Krista's Shower Menu

I hosted Krista's shower this weekend and we had a great turnout and good food. A few people had asked for recipes of some of the things that either Krista and I made or that other people had brought! Below are the links to sites where we found the recipes. A couple of them were things where we didn't have a recipe, but they are super easy.


Beer Chese in a Bread Bowl - Mom made this!


Winter Spiced Sangria - I made six batches of this throughout the night, so it was definitely a crowd favorite.


Ham and Guyere Thumbprints - Krista and I made these and altered the recipe slightly. Instead of using a pastry bag, we spooned the dough into the mini-muffin pan. I think they turned out great! Best when served warm.


Hot Roast Beef Party Sandwhiches - Mom made these - always a favorite!


Sausage Balls - described as a sausage hushpuppy, whatever, love them.


Bacon Wrapped Dates - my personal favorite. Can eat these for a meal.


Mini Salami Puff Sandwiches - we used a tiny cookie cutter and these turned out super-cute - very easy.


Pecan Pie Muffins

Peanut Butter-Filled Brownie Cupcakes - Mom made these and they were delicious.

Three-Cheese Mini Macs - Holly gave me this recipe - she always makes it for the kids at parties and it is a big hit. The adults like it too!

No recipes here, just threw these together:

Tomato, Mozzarella and Basil Toast

Ingredients:

1 skinny french loaf

Tomatoes and Mozzarella salad from Kroger Olive Bar

Fresh Basil, chopped

Directions:

Cut bread into 1/4 inch pieces. Cut tomatoes and cheese to fit on toast. Sprinkle with Basil. Bake at 350 until toasted.

Bruschetta with Goat Cheese, Fig, and Prosciutto

Ingredients:

1 skinny french loaf
Fig spread (jam, jelly, preserves)

1 package Prosciutto

1 small package of Goat cheese
Fresh rosemary

Directions:
Cut bread into 1/4 inch pieces. Spread fig jam on toast. Top with goat cheese, prosciutto and top with a few sprigs of rosemary. Bake at 350 until toasted.

Brie in a Puff Pastry with Roasted Garlic Onion Jam

Pretty self explanatory! Jessica made this and used frozen puff pastry, a small round of brie and Stonewall Kitchen Roasted Garlic Onion Jam. She topped the Brie with the jam, wrapped it in the puff pastry and baked it at about 350 degrees until golden brown.

Chili-Beef Skewers

Stacie made these for the June meal exchange and this was the first meal I tried! It had awesome flavors and was very easy. I served it with more veggies - frozen Asian Green Beans - super easy meal from the freezer!

yield: makes 4 servings

ingredients:

8 wooden skewers
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 tsp sriracha
1 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 lb lean beef sirloin, cut into 1/8-inch strips
1 each red, green and yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into 2 1/2-inch pieces (optional)
Vegetable oil cooking spray Dipping sauce
1/2 cup lowfat mayonnaise
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp fish sauce

directions:

Soak skewers for 30 minutes. Puree cilantro, garlic, soy sauce, orange zest, sriracha, fish sauce and sugar in a food processor. Transfer marinade to a resealable plastic bag; add beef. Seal bag, toss and set aside up to 30 minutes. Combine dipping sauce ingredients in a bowl. Thread 4 pieces of pepper and 2 beef strips on each skewer, alternating beef and peppers. Coat grill rack with cooking spray; heat grill to high; cook until meat is no longer pink, about 3 minutes.

SELF, MAY 2008 - Adapted by Marge Perry
From: Epicurious

Chicken Shish Kababs

Deb made these for the June meal exchange - they sound easy and delicious. Love the summer grilling theme!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of cooking oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2-3 cloves of crushed garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 skinless chicken breasts
Various vegetables for grilling

Directions:

Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes. Combine all ingredients and marinate for 1 hour.

Thread chicken and vegetables on skewers and girll on each side for 4 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.

Serve with rice.

Grilled Apricot Stuffed Pork Chops

Susan made these for the June 2010 meal exchange and I think they sound great! Can't wait to try them!

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cooked brown or long grain rice
1/4 cup snipped dried apricots
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 TBSP apricot spread
1/4 tsp dried thyme, minced
1/4 tsp pepper
4 pork center loin chops, cut 1 inch thick
1/4 cup apricot spread

Directions:

1.) For stuffing, in medium bowl, stir together the rice, apricots, onion 1 TBSP apricot spread, thyme, and pepper. Trim fat from chops. Make a pocket in each chop by cutting horizontally from the fat side almost to the bone. Spoon 1/4 of the stuffing into each pocket. If necessary, secure the opening with toothpicks.

2.) Grill chops over medium heat until juices run clear, turning chops halfway through grilling time.

3.) Meanwhile, in sauce pan heat the 1/4 cup apricot spread until melted. Brush over chops the last 5 minutes of grilling time.

Chicken (or Turkey) Burgers with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Holly brought this for our June 2010 meal exchange and I am so excited to try them. She was making them the other night when we stopped by to play and they smelled yummy!

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pounds ground chicken
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons very finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
2 teaspoons chile powder
Salt
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons hot water
2 tablespoons chopped salted peanuts
4 round ciabatta rolls, split and toasted
Lettuce, for serving

Directions:

In a medium bowl, combine the ground chicken with 1/4 cup of the chopped onion, 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon of the chile powder, 1 teaspoon of salt and the garam masala. Using slightly moistened hands, form the ground-chicken mixture into four 4-inch patties.
In a medium saucepan, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of chopped onion and 1 teaspoon of chile powder and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and whisk in the peanut butter and hot water. Stir in the peanuts and season the sauce lightly with salt.

Light a grill or preheat a grill pan. Brush the chicken burgers with vegetable oil and grill over moderately high heat, turning once, until they are golden and crusty and just cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Spread the peanut sauce on the rolls. Top with the burgers and lettuce, close and serve.

Recipe by Grace Parisi, Food & Wine Magazine

Burgers Stuffed with Goat Cheese, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Basil

This was my contribution to the most recent meal exchange (June 2010). When we made these on the trial run, Tim got the grill too hot and he charred them a little (sorry, honey - they were still good). The sausage has some fat and it is easy to get a good flame going on these, so either use lower heat for longer or maybe even cook them on the stovetop. I think if you cook them in a pan on the stove, with the lid on - they would cook through and retain all the juices vs. them all dripping out on the grill.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef sirloin
1/2 pound raw Italian sausage removed from the casing(s)
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces soft goat cheese
3 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil
3 fresh basil leaves, sliced
4+ tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions:

Mix the beef, sausage and salt together. Be careful not to over-work the mixture. It can be helpful to coarsely chop the beef and sausage with a knife and then loosely toss together before mixing more thoroughly with the salt.

Divide into four equal 1/2-pound pieces. Remove about 1/5 of each half-pound portion and set the small pieces aside. Use your hands to shape each of the remaining four portions into a "flattened bowl" shape into which you can put the filling.

Remove the sun-dried tomatoes from the oil and slice.

Place 1/4 of the goat cheese into each burger, and then top with sun-dried tomatoes and basil.

Flatten each of the four small reserved pieces of burger mixture into flat disks. Place a disk on top of the filling for each burger, and then work the burger mixture closed with your fingers.

Flatten the burgers further as much as possible without risking breaking the seal to the stuffing.

Throw them on the grill. Enjoy!

These burgers must be fully cooked because of the sausage used in the mixture.

Author: Russ Faulk, Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet

Chicken Salad Contessa

I am obsessed with chicken salad, always have been and I am also recently obsessed with Tarragon - I think because when you sprinkle on any kind of food, it reminds me of steak Oscar. Anyway, this is a recipe from Ina Garten, of Barefoot Contessa. She used to make this and sell it at her store. I will say I altered it a little bit by doing the following: I cooked 4 good size chicken tenders in a crockpot on low for like 8 hours (just a little broth in the bottom, salt, pepper, some dried tarragon). I also didn't have any pecans or walnuts, so I used sliced almonds and they were a fine substitute. I used reduced fat mayo and reduced fat sour cream and I used dried, not fresh tarragon. Also, her recipe calls for two tsps of Kosher salt and apparently if you don't use Kosher salt and use regular or sea salt - it is too salty, according to the reviews. I put a little over 1 tsp and I will still cut back on the salt next time, but if you pay attention to this one detail - this is excellent. I will probably make it again this weekend :)

Ingredients

2 split (1 whole) chicken breasts, bone in, skin on (1 1/2 pounds)
Good olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup pecan halves
1/2 cup walnuts halves
1/2 cup good mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves, divided
1 cup green grapes, cut in 1/2
Lettuce leaves, for serving

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on a baking sheet and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside until cool. When the chicken is cool, remove meat from the bones and discard the skin and bones. Cut the chicken into a 3/4-inch dice. Meanwhile, place the pecans and walnuts on a separate sheet pan and toast in the oven for 7 to 8 minutes until golden. Set aside to cool. For the dressing, mix together the mayonnaise, sour cream, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Fold in half the chopped tarragon leaves. Place the diced chicken in a bowl, add the pecans, walnuts and grapes. Pour the dressing over the chicken and toss well. Sprinkle the remaining chopped tarragon leaves on top, and serve on a bed of lettuce leaves.

2007, Ina Garten, All Rights Reserved