September 25, 2022

Shorthanded but we still persevered because.. HATCH CHILIS.  Tonya purchased the chilis a month ago, roasted and froze in preparation for her hosting.

But first!

For appetizer, sadly, I was not feeling chilis but instead, fall.  For these fall bruschetta, I roasted the vegetables and made the toasts the day before and assembled right before serving.  The balsamic glaze adds some sweetness and these look and taste like fall. I did add walnuts to the apples and butternut squash and used goat cheese instead of ricotta. I thought of doing the "butter board" trend with goat cheese as the base, add the toppings and have toasts on the side for eating but I was not brave enough.  Next time!

I also brought a cocktail and I love a pitcher cocktail.  I made these margaritas and WHOO, they are strong.  Fortunately ice melts and waters it down.  I used a little more simple syrup than called for.

Mary made this delicious, creative salad for us.  Clearly, not lacking in bravery or trying something new, Mary created a deconstructed, rustic salad.  

Rustic Southwest Salad: 

Roasted corn cut from cob (from Fiesta) 

Chunks of tomato

Diced purple onion 

Chunks of cucumber 

Chopped red bell pepper

Queso fresco or Cotija cheese crumbles

Dressing:

Plain greek yogurt.  About 1/2 cup

Avocado.  1 small.  Smashed super super smooth... no chunks!

Fresh lime juice.  Maybe 2-3 squeezes

Cilantro.  As much or as little as you like.

Pinch salt.

Herdez Guacamole Salsa.  Several teaspoons.  Beware that it has a touch of heat!

Vinegar.  Just a smidge.

Mix all ingredients until texture is very smooth creamy consistency.  Adjust quantity of any of the ingredients to suit your taste.

Tonya picked a wonderful main dish and one of my favorites we have made, Flank Steak with Hatch Bearnaise. She grilled up the flank steak and vegetable kabobs while Mary and I manned the sauce.  The sauce is everything.  It is rich with the egg yolks and fancy and complex.  The recipe did not call for salt and pepper, but being the experts that we are, we added some.  The sauce was no problem to put together and we did not have an issue of it breaking up.  We think the key is to cool the reduction before blending. 

For dessert I made these easy peanut butter blondies, knowing Tonya had some of the new Blue Bell flavor of ice cream to serve on the side.  She did have caramel and chocolate sauce but sadly, no whipped cream.  Such a tasty treat to end our evening!