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Come Party With Me: Halloween Bash - Menu (Savory)

partysugar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 08:30:14 -0700

Although my Halloween party starts later in the night - at 10 p.m. - I will have food. At larger parties where lots of alcohol may be consumed, it's best to offer guests a few savory nibbles to snack on throughout the night. Don't go gourmet, but keep things simple by serving classic, crowd-pleasing dishes.

I'll be pairing blue tortilla chips with green guacamole and gooey queso fundido. To keep the queso fundido warm, place it in a fondue bowl. Crispy cheese straws made from puff pastry round out the easy, no-fuss menu. For the recipes, read more

Guacamole
From Simply Recipes

2 ripe avocados
1/2 red onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)
1-2 serrano chiles, stems and seeds removed, minced
2 tablespoons cilantro leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh lime or lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
A dash of freshly grated black pepper
1/2 ripe tomato, seeds and pulp removed, chopped
Garnish with red radishes or jicama. Serve with tortilla chips.

Cut avocados in half. Remove seed. Scoop out avocado from the peel, put in a mixing bowl.
Using a fork, mash the avocado. Add the chopped onion, cilantro, lime or lemon, salt and pepper and mash some more. Chili peppers vary individually in their hotness. So, start with a half of one chili pepper and add to the guacamole to your desired degree of hotness. Be careful handling the peppers; wash your hands thoroughly after handling and do not touch your eyes or the area near your eyes with your hands for several hours.
Keep the tomatoes separate until ready to serve. Remember that much of this is done to taste because of the variability in the fresh ingredients. Start with this recipe and adjust to your taste.
Cover with plastic wrap directly on the surface of the guacamole to prevent oxidation from the air reaching it. Refrigerate until ready.
Just before serving, add the chopped tomato to the guacamole and mix.

Serves 2-4.

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Queso Fundido
Modified from Sur La Table

2 fresh poblano chiles
4 ounces (1/2 cup) Mexican chorizo sausage, casing removed if there is one, store bought or homemade
1 medium white onion, sliced
Salt
8 ounces Chihuahua or other Mexican melting cheese such as quesadilla or asadero (lacking Mexican cheese, queso fundido is delicious made with everything from Monterey jack to mild cheddar), shredded (you’ll have about 2 cups)
About a teaspoon or so of crumbled dried oregano, preferably Mexican
tortilla chips for serving

Roasting the poblano chiles. Roast the poblanos on an open flame or on a baking sheet 4 inches below a very hot broiler, turning regularly until the skin is evenly blistered and blackened, about 5 minutes for an open flame, about 10 minutes for the broiler. Be careful not to char the flesh-only the skin. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand for 5 minutes. Rub off the blackened skin, then pull or cut out the stems and the seed pods. Tear the chiles open and quickly rinse to remove stray seeds and most bits of skin. Cut into 1/4-inch-wide strips about 2 inches long.
Heat the oven to 350-degrees.
In a medium-size skillet (preferably non-stick), cook the chorizo over medium heat, stirring to break up any clumps, until half-cooked, about 5 minutes. (As the chorizo heats, it should render enough fat to cook the meat; if the mixture seems dry, add a little oil.) Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is richly golden and the chorizo done, about 10 minutes. (If the mixture looks very oily, drain.) Stir in the poblano strips, taste and season with salt if you think the mixture needs some. Transfer the mixture to a 9- or 10-inch shallow baking dish, Mexican cazuela or pie plate.
Stir the cheese into the warm chorizo mixture. Set in the oven and bake until the cheese is just melted but has not begun to separate or look greasy, about 5 more minutes. Sprinkle with the crumbled oregano and serve without a moment's hesitation, accompanied by the tortillas.

Serves 6.

Make ahead: The chorizo-poblano mixture can be made a day ahead, covered and refrigerated; warm it in your baking vessel before stirring in the cheese and baking.

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Parmesan Cheese Straws
From Martha Stewart

1 3/4 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese
1 package (14 ounces) frozen puff pastry, thawed
2 teaspoons coarse salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Sprinkle work surface with 1/2 cup cheese. Place chilled puff pastry on work surface and roll out until it is about 1/8 inch thick. Trim to a 14-by-16-inch rectangle. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 cup of the cheese.
With the long side facing you, fold in half by bringing the top edge down toward you. Sprinkle with remaining teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup cheese. Using a pizza wheel or a very sharp knife, cut the dough horizontally into 1/2-inch-wide strips.
Divide strips between two baking sheets, placing them evenly apart. Holding each end of a dough strip with your fingers, carefully stretch and twist the strip in opposite directions. Repeat process with remaining strips.
Bake until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes. Let straws cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 1 dozen.

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Come Party With Me: Season Premiere - Menu (Part I)

partysugar — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 07:57:31 -0700

This week I am planning a watching party for a television show's season premiere. One of my favorite fall shows, Ugly Betty, serves as the theme and centerpiece of the party. Since Betty Suarez's family is from Mexico, that region's authentic dishes will make up my menu. When my friends arrive I'll have large colorful bowls filled with classic tomato salsa, tomatillo guacamole, and blue corn chips. Later I'll remove a platter of queso fundido from the oven to serve with warmed tortillas and chicken in green sauce. Guests can make their own soft tacos by choosing from any of the aforementioned toppings and fillings. To get these recipes, read more

Roasted Tomatillo Guacamole
From Sunset magazine
Image Source

1 or 2 fresh Jalapeños, stems removed, and chiles halved and seeded
1/2 medium white onion, peeled
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 tomatillo, papery skin removed
1 avocado, peeled and cut into chunks
At least 1 tablespoon lime juice
1/3 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped
At least 1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large, unoiled frying pan over medium heat, pan-roast the Jalapeños, onion, garlic, and tomatillo on all sides, 20 to 25 minutes total.
In a blender, whirl the vegetables with 1/4 cup water until blended but still chunky.
Add avocado and lime juice; pulse until blended. Add cilantro and salt, pulse to combine, and add more salt and/or lime juice to taste.

Makes 1 1/2 cups

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Salsa
From Pedro Rosas, Chef at San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista

5 large tomatoes
5 large jalapenos
1 small bunch cilantro
1 medium white onion
1 small lemon
salt, black pepper, granulated garlic, ground cumin to taste

Roast the tomatoes and jalapenos till the skin is burned (do not remove the skin) and let it cool off for 2 hours
After the tomatoes and jalapenos are cool, place it into the blender with 1 cup of water and mix together
Chop the fresh cilantro and onion and add to the mix with all the remaining ingredients and with the lemon juice.

Makes 1-2 cups.

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Queso Fundido
From Rick Bayless
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1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, preferably extra-virgin
1 medium red onion, sliced
6 to 8 ounces full-flavored mushrooms, such as shiitakes, oysters or practically any wild variety, stemmed (discard woody stems or finely chop them) and sliced (you'll have about 2 generous cups)
2 to 3 canned chipotle chiles en adobo, seeded and thinly sliced
Salt
12 corn tortillas, the fresher the better (store-bought are okay, but homemade will really shine here)
8 ounces mozzarella, preferably whole-milk (but not "fresh" mozzarella, which will not melt) or Mexican quesillo, shredded (you'll have about 2 cups)
A generous 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or generous 1 teaspoon chopped fresh epazote
A little black pepper, preferably freshly ground

Make the mushroom mixture: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large skillet (preferably nonstick), heat the oil over medium-high. Add the sliced onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softening and beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and stir nearly constantly until they have softened and any juice they release has evaporated, about 5 minutes longer. Stir in the sliced chiles, then taste and season with salt, usually about 1/4 teaspoon. Transfer the mixture to a 9- or 10-inch shallow baking dish, Mexican cazuela or pie plate.
Finishing the queso fundido: Very lightly dampen a clean kitchen towel. Check the tortillas to make sure none are stuck together. Wrap them in the towel, then in foil, sealing the edges tightly. Place in the oven and set the timer for 7 minutes.
When the timer goes off, stir the shredded cheese into the warm mushroom mixture. Set in the oven alongside the tortillas and bake until the cheese is just melted, about 5 minutes longer.
Sprinkle with the thyme or epazote and black pepper and serve without a moment's hesitation, accompanied by warm tortillas.

Serves 6-8.

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Mayan Chicken With Green Sauce
From Mario Batali
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2 lbs chicken drumsticks and thighs
3 lbs tomatillos, husked
6 garlic cloves
2 serrano chiles
juice and zest of 3 limes, plus 1 more for garnish
1 bunch cilantro
salt
chopped scallions, for garnish

Remove the skin from the chicken. Set aside.
In a large pot of boil water, place the tomatillos, garlic, and chiles. Boil for 2 minutes and drain.
Fill a blender with the tomatillos, garlic, and chiles along with the lime juice and zest. Blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt.
Add the sauce to a large saucepan with the raw chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer for 25 minutes.
Season the sauce with the juice of a lime and add the chopped scallions.
Serve with warm tortillas.

Serves 6-8.

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