Sunday, January 06, 2008

Party Foods 2007 New Year Eve Edition

B. and I had a little gathering we held on New Year's Eve for a group of 5. Although it was rather time-consuming, especially the shopping and preparation bit, I had a great time. Where I have photos and recipes, I'll post it. For other foods I'll just describe them. For all the inpiring host/hostesses, get started early! Also, ditch the apron when the food is done so you can dress to impress!

Appetizers

//Prosciutto-Wrapped Stuffed Olives / This probably took the longest since we had to cut the cheese, stuff the olive, then wrap and toothpick. Fun activity though, when you have some time. We really could have started early and just chill them in the fridge. We used colorful toothpicks and green olives since the deli we went to did not have pitted black olives. We used a parmigino-reggiano cheese for ours.
source: Costco 2007 recipe book. linked here. Some other recipes in this entry are from the book as well.




//Bob's signature Bruschetta / Made from toasted Semolina bread, with a tomato/basil/olive oil dip. Red onion pieces optional. So simple and yummy that I request it every time at B's parties. Make sure to get the best French bread/other bread you can get, on the day of the party. Also don't cheap out on tomatoes since the best ones taste so much better. Grow your basil if you can, or buy fresh basil. Chop tomatos and basil, toss in olive oil. You can rub raw garlic on freshly toasted bread too but it's not required.



Salad


//Mediterranean Salad with orange and olive/ We made this sald once before, but I never posted the recipe or photo. Finally a photo! The dressing is made from scratch. You blend a few pitted green olives, orange juice, lemon juice, and grounded almond. The salad calls for red lettuce and spinach, but you can use any salad greens that you like. We had a mixed green bunch. Then just arrange the lemon and orange wedges with olives. A note about the wedges, I always cut cross-sectionally once in half, then cut each half in thirds. This way they achieve the most aesthetically pleasing result.

Sides

//Rosemary Potatoes (recipe link) /We used red potatoes and dried rosemary because we could not find fresh rosemary. Basically you mix olive oil with salt, pepper, and rosemary in a bowl, then dip potato wedges and mix well. Then bake at 425F for 30 min. or so. Depending on the sizes of your wedges and the oven, you may have to bake more to get them to golden brown and tender. The rosemary is so strong that your kitchen will smell like it. Not a bad thing at all, mind you.
//Mini-Quiches (recipe link) /Since veggies are optional, you can go light or heavy on them as you need to. I went with jalapeno slices, mushroom pieces, and chopped green onions. For cheese I used shredded Cheddar. You have to eat them while hot.Later in the week I recreated taste of the quiche with scrambled eggs with the ingredients I used. Basically, everything except the sausages I used for quiche. The result was amazing as well. Although I may have gone a little heavy on the jalapenos. Spicy!

Dessert

//assorted ice cream and shortbread / Bob made the shortbread from a recipe book. It was great with the ice cream we had in the fridge.
//yummy Chinese pastries from Fay Da Bakery / I always loved Chinese pastries and Wendy brought over a bunch! Some of my favs. are the sticky rice ones with sesame or red bean inside, and of course, the large almond cookie!

Drinks

//Grape Ginger Ale /I had cherry and raspberry ginger ale before, but not grape. I love flavored ginger ale since they're sweet without sticking to your teeth like coke does. Still, I would have loved to have some bubbly too.
//Cabernet Sauvignon/ it was a very low alcohol content bottle that S. brought over. How thoughtful of her! I thought it went very well with our foods, especially the cheese that E. brought over, and of couse, our stuffed olives.

After dinner drink

//Godiva hot cocao / heat milk but not to boil, add 2 spoonful or so of hot cocao powder. Mix and serve! So good!

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