Here's the first draft at the plans for my annual early-summer celebration:

Six or seven different kinds of olives: There's a tremendous variety of
olives flooding the market nowadays, and I'm largely ignorant about them.
This is just as much for my own edification as it is for my guests'
enjoyment.

Peel-and-eat shrimp: Besides the typical cocktail sauce, I'm thinking of
offering a "calypso" sauce based on rum, lime juice, and garlic; a
sour-cream-and-dill sauce; and my favorite faux Inner Beauty sauce (papaya,
mustard, curry, and habañeros).

Buffalo-burgers stuffed with blue cheese: My local Costco has excellent
ciabatta rolls from the La Brea Bakery, so that's where the burgers will
repose once they're cooked. For condiments I plan to offer the usual catsup,
mustard, mayo, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, dill pickle chips, and
lettuce. But I also plan to offer Frank's Hot Sauce and celery sticks, to
replicate the Buffalo-wing flavor.

Margarita chicken: I think this is pretty standard fare, grilled chicken
marinated and basted with a mixture of lime juice, orange juice, tequila,
and salt. (There's also melted butter and hot paprika on the chicken.)

Grilled Louisiana hot links: This is a particular weakness of mine. I plan
to serve them on sesame French rolls, and offer several different mustards,
pickle relish, corn relish, caramelized onions, and HP "Fruity" sauce as
condiments.

Cafe Beaujolais "Potato Goop" kebabs: The Cafe Beaujolais cookbook has a
recipe for something called "Potato Goop," where you roll partially-cooked
small potatoes in a coating which contains lots of olive oil, garlic, and
herbs, and then bake until the potatoes get crispy. I'm modifying that
slightly by halving the partially-cooked potatoes, coating them with the
"goop," then skewering and grilling them to crispness. They're very good on
their own, and they're awesome with catsup or mayo. If I'm feeling energetic
and ambitious, I might get creative and come up with some special sauces to
accompany them, like this place: www.pommesfrites.ws/menu.html. I'm thinking
they might be good with sun-dried tomato mayo, red-wine vinegar, or that
sour-cream-dill sauce I mentioned with the shrimp.

Caprese Salad: This is the famous combination of fresh tomato slices, fresh
basil, and fresh mozzarella. I serve it with coarse sea salt, freshly-ground
pepper, fruity extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and more of those
ciabatta rolls. But if I can't find top-quality tomatoes (and it might be a
little too early for them here), this item won't be on the menu.

Some kind of cold soup? I'm not su I wouldn't want to serve gazpacho,
since tomatoes are so well-represented in the menu already. And I'm not
crazy about fruit soups or vichyssoise. But I *like* the idea of a cold
soup; I just haven't figured out which specific soup would work here.
Anybody got a favorite cold soup recipe? Jellied consommé, maybe?

Some kind of cold salad? Tossed salads are often left to wilt at a party,
particularly with the bunch who will be in attendance at this one. Maybe
a platter of cold roasted veggies would be better-received, but I don't want
to heat up the oven to roast them, and I don't want to heat up the grill the
day before to grill them and then chill them afterward. Any suggestions will
be gratefully considered.

A platter of assorted cut-up fruit with toothpicks for skewering: The idea
is that the fruit will be available as a topping for the pavlova, for eating
out of hand, or for adding flavor to drinks. Exactly what fruits will be on
the platter will depend on what's good in the market. I'm sure strawberries
will be there, and I'm sure I'll be able to get good pineapples and oranges.
But as for other fruits, I'll have to wait and see: I saw some nice-looking
cherimoyas the other day, but there's no telling if similar-quality
cherimoyas will be available two-and-a-half weeks from now. And so it goes.

LadyJane's Pavlova and Grand Marnier whipped cream: The idea is to cut off a
piece of the pavlova, spoon on some fruit, and dollop on the whipped cream.
I've never made a pavlova before, so I'll be practicing it over the next
couple weeks. As indicated, I'm following the recipe posted here some time
ago by LadyJane; it's cooked in a springform pan, which I *hope* means that
it's more foolproof.

To drink we'll have some of my favorite beers: Pete's Wicked Strawberry
Blonde Ale, Pete's Rally Cap Ale, Pyramid Apricot Ale, and Pyramid
Hefeweizen. We'll also have a bottle of Quady's "Ariel" and a pitcher of
sangria for the wine drinkers, and we'll have bottled water, sun tea, and
several flavors of Gatorade for those abstaining from alcohol.


There will be about fourteen guests (though not all at the same time); none
of them are bringing kids this time around.

Any suggestions or comments?

Bob

"Bob Terwilliger" wrote in
:



Peel-and-eat shrimp: Besides the typical cocktail sauce, I'm thinking
of offering a "calypso" sauce based on rum, lime juice, and garlic; a
sour-cream-and-dill sauce; and my favorite faux Inner Beauty sauce
(papaya, mustard, curry, and habañeros).



I did some calamari and prawns the other week and made a lemon and
garlic aoli.

1 head of roasted garlic and a couple of raw cloves minced. Put in a jar
then fill half and half with sour cream and S&W mayo. Mix/whiz it all
up, then squeeze in fresh lemon juice to taste (mixing it thru', of
course.)

Very nice with seafood.


Other than that, your menu sounds bloody awesome!!

--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

At this spectacle even the most gentle must feel savage, and the most
savage must weep.

Turkish Officer
400 Plateau
24May1915

"Bob Terwilliger" wrote in
:

Some kind of cold salad? Tossed salads are often left to wilt at a
party, particularly with the bunch who will be in attendance at this
one. Maybe a platter of cold roasted veggies would be better-received,
but I don't want to heat up the oven to roast them, and I don't want
to heat up the grill the day before to grill them and then chill them
afterward. Any suggestions will be gratefully considered.


Try the Cobb salad!

Andy

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
Here's the first draft at the plans for my annual early-summer celebration:

Six or seven different kinds of olives: There's a tremendous variety of
olives flooding the market nowadays, and I'm largely ignorant about them.
This is just as much for my own edification as it is for my guests'
enjoyment.

Peel-and-eat shrimp: Besides the typical cocktail sauce, I'm thinking of
offering a "calypso" sauce based on rum, lime juice, and garlic; a
sour-cream-and-dill sauce; and my favorite faux Inner Beauty sauce (papaya,
mustard, curry, and habañeros).

Buffalo-burgers stuffed with blue cheese: My local Costco has excellent
ciabatta rolls from the La Brea Bakery, so that's where the burgers will
repose once they're cooked. For condiments I plan to offer the usual catsup,
mustard, mayo, sliced tomatoes, sliced onions, dill pickle chips, and
lettuce. But I also plan to offer Frank's Hot Sauce and celery sticks, to
replicate the Buffalo-wing flavor.

Margarita chicken: I think this is pretty standard fare, grilled chicken
marinated and basted with a mixture of lime juice, orange juice, tequila,
and salt. (There's also melted butter and hot paprika on the chicken.)

Grilled Louisiana hot links: This is a particular weakness of mine. I plan
to serve them on sesame French rolls, and offer several different mustards,
pickle relish, corn relish, caramelized onions, and HP "Fruity" sauce as
condiments.

Cafe Beaujolais "Potato Goop" kebabs: The Cafe Beaujolais cookbook has a
recipe for something called "Potato Goop," where you roll partially-cooked
small potatoes in a coating which contains lots of olive oil, garlic, and
herbs, and then bake until the potatoes get crispy. I'm modifying that
slightly by halving the partially-cooked potatoes, coating them with the
"goop," then skewering and grilling them to crispness. They're very good on
their own, and they're awesome with catsup or mayo. If I'm feeling energetic
and ambitious, I might get creative and come up with some special sauces to
accompany them, like this place: www.pommesfrites.ws/menu.html. I'm thinking
they might be good with sun-dried tomato mayo, red-wine vinegar, or that
sour-cream-dill sauce I mentioned with the shrimp.

Caprese Salad: This is the famous combination of fresh tomato slices, fresh
basil, and fresh mozzarella. I serve it with coarse sea salt, freshly-ground
pepper, fruity extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and more of those
ciabatta rolls. But if I can't find top-quality tomatoes (and it might be a
little too early for them here), this item won't be on the menu.

Some kind of cold soup? I'm not su I wouldn't want to serve gazpacho,
since tomatoes are so well-represented in the menu already. And I'm not
crazy about fruit soups or vichyssoise. But I *like* the idea of a cold
soup; I just haven't figured out which specific soup would work here.
Anybody got a favorite cold soup recipe? Jellied consommé, maybe?

Some kind of cold salad? Tossed salads are often left to wilt at a party,
particularly with the bunch who will be in attendance at this one. Maybe
a platter of cold roasted veggies would be better-received, but I don't want
to heat up the oven to roast them, and I don't want to heat up the grill the
day before to grill them and then chill them afterward. Any suggestions will
be gratefully considered.

A platter of assorted cut-up fruit with toothpicks for skewering: The idea
is that the fruit will be available as a topping for the pavlova, for eating
out of hand, or for adding flavor to drinks. Exactly what fruits will be on
the platter will depend on what's good in the market. I'm sure strawberries
will be there, and I'm sure I'll be able to get good pineapples and oranges.
But as for other fruits, I'll have to wait and see: I saw some nice-looking
cherimoyas the other day, but there's no telling if similar-quality
cherimoyas will be available two-and-a-half weeks from now. And so it goes.

LadyJane's Pavlova and Grand Marnier whipped cream: The idea is to cut off a
piece of the pavlova, spoon on some fruit, and dollop on the whipped cream.
I've never made a pavlova before, so I'll be practicing it over the next
couple weeks. As indicated, I'm following the recipe posted here some time
ago by LadyJane; it's cooked in a springform pan, which I *hope* means that
it's more foolproof.

To drink we'll have some of my favorite beers: Pete's Wicked Strawberry
Blonde Ale, Pete's Rally Cap Ale, Pyramid Apricot Ale, and Pyramid
Hefeweizen. We'll also have a bottle of Quady's "Ariel" and a pitcher of
sangria for the wine drinkers, and we'll have bottled water, sun tea, and
several flavors of Gatorade for those abstaining from alcohol.


There will be about fourteen guests (though not all at the same time); none
of them are bringing kids this time around.

Any suggestions or comments?

Bob

I always have admired people who think ahead. I'm still working on
what to make my daughter for breakfast and it needs to be done within
the next 10 minutes. My mom cracks me up when during the day, she'll
call and ask what I'm making for dinner. Dinner? That gets decided
when I get hungry and the final decision depends upon what I see in the
fridge or freezer. I've never been much of a planner.

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
Some kind of cold salad? Tossed salads are often left to wilt at a
party, particularly with the bunch who will be in attendance at this
one. Maybe
a platter of cold roasted veggies would be better-received, but I
don't want to heat up the oven to roast them, and I don't want to
heat up the grill the day before to grill them and then chill them
afterward. Any suggestions will be gratefully considered.

Bob
If this bunch doesn't go for salad, don't serve salad. Why would the
vegetables need to be roasted? Just do a traditional raw veggie platter
with something like a dill dip

Jill

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
Here's the first draft at the plans for my annual early-summer
celebration:

Bob

Sounds lovely. I'll be on a plane on Memorial Day so my menu will be
whatever snack (probably a mini-granola bar) they hand out on the plane
I usually take a bag of chips or something like that in my carry-on if I
don't get to eat before boarding. No idea where/what we're going to have
dinner that night.

Jill

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
Here's the first draft at the plans for my annual early-summer celebration:


Caprese Salad: This is the famous combination of fresh tomato slices, fresh
basil, and fresh mozzarella.

Make sure it's whole milk mozzarella. If you cant get that, go for a
mild provolone.

To drink we'll have some of my favorite beers: Pete's Wicked Strawberry
Blonde Ale, Pete's Rally Cap Ale, Pyramid Apricot Ale, and Pyramid
Hefeweizen.

I don't know what are of the country you're in, but I'm completely
crazy about Bell's beers.
http://www.epinions.com/fddk-Beers-B...splay_~reviews

Bob

--Bryan, 3-1/2 days until the big show

Bob Terwilliger wrote:

Anybody got a favorite cold soup recipe?

How about svekolnik/chlodnik (cold clear beetroot soup), cold sorrel
soup, or tarator (cold yoghurt and cucumber soup)?

Svekolnik (pronounced sveh-KOHL-nik)

Notes:
Instead of, or in addition to, the beetroot broth you can also add some
beet juice if you can find it where you live, or else some pickled
beetroot liquid. In either case, check for sweetness and adjust the
amount of added sugar or eliminate it altogether (as I'm bound to do).
It is also a good idea to add some beet kvas (fermented beet juice). In
Germany, I can find it bottled. If you can't, you can easily prepare
your own. Below are some typical recipes (of kvass and of simple
infusions).

Svekolnik

2-3 medium-sized raw beets with leaves (more, if desired)
1 l/1 qt beetroot 'broth,' i.e. liquid in which the beetroots have been
cooked
lemon juice to taste (or cider vinegar)
sugar to taste
1 hard-boiled egg or just egg white, chopped if desired
50 g/1.6 oz spring onions, chopped
2-3 medium-sized cucumbers, diced
2 tablespoons sour cream
5 g/0.16 oz parsley, chopped
5 g/0.16 oz dill

Wash the beets, cut off and reserve the leaves and cook beets in water
with lemon juice added, until soft. Take the beets out, let cool and
peel them. Strain and chill the 'broth'. Julienne or dice the beets,
combine them with the 'broth,' add sugar, eggs, chopped beet leaves,
spring onions, and cucumbers. Mix in sour cream. Before serving,
garnish with parsley and dill. If desired, one can also add cooked
diced potatoes and/or peeled and diced raw apples.

Simple beet infusion

Peel the beets and grate them. Cover with boiling water and put in a
warm place for 3-4 days. The ratio of beets to water is 1:2 by weight.

Boiled beet infusion

Peel and coarsely grate the beets. Cover with a cup of hot meat broth,
add citric acid and bring to the boil over high heat. Take from the
heat and let stand for 30 minutes.

Beet-bread kvass

Cube 0.5 kg (a bit over one pound) black rye sourdough bread (and, just
to be sure, add a bit of yeast, so that fermentation actually happens),
cover with 1.5 l (1.5 quart) warm boiled water, add 6 peeled and sliced
beets and let stand for 2 days (in the sun during the day and in a warm
place during the night. On the third day, strain.

__________________________________________________ _______________

Potage Germiny

The recipe is based on the one in _Twelve Months of Monastery Soups_ by
Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila Latourrette.

8 cups chicken on beef stock (or use water)
4 tablespoons butter
5 cups thinly chopped and shredded sorrel leaves (about 20 leaves)
4 tablespoons finely chopped chervil (or use beet greens and parsley and
celery leaves - or add some more sorrel instead, which is what I
would do)
3 egg yolks
1 cup half-and-half
salt and pepper to taste
(also consider adding some lemon juice - to taste)

1. Place the stock in a large soup pot and cook over medium heat.
Reduce heat gradually.

2. Melt the butter in a separate pot and add the chopped sorrel. Cook
over low heat until the sorrel is tender and turns into a sauce. Add
the chervil, blend well, and turn off the heat.

3. Place the egg yolks and half-and-half in a deep bowl and mix them
well. Pour this mixture into the soup stock and mix it well. Do not
let it reach the boiling point.

4. Add the sorrel-chervil mixture and also the seasonings to the soup.
Stir and mix well. Serve hot or refrigerate and serve cold, depending
on the season.

__________________________________________________ _______________

Tarator (from http://www.omda.bg/ENGL/cook/summerdishes.htm)

Ingredients

3 cucumbers
500 g of yoghourt
8 cloves of garlic
4 spoonfuls of vegetable oil
70 g walnut kernels (I'd omit them)
a bunch of dill
1 teaspoonful of salt

Directions:

Cut up finely the garlic and the walnut kernels. Peel and then grate
the cucumbers. Beat up the yoghourt and add the other ingredients to
it. Season with salt and vegetable oil. Mix well and add cold water to
thin. Mince the dill and sprinkle it over the soup before serving.

__________________________________________________ ________________

Victor

Victor wrote:

How about svekolnik/chlodnik (cold clear beetroot soup), cold sorrel
soup, or tarator (cold yoghurt and cucumber soup)?

recipes snipped and saved

Tarator would be good if I wasn't serving the sour-cream-dill sauce with the
shrimp. But a cold cucumber soup is a definite possibility.

Sorrel soup is iffy because I hardly ever see sorrel around here. But
purslane isn't all that different; I might be able to fabricate a cold
purslane soup.

Thanks!

Bob

Bob Terwilliger wrote:
Here's the first draft at the plans for my annual early-summer celebration:


Some kind of cold soup? I'm not su I wouldn't want to serve gazpacho,
since tomatoes are so well-represented in the menu already. And I'm not
crazy about fruit soups or vichyssoise. But I *like* the idea of a cold
soup; I just haven't figured out which specific soup would work here.
Anybody got a favorite cold soup recipe? Jellied consommé, maybe?

I have a great, light, first-course-type soup recipe for a cold creamy
"greens" soup. My mom used either spinach, watercress, or a combo of
both. It can be served hot or cold, and chilled, it's a good sipper.
let me know if you want the recipe.



Some kind of cold salad? Tossed salads are often left to wilt at a party,
particularly with the bunch who will be in attendance at this one. Maybe
a platter of cold roasted veggies would be better-received, but I don't want
to heat up the oven to roast them, and I don't want to heat up the grill the
day before to grill them and then chill them afterward. Any suggestions will
be gratefully considered.


My brain's still on spinach. A huge hit at any party i've given is
spinach with strawberries and pecans. A sweetish poppyseed dressing
tops it off. You can also do spinach with mandarins, almonds, green
onions, and dried chereies/cranberries, with honey-mustard dressing.
Those are different enough they might spark some interest.

Or else perhaps a chopped salad? Not lettuce-based?

Or maybe something like steamed, chilled asian salad - asparagus, snow
peas, broccoli, steamed, marinated in soy sauce, rice wine vinegar,
honey, and sesame oil, sprinkled with sesame seeds.

Think about something different from the usual tossed green salad if
you think that'll go to waste.

And there's always the famous Ramen Noodle salad, lol!

Jude wrote:

I have a great, light, first-course-type soup recipe for a cold creamy
"greens" soup. My mom used either spinach, watercress, or a combo of both.
It can be served hot or cold, and chilled, it's a good sipper. let me know
if you want the recipe.

Yes, please, it sounds terrific!


Or else perhaps a chopped salad? Not lettuce-based?

Hmmm.... I've got the chopped salad recipe from the Moosewood cookbook; when
I get home from work, maybe I can give that a look-see as to whether it
would fit in or not.


Or maybe something like steamed, chilled asian salad - asparagus, snow
peas, broccoli, steamed, marinated in soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, honey,
and sesame oil, sprinkled with sesame seeds.

That was one of my initial ideas, but it didn't seem to fit with the rest of
the food. Maybe if I give it more of a Mediterranean or New-World flavor?


And there's always the famous Ramen Noodle salad, lol!

Most of these people *love* that cabbage salad with ramen -- but only if
it's made EXACTLY THE WAY THEIR MOTHERS MADE IT. And one of the mothers will
be there.

Bob

On 9 May 2006 04:20:02 -0500, Bob Terwilliger wrote:

Peel-and-eat shrimp: Besides the typical cocktail sauce, I'm thinking of
offering a "calypso" sauce based on rum, lime juice, and garlic;

That sounds good! Please post Bob created proportions.


--

Ham and eggs.
A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.

sf replied:

Peel-and-eat shrimp: Besides the typical cocktail sauce, I'm thinking
of offering a "calypso" sauce based on rum, lime juice, and garlic;

That sounds good! Please post Bob created proportions.

I'm tweaking the recipe from
http://www.sweetmamajanisse.com/reci...sosauce01.html

The original recipe is:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tablespoons rum
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 garlic cloves minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Chili Pepper Paste
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine ingredients and microwave on high for 45 seconds to 1 minute.

Serves: 4


I plan to add ground allspice and reduced-to-syrup guava nectar. I might
omit the chile paste but add powdered Szechuan peppercorns; I haven't
decided yet.


Bob

On 9 May 2006 04:20:02 -0500, "Bob Terwilliger"
wrote:

Some kind of cold salad? Tossed salads are often left to wilt at a party,
particularly with the bunch who will be in attendance at this one. Maybe
a platter of cold roasted veggies would be better-received, but I don't want
to heat up the oven to roast them, and I don't want to heat up the grill the
day before to grill them and then chill them afterward. Any suggestions will
be gratefully considered.

Your menu sounds wonderful A green salad or some simple, light
vegetable dish would be a nice addition. If your group doesn't like
tossed salads, maybe --

Grilled vegetables would be lovely. I wouldn't worry about cooling
them -- just serve warm or at room temperature.
crudite with little dishes of olive oil and coarse salt for dipping
veggie kabobs
grilled endive with vinaigrette
marinated vegetables -- carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, grape
tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. marinated overnight in Italian dressing --
You can serve this as a mixed salad or arrange each vegetable in
pretty, colorful rows on a lettuce lined serving tray.

Tara

Bob Terwilliger wrote:

Sorrel soup is iffy because I hardly ever see sorrel around here.

That's a pity. :-( In Texas, I was able to find sorrel only at Central
Market, an upscale supermarket chain. It wasn't inexpensive, either.

But
purslane isn't all that different; I might be able to fabricate a cold
purslane soup.

Oh, I'm afraid Portulak, as it is called here, is not all that similar
and, while the soup might turn out very good indeed - it really is a
nice idea you have there - it will be rather different. Consider adding
some lemon juice, or maybe verjus, for more acidity.

Portulak is not nearly as sour as sorrel, and it is also somewhat nutty,
peppery and even slightly sweetish to my taste. Sorrel is first and
foremost sour, though not really very much so, but in a particular way,
not encountered in any other grass, except perhaps wood-sorrel, which I
don't think is available commercially anywhere.

Victor