Here is the menu:
* Saffron shrimp
* Warm marinated olives
* Manchego cheese with tomato jam
* Clams with salsa verde
* Drunken melons with Serrano ham
* Octopus with red potatoes
* Clams with salsa verde
* Drunken melons with Serrano ham
* Octopus with red potatoes
* Savory pork empanadas
* Scallop ceviche
* Roasted red pepper empanadas
* Chorizo with onion and potato
* Assorted cheeses
* BREAD (duh!)
* Dates with almonds and Serrano Ham
* Scallop ceviche
* Roasted red pepper empanadas
* Chorizo with onion and potato
* Assorted cheeses
* BREAD (duh!)
* Dates with almonds and Serrano Ham
* Almond cake accented with Citrus
* Rose Truffles
The first thing I made was the empanadas (which happened on Thursday night) - I figured that they would be easy (the author of the book said to use frozen dough which saved a LOT of time and prevented a huge headache), and they were!
* Rose Truffles
The first thing I made was the empanadas (which happened on Thursday night) - I figured that they would be easy (the author of the book said to use frozen dough which saved a LOT of time and prevented a huge headache), and they were!
The only frustrating part was that I was having a hard time getting as much
filling into each empanada as I wanted. The roasted red pepper filling was gone by the time I was finished with those, but I have left-over pork for another round, I guess.
On Friday I made the octopus with
potatoes - I found the octopus canned in olive oil and it was really quite delicious! I also put the olives together - they had honey, onion, pink peppercorn, and garlic in them. The recipe said that they were even better after being heated up the next day and it was so true! I hadn't ever thought of warming olives up before this recipe and it was such a good idea.
I also made the tomato jam, which was really good, but took wayyyy longer than the recipe said to thicken. But, I also like thick jam, so that could have just been me.
The cake was made - no flour, just almonds, which were interesting to work with and made a nice flour substitute. The cake had lots of zest, and I was so happy that I got to use my incredible birthday present from J2 for them!
I made a trip to AJ's for their "Flower Happy Hour," which is an incredible deal - all of the single
The cake was made - no flour, just almonds, which were interesting to work with and made a nice flour substitute. The cake had lots of zest, and I was so happy that I got to use my incredible birthday present from J2 for them!
I made a trip to AJ's for their "Flower Happy Hour," which is an incredible deal - all of the single
stems are half-price and the flower lady helped me put a really nice arrangement together! (I also went and got Abby and Yuri some kitty food from the Noble Beast, which is the coolest pet store around, in my opinion!)Last, on Friday, I made the rose truffles, and I am still on the fence with how I feel about them. They called for rose water, and I used as much as it called for, but then my whole house smelled like rose perfume....strong, old lady rose perfume.....They had a hard time setting, the butter separated, but then once I brought the truffle batter to room temperature and mixed the butter back in, it worked much better. Once it was thick and not separated, I rolled the truffles out and rolled them in a bit of coco powder to make them look nicer.
Saturday - the day of the party....lots to do, and it was so fun! I marinated the shrimp for later, put the chorizo and potatoes together, and chopped everything up for the ceviche.
I also put together the dates, which were by far the biggest hit of the party. They were so good and so easy! Here's the recipe:
12 Medjool Dates (I actually doubled the recipe, and I am so glad that I did!)
8 oz. of slivered, blanched almonds
1 package of Serrano Ham
* Slice the top of each date and then remove the pit (I used my hemostats for this and it made it easier and the dates stay together better).
* Stuff each date with 1 teaspoon of almonds
* Wrap a piece of ham around the stuffed date
* Before you are ready to serve, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
* Arrange the dates on a cookie sheet and bake for about 5 minutes, or until the ham is sort of melting into the dates (I thought this was weird, but it actually made sense when I was cooking them)
* Pull them out of the oven, announce they are ready, and stand back!
J2 came over and helped arrange all of the cheeses and wrote all of the signs AND helped me decide what to serve everything on! She also helped with the drunken melon, cutting it up, and marinating them.
J1 and her darling husband made and brought their delicious sangria which went well with the tapas.
All in all it was so fun to have everyone over and it was even more fun to cook all of the delicious food! The dates have been requested again by almost everyone, and I agree!!
Up next post: One of my favorite cookbooks and recipes from it!
Saturday - the day of the party....lots to do, and it was so fun! I marinated the shrimp for later, put the chorizo and potatoes together, and chopped everything up for the ceviche.
I also put together the dates, which were by far the biggest hit of the party. They were so good and so easy! Here's the recipe:
12 Medjool Dates (I actually doubled the recipe, and I am so glad that I did!)
8 oz. of slivered, blanched almonds
1 package of Serrano Ham
* Slice the top of each date and then remove the pit (I used my hemostats for this and it made it easier and the dates stay together better).
* Stuff each date with 1 teaspoon of almonds
* Wrap a piece of ham around the stuffed date
* Before you are ready to serve, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
* Arrange the dates on a cookie sheet and bake for about 5 minutes, or until the ham is sort of melting into the dates (I thought this was weird, but it actually made sense when I was cooking them)
* Pull them out of the oven, announce they are ready, and stand back!
J2 came over and helped arrange all of the cheeses and wrote all of the signs AND helped me decide what to serve everything on! She also helped with the drunken melon, cutting it up, and marinating them.
J1 and her darling husband made and brought their delicious sangria which went well with the tapas.
All in all it was so fun to have everyone over and it was even more fun to cook all of the delicious food! The dates have been requested again by almost everyone, and I agree!!
Up next post: One of my favorite cookbooks and recipes from it!
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