Supper Club: Holiday Cocktail Party

Yeah, she has nothing to do with Supper Club except being a really cute annoyance to our guests all night. But this photo is just too cut not to share.

In our many years of Supper Club gatherings I can't remember a December gathering that fell only 4 days from Christmas.  

We were happy to host Supper Club this month. It gives me even more reason to decorate for the season, which I enjoy doing regardless. 

So with the house all ready to go we decided that actually being so close to Christmas doing a theme that would be a bit less maintenance would likely be appreciated by all. We went with a typical holiday cocktail party theme. Everyone brought makings for a festive cocktail and a hearty appetizer. PERFECT, especially since almost all of our members love appetizers. 

It was a great way to kick off our winter break. 

Table set for a potluck style meal, holiday tunes a playing..... we were ready to celebrate.

We greeted everyone with our cocktail, a Tipsy Santa. Yeah, next time we would need to use a course type of sugar for the rim to help with the Santa hat look. But they actually were pretty tasty and tipsy.

Some great apps were included in the spread. 

(Of course per my usual Supper Club photography I remembered to start taking pictures after most of the food was gone.)

We made grilled lamb chops with a creamy mustard sauce and

Sliced Steak Caesar sliders.

Lisa & Derek made a fantastic Gruyere' cheese, caramelized onion & bacon dip (need we say more, YUM!) and

Brie with Peach Salsa Crostini. 

They served a delicious White Chocolate, Candy Cane Martini also.

Jeff & Kris joined us after attending their daughters choral recital. And they brought with a great platter of greek flavored pizza pinwheels.

They also made a refreshing Cranberry Amaretto cocktail.

Since it was an appetizer theme I just picked up some frozen eclairs and bite sized tastes for dessert. But given the sweet cocktails dessert was barely touched by any of us at the end of the night.

It was a great gathering during a very busy season to just sit down and nosh on some yummy food with some people who have become our Supper Club family.

From G, T & Sally P. we wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Recipes:

All 3 recipes adapted from Rachel Ray Everyday Magazine Recipes. Linked below:

Sliced Steak Caesar Sliders

Lamb Chops with Creamy Mustard Sauce

Tipsy Santa Cocktail

Day of the Dead Christmas Cutouts

I'd have to say my favorite part of any holiday are the traditions attached to it. The traditions around Christmas are definitely my favorite. No huge surprise but we don't go crazy with the holiday baking around. 1) We aren't actually big 'sweets' eaters. 2) I am not a fan of baking in general.

But we do typically always make cut out sugar cookies, salted caramels and of course gingerbread babies with our niece and nephew.

This year I found these Day of the Dead cookie cutters which I knew G would think are really cool. He loves Day of the Dead decor. 

Usually we stick to more traditional decorating of our cookies, and we did a few stockings and mittens just to be traditional.

So although the Mexican Day of the Dead has is not exactly seasonal we thought if we decorated them with Christmas colors hey they'd be festive. 

But let me tell you once the cookies were done and cooled and we started decorating them and it was really hard to decorate them as ornately as they were done on the box. 

But we had fun trying and of course they were just as delicious. 

RECIPE:

Christmas Cutout Sugar Cookies

prep time: 90 MIN

 

cook time: 11 MIN

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Store-bought or homemade frosting

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating between each addition, then add the vanilla.

Turn the mixer off. Add the flour and then beat just until combined.

Remove the dough, shape it into a disk about 6 inches wide and wrap it securely in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for a minimum of 1 hour. (Sometimes I put them in freezer for 30 minutes to speed the process up.)

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350ºF and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.(This helps immensely to prevent cookies from breaking. A very necessary tool to use.)

Remove the dough from the fridge and cut it in half. Roll half the dough until it's about 1/4-inch-thick. Using cookie cutters, cut out your desired shapes and place them roughly 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets. Repeat the rolling and cutting process with the remaining dough. 

Bake the cookies for 9 to 11 minutes until pale golden, and then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Frost and decorate as desired.

Bourbon-Caramel Pumpkin Tart

Running a bit behind in getting our 2013 Thanksgiving menu this year. But it was a good one as typical and I promised to post the recipes we used.

G cooked a bit smaller turkey than usual and this year he grilled it. It was delicious.

We always start out with too many appetizers and every year we say, "not this year."

I was so excited to make the Bourbon-Caramel Pumpkin Tart that was on our November issue of Fine Cooking this year. It just looked and sounded amazing. But several hours into making it I remembered just exactly why I HATE BAKING! It just takes too many ingredients, too many steps and far too much time and honestly for all that work it only tasted okay, not amazing.

It was a great meal with family we love that's what Thanksgiving is all about and why we love to host it each year.

Links to our 2013 Thanksgiving Recipes: 

Baked Haricots Verts with Fried Shallots from Fine Cooking

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Dijon, Walnuts & Crisp Crumbs from Fine Cooking

Smoked Chile Scalloped Sweet Potatoes Bobby Flay from Food Network

Wild Mushroom-Bacon Sourdough Dressing Bobby Flay from Foodnetwork

Bourbon-Caramel Pumpkin Tart from Fine Cooking

The Ultimate Beef Stew

Wow, it's been awhile. Not sure I can clearly articulate what has kept me/us away: there's work, some challenges related with doing the VERY hardest work there is to do while being a principal. There is our focus on trying to eat Paleo 80% of the time and that takes so much planning & prep....by the time meals come around we are kind of just done. Those could be enough I suppose.

And then there is the good parts of life...

Views from our rental home on Red Mountain at the Corvus Vineyards house.

Like our annual, always looked forward to, trip to Washington Wine Country with good friends & this year my sister and her husband too.

There are so many great things that we love about these trips. Including things like wonderful breakfast mimosas to kick the day of before wine tasting. It was another fantastic year in the Prosser/Tri-Cities wine country.

View from our Iron Springs Resort Cabin

Or maybe it could of been my birthday weekend trip to the Washington coast, just a few miles down the road from where G proposed exactly 14 years prior that has kept me away.

It was a great weekend to romp on the beach with our beach loving bully.

In the end we'll just say life has been busy, good busy, work busy, not always fun busy...but busy and sitting down and reflecting on our wonderful meals has sadly slipped to the wayside.

Finally, Thanksgiving break is here and hopefully some time can be set aside to catch up on a few of our great meals & recipes.

Here's a recent Sunday meal that we splurged our 20% non-Paleo diet on. During late fall/winter weekends when the weather is cold and nippy comfort food seems to be a must.

This stew came about on one of those days. There was the first frost of the season, a cold brisk day and G was of course skiing most of the day and always enjoys a hearty meal for dinner after such a day.

I searched for a new stew recipe to make and came across Tyler's Ultimate Beef Stew. It had my favorite stew components; potatoes, mushrooms and red wine and a few new ones like orange zest and this fabulous horseradish cream. 

It was a fabulous stew recipe overall. Next time we make it we will leave out the orange zest, just because it became a bit overwhelming to the other flavors in the stew. But it was deliciously comforting and just as good day 1 and 2 like a good stew should be. 

RECIPE:

Tyler's Ultimate Beef Stew (from Food Network)

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for frying, plus more to drizzle

3 tablespoons butter

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 to 3 pounds beef chuck shoulder roast, cut into 2-inch pieces (this cut is also called chuck shoulder pot roast and chuck roast boneless)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 bottle good quality dry red wine (recommended: Burgundy)

8 fresh thyme sprigs

6 garlic cloves, smashed

1 orange, zest removed in 3 (1-inch) strips

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 bay leaves

2 1/2 cups beef stock

9 small new potatoes, scrubbed clean and cut in 1/2

1/2 pound carrots, peeled and sliced

2 cups frozen pearl onions, a large handful

1 pound white mushrooms, cut in 1/2

1/2 pound garden peas frozen or fresh

Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish

Fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, for garnish

Horseradish Sour Cream, recipe follows, for garnish

Toasted Peasant Bread, recipe follows, for serving

Directions

Preheat a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat with the oil and butter.

While the pan is heating, arrange the flour on a large dish. Season the cubed beef with some salt and freshly ground black pepper and then toss in the flour to coat. Shake off the excess flour and add the beef chunks in a single layer to the hot pan, being careful not to over crowd the pan, you might have to work in batches. Thoroughly brown all of the cubes on all sides. Once all the meat has been browned remove it to a plate and reserve.

Add the wine to the pan and bring up to a simmer while you scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon being sure to loosen up all those tasty bits. Once the wine has gotten hot add the browned meat, thyme, smashed garlic, orange zest strip, ground cloves, freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste, bay leaves and beef stock. Bring the mixture up to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook uncovered until the liquids start to thicken, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cover and cook on low heat for 2 1/2 hours.

After 2 hours add halved potatoes, sliced carrots, pearl onions and mushrooms, along with a pinch of sugar to balance out the acid from the red wine. Turn the heat up slightly and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes more, until the vegetables and meat are tender. Add the frozen peas during the last minute of cooking. Season with salt and pepper and remove the thyme sprigs.

To serve, place the stew in a soup bowl, garnish with parsley, drizzle with olive oil and add a dollop of Horseradish Sour Cream. Right before serving add a slice of Toasted Peasant Bread, half way submerged in the stew.

Horseradish Sour Cream:

1 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Chives, finely chopped, as garnish

Combine sour cream, prepared horseradish and a drizzle of olive oil in a small bowl and mix until thoroughly combined. Season with salt and pepper. Add a dollop of the mixture on top of the stew and garnish with chopped chives.

Toasted Peasant Bread:

1 loaf peasant bread, sliced into 1/2-inch pieces

Extra-virgin olive oil

4 garlic cloves, halved

Chopped parsley leaves

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

Put a sheet pan in the oven so that it gets good and hot.

Place the bread slices on the hot sheet pan. Drizzle the bread with the extra-virgin olive oil bake for 5 minutes, until the bread is nicely toasted. Rub the bread slices with the garlic cloves, and discard garlic. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Grilled Cheese with Pear & Caramelized Onions and Tomato Soup

Is there really anything more comforting than grilled cheese and tomato soup? I'm going to say no. It's the number one school lunch order of the school year by students and adults. It's just good stuff. 

We've officially finished our Whole 30 and now we've switch over to our 80% Paleo lifestyle. Which means last Sunday night this scrumptious meal was part of our 20% life. 

We were craving a rustic grilled cheese sandwich. We picked up 3 different delicious cheeses; a soft farmers white cheese, a white cheddar and a light blue cheese and grated them with some chopped chives.

We caramelized a white onion and sliced a ripe pear and sandwiched it all in between some roughly sliced sourdough bread. The flavors of the melty cheese, richly sweet onions and paired with the sweet pear is just perfect!  

And of course if we were making grilled cheese we had to make some homemade tomato soup too. The funny thing growing up I actually hated tomato soup. I think it was because the only tomato soup I had ever had was the kind from the red & white can. And it was like soupy ketchup. I'm so glad somewhere along the way I finally tasted a good tomato soup and became a fan. This soup takes a while to cook but it's well worth it.

You start by softening onions, carrots and garlic.

Add two cans of San Marzano Italian whole tomatoes.

The recipe called for 2 cans of water we substituted 2 cans of homemade chicken stock that G had made the week before to add a bit more flavor.

It was  a perfect meal for a gray,chilly lazy Sunday at home spent nursing our allergy prone pup back to health.

RECIPE:

Sidekick Tomato Soup (adapted from Sunset Magazine November 2013)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

2 large carrots 

2 large garlic cloves, chopped 

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes ( we added a bit more)

2 Mediterranean bay leaves

2 cans (14.5 oz. each) whole peeled organic tomatoes with juice, preferably San Marzano or Muir Glen

1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano, divided

About 1/2 cup crème fraîche

About 1 1/2 tbsp. chopped chives

1. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Pour in oil, then add onion, carrots, garlic, 1 tsp. salt, the red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables have softened and onion is translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. "It's important to cook your onions before you add liquid. Otherwise they won't melt in a simmering pot; they stay fibrous," advises Smith.

2. Add tomatoes, crushing them up with your hands, plus their juice and 2 cans water.  (we used homemade chicken stock in place of the water) "Canned whole tomatoes are usually higher quality than chopped," Conley says. "But chopped are okay in a pinch." Bring soup to a simmer and add half of oregano. Decrease heat to very low and simmer, partly covered, 2 hours. About 20 minutes before soup is done, add remaining 1/2 tsp. salt and the remaining oregano.

3. Remove bay leaves and blend soup until smooth. Add a bit of water if the soup looks thick, and strain if you want it silky smooth.

4. Serve soup topped with crème fraîche and chives.

Shrimp Curry with Bok Choy

Don't you just love a recipe that is sophisticated, simple and full of flavor. We do especially on a weeknight after a crazy busy day. And when such a recipe includes shrimp and curry all the better. 

This simple stir fry curry shrimp was a delicious meal to end the day during our Whole 30 challenge.

This simple stir fry curry shrimp was a delicious meal to end the day during our Whole 30 challenge.

RECIPE:

Shrimp Curry with Bok Choy

1 large head bok choy

1/3 pound wild-caught shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 teaspoon fish sauce

3 Tablespoons curry powder

3 Tablespoons coconut aminos

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh basil

Rinse the bok choy and remove the large white veins near the bottom of each leaf. Chop the leaves lengthwise and set aside.

Place the shrimp in skillet and stir in the fish sauce, curry powder and coconut aminos. Saute' for 4-5 minutes.

Add the minced garlic and basil and continue to cook until shrimp is completely opaque. Add the bok choy and saute' 1-2 minutes until it begins in soften slightly.

Remove skillet from the heat and serve immediately. 

Squash Fritter Beef Sliders with Sriracha Mayo

One of the many benefits of Paleo eating is the motive to get creative with our tried and true recipes. 

Beef sliders on small brioche buns are one of our favorite treats. So we've had beef slider lettuce wraps several times since going over to our 80% Paleo lifestyle. But we were looking for a way to get a little creative with our sliders for a change. I came across this recipe for Spaghetti Squash Fritters with Sriracha Mayonnaise in a recent Sunset Magazine. 

And I started thinking if we used butternut squash in place of the spaghetti squash we could possibly use it as a bun for some beef sliders. And we just happened to have a butternut squash waiting to used. So we tweaked the recipe a bit but not too much. 

We pretty much followed the recipe for the fritters as directed with exception of swapping butternut for spaghetti squash. We cooked the split squash in the microwave as directed but it took much longer than stated. But overall it worked fairly slick. We scrapped the soft squash out and mixed it with the other ingredients.

We essentially made open face beef sliders, with some romaine, sliced tomato and avocado on top of the squash fritter, served with the Sriracha mayo. Don't skip the Sriracha mayo it definitely was the icing on the cake.

This was a nice change up from our lettuce wrap sliders of late. To be honest maybe a little more work than we will usually want to go through for a quick beef slider kind of night but if we have the time they are worth the work.

RECIPE:

Squash Fritter Beef Sliders with Sriracha Mayo

Squash Fritters

• 1 (2-pound) butternut squash
• 1 (8-ounce) package baby spinach
• 1/2 cup panko 
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic 
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large egg whites 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• Cut squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds; discard. Place squash halves, cut sides up, in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover with a damp paper towel. Microwave at HIGH 20 minutes or until tender. Let stand 10 minutes. Scrape inside of squash with a fork to remove cooked squash flesh to measure 4 cups.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add spinach to pan; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Place squash and spinach on a clean dish towel; squeeze until barely moist. Coarsely chop squash mixture, and place in a large bowl. Add panko and next 3 ingredients (through baking powder), and toss well to combine. Place egg whites in a medium bowl; beat with a mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Gently fold egg whites into squash mixture.
• Fill a 1/4-cup dry measuring cup with squash mixture. Invert onto work surface; gently pat into a 3/4-inch-thick patty. Repeat procedure with remaining squash mixture, forming 10 patties total. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to pan, and swirl to coat. Add 5 patties to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove patties from pan; keep warm. Repeat the procedure with remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil and squash patties.
•  Beef Sliders
• 1 lb. grass fed ground beef
• 1/2 Tblspn. natural burger seasoning ( we used Weber's)
• Salt & Pepper
• 
  
• Mix seasoning with beef. Form 8 small slider sized burgers. Grill until medium-rare ( or cook as desired.
• Sriracha Mayo
• 5 teaspoons Paleo Mayo
• 1 Tablespoon Sriracha
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• Mix together.
• 
  
• Stack burgers on top of squash fritters, garnish with lettuce, tomato slices, avocado and Sriracha mayo.

• 
  

Fajita Lettuce Wraps with Chipotle Aioli

The cuisine or cooking style we probably cook the most has to be Mexican inspired. Our fav chefs being Rick Bayless and Bobby Flay. And then there is the spicy quotient that we love as well. G's fav breakfast to make is his version of Huevos Rancheros whether made here in the PNW or in Mexico. There is just something about these flavors that make us very happy & satisfied.

Most of the components of Mexican food fit into our Paleo lifestyle with exception of tortillas and cheese of course. And this recipe was a perfect adaptation of our non-Paleo cooking style with our most loved flavors.

Flank steak rubbed with great spices and grilled medium-rare. Served with a chipotle aioli and caramelized veggies. Now the one unsatisfying part of this dish was how the juices dripped down your arm because the iceberg lettuce just couldn't contain them. Yeah, that's an issue. Next time we will use romaine instead or just serve it all over greens and skip the whole wrap thing all together. 

But truly that's the only thing to complain about this recipe. This was by far the best meal we've had during our Whole 30 challenge and we're 14 days in. This will also become part of regular Paleo recipe rotation.

RECIPE:

Fajita Lettuce Wraps with Chipotle Aioli (adapted from the 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking)

1/2 Tblspn chipotle powder

1 Tblspn smoked paprika

1 Tblspn onion powder

1 Tblspn garlic powder

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 Tblspns ghee (clarified butter)

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 cup white mushrooms, sliced

1 small onion, sliced

1/2 lb. flank steak

Chipotle Aioli

1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise

1 chipotle with adobo sauce, minced

1 head iceberg lettuce

1 avocado

1. In small bowl combine dry spices, salt & pepper

2. Melt ghee in large skillet over medium-high heat. 

3. Add the red pepper, mushrooms, and onions to the skillet and saute' seasoning liberally with the spice mixture.

4. When the veggies are soft.

5. Season with flank steak with spices. Heat grill, cook flank steak to medium-rare.

6. Let steak rest. When rested slice thinly.

7. Mix mayo with chipotle. 

8. Place the steak and vegetables in a lettuce cup, and top with avocado and chipotle aioli.

Paleo Paella

So the deal with Paleo that attracts it to us is that it never, ever feels like a diet because although there are certain foods you never have like; dairy, wheat, rice or sugar, there are so many incredibly delicious foods that you do have that we rarely miss those things. Well, except cheese for me to be honest! But not as much as I would expect to. 

This recipe for Paleo Paella is one that totally keeps us committed to make it through these 30 days. We love making traditional seafood Paella. The flavorful sofrito, the crispy rice that forms at the bottom of the pan. Such great flavors.

So when we found this recipe in the 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking cookbook for a paella that is made with 'riced cauliflower' we were sold on giving it a try. Although we were definitely skeptical about the idea of shredded cauliflower even being remotely like rice we were curious enough to give it a try.

The Paela turned out fantastic. You have to try riced cauliflower. It is so surprising. G said he didn't miss the crispy rice bottom of our usual paella recipe at all. We also added ground chorizo that we feel really helped bring out the traditional flavor we love. We both agreed even after the 30 days this recipe will be on our usual Monday through Friday Paleo rotation.

RECIPE:

Paleo Paella (from 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking)

1 head cauliflower, grated

1 TBLSPN ghee (clarified butter)

1 large carrot, peeled and diced

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

3 garlic cloves, smashed

1/4 lb. ground bulk chorizo

1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 lb. wild caught shrimp, peeled & deveined

4-8 strands saffron

1 TSPN turmeric

2 TSPNS smoked paprika

1/4 TSPN chipotle powder

Salt & pepper to taste

1 handful flat leaf parsley plus extra for garnish

1. Use a large box grater or food processor to shred the cauliflower florets into a rice-like texture. (We used the food processor and it was simple and fairly mess free.)

2. In a large dutch oven heat the ghee over medium heat.

3. Add the carrot, red pepper, and onion to the dutch oven and saute' until softened.

4. Add the smashed garlic to the pot along with the chorizo and chicken breast. Cook 2-4 more minutes.

5. Add the shrimp and cook until translucent.

6. Season with saffron, turmeric, smoked paprika and chipotle. stirring to make sure the seasonings are evenly distributed.

7. Add the riced cauliflower to the pot and stir to combine.

8. Season with salt & pepper and add the parsley. Continue to cook until cauliflower softens.

9. Garnish with extra parsley if desired and serve.