Presentation

A great presentation can make or break a meal. If you go too overboard, you can get the Martha jabs, so keeping things subtle is nice. The rule of 3 is usually a safe bet, unless your event goes beyond a dinner party, for example a wedding or a promotional event.

I recently had a birthday dinner at a restaurant. The three items I decided to personalize to bring the theme together were 1 - some blue, gold and white balloons 2 - chocolate chocolate cupcakes with gold foil wrappers and blue jimmie sprinkles, and 3 - menu cards in blue, white and chocolate brown.

The menu cards were important, as it was a prix fix dinner with limited choices, and a great way to make a statement and own the party. By adding the menu cards and balloons, you take the event from just casually meeting at a restaurant, to defining your space, theme and event.

The menu cards were easy to make - my sister and I found a great brown and blue paisley online - try searching google images for whatever you are looking for, i.e. red plaid, gold leaves, etc. - using Vista Print and their templates, and photoshop to create the layout, we uploaded the two sides to the large format post cards. For about $25, including shipping, these will be printed two sided and in color, and look very professional.

Sangria Chicken

I got this one out of a magazine called "Gourmet" that just started showing up in the mail. I have no idea where it came from, but it has been fun to look through. We had friends over, which was a great opportunity to test something new. And I found this, which seemed fun and easy.

Ingredients

4 chicken breast halves with the skin and bones on (the skin is a great natural way to keep your chicken moist, especially when baking it!)
2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper
2 cups dry red wine
1 cup sweet orange marmalade
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (one large lemon will get you there)
1 1/2 cups seedless red grapes.

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 450F with the rack in the middle.

rub the chicken with olive oil, salt and pepper and place it skin side up on a heavy cookie sheet with sides (liquid will be added later) for 20 minutes.

in a sauce pan, briskly simmer the wine and marmalade in a heavy skillet. Basically on high heat with boiling going on, for about 20 minutes, until it starts reducing - thickening. It wont get extremely thick, but thicker than water.

Coat the chicken with almost all the glaze, and scatter the grapes around the chicken. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Coat with the remaining glaze and roast the chicken another 10 minutes, or cooked through.

Gourmet recommends Orzo and a green salad as sides. Orzo takes 10 minutes to cook, so start that after the second glazing of chicken. I also made asparagus and yellow squash with it, which I started steaming during the middle 10 minute roast. (wash the veggies, cut them into a nice serving size and steam for about 10 minutes or until the colors are very bright). I served it all with the remaining wine marmalade juice which made a nice sauce for the vegetables and orzo. A Mediterranean pre made store bought spinach salad and a great red wine.

Delicious, rave reviews and actually pretty healthy.

Cadillac Cupcakes

Cadillac Cupcakes:

I made these for my own birthday party. It was at a Mexican restaurant, and Mexican always inspires a savory flavor complimented by an acidic fruit: lime, orange or lemon, for example. Another favorite of mine is Mole, which is a chocolate based savory chicken sauce.

I found these cupcakes on Joy of Baking, and the frosting recipe comes from a place in New York called the "Chocolate Bar" (can't say I have ever been there, but thank you genius people). My changes to the recipe include adding orange infused chocolate, grand marnier and godiva liquor.

Chocolate Cupcakes, Ingredients:

1/2 cup (50 grams) Dutch-processed cocoa powder (Dutch process has something to do with alkalines. I used regular cocoa powder and had success, in fact, regular cocoa powder has a more intense flavor than dutch process so feel free to go with either without consequence)

1 cup (240 ml) boiling hot water

1 1/3 cups (175 grams) all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I buy the most expensive one at the store, there is no substitute for the good stuff, this is where all the flavor comes from, feel free to buy store brand everything else)

1 teaspoon Godiva liqueur - this will make the cupcake chocolate flavor very intense and more adult.

Chocolate Cupcakes, preparation:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line 16 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a small bowl stir until smooth the boiling hot water and the cocoa powder. Let cool to room temperature.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Then in the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (don't skimp here, do this for about 5 minutes, the sugar punches holes into the butter, which leads to a light and fluffy batter). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract and godiva. Add the flour mixture and beat only until incorporated. Then add the cooled cocoa mixture and stir until smooth.

Fill each muffin cup two-thirds full with batter and bake for about 16-20 minutes or until risen, springy to the touch, and a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost with icing. I like to make cupcakes that go up to the edge of the paper, it makes for easier icing and transporting.

Chocolate Fudge Frosting Ingredients:

4 ounces (12 grams) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used half godiva chocolate chips for baking, and half orange infused chocolate - note that it is not orange FILLED, but orange flavored)

2/3 cup (150 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/3 cups (1600 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon grand marnier liquor (I may add a bit of orange extract next time as well)

Chocolate Frosting, preparation:

Melt the chocolate in the microwave, in a ceramic bowl. Start on a low heat setting and go about 15 seconds at a time. Let cool to room temperature, if it hardens, a few more seconds in the microwave will melt it again.

In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and beat until it is light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract and Grand Marnier. Add the chocolate and beat on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is smooth and glossy (about 2 -3 minutes). Its not going to be glossy like a ganash, but just make sure its all mixed together for a while.

I like to use a big star tip and a large pastry bag to ice my cupcakes, it looks like you spent a lot more time than you did, but its actually easier. If you get any of the unmelted orange bits stuck, use a toothpic to dislodge it.

Makes about 16 cupcakes (I triple the recipe, why work this hard for only 16 cupcakes!!)

Chewy Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

I co-hosted Thanksgiving at a friends' place this year. I had to buy some crisco to make an amazing apple pie. The crisco came in a box with 4 sticks of the stuff, that I never use. I've actually always been a bit of a butter snob, but had heard that crisco is the key to a good pie crust (true facts). So the Saturday after Thanksgiving, when my husband and I were invited to a second dinner, I searched the Crisco site for a recipe that would 1- allow me to get rid of some of this crisco, 2 - I could make with ingredients on hand.

My husband LOVES THESE COOKIES. I like them too, they are chewy, have a great, rich flavor, and while I am not a huge cherry fan, the chocolate and cherry flavor really works. My hints for this one are to cut the cherries into small bits: about the size of a 1 carat diamond, or a pea cut into four, or a half of the top of a push pin. Any smaller and it will just turn the batter pink, any larger and the cheery piece might fall off the cookie. Use small chocolate chips. Make small cookies, about the radius just a little bigger than a quarter. I find this better for parties, no one wants to eat multiple large cookies, but a small "pop-em" size will clear the plate.

From the crisco website:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Crisco® Butter Shortening
• OR 1/2 stick Crisco® Butter Shortening Sticks
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon maraschino cherry juice
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (I did not use pecans, I usually skip nuts in recipes being brought to a party)
  
• 1/4 cup chopped maraschino cherries, well drained

PREPARATION DIRECTIONS:

1. HEAT oven to 375°F.


2. COMBINE shortening, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large bowl; beat at medium speed until well blended. Beat in sour cream, egg, cherry juice and vanilla. I added another teaspoon of Godiva Liqueur, which enhanced the chocolate and cherry flavor.
   


3. COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Mix into shortening mixture at low speed until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts and cherries.


4. DROP rounded tablespoonfuls of dough 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheets.


5. BAKE 10 to 12 minutes, or until set (look for the cookies to go from a white to a golden yellow). Cool 2 minutes on baking sheets; transfer to cooling racks to cool completely.
   

An Introduction

I started cooking a few years ago, and kind of enjoy finding recipes and testing them out. About 50% of the time, things just don't turn out the way you want them to. I am also finding that recipe reviews are hard to trust: someone else might LOVE the velveta and frozen broccoli casserole flavor, while others like squid with exotic spices.

I'm a bit of a foodie, or better stated as a "Dirty American foodie" - I like good food, made well, but not entirely weird and exotic. A good kobe beef chili dog, chocolate chip cookie martini with a cupcake for desert will make anyone happy.

I've been thinking about starting this blog for a while, so these first few posts have been in my head for a while. I'll start next with a recipe that my husband begs me to make. I should mention, he prefers a very plain palate with an aversion to anything with too many "organic, free range, spiced, exotic" words in the title. But he has been doing well with expanding his options and tastes and flavors.