Good Morning.
Since the entree is a bit more time consuming, we offer a quick APRICOT CREAM CHEESE SPREAD to begin the evening.
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 10 oz. jar apricot preserves
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. prepared horseradish
1/4 cup peanuts, salted more interesting
Place the cream cheese on a plate. Mix the preserves, mustard, and horseradish in a small bowl and spread over the cream
cheese. Smash up the peanuts between layers of waxed paper or whatever is handy, throw them on the cream cheese thing, and serve with crackers.
Seafood variety: cream cheese topped with a can of crab meat, drained, then topped with some bottled cocktail sauce. Keep the ingredients of these last minute spreads on hand for relatives who show up at the door when you're looking like a train
wreck. If they're the sort that open closets and check for dust, make yourself a VODKA GIMLET:
2 oz. excellent vodka
1/2 oz. Rose's lime juice
A wedge of lime
A macadamia nut
Pour the vodka and lime juice over ice. Squeeze in a wedge of lime and garnish with a nut.
The entree is for people you invited days before to a dinner when you look ravishing (or incomparably handsome).
CORNISH HEN STUFFED WITH BRUSSELS SPROUTS.
4 Cornish hens
3/4 pound fresh Brussels sprouts
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup white onion, chopped
1 egg
1/2 cup ricotta
1/4 cup goat cheese
1 cup grated Asiago
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 pound sausage, cooked, drained, and crumbled
3 tbsp. melted butter
More salt and pepper
1/2 cup dry vermouth
1 cup chicken broth
Wash, trim, and blanch the Brussels sprouts in boiling water for a minute. Cool. cut them lengthwise into quarters and set aside. In 3 tablespoons of the butter, saute the onion until soft. Add the sprouts and saute for 3 minutes, then set aside. In a bowl, beat the egg and add the ricotta. goat cheese, and 2/3 cup Asiago. Season with salt and pepper. Combine with the sprouts and onion mixture, along with the crumbled sausage. Divide this stuffing among the 4 hens and fill their cavities. Place them in a metal roasting pan, breast side up. Brush with melted butter, sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and roast in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour 10 minutes. Sprinkle the birds with the remaining grated Asiago and roast for 4 or 5 minutes more. Remove the hens from the oven and keep warm under foil. Deglaze the roasting pan over a burner, or two, on your stove with the vermouth, add the broth, and boil gently until it is reduced by half. Whisk in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and pour the sauce over the hens. Serves 4 or cut them in half, lengthwise, and serve 8. You don't really need a starch with these birds but add some garlic mashed potatoes or a rice pilaf if desired.
This treatment of Cornish hen is safer than one I enjoyed many years ago at a convention dinner. An elegant woman of
political standing was seated at the head table and was dealing with her hen that sat on a plate next to a nice serving of peas. Suddenly the bird lurched and the peas flew out into the room in a colorful green spray. I would therefore recommend you serve the following salad on separate plates, although it is more likely to stay put than a pile of peas.
APPLE COLE SLAW
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp. Ranch dressing
1 8 oz. bag shredded cabbage and carrots
3 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled, and diced
1 shallot, peeled and minced
3 stalks of celery, chopped
Salt and pepper
Whisk the sour cream, sugar, vinegar, and Ranch dressing in a good-sized bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss carefully. Taste and add salt and pepper. Chill for at least 2 hours and stir again just before serving.
I didn't like cole slaw until I was over the age of sixty. This was because it was usually a clump of cabbage and carrots sitting in a rather unattractive puddle. Then my daughter-in-law introduced me to really good slaws and an old dog learned a few new tricks. Serve this one on a bed of sexy greens like arugula or spinach and it becomes dinner party fare rather than something at a picnic.
For dessert we suggest LEMON CHOCOLATE CAKES. Pass them on a plate and serve with coffee.
1 1/4 cup flour, divided use
1 cup granulated sugar, divided use
1/3 cup butter, slightly softened
3/4 cup chocolate chips
2 large eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. lemon zest
Confectioner's sugar
Combine 1 cup flour and 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl. Cut in the butter with a fork until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch square pan. Bake 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven until light brown. Remove from the oven and cover with chocolate chips. Mix the eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, and the remaining 1/4 cup flour and 3/4 cup sugar in a bowl. Carefully pour this over the chocolate chips. Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan
on a wire rack. Sift confectioner's sugar over the top and then cool completely. Cut into squares.
I prefer to call these things cakes. A bar is a ridge of sand visible in the ocean, a tavern or the long counter within, the legal profession, or when spelled with an additional re, an item mounted to the mirrored wall in a ballet studio. Here is a better usage of the word bar:
Tom passed the bar exam yesterday.
Tom went sailing to celebrate but his boat got hung up on a bar.
Tom swam to shore and went to a bar on the beach.
Tom met a woman in a leotard who used the bar as a barre.
Tom and the woman swam back to the boat, waited until the tide came in, and sailed off into the sunset.
Best regards,
Elisabeth
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