Hello - I know, it's been a long time since I last updated the blog, but here I am now, so let's catch up. Living back in the US, worked feverishly to re-elect Richard Cordray to Ohio's Attorney General seat, but politics is not hand grenades, just getting close is not good enough! So what's a world traveling, politic lovin' gal sposed to do??? How about have a good party? (hopefully photos will follow)
It started with a great invite.Then Mom's menu, and a fantastic group of friends, and next thing you know Ohio's AG is beaming from ear to ear, and 35 great people were feeling pretty good about their contribution, even if it did end in a loss. The best surprise for me was Marco Miller who drove the AG down from Columbus, because he loved to help in the kitchen, and that made the night go a lot more smoothly.
So now...about that menu... blue cheese ball recipe from Cooking Light, Nov. 2010 pg. 150, the little pepper and slaw shredded beef sandwich recipe from mom's collection, and a pumpkin soup were amazing. Then for dessert, Mom's lemon tarts and mini pecan pies with my chocolate mousse with mandarin oranges.
Peppers and Shredded Beef with Slaw Sandwiches
These little sandwiches were the super big hit. You can improvise as much as you want, but I will take this option every time. By the way, we doubled the recipe, no problem. Get the very best quality small buns 3" square Hawaiian rolls that were easy to split, were soft, and a little sweet. This makes about 16 of these little sandwiches.
For the filling:
17 oz of packaged cooked roast beef au jus (or of course make your own) - shredded
2 cups of chopped (not toooo small) red, yellow, and green (or orange) bell peppers + onion
1 tsp. of dried Italian seasoning (divided)
1/8 to 1/4 crushed red pepper flakes
First chop the peppers and onion add the spices and let that stew in its own juice for a little while. Place the beef (we used a combination of beef and pork) in a medium saucepan. Let that warm and then shred the meat with two forks. Add the pepper mixture to the meat in the saucepan and let it come to a boil, then let it simmer until hot all the way through.
For the slaw: (You can make this ahead, too)
2 cups of finely chopped cabbage (think red and white) and carrots - or use dry slaw mix ingredients
1/2 c. of seeded pepperoncini salad peppers finely chopped + 2 Tablespoons of the liquid from their brine
In a separate bowl - make the slaw by combining all of the cabbage, carrots, pepperoncini and brine - let that stew in its own juice until you make the sandwiches.
Take one small bun - using a slotted spoon, add 1 tsp of meat mixture, top with 1 tsp of slaw mixture and serve. Garnish with pepperoncinis for color.
As if that wasn't enough, we also served a fantastic pumpkin soup. Mom started with a medium size pumpkin and cut it up in to several manageable size pieces, removed the seeds and strings and then baked it in a baking dish at 350 for an hour or so, until it was very soft. She then removed the skin, and put the soft pumpkin meat in a large bowl for mashing. While we kind of threw that soup together --- Mom's was just baked pumpkin, one qt size box of chicken broth, about 1 tsp. ea. of cumin, cinnamon and nutmeg all in a stockpot. Brought it to a boil, then allowed to cook down for a couple of hours before putting it in the crock pot to keep it hot.
A more detailed recipe for pumpkin soup:
This is actually a french recipe - called velouté de potiron - puréed pumpkin soup
21/2 to 3 cups of raw pumpkin - seeded, skinned and chunked
2 smallish raw potatoes - also cut into chunks to mash (optional, but give more substance)
1 garlic clove crushed
3 cups of broth (vegetable or chicken)
2/3 to 3/4 cup of light cream
Pinch of ground cumin, nutmeg and cinnamon
salt and pepper freshly ground
1 tart apple (granny smith) - seeded, skinned and grated onto the soup at the end
Put the pumpkin, potatoes and garlic into a pan with about 3 cups of boiling vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Add the salt and pepper and spices.
Pour that in portions into a blender or if you have one of those fancy purée tools in the same pot - and purée all of that, all together. Return to the pot. Now add the cream (I never do this until the very end, and I only drizzle some on for color). Cream will make it thicker. You can add a little water if you want it thinner.
Grate the apple onto the dished up soup, just before serving.
this freezes beautifully, or keeps for a long time in the cold fridge.
Blue Cheese and Date Cheese Ball
3 oz. of crumbled blue cheese
8 oz. of 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1 T of buttermilk
4 medjool dates finely chopped
1 shallot finely chopped
salt and pepper
2 T of finely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 T of chopped, toasted almonds (or walnuts)
In a large bowl - whip the blue cheese, the cream cheese, and the buttermilk. Add the dates, the shallot and salt and pepper. When that's whipped together - scrape it out the bowl onto plastic wrap and shape into your finished shape (ball, log...). Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove the wrap and roll the ball in a plate of the mixed parsley and chopped nuts. Rewrap, rechill for an hour or so, and then let stand for an hour before serving (blue is much stronger if it isn't so cold). Use a stiff but mild cracker or some yummy warm bread. ENJOY
