Party Food!

We love to celebrate at CSL and seem to find many times and ways to bring people together with food.  We love lots of color, variety, tastes and textures. Veggie trays have green beans, steamed broccoli, jicama, cucumbers, celery, carrots cut on the diagonal, colored peppers and cherry tomatoes. Dip goes into a hollowed out red cabbage, veggies stand up in hollowed out red, yellow and orange peppers, little tiny sweet colored peppers get cut a week in advance and left in the refrigerator to turn into flowers for garnish. Arrange it all on top of some collard greens or ruffled lettuce for a spectacular and appetizing array.

Baked Brie is also a favorite of ours as part of our cheese assortment. We love cheese! I use the smaller one pound brie wheel. Roll out a pre-made pastry crust found in the biscuit section of the grocery store. Set the Brie on top and cut around. That goes on top. Set remains aside. Take the second pastry crust, roll out, and set brie on top. Spread cranberry chutney or cranberry sauce on top of Brie. Add chopped pecans or toasted pine nuts. Put pastry round on top. Bring pastry up around the sides and pinch edges to seal. Cut decorative pieces out of remaining dough, wet one side and place on top. Make sure it is all sealed well. Wrap in plastic film or waxed paper and place in the freezer until solid. I usually do this up to a week in advance. Pre-heat oven to 425. Place frozen Brie on small round aluminum pan. Whatever you bake Brie on you will most likely have to serve it on. It is difficult to remove it from the pan to a serving dish without it breaking open. I use a cake pedestal and set the pan right on top. Bake 35-45 minutes or until the crust is brown. You can use an egg wash on the crust if you want. (Beat one egg with a little water and brush over crust with a pastry brush.) Let Brie rest a few minutes before serving. Serve with crackers or French bread. Your guests will swoon!

Another easy party dish we love is Stroganoff Meatballs. Buy pre-made, pre-cooked ½ ounce or 5/8 ounce meatballs in the freezer section. (Sam’s has 6 pound resealable bags.) Let meatballs thaw while making the sauce. For stroganoff sauce, start with about 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add a clove of garlic finely chopped and 1 large red onion diced. Sauté over medium high heat for a few minutes until onions are limp. Add 1 cup chopped mushrooms and 1 cup sliced mushrooms. Cook until well done. Add one can veggie broth (you can use chicken or beef) and 1 cup red wine. Cook until reduced by half. Add 2/3 cup heavy cream (or half n half). Stir well. Add ¼ cup chopped fresh dill. Pour sauce over meatballs and heat in oven or chafing dish. Garnish with a dollop of sour cream and chopped fresh dill. Serve with pieces of crusty French bread to mop up all that wonderful sauce. Listen to your guests rave!