Whenever you go out with Amanda, you are sure to be sharing a never-before-tried cocktail or tasting some interesting new libation she discovered. So it came as no surprise to me, that the cocktail party theme had been floating around in her brain from the moment she joined the supperclub. Sure, she can drink them, but the girl can also pour a mean one.
The master mixologist had us pairing our food with drinks. We ran the gamut of tastes, textures and temperature. We had warm. We had cold. We had sweet. We had salty. We had tart. We had crunchy. We had chewy. What we had were a lot of choices. Had we been entertaining the boss or hosting a superbowl party, we would have been just fine.
For Jody's first official supperclub, she brought a lemon tart with a thick and cookie-like crust and zingy sidecars with candied zests that were dutifully peeled off the lemon by her cooking-phenom-fiancé, Josh. The zests really were very pretty — lovely to eat in or out of the liquor. Cheers!
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Pairings:
Chocolate Dreamsicles
Black Velvets with Tuna Tartare with Caviar on Wonton Crisps
Ham-n-Cheese Crescents
Jalapeño Margarita with Poached Shrimp and Chipotle Shrimp
New Bee's Knees with Shrimp Escabeche With Blood Orange Mojo
Sidecars and Candied Citrus Zest with Lemon Tart
Toasted Raviolis with Marinara sauce
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Black Velvet
6 ounces chilled stout
6 ounces chilled champagne
Pour the stout slowly into a tall glass, and then simply add the champagne.
Serves 1.
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Chipotle Shrimp
Serves 6 generously
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1 small white onion, sliced 1/4-inch thick
6 ounces (1 medium-small or 2 to 3 plum) ripe tomatoes
3/4 teaspoon black pepper, preferably freshly ground
1/8 teaspoon cloves, preferably freshly ground
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 to 4 tablespoons very finely chopped canned chipotle chiles, drained before chopping
Salt, about 1/2 teaspoon
2 pounds (about 50) medium-large shrimp
1. Roasting the flavorings. On an ungreased griddle or heavy skillet set over medium, roast the garlic cloves, turning occasionally, until soft (they will blacken in spots), about 15 minutes. Cool and peel. While the garlic is roasting, lay the onion out on a small square of foil, set on the griddle and let sear, brown and soften, about 5 minutes per side. Roast the tomatoes on a baking sheet set 4 inches below a very hot broiler until blackened in spots and soft, about 6 minutes; flip and roast the other side. Cool and peel, collecting all the juices with the tomatoes.
2. The sauce. Combine all the roasted ingredients in a food processor or blender, along with the pepper, cloves and 1/4 cup water. Process to a medium-smooth puree. In a very large (12-inch) skillet, heat the oil over medium-high. When hot enough to make a drop of the puree sizzle noisily, add it all at once. Stir for several minutes as the mixture sears and darkens, then reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook, stirring regularly, until very thick, about 5 minutes. A tablespoon at a time, stir in the chopped chipotles, tasting until the thick salsa suits your own penchant for spiciness. (I think these are best when they’ve reached the upper levels of heat.) Taste, season with salt and remove from the heat.
3. The shrimp. Peel the shrimp, leaving the final joint and the tail intact. One at a time, devein the shrimp by laying them flat on your work surface and making a shallow incision down the back, exposing the (usually) dark intestinal track and scraping it out. Return the skillet with the sauce to medium-high heat. Add the shrimp, then slowly stir and turn for about 3 to 4 minutes, until the shrimp are just cooked through. (The sauce should nicely coat the shrimp, though it won’t really pool around them.) Taste a shrimp, sprinkle on a little more salt if necessary, then pile up the crustaceans on a rustic platter and carry them to the table.
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Chocolate Dreamsicle
2 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Godiva
1/2 oz Orange Liqueur
Splash of Baileys
Shake well & strain.
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Ham-n-Cheese Crescents
1 package pillsbury crescent rolls
1/4 lb honey ham, sliced thin (any ham will do)
1/2 c shredded mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan or any combo (or cheese you like)
1 tblsp mustard of your choice or combo of mustards (I use Woebler's and mix a couple kinds together)
1 tsp mayo
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Mix mustard and mayo together. Split each cresent triangle into two triangles. Fill each triangle with a dollup of the mix, add a sprinkle of cheese and fingerful of ham. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cresents begin browning.
makes 16 crescents
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Jalapeño Margarita
2 slices Jalapeño "wheels"
1 tbsp raw sugar
2 oz tequila
3/4 oz Orange Liqueur such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier
Juice of 1/2 lime
Club Soda or 7up
Muddle jalapeño slices with sugar. Add tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice. Shake with ice, add soda and gently shake some more. Serve in cocktail glass and garnish with fresh slice of jalapeño.
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Lemon Tart
For crust
1/3 cup almonds (about 2 ounces)
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons (or more) ice water
For filling
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons crème fraîche or sour cream
4 large eggs
Lemon slices (optional)
Make crust:
Finely grind almonds in processor. Add flour, sugar and salt and process until blended. Add butter and process until mixture resembles coarse meal. With machine running, add ice water, 1 tablespoonful at a time, and blend until moist clumps form, adding more water if dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Fold dough overhang in, pressing to adhere and forming double-thick sides. Pierce dough all over with fork. Freeze 20 minutes. Bake crust until set and light golden, piercing with fork if crust bubbles, about 30 minutes. Cool crust on rack 15 minutes. Maintain oven temperature.
Make filling:
Whisk lemon juice and sugar in medium bowl to blend. Whisk in crème fraîche. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time until well blended. Pour mixture into crust.
Bake tart until filling is set, covering crust edges with foil if browning too quickly, about 35 minutes. Cool tart completely in pan on rack. Refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)
Remove pan sides. Garnish tart with lemon slices, if desired. Cut into wedges and serve.
Serves 8.
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The New Bee's Knees
1/4 cup hot water
1 teaspoon dried lavender blossoms*
1/4 cup honey - - I suggest starting with 1/2 that, honey can easily overwhelm
6 tablespoons gin
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Mix hot water and dried lavender blossoms in bowl. Let steep 5 minutes. Whisk in 1/4 cup honey. Strain into another bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of the honey syrup, gin, and lemon juice; strain into cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into 2 chilled Martini glasses.
*Available at health foods stores.
Serves 2.
Stephanie's notes:
** I used high quality raw honey which I think can taste a little lighter and I only used 1/2 of what the recipe called for. If you add too much, the honey taste is too strong and you can always add more honey later.
** lavender blossoms are available at the Whole Foods on Ashland or for faster mixing you can buy lavendar syrup as Amanda did, both were good, though I liked the blossom taste a little more.
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Poached Shrimp
Pickling Spice (you can buy it or make up your own)
Tail on Shell on Shrimp
Boil pickling spices in water for about 5-8 minutes to bring out the flavor. Add salt if needed. Gently poach shrimp for about 1 minute and serve chilled or at room temp.
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Shrimp Escabeche With Blood Orange Mojo
This dish combines Spanish escabeche (marinated poached fish) with a new take on mojo, a Cuban sauce typically made with the juice of tart oranges, garlic, and herbs.
2 cups freshly squeezed blood orange juice or other orange juice
1 cup fresh lemon juice
3 large garlic cloves, minced, divided
Pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
2 pounds cooked deveined peeled shrimp, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups chopped red bell pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil
Additional olive oil (optional)
Lemon wedges
Tortilla chips or pita chips ** I prefer sliced baguette
Combine orange juice, lemon juice, and 2 minced garlic cloves in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add pinch of salt; boil until orange juice mixture is reduced to 1 cup, about 15 minutes. Cool. Mix in crushed red pepper.
Mix shrimp, bell pepper, celery, red onion, cilantro, and 1/4 cup olive oil in bowl. Toss with orange juice mixture and remaining minced garlic clove. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and chill until cold, about 2 hours. (Can be made 8 hours ahead. Keep refrigerated.)
Arrange escabeche in shallow bowl. Drizzle with additional olive oil, if desired. Garnish with lemon wedges. Serve with tortilla chips or pita chips.
Makes 12 servings.
Stephanie's notes:
* I used a combination of shrimp, bay scallops, and snapper
** I would chill it for more than 2 hours, I noticed that the dish tasted even better the next day, so I would lean towards chilling for 6-8 hours
** Blood orange is only available in January and February. I would make sure you have some kind of juicer gadget, like the hand presses, as this is alot of juice.
** It really makes enough for 12 as a heavy appetizer - - you may want to 1/2 the recipe.
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Sidecar
Equal parts cognac or brandy, lemon juice, and Cointreau, Triple Sec or Grand Marnier
Shake vigorously with and serve in sugar-rimmed martini glasses (with candied lemon peel!)
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Candied Citrus Zest
1 organic lemon, washed well
2 1/2 cups sugar
Use a vegetable peeler to remove the peel from the lemon in vertical strips. Try to remove only the yellow zest, avoiding as much of the white pith as possible. Save the lemon for another use.
In a small saucepan, combine the peels with 2 cups cold water. Bring to a boil, then drain off the water. Again add 2 cups cold water, bring to a boil, and drain. Repeat the process a third time, then remove the peels from the pan and set aside.
Measure 2 cups of the sugar into the pan and add 1 cup water, whisking until the sugar dissolves. Add the peels and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, until the peels are tender and translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the peels and let cool.
Measure the remaining 1/2 cup sugar into a medium bowl and add the peels. Toss to coat. Using a fork or your fingers, remove the peels one at time, gently shaking each to remove excess sugar. Store in an airtight container. The peels will keep for several weeks.
Makes about 2 tablespoons.
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Toasted Ravioli
1 (16 oz) pacakge meat or cheese ravioli
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup water
1 tsp garlic salt
1 cup flour
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
1 tsp italian seasoning
Vegetable oil for frying
1. Mix water with eggs in small bowl. Set aside
2. Mix seasoning, garlic salt, and breadcrumbs. Set aside
3. Measure flour in medium bowl.
4. Heat vegetable oil in deep fryer or skillet on medium to medium high
5. Dip ravioli in flour, then egg wash, then breadcrumbs. Carefully place into hot oil.
6. Fry until golden, about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels. Adjust heat as needed so as to avoid burning
7. Serve warm
Marinara sauce
crushed tomatoes - 15 oz can
garlic - 2-4 cloves, minced
crushed red pepper - 3-4 shakes
parsley - 1 handful, chopped
basil/oregano/thyme - whatever you have around
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
Warm olive oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes over low heat in medium saucepan, being careful not to brown garlic as it will become bitter. When garlic and flakes just start to sizzle and you can smell the aroma, add crushed tomatoes and stir. Stir in parsley and other herbs to taste. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to medium and gently simmer for 15-20 minutes, or longer if you have time.
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Tuna Tartare with Caviar on Wonton Crisps
Crisps
12 wonton wrappers, each cut diagonally in half to form 2 triangles
Olive oil (for brushing)
Tartare
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
8 ounces sushi-quality ahi tuna steak, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1 medium avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1 cup 1/3-inch cubes seeded English hothouse cucumber
1 green onion, finely chopped
Toasted sesame seeds
Chopped fresh chives
caviar (wasabi caviar)
For crisps:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Arrange wonton triangles on sheet; brush each with olive oil. Bake until triangles are golden brown, about 9 minutes. Cool on sheet. Do ahead Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.
For tartare:
Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Add tuna, avocado, cucumber, and green onion; stir gently to coat. Spoon tartare into bowl; sprinkle with sesame seeds and chives and place on platter. Spoon caviar into small bowl and place alongside. Surround with crisps.
Makes 8 servings.
Adapted from Bon Appétit's Tuna and Avocado Tartare with California Caviar on Sesame Wonton Crisps
October 2006
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