Wedding Menu

Wedding Menu- August 30, 2003

This is a post I prepared to celebrate L and T's anniversary, but then I had a senior moment and "I FORGOT!" Doh- Anyway, I'll try to recreate the missing recipes and post them soon. It was a wonderful menu.


Oaxan peanuts and tri color chips with salsa
Scallop cakes with cilantro aioli
Jicama and orange skewers with mint and lime marinade
Mini Mexican quiches of cheese and green chilies
Cherry tomatoes stuffed with corn salsa

Mexican spring rolls with herbed dipping sauce*
Savory chicken fillo empanadas*
Mini sweet peppers with cilantro ranch dip
Pepper jack cheese cubes with scallions

Dinner Buffet:
Marinated prawns with lemon mango salsa served on greens*
Cheese enchiladas
Tortillas –warm with guacamole* and assorted salsas
Shredded red cabbage and orange salad with White Mexican Dressing*
Black Bean and corn salad with red sweet peppers*
Garden tomato salad with fresh oregano vinaigrette*

Bowls of seasonal berries
Brownies
Wedding Cake



*recipes made by friends and family

Thinking about the Menu

Here are some menus from this past week- I'm interested in keeping track so that I can develop the most complimentary combination. Recipes are posted for many of these entres.

Chicken Fajitas, Black Beans, Fajita Veggies (onions, sweet peppers, zucchini*) Guacamole and Soft Tortillas. (used roasted garlic, cumin, chili powder in the veggies- Xmas fajita spice rub, chopped onions and tomatoes in the chicken) *nice combination- I'd like to try pumpkin with fajitas some time.


Lemon Thyme Chicken, Thin Spaghetti**, Roasted Lemon Cauliflower, Greens with Diced Apples, Toasted Pecans and Balsamic Dressing.** only starch I had -worked ok, but wide noodles are better with this- I also didn't have mushrooms, which add a lot, I think.


Teryaki Salmon*** with Sushi Sides (Sliced Avoacado, Scallions, Pickled Ginger), Rice, Stir Fried Snap Peas and Broccoli with Toasted Black Sesame Seeds.***I've given up making my own marinade for this and use SoyVay- it must be loaded with sugar as the dish comes out carmelized ...but boy is it tasty!

Coq au Vin

This is a wonderful wintertime, do ahead, chicken in wine stew to enjoy with friends. It takes a bit of chopping and stirring- but most of the work is done ahead and if you make
the mashed potatoes ahead, too- it's not bad. I mash the potatoes with soy cream cheese, and margarine, and chicken broth- refrigerate overnight and just reheat in the microwave.
We also had a salad with spicy pecans and pears, and quick, sauteed green beans tossed with roasted red peppers. Pumpkin pie came with a friend for dessert!




Coq au Vin (Adapted from The Silver Palate)


~One day before serving, fry 10 slices of bacon in a large roasting pan that can
handle stove top cooking too. When crisp, remove and drain on paper towels

~Brown about 6 lbs of chicken pieces in the hot bacon fat. I think that thighs (with skin and bones) are best- but you can also use halved (like you have to cleave the usual size chicken breast in half) chicken breast pieces (so they’re more the size of thighs) if you only like white meat- or mix and match. Remove when nicely browned and set aside.

~Add to pan and sauté for 5 mins-
20 or so 1 inch peeled boiling onions
2 bunches, chopped scallions (mostly just the white part)
1 small regular onion chopped fine
1 large head garlic, cloves separated and peeled (cut big cloves in half)

~Sprinkle 3 tbls flour over the vegetable mixture and stir to combine
Cook for a minute or so.
~Slowly add to vegetable mixture:
3 ½ cups of good quality hearty red wine (cabernet sauvignon or a favorite)
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp dried thyme leaves, 3 bay leaves,
2 tbls ketchup
2 tbls dried or fresh parsley, chopped
~Heat mixture to boiling, return chicken and crumbled bacon to pan and spread
out evenly. Salt and pepper to taste. Cool, cover and refrigerate over night.

~The next day, let the coq au vin warm to room temperature before baking.
~Add 1 pound mushrooms, wiped clean and quartered, about 4 cups of 3 -4 inch
long, julienned carrots
~Bake covered for an hour in a 350 degree oven.

~Uncover, stir, add additional broth so that the tops of the chicken pieces can
brown, but the lower halves stay in the liquid, and continue cooking for
at least an hour- or until the meat is almost falling off the bone tender
and the liquid is gravy consistency.

~Serves 8-10, sprinkled with fresh chopped parsley and mashed potatoes.

Salsa Chicken Soup

I made this to contribute to our night before Thanksgiving dinner. Folks had started to arrive from out of town and we were gathering at our Daughter's home. It was a nice and easy meal. We had guacamole and chips and spicy persimmon salad with the soup- felt very decadent to have such pretty and fun side dishes. (Both recipes are posted)
The first time I had a soup like this was in college at our good friends' house in Mexico. We were sunburned and tired after a great beach day and pretty much just opened cans and mixed things together. We added canned black olives that day,and I think the salsa and canned tomatoes were the only other vegetables- good though.
Salsa Chicken Soup

Dice, peel if desired, and sauté until limp:
1 sweet onion, 4-5 carrots, 4-5 ribs of celery, 1 green pepper
Combine in large saucepan with~
6 ½ chicken breasts (boneless, skinless -cut in thirds)
1 can diced green chili, 1 can diced tomatoes with liquid, 1/2cup tequila,
½ cup mild salsa, 1 qt. chicken broth, 1 whole lemon- seeded cut in half
Season with- 1-2tbl smoked paprika, 5 crushed cloves garlic, chopped fresh
Cilantro (1/4 cup or so) 2 tsp cumin or to taste-2 tsp dried oregano, 2 bay
leaves. You might want to add more liquid as needed.
Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1 hour or until carrots are softened and chicken can be shredded. Can be frozen. Add 1 can black beans before reheating.


Serves about 8- with leftovers.

Almost your Birthday Puff Pastry Chicken

Happy Birthday M.! This is a favorite- you can add any flavors you like to the spread- or try a combination of cream cheese with herbs. Just make sure you use enough in each packet to keep the chicken moist.


Chicken in Puff Pastry

Preheat oven to 400-


~Mix together:
3/4 cup chopped green onion (opt)
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tbls lemon juice
2 cloves garlic pressed or minced
3/4 tsp dry tarragon

~Roll 1 sheet of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets* out on a floured board
till it’s about 12” x 16” – cut into 6 equal pieces

~To make packets:
place 1 tbls of mayonnaise on each section
top with 1 boneless skinless chicken breast lightly salt and peppered
fold meat around about 2 more tbls of mayonnaise mixture
fold the pastry over the chicken stuff to form a closed packet-
use 1 egg beaten with 1 tbls of water as ‘glue’ and to wash top of packets
~Place seam side down in a shallow roasting pan

~Bake until toasty brown-(45 mins) and let rest 5 minutes before serving


Serves 4-6 .

*Allow time to defrost the pastry- in gets wrecked if you try to microwave it- You might also need to turn down the oven part way through cooking to prevent pastry from browning too fast- but it’s important to start it in a hot oven to crisp the packets.

Beer Butt Chicken

This is our friend CM's recipe, and marked my official re-entry into chicken-eatingness.

Insert a 3/4 full can of beer (we prefer Pabst Blue Ribbon) in a whole chicken, standing upright on a pie plate or broiling pan.

Make a spice rub out using about 1 tbsp olive oil, a splash of beer, and equal parts:

garlic powder
salt and pepper
chili powder
onion powder
paprika
oregano

Rub the entire chicken with the spice mixture, and put anything leftover in the beer can itself. Cook on the bar-b-que on high (or in the oven at 425) for 45-60 minutes or until the wings pull off easily.

You can do all different versions of this one--we like to do a Mexican take using Chalula sauce and Mexican seasoning in the rub.

Wosle

This is a family favorite at the M's house. Christmas time = wosle time.

Put everything in one of those metal coffee percolators like you see in the break room. We bought one at Target for like $20. We only use it once a year (to make wosle) but it's worth having around.

2 quarts apple cider
1 quart orange juice
1 quart cranberry juice
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp whole allspice
6 whole cinnamon sticks
6 black tea bags
6 cups water

Let simmer for about an hour. Add your favorite brandy or rum for a tasty hot holiday treat.

Spicy Persimmons

This is a new recipe that a friend brought to a potluck at our house. I'd never actually eaten a persimmon before trying this dish, and it was one of the loveliest things I've ever tasted. They are hard to find in our small town, and you have to be sure to get the right kind of persimmon--apparently there are two and one is sweet and mushy (those are the ones you DON'T want) while the other is more firm and tart.

* 10 Fuyu Persimmons
* juice of 2 large limes
* 1/4-1/2 tsp sea or himalayan salt
* black pepper to taste
* spicy red pepper to taste or hot sauce by the drop
* 1 Tbsp oil--flax or olive or...
* handful cilantro chopped
* Agave or honey if lime juice too sour

Cut leaves and all yukky spots off persimmons, then cut into thin wedges
Marinate in lime juice mixture overnight in the fridge

The 'Dressing'

I use this balsamic dressing for lots of things. We had it tonight helping to make the wilted spinach salad wonderful. I used it the other night mixed with extra mustard and rosemary to marinate the lamb. It's good on any type of greens. It's good with puff pastry chicken. Add a little ketchup and some red chili pepper flakes and it's a pretty nice marinade for grilled chicken.

Balsamic Vinaigrette
This isn’t a very pretty dressing- but it’s very good and also great as a marinade.

~mix together in a jar or blender
2/3 c balsamic vinegar, 2 tbl sugar, optional clove of garlic crushed
2 –3 tbl sweet hot mustard (like beaver brand) with 1 1/2 c olive oil

Variations:
~add more garlic and 1 tbls rosemary with 1 tbls mustard seeds and use as a marinade for lamb
0r - add more sweet hot mustard and spread on chops and broil for nice crust
~add red http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifwine and parsley for beef marinade

Red Cabbage with Chicken Sausages

This is nice Fall or Winter fare.



Sweet Sausage with Red Cabbage

For Cabbage
~ Sauté together in a large non stick pan over medium heat until limp and sweet:
1 sweet onion cut in quarters and then sliced thinly
2 tbls olive oil
3 peeled garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 apple, rough chopped
~Add and simmer until cabbage is just tender and stock is reduced and syrupy:
(Maybe 15 mins)
1/2 medium head red cabbage chunky chopped (in about 1 in. pieces)
2 tbls margarine or butter
1/2-cup chicken broth
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp kosher salt/pepper to taste
3 tbls balsamic vinegar
2 tbls golden raisins



Serve with broiled ‘gourmet’ sausages-and sweet hot mustard

I used Adelle’s chicken and apple- but it’d be good with any savory- but not too spicy sausage- and white rice. You could also serve it as sandwiches on crusty rolls, I bet.

Brussels Sprouts with White Beans

Hello Spicy Saucearians! I'm Robyn B., and I've cordially accepted C's invitation to blog here. Technically, my contributions aren't family recipes, but "offerings from J's splendid girlfriend who can make a mean pie crust" would take too long to type.

I'm starting off by spreading the gospel of Brussels sprouts. (pictured to the left, au naturale) This is one of my favorite recipes to make, partly because it's protein-y and easily achievable on a student budget, but more because everyone I've served it to so far has an initial reaction of "Brussels sprouts?? Bleah!" (It is, in fact, delicious.)

I think this might have something to do with a tradition in American cookery of boiling the crap out of green vegetables. My mother wouldn't eat Brussels sprouts or Lima beans because she remembered her mother stewing them into a flavorless gruel. Chalk that up to the moral of good-for-you food having to taste bad. Really the key to this recipe boils down (ha) to not doing that.

I found this on Epicurious:

- Rinse, trim and cut length-wise about 2 lbs of Brussels sprouts.

- Heat 4 tbl olive oil in a heavy skillet until shimmering.

- Add Brussels sprouts and cook on medium-high for about 5 minutes, stirring gently. Transfer to a large bowl

- Heat another tbl olive oil, and saute 5 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped.

- Add the Brussels sprouts and 1 cup chicken (or vegetable) broth. Cook until the sprouts are crispy on the cut sides.

- Add one can of cannellini beans (or butter beans, or great northern beans - this dish is quite versatile, legume-wise) and a tbl of butter, and cook until the beans are hot, the butter is melted, and the broth has been reduced.

- Stir in 1 cup grated cheese. The recipe calls for pecorino, which adds a nice kick, but I've substituted Gruyere for more creaminess and that's good too.

- Enjoy!

Cilantro Pesto

This one is so easy, and great- spicy from the cilantro and mellowed by the nuts.
Try this on grilled salmon with a corn and tomato salad. Or with shrimp fajitas with avocado, mango, and black beans. Or fish with mango salsa and green chili polenta!
Hmmm- maybe try it with the beer OR with wine...not both?
Cilantro Macadamia Nut Pesto-

~Combine in food processor:
2 cups, loose packed, washed and dried,fresh cilantro leaves, (it takes a while to remove the little leaves from the stems- it’s ok to have a few stems, but make sure you process them till finely chopped) 6 – 8 roasted garlic cloves, (or 2 minced fresh), 3/4c dry roasted, salted macadamia nuts , and juice from 1 lime.

~Process until roughly ground and then slowly drizzle in:
3/4 c olive oil or peanut oil
~Process until finely ground and creamy.

~ Add salt to taste- if you like it spicier- increase the cilantro a bit.

Serve with shrimp or chicken or fish-