Cocktail (Food) Party

As a lover of food, it's always fun for me to gather others lovers and share my recipes, tricks, and tips. The other night I invited a few friends over for a Grown-up Girls Night In. On the menu: a lovely antipasto platter, shrimp scampi, brownie fingers with chocolate ganache, and almond cakes with almond whipped cream. And of course, a nice white wine.

I bought Marcona almonds from Trader Joe's - roasted and flavored with rosemary. They were a perfect nibbly treat to start off the meal. Marcona almonds are kind of pricey, but it's good to splurge on a few ingredients. I also found some great marinated olives at Whole Foods.

For the antipasto plate, I tried to mix color and flavor. I chose to showcase only one cheese: goat cheese, which I knew all my friends loved. I left it plain, but I noticed there are many types available now in the cheese market: honey spiked, blueberry, savory... you could even roll the cheese in fresh chopped herbs or cracked black pepper if you wanted. With my log, I chose to serve it alongside a lemon balm and sour cherry compote. I left the sauce separate so guests could choose to spoon it over if they wanted. For the fruits I got some nice strawberries and green grapes and also served some pepperoni slices.

Shrimp scampi is the easiest dish to make at a party - and something that can be done in front of your guests if you want, because it should be made-to-eat. I was sure to get the water boiling before my guests got here and also defrosted the scrimp in warm water. These are the two longest steps in the dish, can you believe it? To make the shrimp, heat olive oil in a pan until it's hot. Add the shrimp and "sear" on both sides (i.e. wait till they turn light pink). Squeeze in a half lemon, sprinkle in some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Test your flakes to see how hot they are because mine were pretty spicy. Then add the drained pasta, a hefty spoonful of pesto, and a splash of cream. Serve immediately with a wedge of lemon.

Dessert time! I just made some brownies, cut them into strips, and smothered the tops with a mixture of 3 Tbs room temperature butter and 4 oz of heated, cooled chocolate. For the almond cakes, shown at the top, I used a pound cake recipe and added 1 1/2 tsp almond extract. I baked the cake in a 9x13 Pyrex dish at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes (note this is much LESS time than the recipe would call for). Then I let it cool and cut out rounds using a cookie cutter. I topped these with fresh whipped cream and a strawberry.

Here is the recipe I used:

Mix 1 ½ c flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp baking soda

Add 3 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, and ½ cup melted butter, cooled

½ cup yogurt or sour cream and a little over ¼ cup cream

Finally, add 1 1/2 tsp almond extract

What was really great about this party was that the guests pitched in for the ingredients - this way the burden of high gas prices (and therefore, high grocery costs), wasn't placed on one person (a great strategy for grad students who are penny pinching). I made sure everyone went home with a little goodie bag, too - always a nice give your guests something to extend the night's festivities.

Friday Night Fix

Brownies, as I sure many of you already know, are one of my favorite treats. Perhaps because my Persian/Indian upbringing didn't run into much chocolate, let alone baked chocolate with frosting. This week my roommate and I started classes and after only two days, I was already excited for the weekend. And a night with a good friend, good food, and a great movie (Ever After!) sounds like a awesome way to kick start a (hopefully) productive weekend.

While visiting the Student Services office, I picked up about 4 of these little caramels and decided to throw them into the batter.

I prepared the mix just like it says on the box, substituting milk for water as usual. I am also particularly proud of the eggs I picked up at the store: aren't they gorgeous: organic AND free range!

My new favorite thing is to bake brownies in a cake pan: I just think it makes the brownies more moist. And I like a cake pan because I like thicker brownies that hold tall on their own. Another thing I've fallen in love with is my brilliant idea to make two kinds of brownies in one pan. Caramel on one side, regular on the other. You can also go M&M on one side and toffee on the other, or chocolate chips (white or milk or dark), or swirl in a little peanut butter.

Finished Product!!!! I love how the caramel bits are hidden in there :)

On to dinner... I decided to do a little Asian flair night...

Asian noodles are a bit chewier than Italian ones, but equally delicious. The sauce on Asian food is typically acidic and heavy (peanut butter and soy sauce), so you need the noodle to stand up to these liquids. Making this dish made me hungry for some Pad Thai. Anyone know a good place?

So then I made the Asian sauce - I used the peanut sauce that came with the noodles and then added some peanut butter, soy sauce, and garlic powder.

Then I chopped up some broccoli florets and carrots and steamed them. First I blanched the broccoli then I sauteed it. I also cooked up some chicken and seasoned it with pepper, salt, garlic powder, and chili flakes. To this I added the sauce and plated the whole thing in a black bowl. I know a lot of people like white plates, but I think Asian food looks beautiful on a black one :)

And here we have a picture of the delicious brownie with caramel spilling out :)