holiday cocktail party

last saturday we threw a little holiday cocktail party. living in a place where movers laugh at you when you unpack a snow shovel, we didn't anticipate the little snowmageddon that started that same day. giving credit where credit is due, every guest that we originally expected trudged through the snow and made it to our house. remarkable!

in addition to wine of the white, red, and mulled varieties, we also had some tasty treats.

i'm a sucker for a good cheese platter.

and i made some moroccan-style lamb meatballs.

we also had delicious corn dip (hand-prepared by dave!) based on tom stuart's recipe

and then there was some spinach-artichoke dip

i forgot to take a picture of the pastry-wrapped baked brie with caramelized onions and apples, but it was yummy, too. 

then, we had two desserts. one was "better than sex" chocolate cupcakes (i take no credit for the name!) which are NOT gluten-free, but ARE delicious.

this photos is from the day after. we added berries and ice cream on day two!

the other dessert was mini chocolate mousse pies. the mousse is gluten-free, but the pie crust is not. i threw some mouse in small glasses for me to enjoy and i didn't miss the pie crust.

on monday i whipped up the double-tomato bruschetta we considered having on saturday (but we had too much food as it was). sadly, this delicious french bread is not gluten-free....but i did snag a bite or two (or three or four).

our party was a success and as it turned out, we were glad we had all that food laying around. sunday was NOT the day to try to go grocery shopping. neither, for that matter, was monday, tuesday, or probably today!!

okay, so for some recipes:

the moroccan-style meatballs are from a williams-sonoma recipe:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, very finely chopped
1 lb ground lamb
3 large cloves of garlic, finely minced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
1 cup fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
2 tbsp bread crumbs (i used gluten-free crumbs)
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2+ tsp freshly ground black pepper
lemon wedges for garnish

directions: heat the oil in a shallow pan. saute the onion until it's very soft - about ten minutes. set aside in a bowl and let cool.  once cool, add the remainder of the ingredients and mix thoroughly with your hands. lightly roll mixture into walnut-sized balls and place into a very lightly oiled baking sheet or a foil-covered cookie sheet. broil on high heat approximately four inches from the heat source for about five minutes per side. drizzle with fresh lemon juice and garnish with lemon wedges. serve immediately.
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for the corn dip:
this one isn't my recipe to share. i'll check in with dave and find out if i can share this one!!
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for the spinach artichoke dip:

8 oz cream cheese (slightly softened)
1/4 cup mayo
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup romano cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp salt
1 (14oz) can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained thoroughly
mozzarella cheese for topping, if desired (and actually, i thought it was too much)

directions: mix together all the ingredients except the spinach and artichoke hearts until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. stir in artichoke hearts and spinach. place mixture into a slightly greased baking dish and bake on 350F for 20-25 minutes.

*if i did this again, i would do a few things differently. for one, i think i'd completely leave out the mozzarella topping, or at least scale it down a lot. i also think i'd add a handful of chopped water chestnuts for some crunchiness. besides that, this recipe is delish.
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for the better than sex chocolate cupcakes, i got the recipe here.

basically what you do is make a packaged devil's food cake. while it's cooling, poke holes into the cake, being sure not to go all the way through. pour seven ounces of condensed milk and about six ounces of caramel dessert topping onto the cake, letting it soak in. refrigerate for a few hours, at least (i think overnight is best). top with thawed cool whip topping refrigerate again for an hour. before serving, sprinkle with crushed heath bar.
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for the chocolate mousse, i got the recipe here but i adjusted it a bit. i did the following:

about 7 ounces of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups marshmallows
1/2 cup milk (i used skim)
2 cups heavy whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks
pie crust, if desired

directions: heat the chocolate, marshmallows and milk in a sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly, until all ingredients are mixed. let cool (the cooling is important!) before folding in the whipped cream. put it into a pie crust if desired, or just put it into serving dishes. refrigerate at least three hours. yum.
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i've been making the double-tomato bruschetta for a while now. it's really really yummy and it's from here.

6 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil
3 cloves minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons good balsamic vinegar
1/4 fresh basic, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 french baguette
shredded or sliced mozzarella (about 2 cups)

combine the first eight ingredients in a bowl and let sit 10-20 minutes, minimum. slice the baguette into 1/2 to 3/4 inch slices and broil in the oven until just brown and slightly crunchy, about 1-2 minutes. add mozzarella to the slices and return to the broiler until melted. top with tomato mixture.

rosemary chicken with zucchini and cherry tomatoes

found a really delicious chicken recipe from williams sonoma today. it has tomatoes, shallots, zucchini, rosemary and some white wine.

So here's the recipe:

2 tbs olive oil
2 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 shallot, chopped
2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved, if they're large)
1 tsp+ chopped fresh rosemary
salt and pepper (to taste)
4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup dry white wine

directions: on medium-high heat, warm 1 tbs of olive oil. add the zucchini and cook until lightly browned - about six minutes. add the shallot and cook until softened - about 1 minute. add the tomatoes and rosemary and cook until tomatoes are heated through but not collapsed, about two minutes. season with salt and pepper and set aside.

add remaining 1 tbs of olive oil. season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and cook until browned on both sides and cooked through (about 8 minutes). set aside.

add the wine to the pan and bring to a boil. return the veggies to the pan and cook for 1 minute to reheat...or until most of the wine has cooked/evaporated. transfer to a plate or serving dish and top with chicken breasts.

goes well with white rice or sauteed potatoes (pictured).

burger tuesday (with some sweet potato fries)

i woke up yesterday morning and wanted a burger. no joke. i wanted a burger at 7am. so by midday you can imagine how much i was craving some good ol' american goodness. dave called sometime in the afternoon and i mentioned we were having burgers for dinner. he was momentarily stunned silent. i don't think i've ever made burgers unless we were grilling out on our DC roof deck on a hot day. it's definitely not hot here these days.

when i went grocery shopping, i identified my burger inspiration: sweet potatoes. they're everywhere this time of year, and there are few side dishes out there better than baked sweet potato fries. turns out what i was REALLY craving was sweet potato fries.

easy fix: we had both.

i love caramelized onions.

we had a salad, too. you know, to make ourselves feel better.

vegetable curry

i'm trying to embrace this whole english thing. while the brits aren't known for their food (which i'm learning is truly an unfair stereotype), they are known for their indian food. one of my favorite restaurants here serves indian food and i'm doing my best to learn how to make it at home.

i did a vegetable curry last night that was pretty good. i won't call it stellar (because it wasn't), but with the addition of extra spices, this could be a pretty solid meal.

the recipe came from waitrose magaine, which generally has some pretty good stuff:

2 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 onions, sliced
1 tbsp curry powder
2 green chillies, halves, deseeded, chopped
3 tbsp ground almonds
6 potatoes, peeled, cut into small cubes
6 carrots, peeled, cut into 2cm rounds
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 tsp garam masala
1 cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 handfuls of toasted cashews
2 tbsp coriander, chopped

directions: heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pot and soften the onions for about 5 minutes. add the curry powder, chillies, and almonds and cook for 2 minutes. add 1/2 tbsp oil, the potatoes, and carrots; stir to coat in the spices. add the tomatoes and enough water to cover the vegetables. bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes. about 5 minutes before the curry is ready, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in another pan. add the garam masala, cauliflower and nuts; cook on a high heat for 5 minutes. stir into the curry with the coriander. serve with rice or naan and plain yogurt.

**i really think you could just about DOUBLE all the spices on this recipe...but that's up to you.  

(mostly homemade) chicken and rice soup

when you're not feeling well, you want chicken soup. after returning from a thanksgiving adventure in turkey (an update to follow shortly in SIE), dave was pretty sick. we're talking third-sick-day-in-seven-years sick. he stayed in bed all day. so of course i made him chicken rice soup. gluten-free noodles don't hold up that well when overcooked, as noodles in soup tend to be, so rice was more out of necessity than desire. the result was still tasty.

i used a semi-homemade kind of recipe i found on allrecipes for the base:

2 quarts chicken broth
1 quart water
1 store-bought roasted chicken
little bit of vegetable oil
2 large onions, cut into a medium dice
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
2 large stalks celery, sliced 1/4 inch thick

directions: bring broth and water to a simmer. separate meat from skin and bones of chicken and set meat aside. add skin and bones to the liquid and simmer about 45 minutes. strain broth into a separate container and discard skin and bones. add a drizzle of oil to the pot and add onions, carrots, and celery. saute until just soft. add chicken and broth. simmer 15 minutes or so, then add any additional ingredients you'd like.

(i added 3/4 cup rinsed long-grain rice and simmered for 15 minutes and added 1 cup of frozen peas just before serving.)

for a sick person, a good grilled cheese on fresh french bread makes this even better!! (french bread obviously isn't gluten free!)