Dates I made these recipes:
Week of November 30, 2015 – Holiday Party Fare!
Christmas 101
(revised 2007 edition) by Rick Rodgers, Author of Thanksgiving 101
Published by: William
Morrow
ISBN:
978-0-06-122734-9
Purchased at Barnes and Noble Used books, Barnes and Noble, St. Paul, MN
Recipe: Stilton and Walnut Balls – p. 11
Recipe: Mocha Nut
Crinkles – p. 126-127
Emeril's Potluck –
Comfort Food with a Kicked-Up Attitude by Emeril Lagasse
Published by: William
Morrow
ISBN: 0-68-816431-5
Purchased at Goodwill
Recipe: Kicked-Up Spinach and Artichoke Dip – p.
33-34
Holiday Fare –
Favorite Williamsburg
Recipes by John R. Gonzales
Published by: The
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia
ISBN: 0-87935-196-9
Purchased at Arc's Value Village
Thrift Stores
Recipe: Cheese and Chive Crisps – p. 14
'Tis the season to be jolly and, of course, to get things
going by making and then eating holiday party food. It's a good thing that calories don't count
at this time of year (wink, wink) because these recipes have just a few grams
of fat. Just a few. But they are all delicious and if they are
delicious then nothing else matters.
Although Andy and I made all these recipes for our annual
Mistletoe Madness© holiday open house, you don't need to plan a party as an
excuse to make any of these for your own bad selves. You may need to cut the recipes down as I did
with most of the recipes but that all depends on what else you are serving. We typically make a couple of hot appetizers,
several spreads and cheese balls and then about a half dozen sweet treats. And although in the early years of party
planning, I relied heavily on my cookbook collections for party food recipes,
these days I mix and match cookbook recipes with those found on the internet or
in magazines. It's all about what we're
in the mood to eat.
If you saw our entire menu, then you would see why I joked
to friends that this year's fare was "The Year of Meat and Cheese"
because recipes either fell into one camp or the other (save for dessert). We didn't plan it that way but somehow we
compiled a plethora of recipes in these categories and didn't see any reason to
hold back. And so for your consideration
in the "cheese" category, we have the Stilton and Walnut Ball (made with either Tawny Port or, as we did
it, Madeira), Emeril Lagasse's Kicked-Up
Spinach and Artichoke Dip, containing brie, Monterey Jack and Parmesan
cheese, and the cheese and chive crisps, made with sharp cheddar and Parmesan,
as well as Cheese and Chive Crisps. You're welcome, National Dairy Council! And
then for good measure, we threw in the Mocha
Nut Crinkles.
Let's start with the Mocha
Nut Crinkles. I've made variations
of these before and so was dismayed when the first batch I made came out chewy
instead of light and...crinkly. I
checked over all my ingredients and determined the problem to be that they were
chilled too long (the recipe calls for 2 hours). Or, as Andy and I like to
joke, "chillaxed." This also
happened with another refrigerator cookie recipe I made for pistachio
cookies. I ended up remaking and
re-chilling both cookie doughs and the results were much more to my
satisfaction. Prior to this, I told
friends that I was going to rename the cookies Mocha Nut
"Chews." (As an aside, this is
why I try to make as many party items in advance so I can fix anything that
goes wrong.)
Runner-up in the "degree of difficulty" contest
was Emeril's spinach dip which is made using fresh spinach that you blanch and
then chop. Frankly, that part was a
little messy and so I think that when I make this again, I'm going to just use
frozen. But it's so very "Food Network" to use fresh spinach
(better if you grow it yourself) that I stuck to the plan, Stan. My only tiny complaint is I made it the night
before, then reheated it in the oven but it wasn't very hot so I microwaved it
for a few minutes with fantastic results:
all the cheese melted and it went from just "so-so" to "fantastic"
just like that. I'm definitely going to
make a note of that for next time.
The Cheese and Chive Crisps
were very easy to make and very good but the hand's down winner of the "no
degree of difficulty" contest was the Stilton
and Walnut Cheese Balls. I mean, how
hard is it to mix cream cheese, Stilton cheese and liquor and then roll it in
walnuts? Not very hard at all, at
all! And when it comes to party time,
Andy and I both want more of the "not very hard at all" recipes than
we do "incredible degree of difficulty" which is why we have
eliminated some of the following from our menu:
anything fried, anything with phyllo dough (hate that stuff – what a
mess), anything to be made in a wok, anything with 22 steps that needs to be
done the morning of, seafood (messy and stinky) and anything requiring a
fork. In other words, a short list!
All of these dishes should land on your holiday entertaining
short list. Or your Super Bowl party
short list. Or your birthday party short
list. Or heck, your "who needs a
stinking list" list. Enjoy!
Stilton and Walnut
Balls – makes 12 to 16 appetizer servings
Can be made up to 5
days ahead
8 ounces Stilton or other blue cheese, rind removed, at room
temperature
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons tawny port (Ann's Note: we didn't have that on hand so I used Madeira)
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
Water crackers for serving
Cored, sliced, ripe Bosc pears, tossed with lemon juice to
discourage browning, for serving
In a medium bowl, using a rubber spatula, mash the Stilton
and cream cheese together until smooth.
Work in the port and pepper.
Place a piece of plastic wrap on the work surface, and scrape the cheese
mixture into the center of the wrap. Use
the plastic wrap to form the cheese mixture into a ball (it will be soft). Refrigerate until the ball is chilled and
firm, at least 4 hours or overnight.
To serve, unwrap the ball and roll in the chopped nuts. Transfer to a platter and serve with the
crackers and pears.
(Emeril Lagasse's)
Kicked-Up Spinach and Artichoke Dip – makes 4 to 8 servings
Two 10-ounce packages fresh spinach, well rinsed and stems
trimmed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup (6 ½ ounces) ½-inch cubes Brie cheese, rind removed
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
One 6 ½-ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and
chopped
4 strips crisp fried bacon, chopped
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (for topping)
Assorted chips, such as pita chips, tortilla chips, and
bagel chips, for dipping
Ann's Note: Emeril
wants you to start by preheating the oven to 350 and greasing a 9-inch round
ovenproof chafing dish and setting that aside but this dish takes some time to
assemble. I preheated my oven about
halfway through.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add the spinach in batches and cook until
wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and
refresh under cold running water.
Squeeze the spinach to remove excess water and chop. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring, for 3
minutes. Add the garlic, salt, black
pepper, and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly,
to make a light roux, about 2 minutes.
Add the milk and cream in a steady stream, and coo, stirring constantly,
until thick and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. [Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease
a 9-inch round ovenproof chafing dish.]
Add the cooked spinach and lemon juice and stir to incorporate. Add the cubed Brie and grated Monterey Jack
cheeses, artichoke hearts, and bacon and stir well. Remove from the heat and pour into the
prepared dish. Top with the Parmesan
cheese and bake until bubbly, about 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and serve hot with chips.
Ann's Note: If you
are not serving right away, put this dish in the microwave for about 2 minutes
until cheese melts.
Cheese and Chive
Crisps – makes about 36 (Ann's
Note: the dough needs to chill for at
least an hour before baking.)
½ pound sharp cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
2 tablespoons chopped chives
1/8 to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup all-purpose flour
Beat the cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, butter, chives,
cayenne pepper, salt, and Worcestershire sauce with an electric mixer on low
speed until smooth.
Add the flour and mix with a wooden spoon just until the
flour is evenly incorporated. Turn out
the dough onto a lightly floured surface.
Divide the dough evenly and shape by hand into two 1-inch-diameter
logs. Wrap the logs in plastic and refrigerate
for about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Slice the logs into ½-inch thick disks and place them on an
ungreased baking sheet. Using the back
of a fork dusted with flour, gently push down on the disks to partially flatten
them.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the undersides are
nicely browned.
Serve warm or allow the crisps to cool completely before
storing them in an airtight container.
Mocha Nut Crinkles –
makes 4 dozen
Make ahead: The dough must be chilled for at least 2 hours. The cookies can be baked up to 1 week
ahead. Ann's Note: If you can't bake them within 2 hours, the
dough might become too cold, making for chewy rather than light and fluffy.
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
5 tablespoons milk
1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder (the author says if
you can't find this, substitute either ½ teaspoon coffee extract or regular instant coffee)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
½ cup vegetable shortening
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ cup (2 ounces) coarsely chopped walnuts
¾ cup confectioners' sugar for rolling
In the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering
water, melt the chocolate, stirring occasionally. Remove from the water and cool the chocolate
until tepid.
In a glass measuring cup, heat 1 tablespoon of the milk in a
microwave on High until boiling. Add the
espresso powder and stir to dissolve.
Stir in the remaining ¼ cup milk.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt
together. In another large bowl, using a
handheld electric mixer set at high speed, beat together the granulated sugar
and shortening until well combined. Beat
in the eggs, one at a time, then the vanilla.
Reduce the mixers speed to low.
Mix in the melted chocolate. A
third at a time, alternately beat in the flour and milk mixtures. Stir in the walnuts. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until
chilled and firm, at least 2 hours.
Position racks in the center and top third of the oven and
preheat to 350F. Place the
confectioners' sugar in a small bowl.
Using 1 tablespoon for each, roll the dough into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in confectioners' sugar to
coat, then place 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with nonstick baking
pads.
Bake, switching the position of the baking sheets from top
to bottom and back to front halfway through baking, until the cookies are set
with crisp edges, about 15 minutes. Cool
on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool
completely.
