Who Doesn't Love A Party?

Another post to catch up on all that I've been meaning to do! A few weekends ago I was visiting friends in the Pocono mountains of Pennsylvania (my husband and another couple were with me) and I brought back with me two awesome party dishes.

I love parties. I love planning them and hosting them. I love going to them and preparing for them. I always thought I'd make a pretty good party planner, but alas, that's not my calling. However, my love of gatherings is contantly keeping me on the lookout for fun new ideas - decor, invites, themes, cocktails and of course, the star of every party: the menu.

In my years of hosting friends for soirees I have discovered the secret to easy, effortless and breezy hosting: amusebouche. Okay, that's a fancy term for small bite. It means to tease the mouth - just a taste, as it were. Small bites are found in every culture - we have appetizers, tapas, antipasto, dim sum ... you get the idea. I'm all about a menu of lots of little items, all a little different, all easy to make and even easier to eat: cutlery-free. Less dishes (utensils included) equals less to clean up!

So back to the Poconos. The friends I was visiting are both amazing cooks. We ate very well that weekend. As a guest, but also as a foodie, I rolled up my sleeves and plunged into the kitchen looking to be put to work. And my reward was delicious! Two side dishes: stuffed mushroom caps and goat cheese-stuffed figs wrapped in prociutto; and a dessert: a sweet cream and candied blueberry phyllo cup.

The mushrooms were white button mushrooms, the stems removed and chopped finely, added to a mixture of onion, jalepeno, bell pepper, spices, and breadcrumbs all cooked down on the stove. The mixture is stuffed into the caps and topped with cheese then broiled for a few minutes to warm everything through and melt the cheese. They're so good! And I'm not a big fan of mushrooms.

Goat cheese-stuffed figs are super easy to make and such a dichotomy of flavor. Cut the tops off of fresh figs, stuff them (gently) with creamy goat cheese (which you can find just about anywhere), then wrap a strip of prociutto (a cured italian ham) around each fig. Grill them for a few minutes and then be sure to cut it up so you get a little of everything in every bite. The idea is to get the sweet fig, creamy cheese and salty prociutto all at once. These are a great party food if you want something easy to put together but super elegant.

And finally, the phyllo cups. You can find these in the freezer section of your grocery store. Phyllo is a paper-thin pastry dough that is laid out in sheets, layer upon layer, and then filled, usually. You see it a lot with baked Brie and baklava. These cups are pre-made so they're super convenient.

Let the cups thaw out to room temperature. In the meantime, mix together a brick of cream cheese with one stick of butter (room temp, please) and half a box of powdered sugar. You want it smooth and evenly blended. Chill the mixture. Next, add a pint of blueberries (or any berry really) to a bowl with a sprinkle of sugar and a tablespoon or so of preserves - it doesn't have to be the same flavor as your berries, but something relatively close is best. Gently fold the berries into the preserves and put them in the fridge to mascerate (allow the flavors to come together). When you're ready to serve, remove the phyllo cups from their tray to a serving dish, spoon a bit of the sweet cream into the cup and top with a small spoonful of berries. An alternate version of this would be to add a can of dark chocolate icing to the sweet cream (mix well) and substitute the blueberries for raspberries.

Just a few ideas to make your next party a little more delicious!

Playing Catch Up

I've been away from my posts here for over a month and boy, have I got a lot to write about! I'll break it up into several posts, but for now I want to tell you about picnic food!

My friends and I love getting together at a local winery for happy hour during the summer. We lay out blankets and set up chairs and we all pack a little something, share a few bottles of wine and enjoy the warm breeze and fantastic company. Since we're outdoors and the weather can sometimes be muggy, we try to prepare food that is summertime friendly. Our favorite short cuts are simple: cheese and crackers with slices of lunch meat (my husband calls them 'homemade lunchables'), pasta salad, hummus and pita, fruit, veggies and brownies. All of it is easy, most of it is store-bought and when we divide up who brings what, it ends up being a breeze. We do get a little fancy with our wine glasses, but then, the vineyard is the centerpiece of our meal!

If you are going to be inside or in a cooler climate and aren't worried about creamy-based salads, this dressing is delicious. It's great on potato, chicken, egg and tuna salad. You could also mix it with pasta. I rarely measure things, so this is all sort of eye-balled and done by taste.

Creamy Dressing:

Sour cream
Mayonnaise
Mustard (anything but honey mustard is fine)
Italian salad dressing
Several hard-boiled egg yolks, about 4

In a medium bowl, break apart the egg yolks until crumbly. Add about 4 ounces of sour cream, a few tablespoons of mayo and a healthy squeeze of mustard to the yolks. Using a whisk, blend the ingredients until mostly smooth. Add the Italian dressing, a little bit at a time, about 2 tablespoons. Whisk again and taste to be sure all the flavors are about equal.

It really is an all-purpose dressing that will work on almost any warm or cold summer salad. Happy Eating!

Crabs - Take Two: Crab Cakes

As I mentioned in my last post, crab meat is a canvas on which to paint many, many meals. After my family crab feast last weekend, I brought about a dozen crabs back home with me. I picked them the next day and set the meat aside to make crab cakes for my husband.

There are a lot of recipes out there for crab cakes. I like mine to be simple. There's absolutely no need to be fussy with something so delicate as fresh crab. Some people put minced veggies like onion and celery in their cakes, other's load them with lots of herbs and spices. I like a basic dressing, lots of jumbo lump meat and a thin, almost non-existent breading on the outside - just enough to get bronzed in the pan and give a slight crisp to the cake.

Here's my recipe. I do this to taste, so adjust accordingly:

Mini Crab Cakes

1/4 cup miracle whip (or regular mayo if you prefer)
just shy of half that amount of mustard - any kind works.
1 T (at least) of Old Bay seasoning
1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 pound lump crab meat
Oil for frying

Mix miracle whip, mustard and Old Bay in a bowl large enough to accomodate the crab meat. Thoroughly combine the dressing so that you don't have any pockets of seasoning. Taste and adjust your flavors. Add the crab meat and GENTLY mix into the dressing - use your hands if you can. Don't break it apart. Add about 1 teaspoon of bread crumbs and combine. Divide the mixture into small balls, about meatball sized.

In a separate bowl, add the rest of the bread crumbs and gently roll the crab balls through the crumbs. Flatten the balls slightly to form patties.

Heat a frying pan to medium heat and add just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. When it's hot, carefully lay each patty in the oil, leaving room between them. Flip them over after a minute or two, or when the bottoms are golden brown. Remove from oil and drain. Serve with saltines and mustard.

You can broil these as well or make them entree sized.

Hometown Favorites

So I'm gearing up for another weekend, during which I hope to get some serious cooking and cleaning done - though that remains to be seen - and I'm kicking it off tonight with one of my favorite foods, steamed crabs. Now, I know that lots of cities and states have crabs - stone, alaskan king, snow, dungoness ... But Maryland Blue Crabs, in my humble opinion, are superior. My reasons are simple - they're my native crustacean and I find them to be so much meatier and sweeter than those other crabs. And steaming them in Old Bay (the godfather of all spice blends, thank you very much) turns amazing into A-MA-ZING. Seriously.

I grew up eating crabs, learned to pick them at a very young age, and taught my unfortunately land-locked friends how to properly eat one. Growing up in Baltimore, so close to the water especially, crabs were a natural addition to the summer menu. And all the acoutramon that accompany them: newspapers, mallets, butter knives, corn on the cob, a ROLL of paper towels and an icy beverage - usually beer, though in my case I prefer soda with my crabs.

There is nothing quite so fantastic and exciting in this town as being invited to a crab feast. It's the one party you want to attend, every single time. Crab feast? I'm there. I'll cancel whatever needs to be cancelled. You bring the little buggers, I'll bring my appetite. And all the wonderful and delicious things you can do with the crab meat - if you possess the willpower of a saint and the patience of Job - that you don't shovel into your mouth as soon as you crack that blister-red shell. Crab cakes, or crab balls; crab soup or cream of crab soup (so good); crab dip, crab salad, soft shell crab sandwhiches ... this list is a tad like Bubba Gump's shrimp list ...

There is no better way to usher in a warm summer night than with a picnic table crowded with friends, hot steaming crabs heaped in the center and sweaty bottles leaving condensation rings on the newspaper. Tiki torches and lightning bugs, buttery corn on the cob and the most beautiful sound in seafood - that satisfying crack and snap as the claw gives way to a perfectly intact mouthful of crab. Fetch me a bib and let the feasting begin.

Ah, Summertime!

I was away this past weekend, visiting friends on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. My sister-in-law and I drove down together and managed to steal a few hours of beach time in Ocean City. Something about the sight, sound and smell of the Atlantic gets my other two senses (taste and touch) running to the boardwalk for a big ole bucket of Thrasher's french fries. We Marylanders know the value behind a pile of the handcut taters ... they heal all wounds. I got in line with my SIL and, laden down with beach bags and towels, we waited patiently (the line is usually VERY long) for our chance at a little slice of starchy, carb heaven. We split a medium and doused them in malt vinegar, sprinkled with salt. My tastebuds were literally standing up and cheering.

Long and droopy, these spuds have a better tan than most of the beachcombers eating them. There's a slight snap as you bite into them and then all that love comes pouring out, hot from the fryer and tangy with vinegar. Unbelievable.

They're the very best taste of summer. I don't care who you are or where you come from. Once you've had 'em, there's no going back. And no substitutes. When I'm in OC, I have to have them. I can skip everything else (not always, mind you. But usually), and snack on those pretty much exclusively. You can keep your corndogs and funnel cakes. Nothing says summer - nothing screams, yells and carries on, in fact - like a healthy, heaping serving of Thrasher's.

Ah, culinary satisfaction.

Mock Maytag Bleu Cheese Dip

As promised, here's my recipe for the awesome bleu cheese dip I spent 3 days trying to replicate. I did this to taste, so if you are not particularly fond of bleu cheese, don't add as much, and vice versa. The same can be said of all of the ingredients, just don't let any one flavor come out top-heavy. I'll post a pic tonight hopefully. Enjoy!

Mock Maytag Bleu Cheese Dip (Sauce, Dressing ...)

3 T grated Parmesan cheese (NOT the sprinkle stuff you put on your pasta!)
3 T grated Asiago cheese
1/4 C bleu cheese crumbles (either buy it in brick form and crumble it yourself or cheat and get the little tubs already crumbled for you)
1/2 C sour cream
1 garlic clove, grated
Milk, cream or half & half, to thin the sauce

Heat a heavy-bottom sauce pan over medium high heat and add about 2 T of your milk or cream. Let this warm. Add the Parm and Asiago and stir, using a whisk or wooden spoon, until it begins to melt, about 5 minutes or so. Toss in the bleu cheese and continue stirring. Keep an eye on things, you don't want it to burn so adjust your heat accordingly. Once the cheeses start to blend, add half of the sour cream and the grated garlic. Continue to stir until the mixture melds together somewhat smoothly (bleu cheese doesn't completely melt, so it's gonna be a little lumpy no matter what). Cut off the heat and add the rest of the sour cream. If your mixture is thick enough to stick to the whisk or spoon without falling back into the saucepan, add a little bit of milk or cream, a tablespoon at a time, until the consistency is saucier.

Serve with homemade potato chips (or any potato product for that matter, or over chicken or steak, or on top of veggies ... )

Notes: I made chips really easily by peeling a few white potatoes and letting them soak in ice water for a few minutes. I drained them, dried them well and fried them in oil. They don't take long! Crisp and golden and delicious. You don't need salt, as the cheeses are salty enough. (Also, the restaurant served this drizzled over the chips and then topped with more bleu cheese crumbles. A fantastic option!)

Happy Eating!

Domestic Goddess, I Am Not

So this is the maiden voyage of "Not Exactly Nigella." I'm excited. I love food - love to buy it, love to cook it, love to EAT it! I've been cooking seriously for the last 7 years, since I got married. I was 19 at the time and my skills in the domestic department were sorely lacking. I burned a lot of dinners there for a while, had the hardest time remembering to empty the lint trap in the dryer and almost always managed to ruin something in the laundry. But I'm better at it now, thank heavens.

Anyway, what got me started here was very simple. I've been reading food blogs for a while now and, while I never really thought too much about having one, I do love to talk about what I've made! My husband and I recently visited Las Vegas, for our anniversary, and I managed to get dinner out one night at Wolfgang Puck's Bar and Grille at MGM. First, let me say this - awesome decor. I loved the atmosphere. Second, fantastic food. It was one of the items I helped my husband devour that made me think this would be a good place for me to talk about my love of food. That item ... drum roll please ... was the Truffled Potato Chips with Maytag Bleu Cheese.
Oh. My. Goodness.

If you've had them, you know what I'm talking about. If not, find yourself a WPB&G and order them at your earliest convenience. Best $11 potato chips ever. Ever.

Okay, so, I got home and couldn't stop thinking about these crazy chips. Well, as luck would have it, our fridge and pantry were cobwebby from our absence and a grocery run was in order. Hooray! I love to grocery shop. So many delicious things to buy. Anyway, we stocked up on all kinds of things and I managed to pick my way around the dairy section attempting to remember the taste of those chips. I loaded up on everything I thought was in the recipe, determined to make it at home.

Last weekend I spent three days working on it. I started small - about a quarter cup of the bleu cheese sauciness that I was craving. It was close. So I added to it, changed a few amounts and tasted again. Darn close. It's not perfect - I really can't be positive what Chef Puck puts in his recipe - but it satisfied the craving and I'm using the leftovers as dip and dressing. It's probably gonna make me fat, but then, I agree with that old saying, "never trust a skinny chef."

I'll post my mock recipe in the next day or two - once I figure out exact amounts. I was doing this all by taste, and I didn't write anything down, so bear with me.

Happy Eating!