup)

- minced garlic (1 teaspoon / 1 clove)

1. Form mini burgers by mixing all the ingredients together creating patties that are just about 1/2 inch larger in diameter than the burger buns. They will shrink down cooking.

2. Cook in a skillet by browning each side, or grill it up like a grown-up.

3. Serve up on slider buns with only the delicious mayo described below.

Best Mayo of Your Life

- mayo (about 1/2 cup)

- chipotle spice (1.5 dashes)

- Adobo spice with pepper (about 1/2 a dash)

- paprika (1.5 dashes)

Mix together all ingredients. Whip. Enjoy. By the spoonful or on a burger, I don't judge.

Shredded Chicken Tacos

- boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 lb.)

- chipotle seasoning (3 tsp.)

- ground cumin (1 tsp.)

- oregano (2 tsp.)

- minced garlic (2 tsp.)

- tomato sauce (16 oz.)

- white vinegar (2 tsp.)

- sugar (0.5 tsp.)

- Adobo seasoning with Pepper

1. Mix tomato sauce, chipotle, cumin, oregano, garlic, white vinegar, sugar, and a few dashes of Adobo. Cover.

2. Season both sides of chicken with Adobo, one dash on each side should suffice. Cook chicken on low-med in a skillet with olive oil.

3. When both sides have lightly browned, pour the tomato sauce mixture back into the pan. Wait until the mixture boils, then lower heat to a simmer and cover. The tomato sauce should begin to caramelize in about 15 minutes.

4. If you're afraid that the chicken will dry out, take it out of the skillet and shred it up with two forks (pulling it apart) then keep it on the side until the sauce caramelizes, then combine. If you chose to leave the chicken in the skillet, the last step is to shred the chicken.

5. Serve in tortillas, with mexican rice, black beans, and the garnishes your heart desires. Or wrap up in some tortillas, top off with more of the tomato mixture for a delicious faux enchilada.

Dinner Party Extraordinaire: Appetizers

Finger foods are very dangerous. Aside from attracting lots of hand interaction, there is also the inevitable risk that people will eat all the delicious finger foods without any record of how much they ate then be too full to eat anything else. I think the risk is worth the reward.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

- one frozen bag of spinach, thawed

- one frozen bag of artichokes / or one big can / there should be a little more artichoke than spinach

- 8 oz Classico Alfredo sauce (about half the jar)

- 1/2 cup mayo

- 1 cup shredded cheese (various ones have worked, swiss and mozzarella are good)

1. Chop up the (thawed) artichokes. Mix with the spinach, mayo, alfredo sauce and cheese in a oven-proof container.

2. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

3. Serve up when the top is browned ... sourdough bread goes great with it.

Lil Smokies with Brown Sugar

- one package lil smokies (there's about 40 in each bag)

- one package bacon

- brown sugar

- skewers

1. Cut the strips of bacon into thirds.

2. Wrap each lil smokie with a sliced strip of bacon.

3. Place smokies on skewers.

4. With a cooking brush or by hand, coat each bacon-wrapped smokie in brown sugar.

5. Bake at 350 for 25 - 35 minutes on a foil lined cookie sheet. Make sure to turn over once during cooking so both sides of the bacon are perfect. You can broil towards the end if the other side of the bacon needs it.

**Because I did most of the prep work for this dinner the night before, I left these marinating in the brown sugar overnight. I then took the leftover brown sugar liquid at the bottom of the container and drizzled it on top of the smokies before they baked. I drizzled the final plate again with the leftover brown sugar from the oven. These were gone in about 2 minutes.

Cranberry Brie Bites

- Puff pastry cups

- cranberry sauce

- a healthy amount of brie (can you ever have too much?)

1. Bake the puff pastry cups according to directions on the box. (Mine were prebaked but about 4 mins in the oven got them extra crisp).

2. Spoon in bite-sizes of brie into each cup.

3. Top off with cranberry sauce.

4. Bake at 350 for about 5 minutes, or until the brie has melted.

Polenta Bites with Mozzarella and Proscuitto

- Polenta Rolls (TJ's)

- Marinara Sauce

- Shredded Mozzarella

- a few strips of Proscuitto

1. Cut the rolls of polenta into 1/2 inch circles. Each roll renders about 10 - 14 circles. Prepare by either baking or frying. I went with baking since I had time and it's healthier. Bake on a greased cookie sheet until the polenta is firm and crisp on one side (about 20 mins).

2. Flip over and cook the polenta on the other side until almost crisp.

3. Take it out and spoon on marinara sauce.

4. Sprinkle shredded mozzarella on each polenta circle.

5. Shred the strips of proscuitto and put one shredded piece on each polenta circle.

6. Put back in the oven to finish cooking -- cheese should be melted before these are served.

Dinner Party Extraordinaire: Special Edition Intro

I love dinner parties. To quote from Parks and Rec, "they combine two of [my] favorite things: dinner and parties." Unlike other young adults in their early twenties, my dinner parties are not a recently discovered interest and have proven not to be a passing fad.

From the shoddily thrown together dinner my suitemates and I pulled together in the basement of our too-old dorm my freshman year to the sophomore year Valentine's Day party that resulted in handmade truffles to the senior year decision to buy a serious dining table and serious chairs for my seriously evolved dinner parties, I have been obsessed with this concept for a while. So naturally, when I realized it was Joe's last birthday in DC (at least for right now), I wanted some sort of birthday party for him to celebrate all the people that mean lots and lots to him. And when I realized his co-teacher's birthday was the day after, the conditions were ripe for a true birthday dinner party^2.

On the menu:
- Spinach and Artichoke Dip
- Lil Smokies in Brown Sugar
- Cranberry Brie Bites
- Polenta Bites with Mozzarella and Proscuitto

- Taco Bar featuring Carnitas and Shredded Chicken
- Sliders
- Pizzas

- Chocolate Trifle Cups

I'll go over the recipes for all these fun pieces in three posts -- appetizers, entrees, and dessert.

Week 8: Cousy Cous-Cous

Ingredients:
1 box Trader Joe's Israeli Cous-Cous
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 red onion, chopped
turkey gravy
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pistachios
salt and pepper

1. Melt butter and saute onions until they are tender.
2. Add the couscous and saute until golden.
3. Add enough water to cover the couscous and pour chicken broth. I poured in turkey gravy instead (you gotta use what you got!).
4. Add the dried cranberries and bring to a boil.
5. Simmer and stir occasionally until the grains are tender (about 12 mins).
6. Season with salt and pepper and garnish with pistachios.

Thank you dear Jayna for contributing to this post with the wonderful present of "The I Love Trader Joe's Cookbook", as this recipe was adapted from that book. I also added my own twist to it with the gravy and by making it a salad, sitting atop the spinach leaves pictured.

Week 7: Grilled Pear Salad

I am often mocked for my aversion to greens. My other resolution (eating a salad for dinner at least once weekly) has resulted in me buying a TON of spinach and arugula, my pretentious version of greens. I wish I wasn't so picky on this issue; I just can't find any flavor in lettuce. Plus, spinach has so many amazing qualities (my package said something about being a USDA certified SUPERFOOD! -- it's like food, but way more awesome) that I can't really feel bad about basing my salads on beds of spinach.

Meanwhile, I was experimenting with pears because they were in the fruit aisle and I adore fruit-based salads. I had eaten a pear salad at Busboy's recently and though the concept was good, I was disappointed in the ratio of certain parts of it and the fact that the pear pieces were artfully arranged but not practically pieced at all. So that was my inspiration.

Ingredients:
- 1 pear
- 1 kiwi
- a handful of baby bella mushrooms
- 1/2 onion
- gorgonzola cheese (or other salty cheese / bleu cheese would be a good substitute)
- balsamic vinegar
- olive oil
- lemon or lime juice
- baby spinach (a few bitter arugula pieces with this would be delicious too)
- dried cranberries (optional)

1. Start by prepping all ingredients -- cut up the pear in lengthwise 1/8 inch slices, the mushrooms lengthwise as well, and slice up the half an onion super, super thinly.
2. Start by throwing the onions in the heat first with some olive oil in medium heat. When the onions start releasing liquid and changing color, add in mushrooms on the side of the same skillet. Let them both caramelize in the pan.
3. Meanwhile, brush a little lime or lemon juice on both sides of each pear slice. Once properly coated, put into a skillet with olive oil in medium heat. Heat until grill marks appear -- press down with a spatula if necessary. Later, I realized that the one piece that looked closest to burnt was actually the most delicious. Tar isn't delicious, but nice dark skillet marks on the pear (and grill marks in the summer) are perfect.
4. Peel and slice the kiwi width-wise.
5. Construct the salad with spinach on the bottom, then the onions and mushrooms, and the pear and kiwis on top. Throw on some gorgonzola and dried cranberries. Toss on some olive oil and balsamic and prepare your stomach for heaven.

The salty cheese with the sweet kiwi and sweet pear with some almost burnt parts and mushrooms are an amazing combination. If you're one for texture, the cranberries help but some type of nut - almonds or walnuts especially - would be great too.

Week 6: Spruce It Up Pasta

Something people should know about me: I'm averse to boxed pasta + bottled sauce. I feel the need to say this as if it's a formal pronouncement of a deficiency because people have been shocked by this fact for a long time. I've learned to keep it under wraps on the most part, but I feel this information necessary to divulge for this culinary adventure. Intrigued by the super-easy hollandaise sauce from the week before (remade of course -- hollandaise doesn't keep for more than a few hours), I tried out a super easy basic recipe that was delicious.

Ingredients:
- Spinach and Chive Pasta (Trader Joe's)
- Baby Tomatoes
- Hollandaise Sauce
- Parmesan Cheese (optional)

1. Boil water, then add the pasta and cook for 5 minutes. Should be al dente.
2. Cut baby tomatoes lengthwise, then roast in a skillet.
3. Mix pasta and tomatoes, then top off with hollandaise sauce and sprinkle on hollandaise.

The flavors on this dish are amazing. It's surprising how such a simple mix of a few key ingredients combines for a delicious meal that does not taste anything like a bland pile of grains with heavy bottled tomatoes thrown on top :)

Weeks 5: Eggs Benedict-licious

Though I haven't posted in a few weeks, I've been good about keeping up on trying new recipes regularly. This was a recipe born of time one weekend morning and the desire to learn how to make some delicious poached eggs. Plus my desire for some hollandaise deliciousness lead to my next two experiments being with this surprisingly versatile sauce born from an egg yolk and some crazy fool's imagination.

Eggs Benedictlicous
Materials: Eggs, Hollandaise Sauce, Bread or an English Muffin, Proscuitto Slices

1. Prepare the hollandaise sauce according to any hollandaise recipe (one provided below). This is not how I made mine, but I also wasn't super-excited about the one I had since it got to be too acidic (lemon juice, you devil) for my taste. I'll try a different variation next time.

2. Get water super-hot, right below boiling in a small pot. Boiling is bad because too much action will cause the eggs to break. Breaking the egg in a small cup, pour the egg slowly into the heated water. Use a spoon to try and keep the egg together. In a few minutes, it will congeal in a freakish show of true culinary magic and you will use a slotted spoon to remove it from the water.

3. Put a toasted piece of bread, english muffin, or my favorite -- a habenero lime tortilla (from Trader Joe's) onto a plate. Place a strip of proscuitto on top. If truly inspired, I think the tortilla would benefit from a slice or two of avocado or fresh roasted baby tomatoes. Then lay on the super awesome egg, spoon some hollandaise on top, and ta-da! Eggs Benedictlicious!





Hollandaise Sauce (borrowed from Cooks.com)

1/4 c. melted butter
1 tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
Dash cayenne pepper
1 c. milk
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. lemon juice
Melt butter in small saucepan; add flour, seasonings, and blend. Add milk gradually and stir. Cook until thickened. Pour sauce on slightly beaten egg yolk; mix and cook about 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from flame; add lemon juice gradually and beat vigorously. Serve on cooked vegetables. Yield: about 1 1/3 cups sauce.