Dinner Party Menu

I'm finally getting around to posting some of the recipes from the Murder Mystery Dinner that I (and Mark) made. I think most of the stuff turned out good minus a thing or two that wasn't the best. Here you go.

This was the menu -

Cocktail (non-alcoholic)
New York Egg Cream

Hors d'oeuvre
Garlic Mushroom Tartlets

Salad Course
Baby Squash with Spinach and Gorgonzola

Entrée
Rosemary Beef Rioja
or
Honey Dijon Chicken
with
Fennel and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Dessert
Chocolate Spiced Pears

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New York Egg Cream

(Made for a 12 oz. glass)

3 Tbsp. chocolate syrup
1/3 cup chilled milk (whole is best)
1/2 cup chilled sparkling mineral water (fill to the top)
cocoa powder for dusting

Pour the chocolate syrup into the bottom of the glass. Add milk and water. Dust the top with cocoa powder. Stir well before drinking.
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This drink is very easy and is basically like a sparkling chocolate milk. It's unexpected at first but I thought it was really good. It has a cool presentation before you mix it together. I put in cinnamon sticks to stir it with.

My rating is a 8 out of 10
Mark's rating is a 7 out of 10

Garlic Mushroom Tartlets

1 tube crescent roll dough
1 (8 oz.) package fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
1 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Open crescent rolls into 2 long rectangles. Cut each rectangle in half lengthwise and crosswise until you've formed 24 squares. Press squares into a mini muffin pan, forming cups and leaving corners extended above pan.

In a skillet, saute mushrooms, flour, onion, and garlic in butter. Mix and stir 5 minutes until ingredients are tender. Add whipping cream and cheese, mix well. Cook 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until all liquid has evaporated.

Place 1 heaping tsp. of mushroom mixture into each cup. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 5 minutes before removing from pan. Serve warm.
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These reminded me of stuffed mushrooms, but I think were quite a bit easier. You'll have to ask Mark for sure about that because he whipped these up. I think overall they were a hit. Good job babe!

My rating is a 7.5 out of 10
Mark's rating is an 8 out of 10

Baby Squash with Spinach and Gorgonzola

4 Acorn (or other variety) squash
9 oz. baby spinach leaves
7 oz. Gorgonzola cheese
3 Tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut the tops of the squash, scoop out and discard the seeds. Place the squash, cut side up, in a baking dish and drizzle with 2 tbsp. of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until tender.

Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet and add the spinach leaves. Cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, or until the leaves are just wilted. Season with salt and pepper and divide between the squash halves.

Top with the crumbled Gorgonzola and return to the oven for 10 minutes, or until the cheese is beginning to melt. Season with ground black pepper and serve.
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These were also pretty easy and the flavors went together really well. Plus, I love anything with squash in it. Mark actually doesn't like squash at all and he thought this wasn't bad. The presentation was nice also, but we didn't have a chance to get a picture.

My rating is a 8.5 out of 10
Mark's rating is 7.5 out of 10

Rosemary Beef Rioja

This is the one thing that we thought didn't turn out very good. I won't post the recipe here, but if you are interested, let me know and I can get it to you. I think it could have been a lot better, but the meat was too tough. I'm not sure if we cooked it too long or what. Maybe someday in the future I'll try it again.

My rating is a 5 out of 10
Mark's rating is a 6 out of 10

Honey Dijon Chicken

8 chicken thighs
4 tbsp. Dijon mustard
4 tbsp. honey
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Put the chicken thighs in a single layer in a roasting pan. Mix together the mustard and honey, season with salt and pepper to taste and brush the mixture all over the thighs.

Cook for 25-30 minutes, brushing the chicken with the pan juices occasionally, until cooked through. (Can be substituted with breast portions and cooked for 20-25 minutes).
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This is a super easy recipe and is quite tasty. Definitely remember to brush with the pan juices while cooking to keep the chicken nice and moist.

My rating is an 8 out of 10
Mark's rating is a 9.5 out of 10

Fennel and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

1 3/4 lbs potatoes, cut into chunks
2 large fennel bulbs
1/2-2/3 cup milk or cream
6 tbsp. garlic olive oil
salt and pepper

Boil the potatoes in water for 20 minutes, until tender. Meanwhile, trim and chop the fennel, reserving any feathery tops. Chop the tops and set them aside. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan. Add the fennel, cover and cook over low heat for 20-30 minutes, until soft but not browned.

Drain and mash the potatoes. Puree the cooked fennel and beat into the potato with the remaining oil with the warmed milk or cream. Season to taste and beat in any chopped fennel tops if desired.
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This was probably the most time consuming of anything we made. They turned out pretty good I thought and the fennel added a subtle, yet unexpected flavor.

My rating is a 7 out of 10
Mark's rating is a 7 out of 10

Chocolate Spiced Pears

1/2 cup ginger and/or almond thins, crushed
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
grated rind of 1/2 an orange
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 egg white, lightly beaten
4 firm, ripe pears
2/3 cup white cooking wine
1 tbsp. sugar
whipped cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the crushed cookies, chopped chocolate, grated orange rind, honey and cinnamon in a bowl until well combined. Add the egg white and mix to bind the mixture together.

Halve the pears and scoop out the core portion to make a small cavity. Fill the cavity with the chocolate and cookie mixture, mounding it up slightly.

Arrange the pears in a lightly buttered, shallow baking dish that will hold the pears comfortably in a single layer. Mix the wine and sugar together and pour the mixture around the pears. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until pears are tender. Serve immediately with a little of the cooking juices spooned over and the whipped cream.
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This is a recipe that I semi made up because I could find a few of the ingredients from the recipe I wanted so I substituted similar items. It turned out to be very, very good. This was definitely the icing on the cake of the whole dinner. Yum! Try these for sure.

My rating is a 9 out of 10
Mark's rating is a 9 out of 10

Mmm... Thai Food

I know I've been a big slacker on this blog but I have actually been making things and taking pictures so it's a matter of getting them up on the blog.

I basically made up most of this curry recipe and was pleased how it turned out. Here goes.

Yellow Curry with Beef

2-4 Tbsp of yellow curry paste (depending on how spicy you like it - I put close to 3 in)
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
Pkg. stir-fry or stew beef from the grocery store
1 eggplant, cut into bite size pieces (it shrinks down a little when cooked)
1 green pepper, cut into pieces
1/2 onion, chopped

Heat a small amount of oil in a wok or skillet. Add the eggplant, onion, and pepper together and cook until slightly brown and starting to soften.

Meanwhile, stir together curry paste and 1/2 cup coconut milk in a large skillet until fragrant. Add in the meat and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in the remaining coconut milk and heat until meat is cooked. Simmer over medium heat until sauce begins to thicken. (At this point you can add fish sauce and/or sugar to taste - I didn't add either).

Combine the vegetables with the curry sauce. Mix together. Serve with Jasmine rice.

My rating is a 7.5 out of 10
Mark's rating is a 6.5 out of 10 (he said he would have preferred spicier)

Coconut Rice with Mango

2 cups Jasmine rice
1 cup water
2+ cups coconut milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1 mango, peeled and sliced

Wash the rice in water until the water runs clear. Place the water, coconut milk, salt and sugar in a saucepan. Add the rice, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 17-20 minutes or until rice is tender and cooked through. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Turn off the heat and allow the rice to rest in the saucepan for 5-10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork before serving. Serve with the mango and drizzle coconut milk over if desired.

My rating is a 5.5 out of 10
Mark's rating is 6.5 out of 10

Mark and I love this dessert when we go out for Thai food. We've tried a few different recipes and none of them turn out quite like the ones we have at the restaurants. This time was no different. Just FYI, this is not a sweet dessert. I think to make it more like what we have when we eat out there needs to be a 1-2 tbsp more sugar and another 1/2-1 cup of coconut milk (no wonder it tastes so good). With those changes it could have a much higher rating potential.

Here we go... Down South

So after one vote in the affirmative, I've decided to go ahead with the recipe blog. It does seem that people are always looking for new recipes to make. That's somewhat hard for me to believe since there are so many recipes out there, but I think maybe it's fear of trying something new, that it wouldn't turn out maybe. At least that is why I think my mom is very apprehensive about using new recipes. So hopefully this will help some people with that. I'll let you know how I think a given recipe turned out and I'll have Mark give a rating as well so you can at least see two opinions (although we do have relatively similar tastes).

So first off, I'll post the recipe for Jambalaya and Pear Pie that I made for Mark's B-day.

Crock-Pot Jambalaya

12 ounces skinless chicken breast cut in 1 inch cubes
1 pound smoked sausage (I used slightly less)
2 bell peppers chopped (red and yellow made it pretty I think)
1 onion chopped
2 celery stalks chopped (I dislike celery so I only put in one)
3 garlic cloves minced
1 can whole tomatoes
⅓ cup tomato paste
1 can beef broth (I thought it was overall too soupy so next time I would use only 1/2-3/4 a can)
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 ½ tsp dried basil
½ tbsp oregano
1 tbsp Tabasco (didn't have Tabasco so I put in pinch or two of chili powder and red pepper flakes)
½ tbsp salt
1 pound shrimp (optional) - (I only used 12 ounces and thought that was a little much)

In a crock-pot add all together except shrimp. Cook on high for 4 hours. Add shrimp and cook an additional 30 minutes. Serve over rice or combine with enough rice to the desired consistency.

Makes about 6 servings.

-We put it over Zatarans Red Beans and Rice (making that with less liquid than the box suggests as to be thicker) and it was quite good.

My Rating is a 6.5 out of 10
Mark's Rating is a 7 out of 10

Pear Pie
(see Our Bloggings for a picture, although it doesn't do it justice)

6 average pears (I used Bartlett and only ended up using 4)
1 unbaked pie crust - 9 inch

First Mixture
¼ cup sugar
⅛ tsp salt
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice

Second Mixture
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ginger
¼ tsp mace, nutmeg could be substituted
½ cup flour, or ¼ c flour and ¼ c graham cracker crumbs (I used the latter)
¼ cup butter

Peel and thinly slice the pears and place in an uncooked pie shell. Optional: brush egg white on the shell before filling. In a bowl, mix the sugar, salt, cornstarch, and lemon juice from the first mixture and pour over the pears in the pie shell.

For the topping, if using graham crackers crumbs, place 3 crackers in ziploc bag; pulverize to meal with rolling pin. In a bowl mix the ingredients from the second mixture with your hands. Combine well and pat on top of the pie to form a crust. Bake at 375℉ for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350℉ and bake for 45 more minutes or until golden brown and juice bubbles through the top. Serve alone or with ice cream or top with whipped cream.

Makes 6 servings (8 if you have smaller pieces).

-We ate it with Safeway Select Pecan Praline ice cream and it was like the PERFECT pairing.

My rating is a 9.5 out of 10 (with the ice cream)
Mark's rating is a 9 out of 10 (with the ice cream)

So that's all for now. Let me know if you have any questions, comments, etc. Happy eating.