Hurricane's to drink for that New Orleans vibe. They were good but I can't do many juice drinks, too filling. Good part about it is that I feel great today. I took the recipe I learned in class, reviewed Emerils recipe and came up with this punch. It filled 1 1/2 (1.75 liter Bacardi light bottles). It was great making them ahead and keeping the glass bottles in the fridge for easy service. I had my punch bowl out but since it was among friends I decided to keep it in the bottles in the fridge. It would also be a great drink to take on the road (to someone elses house or to a picnic/BBQ). This time I tried Mr. & Mrs. T's Sweet n Sour mix, next time I'll try another brand. Typically I make my own but when making such a large batch a mix is easier.
HURRICANE
14 oz. Bacardi light rum
14 oz. Myers dark rum
6 oz. grenadine
28 oz. sweet n sour mix
28 oz. orange juice
Garnish: orange wedges
Mix. Serve over ice with an orange wedge.
Rachael Rays Buffalo Pizza Pull Bread. It was awful. It didn't fill the pan, it wasn't cheesy or buffaloy as I expected and it was simply hot and dry.
Rachael's Cheese steak Eggrolls were my favorite but I almost had all of the cheese sauce left over. Not everyone used it or they didn't care for it. I liked it however it was very mild and my husband didn't like that it was a "cheese sauce" he wanted cheese. Next time I will add some cheese to the egg rolls, make half the sauce, maybe add some sauteed mushrooms. They also didn't brown as well as I would have liked so next time I'll watch them more carefully and bake a little longer or brush with an egg wash. I only used one onion so they were beefier but even though I liked them the whole cheese steak vibe didn't totally come through as fully as I would have liked. Another option may be to used chopped roast beef. I will try these again. They were like the cheeseburger rolls I made before. I served them cut in half but this didn't allow you to dip them, you had to spoon our the sauce. I want to also try using a won ton wrapper so they will be more bite size.
The Ryan Scott's Goat Cheese Turnovers will also never do a repeat at my house and I love me some goat cheese. I used the Costco log of goat cheese which I believe is 10.5 oz. so I cut the salt in half and it was still too salty. Unfortunately I couldn't find fresh cranberries to make my own sauce so I had to substitute the canned version which obviously wasn't as good. Also the ration of cranberry to goat cheese should have been more even. The salty goat cheese needed the sweetness of the cranberry. The phillo dough was a pain to work with and it didn't brown which made these look unappealingly white. When brushed with an egg wash they looked like a yellow egg on top. Also don't eat when hot or the goat cheese will squirt out and burn you. Let them cool.
My Jambalaya is always wonderful but it was too spicy for some. I couldn't find my favorite Hillshire Farms Chipotle Smoked Sausage, found out they discontinued it so I substitute Louisiana Hot Links which fit the theme well but they were spicier. It was done before people arrived and my cast iron pot kept it pretty warm till halftime, I just heated the pot for a few minutes.
My chili was great, less spicy for those that are not a lover of hot but I think still a bit spicy for some. It did have 3 jalapenos. People served it over chips which made it a good option but having both chili and the jambalaya made for quite a bit of leftovers since not everyone showed up.
I didn't finish my potato skins, way too much food with what I made and what others brought. I froze the wedges of cooked potatoes and will try defrosting them, finish baking and then melting cheese. If this works it will be a good appetizer to have on hand in the freezer.
The last new recipe I tried was a Crock Pot Chocolate Lava Cake from Taste of Home Jan. 2012, pg.48. A definite winner even though I cooked it 30-45 minutes too long. It was so easy, chocolaty, ewey and gewy. A no fuss no muss warm dessert. Something I didn't need to think about, just don't forget it. Cooking it any longer than suggested will result in dry edges.
CROCK POT LAVA CAKE
Mix Cake:
1 box (18 ¼ oz.) devil’s food cake mix
1 ⅔ C. water
3 eggs
⅓ C. canola oil
Mix Pudding:
1 sm. (3.9 oz.) box instant chocolate fudge pudding mix
2 C. nonfat milk
Topping:
12 oz. bag (2 C.) semisweet chocolate chips
Grease crock pot, spreading oil on bottom and up sides. Beat cake mix ingredients on low for 30 seconds, then on medium for 2 minutes. Pour into crock pot. In another bowl whisk pudding and milk for 2 minutes. Let stand 2 minutes to soft set. Spoon over cake batter. Sprinkle with chocolate chips. Cook on high for 3-4 hours.
Note: Don’t cook more than stated. I forgot and cooked it another 30-45 minutes and the cake edges end up a bit hard and dry. It was still good though.
Friends brought chips, salsa, salami, salami stuffed with cream cheese, crackers, a cheese plate, deviled eggs, smoked ribs, wine, 49er M&M cookies, rice crispy treats and an excellent pretzel jello salad. I need this recipe. The salty pretzels tasted like a nut crust and the sweetness of the strawberry jello and the whipped topping and cream cheese filling was the best combination. I looked on the web and found many recipes and all where about the same with one only using 2 t. of sugar in the crust so this is what I've added to my cookbook. For 4th of July I'd like to combine red and blue jello. I'm also going to try this pretzel crust as a crust in other desserts.
STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD
Crust:
2 C. pretzels, crushed
¾ C. butter, melted
3 T. sugar
Layer 1:
8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
¾ C. sugar
8 oz. frozen whipped topping, thawed
Layer 2:
2 (3 oz.) pkgs. strawberry gelatin
2 C. water, boiling
2 (10 oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries
Preheat oven to 400°F. Take out cream cheese to soften and whipping topping to thaw. Place pretzels in a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin or chop with a knife on a cutting board. Melt butter in the microwave. In a medium bowl mix crushed pretzels, butter and sugar. Press into bottom of a 9x13" baking dish. Bake 8-10 minutes, until set, let cool. In a large mixing bowl cream together cream cheese and sugar. Fold in whipped topping. Spread mixture onto cooled crust. Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Stir in frozen strawberries and allow to set briefly. When mixture is about the consistency of egg whites, spread over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until set.
Variations:
- Add 8 oz. can crushed pineapple.
- Thanksgiving: Instead of strawberry Jello and strawberries use orange Jello and mandarin oranges or make up your own fruit and Jello combination.
- July 4th: Do a layer of the red jello and a layer of blue Jello and blueberries.
No comments:
Post a Comment