Take people who love food + a dinner party + appetizers only + more wine than you could shake a stick at + one kick-ass host – any vegetarians + one amazing photographer, and you might start to have an understanding of what my appetizer party was like. But let’s be honest, mere words cannot describe the awesomeness that went down, the epic quantities of food consumed and the happy bellies that left my place. But high quality food porn can, and I was lucky enough to have my friend and photographer Liz Wilson on hand to help me with that task. I’ve said it before, but it has never been more true: if these photos do not make you hungry, then we are probably not friends. And that’s okay. On the Menu: Appetizers Squash bisque shots with bacon Glazed bacon, beets and Bloody Marys Housemade pickled cherries w/ Kevin’s smoked duck prosciutto and cheese cracker Chicken pate with crostini, homemade mustard and housemade pickles Mains Thai scallop ceviche cups Pan fried Chinese pork dumplings with caramelized onion sauce Garlic butter shrimp Braised beef and mashed potato ravioli with braising jus Sorbets Cranberry Ginger Lemon Pepper Desserts Guinness cake petit-eights with Baily’s Irish Buttercream, Dark chocolate ganache and caramel shards Lemon lime posset with ginger cookies So let’s start at the beginning. This was a potluck party, so I thankfully didn’t have to cook everything. This party happened at the beginning of March, which in Chicago was still very much winter, and most of the dishes at this party represent that. Cooking out of season isn’t just wrong, it tastes bad, so I like to avoid it whenever possible. We served four courses of several different appetizers, with the theme of each course mimicking a traditional dinner party. Therefore, the first course was a series of appetizer-based appetizers. For the most part, we tried to keep them light and in tiny portions. Well, as light as you can keep it in a party full of meat lovers.
My friend Evan is a professional chef that I met in culinary school, and he loves a good challenge. For this party, I told him, “Soup shot, bacon, please!” and this is what he came up with: a velvety squash bisque with a sprinkle of bacon, served in a shot glass.
This was by far one of the best soups that have ever graced these lips. Not too much bacon, just the perfect salty bit to cut through the squash’s creamy and slightly sweet flavor. This was a soup that was rich and yet light at the same time, so it didn’t weigh you down. And hot damn if it wasn’t purdy to boot. The next appetizer was made by Nick, an old friend that I’ve known since high school. I would classify Nick as a novice chef, but an enthusiastic learner and eater. I helped him find this recipe in a cookbook I own called Everything Tastes Better With Bacon. He made glazed bacon with golden beets and bloody marys.
Again, this dish had a distinct citrus element to it in the bacon glaze that really cut through the bacon’s richness, so the dish wasn’t too heavy. The bloody mary on the side went well with it, although for future appetizer sessions, I would definitely put the bloody mary in shot glasses next to the bacon rounds for easier consumption. Regardless, this was still a delicious dish.
The next dish was from my good friend, Kevin, another mate from culinary school. He’s been obsessed with curing and smoking meats lately, so I didn’t try to stop him when he made his own smoked duck breast prosciutto. In fact, I gave him a jar of my own Chinese five spice pickled cherries to pair it with.
It was scary how good this appetizer was, especially since it was thrown together based on what animal Kevin wanted to smoke and what pickles I had left in my canning closet. I secretly hope one day Kevin opens his own smoked meat shop so I can bug him for free samples on a daily basis. He also makes a mean smoked bacon.
The final appetizer app was definitely the richest of the bunch, and it was made by me and had bacon in it (surprise, surprise): my chicken liver pate with bacon, served with Claire’s homemade mustards and my homemade garlic dill cucumber pickles.
I made this from a blend of two different recipes, this Food & Wine recipe and this Alton Brown recipe. The Food & Wine recipe had a great, straight forward method and utilized bacon, but I dug Alton’s use of onions, apples and thyme, so I added that as well. The result was a rich, creamy pate that tasted crazy good on top of just about anything, especially with some homemade spicy mustard and garlicky pickles. It was so good, I made a little extra so I could have some the morning after the party. Ain’t no shame.
The next course was mains, and the appetizers got a bit heartier, bit more flavorful. We started off with Evan’s Thai scallop ceviche served in crispy wonton cups.
This was a delicious, light dish that was desperately needed after all of that bacon! Evan’s marinated scallops were light, spicy and tangy, another sign that hey, this guy might be a professional chef.
And that was the “light” dishes ended! Next up was my famous pan fried Chinese pork dumplings with caramelized onion sauce.
I’ve written a lot about these dumplings, first in this post and later in this post, but I am happy to give a few more shout outs to this damn good dumpling. I like to use the best pork possible from C & D Farms, a local place that delivers to the city. I serve these bad boys with a traditional dumpling sauce of Chinese black vinger and soy sauce, but I like to make it even better with a bit of caramelized onions and chile peppers. It gives the sauce a sweet, spicy depth that is great against the fatty pork.
The next main appetizer was made by Nick, and it was a baked garlic shrimp that we served with pieces of french bread to sop up the sauce.
These shrimp were perfectly baked, and topped with a delicious mixture of garlic, breadcrumbs, butter, and other unknown deliciousness, you really can’t go wrong with this dish. The final main appetizer of the evening was a braised brisket and mashed potato ravioli with braising jus, served by Kevin. I don’t know where the hell he got the idea for this bad boy, but I was glad he decided to make it! Imagine the best tasting pot roast you’ve ever had, throw in some garlic mashed potatoes, shove it into a ravioli, and top it off with the braising juice–that is what this ravioli is like. I loved the combination of the savory beef with the creamy, garlic-laced mashed potatoes in this dish.
Next up, we served a sorbet course to cleanse our palates.
Claire made a lemon pepper sorbet that, as you can see in the photo, had a granita-like consistency, and it was tart and spicy. I made a cranberry ginger sorbet that you might remember from my NYE post, which is just slightly sweet and refreshing. And no, they are not in perfect quenelles like they taught in culinary school. I was already three glasses of wine into the evening. And I’m a lightweight drinker. Which means I am lucky I remembered the sorbet even existed at that point.
Finally, we progressed to the dessert appetizer course of the evening. We had two choices for this course, starting with a petit four that was so big, Claire insisted we call it a petit-eight. So here are Claire’s Stout and chocolate petit-eights with Baily’s Irish buttercream filling, dark chocolate ganache and caramel shards.
Whoa. Hot damn were these good. The perfect balance of bitter, sweet, crunchy, smooth, soft…this was just a great cake all around. Petit-eights my ass, I happily took down four of those bad boys without blinking.
I made an unusual that I’ve never really made before. I wanted something light and sharable, but I didn’t feel like baking, so I found this recipe and bust it out: Lemon lime posset. It is basically an eggless custard made by stirring together cream, sugar and lemon and lime juice and letting it sit in the fridge. The result is a dish that is light and almost whipped, citrusy and creamy. I served it with spicy sweet ginger cookie thins from Trader Joes that I love so much.
People enjoyed this dish, but it was by no means the favorite of the evening (and can you blame them? Claire’s petit eights ROCKED it out of the park). But this was simple to make and would make a delicious dinner party dessert in the future.
The evening ended with a bit of rock band, an apron fashion show, and food comas galoore.
It was a great night full of creativity, cooking and food comas. What more could a gal ask for?
Thanks to all the people who contributing to this delicious evening! I have the best food friends ever. EVER. My bitches. ~LTG!
