Dinner Party!

Wow, I have come a long way. I'm not necessarily talking about the beginning of my marriage when I flat out could not cook, but even since the beginning of this blog. I've tackled so many cooking methods and ingredients, successes and failures, and I'm no worse for wear. I guess that confidence kind of got to me. And so it happened about a month ago when the Husband had an open weekend where he didn't have to work and we were left with deciding what to do. We talked about taking a little two-day trip somewhere, we talked about driving to a basketball game, and then the Husband said a few little words that lit a fire in me.

"How about hosting a dinner party?"

At first it sounded nice, but a little crazy. I had been talking about hosting a dinner party for a few years. But every time I got the opportunity, I either let it pass with no action or something else came up (much to my relief) and I just put the thought in the back of my mind. Truth be told, I was afraid. Afraid, she says! What's the big deal - you invite your good friends over, cook a great meal, throw in some delightful conversation, and the evening is a resounding success. The part that I was afraid of was the "cook a great meal" part. I couldn't even cook for myself and the Husband some nights - how was I going to manage cooking for eight other people and make sure it tasted good?

But then that confidence crept up inside me again. I knew I cooked some amazing dishes for this blog, and I was starting to get more comfortable with my abilities and pushing any limitations to see if I could get to the next level. A dinner party was, in effect, the next level. I knew what had to be done. I emailed our friends and invited them over before I had a chance to chicken out. I was locked in! I had to do it! Maybe I should have just done that sooner, but this timing was going to work out well. The Husband and I tossed around a lot of ideas for the meal and we finally came up with a great menu:

Potato and Ricotta Gnocchi with Bolognese Sauce
Mixed Greens Salad
Cauliflower Casserole
Roasted Zucchini
Chocolate Mousse

The gnocchi was an all around hit every time I made it, so that was a good choice. Everyone likes pasta and this gave everyone the chance to try something most of them probably hadn't eaten before. The Cauliflower Casserole came from my Aunt, who passed it along to my Dad, who cooked it as part of Christmas dinner last year. The Husband, my brother and I all turned our noses up at the name, confident that nary a bite would pass our lips. But, being the grownups we are, we tried it. And we all really liked it! And so did our guests, as evidenced by one of our friends literally scraping the bottom of the baking dish with the serving spoon. The Roasted Zucchini came from Southern Living and was also a hit - I only wish I had made more. And finally, the Chocolate Mousse came from a Betty Crocker Cookbook that my Dad gave me and the Husband for our first Christmas.

We did some major prep work for this event. I even wrote out a to-do list that started three days in advance of the party, from grocery shopping to cutting up veggies the night before to starting the gnocchi dough that morning. I was ready. For the gnocchi, I knew I would have to at least double the recipe I was used to making. There were going to be ten of us and a lot of big appetites. I eventually tripled the dough and the sauce just to make sure I had enough, and as it turned out that was way too much. I would have been okay with doubling it. I made the dough that morning and let it rest, as directed. About two hours before guests were to arrive I pulled out the dough to get it rolled out and cut into the little gnocchi pillows. But when I scooped the dough onto the floured cutting board, my blood ran cold. The dough was way too wet, gooey almost, and completely unable to be shaped. My first thought was one of panic, but thankfully my next thought was somewhat more rational. I grabbed the flour and added more to my dough, stirring away. Still runny. More flour. Getting better. More flour. Finally I had some dough I could work with. Crisis averted, but still something I had not planned.

When we moved from the salad course to the main course, we took a little longer than anticipated to actually get the gnocchi cooked and plated and on the table, but our guests were very gracious and kept the conversation flowing while the Husband and I worked our tails off in the kitchen trying to get the gnocchi wrapped up. All in all, we had a wonderful time with our wonderful friends, and all were very complimentary. One friend, in fact, really put a smile on my face when she said, "I didn't realize you could cook like this!" Neither did I. But now I do.

Cauliflower Casserole

Ingredients
1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets
1 8-oz carton sour cream
1 C shredded sharp cheddar
1/2 C crushed corn flakes cereal
1/4 C finely chopped green pepper
1/4 C finely chopped sweet red pepper
1 t salt
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
Paprika to taste

Place cauliflower florets into saucepan with a small amount of water; cover and cook for five minute and drain.

Combine the cauliflower, sour cream, cheddar cheese, corn flakes, peppers and salt. Transfer to a greased 2-quart baking dish.

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and paprika. Bake uncovered in 325° oven for 30-35 minutes, stirring often.

I think the main reason this recipe turned out so well, despite the cauliflower, is because of all the cheese and sour cream. It's probably not all that healthy, but it's a show stopper. When steaming the cauliflower, I used an actual steamer as opposed to boiling it as stated in the recipe. I also could have used a larger head of cauliflower because once everything was dumped into the baking dish, it looked a little sparse. Our guests confirmed that after the dish was scraped clean and I swear I saw some pleading eyes begging for more.

Finally, the chocolate mousse. A little goes a long way with this item. It's so rich and delicious and just the perfect ending to a great meal. I served it in wine glasses and I meant to rim the glasses with sugar but I totally forgot. It still turned out perfect.

After our guests left and the kitchen had been totally covered up with dirty dishes and hand towels and empty wine bottles (we're a drinkin' bunch), I just felt such a sense of accomplishment and relief. We did it, and we did it up nice. Our friends were happy and full and I pushed another limitation and did something I didn't think I could do. Excuse the cliche, but I kind of felt like a kitchen rock star. It felt good.

Poblano-Pepper Jack Corn Bread

Cornbread is such a southern staple. It is perfect all by itself, or you can pair it with a big bowl of vegetable soup or some soup beans and you have what could possibly be the perfect meal. Or if you're like the Husband, you can crumble a few wedges up in a glass of cold milk. Not really my thing, but he loves it. This recipe says cornbread in the title, but the end result is more like corn cake. Kind of spongy, maybe even a little tiny bit sweet, but very good.

Poblano-Pepper Jack Cornbread

ACTIVE: 25 MIN
TOTAL TIME: 1 HR 45 MIN
Ingredients
1 medium poblano chile
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, 6 tablespoons melted
1 small onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 cup thawed frozen corn kernels
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 large eggs, beaten
4 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded (1 1/4 cups)

Light a grill or preheat the broiler. Grill or broil the poblano, turning frequently, until charred all over, about 4 minutes. Transfer the chile to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand for 15 minutes. Peel and seed the poblano and cut it into 1/4-inch dice.

Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly butter an 8-inch round cake pan. In a medium skillet, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the onion and cook over moderately high heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the poblano and corn and cook until heated through, about 1 minute.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour with the cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add the 6 tablespoons of melted butter along with the milk and eggs and whisk until just incorporated. Fold in the poblano-corn mixture and 3/4 cup of the pepper jack cheese. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese on top.

Bake the cornbread for 35 minutes, until the top is light golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the cornbread to a rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the cornbread, turn it out onto the rack and let cool slightly. Cut the cornbread into wedges and serve warm.

One of the recipes the Husband graciously bestowed upon me during our marriage was his cornbread recipe. I don't know exactly who in the family was responsible for it, but it's a simple, solid recipe with four basic ingredients. This is all to say that I'm not used to a cornbread recipe taking as many ingredients as this one does. But, they're all important. The corn gives it some sweet (plus the little bit of sugar), the poblano and pepper jack cheese give it some heat, and all that butter just brings it home.

This was more of a cakey texture than regular dense cornbread. I was also unfamiliar with baking cornbread in a vessel other than a cast iron skillet, but the cake pan worked well. The batter filled the cake pan to the top and I was a smidge concerned that it would overflow in the oven, but that didn't come close to happening.

One thing I changed was that I reserved the shredded pepper jack that you're supposed to put on top of the batter before it goes in the oven. In my experience, super heating cheese like that in the oven results in an inedible mess that first melts and then solidifies under the heat. So I held off until the cornbread was done, then I sprinkled the shredded pepper jack on top , put it back under the broiler for about 30 seconds, and then took it out.

This was really good! The corn and diced poblano were a nice punch with each bite and the cheese that had been mixed into the batter was melted and stringy. Not your grandmother's cornbread, that's for sure. But this would go very well with some chili or even vegetable soup.

Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Come on - how can this not sound delicious? You have potatoes, you have heavy cream, you have goat cheese. Plus, this recipe came out of an Emeril Lagasse cookbook so you know it's going to be good.

Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes

Serves: 8

4 C peeled and diced white potatoes
1 ½ t salt
¾ C heavy cream
¼ C unsalted butter
½ pound goat cheese, crumbled
1/8 t freshly ground white pepper

Combine the potatoes and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a large saucepan. Cover the potatoes with water, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Drain.

Return the potatoes to the saucepan and, over low heat, stir them with a fork or wire whisk for about 2 minutes to dry them. Add the cream, butter, cheese, the white pepper and the remaining ½ teaspoon salt. Mix well. Serve hot.

I cannot tell you how much this hit the spot. I had been craving potatoes for the longest time and I couldn't wait much longer before making this. As far as the ingredients, I went pretty far off the rails this time when I was throwing it together. I didn't measure a thing, just eyeballed it, and it turned out more than fine. It was fantastic. I only had two potatoes, which didn't equal four cups of diced potatoes, so I reduced the other ingredients accordingly. I also used fat-free half and half instead of heavy cream, which didn't pose any problems. Same with the butter, goat cheese and white pepper - I just threw in however much I thought looked like a good amount. Sometimes I don't even know why I bother with a recipe.

In the "mix well" portion of the recipe, it's referring to the actual mashing of the potatoes though it's not specifically stated as such. A wonderful little tool I've found works great to mash potatoes is a pastry cutter. A blender can be too rough and a fork just doesn't do it. The pastry cutter lets you work at your own speed and determine how chunky or smooth you want the potatoes to be.

This is the finished product. If you look closely you can see little white specs - that's the goat cheese. I'm only slightly ashamed to admit that I mostly ate this straight from the pot I cooked it in - it was that good. These were rich without being overpowering and creamy without being runny. A perfect combination.

Balsamic Roasted New Potatoes

My store recently started carrying little bags of Dole Easy Steamer™ Red Potatoes. They're as handy as can be! The bag has small perforations and is designed to toss right into the microwave to steam the potatoes right in the bag. Or, as you can cut the bag open and do them up individually or however you like.

Balsamic Roasted New Potatoes

Prep: 10 min. Bake: 45 min.
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds small new potatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, divided
Vegetable cooking spray

1. Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl or large zip-top plastic bag; add potatoes. Drizzle with 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar, and stir or shake well to coat. Arrange potatoes in an aluminum foil-lined jelly-roll pan coated with cooking spray.

2. Bake, uncovered, at 450° for 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring once. Drizzle with remaining 1 Tbsp. vinegar, and toss well. Serve immediately.

This makes a great side dish. The prep time is fast and you can put them in the oven before anything else starts cooking, and everything should end up being done all at once. This is a very simple recipe. I double-ditto the note about putting aluminum foil on the pan you use because potato starch is hard to scrape off if any of it burns. And speaking of burning, mine did just a little. My oven is perhaps the farthest thing from precise when it comes to the temperature settings, but at 45 minutes I was close to having little potato-flavored briquettes.





I halved this recipe and threw in some fresh herbs and extra garlic. I'm wary about using too much balsamic, but this could have used just a slight bit more than what it calls for. I would also stir them more than once, just to make sure they don't start sticking to the foil. Adding some more balsamic at the end is a good kick, too. This was a good little side item for an easy weekday dinner.