Dinner Party take two!

I would have to say that the ladies night in dinner party was a success! I will make this one short and sweet as there are a lot of photos and the recipes will be quite long on this one. Our menu consisted of the following:

Caramelized onion and bacon tarts

Goat cheese with a slice of fresh fig drizzled with a balsamic glaze

Brie with fresh pear slices sprinkled with fresh rosemary and a hint of kosher salt

I also created a cheese plate to go along with these that consisted of the following:
Old Amsterdam Smoke Gouda
Goat Cheese
Brie
Manchego
Pickled Peppers
Brioche Toasts
Rosemary Cranberry Crackers
Fresh Sliced Baguette
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Raw Honey
Dukkah Dipping Spices
Raw Almonds
Traditional Bruschetta
Artichoke Bruschetta

Our dessert to finish off the evening was a lemon curd filled puff pastry topped with a spoonful of fresh whip cream.

We started the evening off with a glass of Tango from Castoro Cellars Castoro Cellars and then we finished off with a glass of Grenache from Cass Winery Cass Wines. Both of these wines paired excellently with all the appetizers, you could have stayed with either one of the wines through out the evening. 

~RECIPES~

I made puff pastry from scratch but for someone who doesn't want to spend two days making puff pastry I would suggest buying it pre made. It is less costly and certainly less time consuming. Pre heat your oven to 400 degrees and line some cookie sheets with parchment paper. If you don't have parchment paper you can always spray them just be sure to remove the puffs as soon as possible so they don't stick.

For the tarts I rolled out my puff fairly thin, a little thinner then you would a pie crust. This dough has many layers and tends to puff up pretty high so the thicker you roll it out the higher your puffs will be. Cut out small circles about two inches in diameter. Line them on one of your prepared baking trays. For the sweet puffs you will want to sprinkle them with sugar ever so slightly and bake them for about 15 minutes, you want them to be a nice golden brown on both the top and bottom of the pastry. When they are finished allow them to cool completely. Slice them in half ever so carefully place a spoonful of lemon curd in the middle put the top back on and finish off with a dollop of whip cream.

For the savory tarts you are going to need to complete a little prep work first. You will need the following:

Crumbled cooked bacon
Caramelized onions
Chopped Rosemary
Sliced pears
Kosher salt
Sliced Brie
Goat cheese
Sliced black figs
Balsamic glaze (Trader Joes)

Roll out and cut the puff pastry just as you did before and line them on the baking tray. For the first one place a small amount of bacon and onion in the middle of the tart. Be sure to try and keep your ingredients balanced in the middle and not too top heavy they will topple over if you have too much.
Bake them at 400 degrees for about 13-15 minutes, the bottoms should be a nice solid golden brown.

For the other two tarts it is the same process slightly. Layer your cheese down first then your fruit, then sprinkle with your rosemary. Do not drizzle the glaze on the figs until after you have baked them. They bake for 13-15 minutes as well. Once the pear ones come out of the oven sprinkle with just a hint of salt, lighter is better as it is there to bring all the flavors together.

Plate them after they have cooled and enjoy!

Dinner Party

Tonight I am having some girlfriends over for some wine and appetizers. Here is a sneak peak at the menu and what will be coming up on the blog in the next few days....
Bruschetta with a traditional sauce as well as an artichoke one. I made fresh puff pastry that will have numerous fillings...fresh fig with goat cheese drizzled with a balsamic glaze, caramelized onions with bacon bits with goat cheese, fresh pear and brie cheese sprinkled with rosemary and quiet possibly even a lemon curd puff. Along with these freshly made appetizers we will have your traditional cheese plate, salami, olives, nuts, raw honey, and fresh fruits. Can't wait to post some photos!

Stuffed Portabello

I didn't use to be a fan of 'shrooms believe it or not. I would avoid them at all costs actually. It wasn't until I was at a friends house for dinner back in college and he made bbq'd mushrooms that I tried them and realized what I was missing out on! There are endless ways to prepare this dish but here is just one of my favorites.

Ingredients:

Large portabello mushrooms
Kosher Salt
21 Ingredient Seasoning Salute (Trader Joes)
Olive Oil
Crushed Garlic
Crumbled goat cheese
Fresh roma tomatoes diced

Directions:

Start by removing the stem from each of the mushrooms. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with the salt and then rub in your garlic. Use the garlic to taste, I use about 1/4 tsp or so per mushroom, but I love garlic! Next sprinkle with the 21 seasoning salute from Trader Joes and follow up with the tomatoes and then finish with the goat cheese.

Cooking:

You can either bbq these or bake them in the oven. If you are going to use your oven, preheat it to 375 and bake for around 20 minutes until the mushroom feels soft when you poke the side. If you are going to be bbq'ing these use a medium heat and place the mushrooms directly on the grill or over a piece of foil. They will take around 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your mushrooms.

Once they are finished slice them up and enjoy with a glass of ice cold Pinot Grigio from Opolo Vineyards.