Retro Dinner Party

This month was my turn to host our Food & Wine club, which meant I was in charge of the menu. Let's just say I had been planning it since December. My choice for this month was "Retro" or a trip back to the 50's and 60's. The majority of the inspiration came from this meatloaf recipe listed below and my grandma's Jell-o cookbook. Everything turned out great, and I'm happy to say that I finally was able to try baked Alaska!

Here's the pics and recipes:

Dill Pickle Roll-ups

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,171,146180-253201,00.html

Corned Beef & Horseradish Roll-ups

3-4 packages Budig corned beef

1 8-oz package cream cheese, room temperature

2-4 Tbsp. fresh horseradish

Minced chives

Toothpicks

Mix the cream cheese in a medium bowl to soften, then add the horseradish to your liking. Stir until smooth.

To put together the roll-ups, spread a small teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture onto a slice of corned beef. Sprinkle with some of the chives, then roll-up like a burrito, stick with toothpicks, and slice into bit-sized pieces.

Makes roughly 50 appetizers, depending on how they are cut.

Bacon Wrapped Olives

http://www.foodnetwork.ca/recipes/Appetizer/Olives/recipe.html?dishid=10514

Mixed Green Salad with Classic French Dressing (inspired by Cooks Illustrated)

1 garlic clove, peeled

4 tsp. red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

5 Tbsp. olive oil

2 quarts mild salad greens such as iceberg, bibb, or romaine

English cucumber, sliced

Radishes, thinly sliced

Rub a large serving bowl with the garlic. Mix in the vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Whisk until well combined. Toss with the lettuce, cucumber, and radishes. Eat right away so it doesn't get soggy! (Or keep the dressing on the side and wait to serve).

Meatloaf

http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2010/02/the_best_meatlo.html

So this recipe and video were a little confusing. When you make the soffritto, I combined two large red onions, 4-5 stalks finely chopped celery, and 4-5 finely chopped carrots. As for the amount of oil, somewhere between 1/3 - 1/2 cup does well. Saute over medium low heat for at least 45 minutes. Also for the sauteed mushrooms, make sure you get 3 containers so that it makes 1-1/2 cups!

Green Beans with Sauteed Shallots and Vermouth (inspired by Cooks Illustrated)

Our version was "jazzed up" up with 1/3 cup crumbled bacon and 1/3 cup flash-sauteed chopped tomatoes.

1 tsp. salt

1 lb. green beans, ends snipped, blanched in boiling water then cooled in ice water

4 Tbsp. butter

4 large shallots, finely minced

2 Tbsp. Dry Vermouth

1/3 C. crumbled bacon (cooked)

1/3 C. chopped tomatos

In a large skillet or wok over medium heat, melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and saute with the shallots until barely browned. Add the beans, heat through, season with the salt.

Remove the beans and shallots from the pan into a serving platter. Return the pan to the heat, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, add the vermouth, bacon, and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and then pour over the bean mixture.

Twice Baked Potatoes

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/twice-baked-potatoes-recipe/index.html

Jell-O Salad

1 small pkg. fruit flavored gelatin

1 small pkg. tapioca pudding

1 small pkg. vanilla pudding

3 C. water

1 8-oz. container Cool Whip

1 box frozen fruit

Cook the jello, puddings, and water until thick. Cool. Mix in frozen fruit (don't drain). Cool more then mix in the Cool Whip. Refrigerate until set and chilled through. You can make this with strawberries, raspberries, mandarin oranges, or even mango as pictured below. This was two batches - one with orange jello and mango, and the other was raspberry jello with raspberries.

Baked Alaska

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Strawberry-and-Chocolate-Baked-Alaska-235561

Foodzie Box January 2011

Here's January's Foodzie Tasting Box. This month there were cupcakes, dulce de leche, dried nectarines, handmade granola, olive oil roasted almonds, and tea. I can't wait for the cupcakes! Have you signed up to get yours yet???

A Taste of Seattle

Last year I visited Seattle and fell in love with both the city and the food. One of my favorite dishes was an appetizer we had at Ivar's - manila clams in broth. It sounds simple, but I wish I could explain how amazing it was. So this last week I happened to stumble upon some fresh manila clams at Coastal Seafoods. And I bet you can only imagine what happened next...I did my best, but it still couldn't compare to the authentic thing. Still, you'll love this broth. Mmm.

2 lbs. fresh manilla clams, rinsed clean

1/4 C. butter

1 clove garlic, minced

1 medium shallot, minced

1 C. white wine

Salt and pepper

Fresh chives

Fresh tarragon

French bread

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot. Saute until soft (about 5 minutes). Stir in the wine and season with the salt and pepper. Once combined, add the clams. Raise the heat to high, cover, and cook until the clams have opened up -- about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with the fresh herbs. Serve in deep bowls with the bread.

Isn't She a Beaute?

My birthday has come late but Christmas was early! (Or by now it way past both of those events) For me, getting a stand mixer was a big deal. If I got one, I was going all-out. After all, it's meant to last forever. So I made sure that I got the Professional series with the bowl lift. This one has a bigger bowl, a more powerful motor, and stainless steel attachments. Let's just say my trial run was nothing but pushing the limits of this new machine...a triple batch of cookies was a breeze. I'm kind of in love...Now if only I had pictures of my new food processor...

Foodzie Box December 2010

This month was full of even more goodies! I like the idea of this monthly shipment because it forces me to actually eat this stuff! I might call myself a bit of a food hoarder...scary, I know. But it's only when I get something expensive or unique that I wait to use it until a special occasion. Case in point, a bottle of wine from 5 years ago, some Tastefully Simple things, and saffron. So with a new gift box coming each month, it helps me remember that I need to eat up the prior months goodies. Thank goodness for Foozdie :)

I was a little anxious to try some of these things this month, so that's why I don't have individual shots. But let me tell you, the brownie was good! I didn't try the Passion Fruit Caramels until yesterday, and they were amazing. I am definitely ordering more. The canvas satchel is full of various cooking salts - some rare - which I'm excited to cook with. Besides the brownie, caramels, and the salts, the box also included some chocolate squares, an oatmeal bar, granola, and a beef jerky stick.

Linzer Cookies

These have become one of my favorite holiday cookies as I've become older. Perhaps it's because these are a bit more sophisticated than your usual sugar or peanut butter Christmas cookie. The dough is a tender hazelnut shortbread sandwiched between raspberry preserves. New for me this year was an actual Linzer Cookie Cutter Set from Wilton. Gotta love Wilton :) These were the best looking one's I've ever made!

Linzer Cookies

1 C. butter (2 sticks), softened at room temperature for 30-60 minutes

2/3 C. sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

2 C. AP flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/4 C. ground hazelnuts (aka filberts), toasted, skinned as best as you can

1 jar seedless raspberry jam (I recommend Santa Cruz brand, but Smucker's is just fine too)

Flour

Powdered sugar

In a food processor or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add in the eggs and vanilla and mix until smooth.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and until combined. Add the ground hazelnuts. Once the dough is mixed thoroughly, form it into a flat disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour. You can refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days, but make sure that you let the dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling out if kept in the fridge for longer than 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to 1/8" thickness. Remember you will be sandwiching two cookies together, so you want to get them as thin as possible. Use your Linzer cookie cutter to make equal solid circle "bases" and equal "O-shaped" top cookies. Bake each shape separately on a parchment lined baking sheet. The tops will take 4-6 minutes and the bases will take 5-7 minutes. Try not to let them get too crisp - I like mine soft, not too dry. Allow to cool.

To assemble the cookies, spoon a small teaspoon of preserves on the base cookie, and then lightly push a top cookie onto the preserves. The preserves will spread out as you push the cookies together. Once assembled, lightly dust the cookies with powdered sugar.