Showing posts with label Cooking Club: 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cooking Club: 2010. Show all posts

Monday, December 6, 2010

Cooking Club: December

Theme: Cocktails and Hors D'oeuvres!
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Host: Summer - Stuffed Mushrooms / Holiday Kiss Cocktails
Betty: Tortilla Roll-ups / Old World Wassail
Jodi: Vegetable and Fruit Holiday Bouquet / Wine
Shauna: Spicy Meatballs / Santa Hat Cocktails
Cheryl: Meat and Cheese Tree 
Judi: Lumpia 
Teresa: Chocolate Dipped Strawberries / Christmas Passion Mist
Denise: Bacon Chestnut Wraps / Festive Chicken-Cranberry Toppers / Tropical Holiday Punch
Chris: S'mores Cocktail / Ham and Cheese Wraps
Lori: Spiced Cranberry Cheese Spread
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Vegetable and Fruit Holiday Bouquet 
So gorgeous! What a fabulous and festive way to do a veggie and fruit tray! Just looking at it you know it was a lot of work, but well worth the effort. This would make a great center piece. Pineapple slices, christmas cookie cutters and dye were used to make the candy canes and christmas trees. 
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Meat and Cheese Tree
Another fun and festive appetizer. This tree was adorned with tasty cubes of salami, cheese and vegetables. For the tree, a styrofoam cone is wrapped with lettuce leaves and the vegetables are attached with toothpicks. Use a cookie cutter and a thick slice of cheese to make a star for the top of the tree.
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Hot Wassail with Rum
This tasty and fragrant hot wassail was served with a sidecar of rum. It's the perfect drink for a holiday party, especially when it's cold outside!
Recipe

These Twelve Days of Christmas mugs were lovely for serving the wassail.
(these particular mugs are no longer made)
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 S'Mores Cocktail
Homemade Kahlua is the base for this rich and delicious cocktail. The rim is dipped in marshmallow cream and topped with graham crackers. Very fun and unique!
Recipe
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Chocolate Dipped Strawberries
These are always a crowd pleaser. This one was dressed up with a white chocolate drizzle and a yummy liquor was added to the milk chocolate before dipping.
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Santa Hat Cocktails
The rim of a martini glass is topped with coconut and filled with a yummy red cocktail to resemble a Santa hat. A very cute and fun drink. Perfect for December. 
(You can use any red cocktail for this)
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Tasty Tortilla Rolls
Green chilies, pecans and olives pack these rolls with lots of flavor and texture. Dipped in salsa, you couldn't stop at just one!
See below for recipe.
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Lumpia
These Filipino egg rolls were voted best appetizer at the party. A mixture of ground turkey is housed in a crunchy and delicious pastry wrapper. Served with some sweet and sour sauce, these are addicting!
See below for recipe.
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Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
What's not to like about a creamy sausage mixture stuffed into a mushroom cap and topped with cheese? These were tasty and went fast.
See below for recipe
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Jamaican Jerk Meatballs
These were plain awesome! Tender, moist meatballs in a delicious sauce with the perfect amount of spice. These are always a hit.
See below for recipe
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Christmas Passion Mist
This was a great custom made cocktail. Nice and refreshing and a little too easy to drink.
See below for recipe
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Festive Chicken-Cranberry Toppers
These were lite and a nice change from the usual appetizers. The combination of chicken and cranberries on a salty cracker was very tasty.
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Cranberry Cheese Spread
This was divine. A cranberry relish with a spicy hint of pepper is poured over a cranberry cream cheese ball.  It's slightly sweet, slightly spicy and slightly tart. Perfect with your favorite crackers.
Adapted from Martha Stewart
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Bacon Chestnut Wraps
These are crunchy, salty and hard to stop eating. These ones were cooked in a yummy sauce and had slices of red pepper wrapped up with the bacon.
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Ham and Cheese Roll-ups
Thick slices of ham and cream cheese are rolled up in soft tortillas for a yummy bite-size appetizer.
Here's a plate of all the delicious goodies. It was hard not to keep circling the buffet table (and the cocktail table!). Oh, who am I kidding? I circled both all night. Love cooking club!
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*Recipes*


Lumpia
(Filipino Egg Rolls)
Recipe courtesy of Judy
Ingredients:
2 potatoes finely chopped
4 cups of carrots finely chopped
1lb ground turkey
3 cloves garlic
1/2 onion
1 egg
menlo eggroll wrappers
vegetable oil

mix potatoes, carrots, ground turkey, garlic, and onion in a frying pan and brown turkey (also add salt and pepper...as much as you want). Take 1 1/2tbs of turkey/potato/carrot mix and place into wrapper (there are wrapping instructions on the
menlo wrappers). After rolled to most of the way wet the tip of the wrapper with raw egg to seal. Fry in vegetable oil. 



Jamaican Jerk Meatballs
Recipe courtesy of Shauna
1 bottle of Jamaican Jerk Sauce (from Costco)
1 Pkg. frozen meatballs (from Costco)


Combine both ingredients in a crockpot. Cook until heated through.
(Yes, that's it! And it's so tasty. The sauce makes these.)

Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms
Recipe courtesy of Summer

1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg. sage sausage (or spicy or Italian etc.)
4 small pkgs. of mushrooms, stems removed and chopped*
Pinch red pepper flakes
Shredded Mozzarella for topping

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Add onion and garlic and saute until onions soften. Add sausage and red pepper flakes and breakup sausage with a spoon and cook until no longer pink. Add mushrooms stems and cook 2-3 minutes. Add cream cheese and stir until completely melted and incorporated into the sausage mixture. Remove sausage mixture from heat and allow to cool. Line mushroom caps up in a 9x13 baking dish coated with butter. Stuff filling into prepared mushroom caps. Pour 5 Tablespoons melted butter over the mushrooms making sure to coat the sides of the mushrooms. Top each mushroom with shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake for 30-40 at 400 degrees or until cheese is browned and bubbly.

* I used small mushrooms and find that they cook more evenly and have the perfect ratio of mushroom to filling. I chopped up about half of the mushroom stems for the filling and discarded the rest.

* 3 packages of mushrooms fit perfectly in a 9x13 dish. You'll have to use another 8x8 dish for the rest of the mushrooms.


Tasty Tortilla Rolls
Recipe courtesy of Betty
12 oz. Cream Cheese softened
2 Tbs. Green Chilies Chopped
3 Tbs. finely chopped pecans
3 Tbs. chopped ripe olives
5 Tbs. minced green onions
1 clove garlic minced
6-8 in. flour Tortillas

In a medium size bowl combine cream cheese, Chilies, nuts, olives, onions & garlic.
Spread one side of the tortillas with the cream cheese mixture, covering completely.
Roll each Tortilla tightly jelly roll style, wrap individually in plastic wrap, refrigerate several hours or
overnight.

To serve cut each long roll into 1/2 in. rounds and place cut side down on a serving tray. Use toothpicks to spear rolls for dipping into salsa. Makes about 60

Christmas Passion Mist
Passion Fruit Rum
Cherry Rum
Sprite Zero
Cranberry Juice (with Splenda)
Lemon
Lime
Maraschino cherries

Combine 1 shot of each flavor rum, add Sprite and Cranberry juice to taste.
Add fruit pick of maraschino cherry, lemon slice, and lime slice.
ENJOY!!!!!!!!
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Next Month:
Karaoke Night and Musical Dishes
01/16/11

Monday, November 15, 2010

Cooking Club: November

Theme: Pizza!

Denise (host): Bacon Cheese Pastry Wraps
Judy: Mini Salmon Pizza Appetizers
Summer: Chicken Wings
Shauna: Pesto, Spinach and Goat Cheese Pizza
Jodi: Chicken Artichoke Alfredo Pizza
Betty: Turkey and Green Chili Pizza
Gayle: Red Pepper and Mozzarella Pizza
Linda and Emmy: Ruben Pizza
Summer F: Fruit Pizza
Teresa: S'mores Pizza
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For Starters:

Spicy Lemon Pepper and Honey Chipotle Wings
What goes better with pizza than crispy glazed chicken wings?!

Smoked Salmon Mini Pizza's
A sophisticated appetizer with lots of great flavor from the smoked salmon, Gorgonzola cheese and fresh lemon. Divine.

Bacon Cheese Pastry Wraps
Gooey cheese and chunks of bacon are wrapped up in a buttery pastry dough. Need I say more?

Main Course: Pizzas!

Mozzarella Artichoke and Roasted Red Pepper 
Big, chunky ingredients on a tasty thin crust. Delectable.

Chicken Alfredo
How amazing does that browned cheese look? Perfecto! This pizza was creamy and delicious.

Turkey and Green Chili
Unique ingredients + Bold flavor = An Amazingly tasty pizza. This is a must make!

Pesto Goat Cheese and Spinach
Yummy thin-crust pizza with simple and delicious toppings. One lady had thirds and deemed it "phenomenal".

Ruben
Sauerkraut, corned beef, dill pickles and thousand island dressing all on a hearty crust. This pizza was the surprise favorite of the group! It was excellent! Even the ladies that said they "hated" sauerkraut, really loved this pizza. 

Sweet Endings

S'mores Pizza
A sweet and salty sugar cookie crust, loaded up with marshmallows, chocolate chips and Honey Graham cereal. A very fun and scrumptious dessert!

Fruit Pizza
Crowd favorite! Everyone had seconds of this fruity pizza and there wasn't any left by the end of the evening. What made this fruit pizza so delicious was the chocolate chip cookie crust. Wow!


Next Month: Cocktails, Hors D'oeuvres and a Special plus one.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Cooking Club: October

Theme: Oktoberfest
We had quite the spread of hearty German fare at this months cooking club. And it was all delicious!
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Pretzels
These were fabulous! Crispy, salty on the outside and chewy and soft on the inside. Dipped in some mustard and cheese sauce (which are American condiments, German's use butter) these are tasty anytime.

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Kaese Spaetzle
A simple homemade pasta gets lightly fried and then tossed with Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and crumbled bacon. Think of it as a German take on Mac N' Cheese. The perfect fall comfort food dish.
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Potato Pancakes
Freshly shredded potatoes are mixed with onion, egg and salt and pepper and then baked until golden brown. Serve with sour cream and enjoy!
Recipe
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Cucumber Potato Soup
A mellow soup with a nice dill flavor. Fun texture from the cucumbers and potatoes. Can be served hot or cold.

Sauerkraut mit Kartoffein
(Sauerkraut with potatoes and apples)
This casserole-style dish was delicious! It's an odd sounding combination of flavors, but this dish got high ratings from our cooking club and some deemed it their favorite dish.
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Soup in a Pumpkin
Very festive and fun for fall. The soup itself was lacking in flavor and texture, so Jodi added carrot and squash to the liven it up. She also made beer rye croutons, which would go famously with any soup!

Weinerschnitzel
Translation: Meat in a crust
An escalope is coated in a tasty Parmesan mixture and then fried until golden in butter. Yum.
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Bierocks
Ground beef, chopped cabbage and lots of seasonings are baked to perfect in bread dough pockets. These would be tasty anytime.
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Beer Braised Brats
What would an Oktoberfest party be without Brats?! These bad boys were simmered in beer and onions and then grilled to perfection. Can't go wrong with a hot-off-the-grill brat!

German Rouladen
Meat rolls filled with onion, bacon and a pickle. Yes, a pickle! And these were absolutely fantastic! The sauce that these produce is incredible. Have some crispy potatoes or bread to soak it up with!
Recipe
Great job on all the dishes this month ladies! My waistline thanks you.
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Next Month: Pizza!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Cooking Club: September

Theme: Favorite Chefs
Betty (Host): Giada De Larentis
Linda: Julia Childs
Susan: Emeril Lagasse
Judy: Jamie Oliver
Summer: Ina Garten
Shauna: Wolf Gang Puck
Lori: Martha Stewart
Sarah: Alice Waters
Jody: Cat Cora
Gale: Mario Batalie
• • • • • • • • 
Baby Artichoke Bruschetta
This is a great appetizer! Crispy buttery bread is topped with a garlicky artichoke mixture. 


Recipe: Jamie Oliver
Tuna Tartare
The original recipe called for the tuna mixture to be placed on top of a potato pancake, but the potato flavor was too overpowering. This tartare was served on a light cucumber salad and it was amazing!



Roasted Garlic Soup with Goat Cheese Croutons
This soup was creamy and had a great garlic flavor. I dipped toasted bread in it and it was delicious!


Carrot Cake Cookies
These cookies are scrumptious! Very moist with a nice warm flavor from the spices. The optional vanilla frosting puts them over the top.




Boeuf Bourguignon
This dish is legendary and for good reason. It's rich, comforting and has a great red wine flavor. I've wanted to taste this ever since the movie came out and it didn't disappoint.

Recipe: Julia Childs

Enchilada Pie
The name says it all. Cheesy enchilada goodness baked together with crunchy tortilla chip topping. Yum


Peach Almond Tart
An almond pastry crust is filled with a zippy almond and lemon filling and topped with fresh peaches. Really Good!


Chocolate Banana Bread
The chocolate and banana combination made for an incredible moist and tasty loaf of bread.


Mini Italian Pub Burgers
These were excellent! The burger is loaded with fresh herbs and Parmessan cheese and topped with basil and more cheese. 


Chocolate Cake
This cake was moist and chocolatey. The frosting was creamy and delicious. This is a great basic chocolate cake recipe.

Recipe: Ina Garten

Next Month:
Theme: Octoberfest - German Grub
Optional costumes

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