July 22, 2012

We met at my house on July 22, 2012 for a dinner theme of summer.  Missing were Jennifer, Tonya and Mary and we were joined by Teresa and Ellie!

Cocktail and wine:  Evelyn, wine spritzer

Appetizer:  Carol, fruit kabobs with fruit dip and three cheese dip.

Salad:  Angie, black bean salad

Side dish:  Carol, scalloped potatoes

Main dish:  Angie, chipotle flank steak

Dessert:  Janet, blueberry mini tarts, miniature cheesecake and mini chocolate cupcakes

Evelyn started the afternoon off with a delicious cocktail.  She mixed it in a pitcher and then we could help ourselves to more.  It was light, sweet and delicious.

Wine Spritzer

½ bottle of Central Market Organic Pear Apple Italian Soda

1 bottle off Proseco

1 bag of Frozen pineapple

We had two appetizers, thanks to Carol.  She brought colorful fruit kabobs that had fruit representing the colors of a rainbow (ROY G. BIV) and were served with an orange flavored, creamy dip.  Rather than using frozen orange juice, Carol used fresh squeezed juice as well as some orange zest.

Carol also brought a cheese dip with assorted crackers.  The original recipe is for a cheese ball but Carol kept it simple and served it as a dip.  The dip was tangy and thick and was perfect when spread on crackers.

Our salad was a group effort.  It was slightly sweet and full of crunchy, fresh vegetables.  We boiled the corn but otherwise all ingredients were raw.  The salad cut the heat from the spicy main dish of flank steak.  I put the rub on the steak in the morning and let it sit in the refrigerator for a few hours.  I brought it back to room temperature by leaving it on the counter while the oven heated.  The oven rack was moved to the top of the oven and the steak was broiled 5 minutes per side.  It was still a little too rare, according to the thermometer, so we cooked it longer.  After removing it from the oven, let it rest for at least 15 minutes to let the juices re-distribute.  Cut against the grain and serve with the cheese, cream sauce.  I thought the sauce was perfect and it served to tame the spicy steak.  The sauce also made the simple steak recipe seem more elegant.

Scalloped potatoes were the side dish and these perfectly pared with the steak. I am a scalloped potato fanatic, as my mother knows, because I frequently request hers at our dinners.  Carol made a pan of potatoes (rather than individual stacks) that were absolutely fantastic.  The potatoes were tender and the topping was brown and slightly crispy.  Carol used a mandolin to thinly slice the potatoes.  

We were blessed with a trio of desserts prepared by Janet.  Mini cheesecakes were creamy, the chocolate cupcakes were decedent and the blueberry mini tarts were full of summer flavor.  I loved all three desserts and there is just something special about having a plate full of different treats to end the meal with.

Miniature Cheesecakes


Original Recipe Yield 12 miniature cheesecakes


Ingredients
12 vanilla wafer cookies or one sleeve of graham crackers crushed
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
3/4  cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract


Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Place one vanilla wafer or graham cracker crumbs in each cup
3. In large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in
the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
4. Pour mixture evenly into prepared muffin cups, filling each 2/3 full.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until set.
6. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Blueberry Streusel Bars with Lemon Cream Filling

I have blueberries coming out my ears, which is not a bad thing.  I found my favorite blueberry recipe thus far in these Blueberry Streusel Bars with Lemon Cream Filling.  There are four layers:  the streusel crust, blueberries, lemon filling and streusel topping.  The creamy filling was new to me and it is essentially just sweetened condensed milk and lemon juice  These bars are very good and next time I will add another cup of blueberries.

June 24, 2012

The Gourmet Gals, minus Mary and Jennifer and plus Evelyn (friend of Janet's and future Gourmet Gal) and Dee (daughter of Janet) met at Janet's home for our June gathering.

 Appetizer - Angie (Spinach Artichoke Cups), Janet (Blue Cheese Puffs) and Evelyn (Creamy Shrimp Crostini)

Cocktail - Angie (Frenchy)

Salad - Carol (Texas Peach Salad)

Main Dish - Janet (Sweet Pork & Pears with Goat Cheese and Quinoa)

Dessert - Tonya (Shortcakes with Fresh Berries)

Due to a miscommunication, we had three appetizers prepared by three of us.  It reminded me of when Carol and Jenn bring the appetizers and there always seem to be a trio.  The more the merrier when it comes to first courses!

I made Spinach Artichoke Cups which is a spinach, artichoke and lemon filling inside baked wonton cups.   I baked the wonton wrappers in miniature muffin tins and halved the wonton wrappers because I found that two layers of wonton (which would be necessary if you used a full wrapper in the miniature tins) was chewy and not appealing.  

 Evelyn brought Creamy Shrimp Crostini which she served on bagel chips and heated up slightly in the oven.  These were indeed creamy and tangy with fresh dill, one of my favorite herbs.  Each crostini was garnished with a bit of parsley.  

For the final appetizer, Janet made blue cheese puffs which were light and airy and full of blue cheese flavor.

Our cocktail was the Frenchy that had 1 1/2 ounces Pear Vodka (by Absolut), 3 ounces pineapple juice and 1 ounce cranberry juice.  The idea is to layer the drink with the pear vodka on the bottom, then the pineapple juice and finally the cranberry juice in a small glass filled with ice.  If you slowly pour over a spoon or ice cube you will get the layered effect.  I was afraid that this layering would mean at the bottom of the drink there would be a harsh blast of vodka.  Instead, the pear flavor was in every sip and there was a nice mixing of flavors.

Carol prepared Texas Peach salad which was a delicious, complex salad with many sweet flavors between the peaches, candied pecans, vineagrette and brittle.  It was lovely and refreshing on a hot, summer evening shared amongst friends.

Our main dish was a healthy one from Clean Eating Magazine called Sweet Pork & Pears with Goat Cheese and Quinoa.  I could not find the recipe online, but it was essentially boneless pork chops that we seared on both sides in a little bacon fat (YUM).  Then we deglazed the pan with apple cider vinegar and honey and added diced pears.  The pork chops were put back in the pan, on top of the pears and into the oven to ensure the chops were cooked thoroughly.  Goat cheese and toasted almonds were the garnish.  On the side was a triple blend of quinoa that was cooked in chicken broth.  

Our final trio was homemade shortcakes with a trio of berries and freshly whipped cream.  Tonya altered the recipe by reducing the oven temperature to 400 degrees and increasing the sugar to 1/3 cup based on suggestions from several reviews. The shortcakes were crunchy with the sugar on top and flaky.  The raspberries, strawberries and blue berries were a sweet compliment to the shortcakes and the whipped cream brought it all together.

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf

I went for a second day of blueberry picking so I would have fresh berries for this Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf.  I prepared it yesterday and it turned out great.  It is simple to prepare, using only a bowl and a whisk and spoon.  The lemon zest is a delightful compliment to the blueberries.  The loaf is like a pound cake and with the lemon syrup, it is very moist.  I either removed the cake from the pan too soon or the berries made it heavy (I used an extra half cup) and I had a slight baking fail when some of the cake remained in the pan.  I simply pressed it back into place and poured the syrup on, with a piece of waxed paper under the cooling rack to catch what dripped off.  After completely cooling on the rack I flipped it over and added the syrup that was on the wax paper.  You could no longer tell that the cake had fallen apart.  Next time I will let it cool completely in the pan and just pour the syrup on top.  The recipe says to brush the syrup and I guess that will give a more even distribution than pouring.  I skipped the glaze since the cake seemed decadent enough.

Spicy Breading

In a quest to maintain my weight, I am eating "whole" foods that I prepare myself while pushing out processed foods.  I normally achieve this by cooking on Sundays and eating the left overs for lunch.  I am bucking the typical American diet of small breakfast, medium lunch and large dinner by inverting that.  It's the BREAKFAST LIKE A KING, LUNCH LIKE A PRINCE, DINNER LIKE A PAUPER plan.  I have lunch and dinner figured out but having a big breakfast is more like a decent breakfast and then a snack of trail mix a couple of hours later due to my lack of time and eating so early in the mornings.

Besides eating more fruits and vegetables I am eating more fish.  I bought a bag of individually frozen fillets (some type of white fish, I cannot remember which) and I baked the first batch.  Easy to do, healthy, but boring.  I saw this recipe for shrimp and decided the breading would be great on my fish.  Yes, it means frying which is not as healthy as baking but it would mean I enjoyed the taste.  I modified the shrimp version as below and pan fried in about 2 tbs of butter and 2 tbs of oil for 4 fillets over 2 batches.

Breading:

1 cup Flour 

1 teaspoon Onion Bits or Onion Powder

1 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1 teaspoon Dried Thyme

1 teaspoon Dried Oregano

1 teaspoon Rosemary

1 teaspoon Cumin

1 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

1 tablespoon Kosher Salt 

Mix all of the above on a plate/platter and dredge fish on both sides.  Fry in the butter and oil for about 3 minutes per side, for a golden brown.  Make sure cooked through by testing if it is flaky before removing.  

This is also a great way to use up all your spices! 

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

I had left over diced apples in the freezer and I wanted to make a "healthy" muffin, using whole wheat.  This recipe for Whole Wheat Apple Muffins uses equal parts whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour.  That is a good ratio as more whole wheat flour would have pushed these muffins from tasty to saw-dusty.  The brown sugar on the top makes for a nice crust and the cinnamon flavor makes it taste like apple pie.  I found the muffins were best when served warm, so put in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Next time I make these, I will add walnuts for heartiness and white raisins as a nice complimenting flavor.

Lemon Blueberry Crunch Muffins

Recently, I picked blueberries with my parents at the Moorehead Blueberry Farm.  You have to get there early (7:00 am) to not only beat the heat but beat the hordes of people.  When we left around 8:30 it was packed.  The farm is big enough that once you are picking the crowds are not an issue, but parking is.

I made this blueberry muffin recipe because I was intrigued by the topping of butter, lemon juice and sugar.  How simple yet ingenious!  I also learned something new from this recipe:  you can make cake flour by combining cornstarch and all-purpose flour!  Directions to do so are on the cornstarch box.  Since I also know how to make buttermilk by combining milk with vinegar or lemon juice, I do not think I will ever buy buttermilk or cake flour again!