The Family Groove Lifestyle & Home

LAST MINTUE CALL
THIRST FOR SOME COCKTAILS AND CONVERSATION? HERE'S A HOW-TO FOR A COCKTAIL
PARTY IN THE NICK OF TIME

Cocktail parties combine some of my favorite things: light food, good drinks and great conversation.
Kiss, kiss, darling! The key to a cocktail party is to keep it simple, sweetie. But, simple doesn't mean
that you have to forgo taste and style. Here's to easy elegance!

THE MENU

Serves 8

The Drinks

Instead of the expected martini bar, offer a champagne bar. Offering champagne as the main libation immediately sets the tone for celebration. Nowadays, there are fantastic champagnes, sparkling wines, cava and prosecco that won't break the piggy bank. One tip I must stand by is never serve champagne in plastic. Even if you buy inexpensive flutes, champagnes always tastes better in glass.

Don't go overboard stocking the bar. Buy one or two bottles of red wine and offer a limited, but premium selection of spirits. One bottle of vodka, gin and scotch should more than suffice.

The Main Event

Getting back to the simple, light and easy theme here, 6 delicious appetizers is all you need to please the palettes and fill the tummies of your guests.

Artisanal Cheese Board

Ingredients:
1 wood board
1 wedge of Brie
1 wedge of Manchego
1 wedge of Chevre
1 wedge of Roquefort
Light crackers
French bread, cut in two-inch slices

Directions:
1.Place cheese on the board.
2.Decorate the board with berries, nuts and grapes.
3.Place bread in a lined bread basket. 4.Place crackers on the cheese board or to the side on a plate.

Sesame-Seared Tuna on a Crispy Wonton with a Spicy Soy and Cilantro-dressed Japanese Salad

For the tuna

Ingredients:
1 ½ lb center-cut tuna loin, sushi-quality
3 tbsp mixed black and white sesame seeds
Salt and pepper
2 tsp peanut oil for searing
1 tsp wasabi powder
18 small wonton wrappers, cut into a circle equal to the width of the wonton squares

Directions:
1.Cut the tuna loin into 6” pieces (circles).
2.Lay tuna flat onto plastic wrap.
3.Roll the tuna, hands on the plastic wrap.
4.Once rolled, twist ends tightly to make a rounded cigar shape.
5.Chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
6.Unwrap and lightly season the tuna with salt and pepper.
7.Re-roll in sesame seeds.
8.Heat sauté pan.
9.Add peanut oil to the heated pan.
10.Sear tuna (still in cigar shapes) on all sides, about 30 seconds per side. Tuna should be very rare inside.
11.Chill for at least 10 minutes.

For the spicy soy and cilantro dressing

Ingredients:
½ cup rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp finely mined cilantro
1 cup soy sauce
1 tsp sambal or other hot chili sauce
2 tbsp orange juice
Juice of one small lime
1 shallot, chopped
1 tsp wasabi powder

Directions:
1.Mix vinegar, ginger, shallot, garlic, pepper, cilantro, soy, sambal, orange juice and lime juice.
2.Mix wasabi powder into the above mixture.

For the salad

Ingredients:
4 oz seaweed salad from Japanese restaurant or Asian market.
¼ cup daikon radish, julienned
2 tbs pickled ginger
¼ cup carrots, julienned
1 small cucumber, peeled, seeded and julienned
2 scallions, diced

Directions:
1.Toss seaweed salad, daikon, pickled ginger, scallions, carrots and cucumbers with the soy drizzle.
2.Set aside.

To serve the dish

Directions:
1.Fry the wontons in medium hot peanut oil until crisp.
2.Drain wontons on paper towels and set aside.
3.Mix a little water with 1 tsp wasabi powder to make a paste just thin enough to drizzle.
4.Place 1 tbsp of salad on each wonton.
5.Slice tuna in ¼-inch rounds.
6.Place tuna on top of salad.
7.Drizzle w/wasabi.
8.Serve immediately.

Beef, Scallion and Asparagus Rolls (My version of negri maki)

Ingredients:
1 ½ boneless beef sirloin steaks, trimmed of fat
8 scallions, trim and cut into 2-inch lengths
1 lb asparagus, very thin preferably (if not thin enough, cut into 2-inch lengths and divide into 15 bundles)
3 tbsp sake
3 tbsp soy sauce 1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp vegetable oil Wooden toothpicks

Directions:
1.Cut the beef into 15 very thin slices.
2.Place each slice between plastic wrap.
3.Lightly pound the beef with a mallet until very thin. If you don't have a maillot, you can use the bottom of a skillet.
4.Snuggly roll each piece of beef around a scallion and asparagus bundles.
5.Secure the roll by spearing it with a wooden toothpick or two.
6.Coat skillet with 2 tbsp vegetable oil and heat.
7.Sear rolls, seam side down.
8.Once the seams have sealed, turn and brown the rolls on all sides.
9.After about 1 minute, or as soon as the beef has turned brown, add the sake, soy sauce and sugar. 10.Reduce the heat slightly and cook for 1 more minute.
11.Shake the pan to keep the rolls from sticking.
12.Remove the rolls from the heat and let cool slightly.
13.Gently pull out the toothpicks.
14. Just before serving, return the rolls to high heat and shake the pan to glaze them with the sauce
15.Slice each roll in half, cross-ways.
16.Serve warm.

Smoked Salmon Terrine with Spinach and Mascarpone

Ingredients:
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 cups vegetable broth
¼ lb creamy goat cheese
½ cup mascarpone
½ cup heavy cream Juice of
½ lemon
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 bunches fresh spinach (baby leaves)
½ lb smoked salmon, thinly sliced

Directions:
1.Dissolve the gelatin in ¼ cup of cold vegetable broth.
2.Heat the remaining vegetable broth and stir the dissolved gelatin into it.
3.Stir gently until the gelatin is thoroughly dissolved.
4.Let it cool to room temperature.
5.Combine the goat cheese, mascarpone and heavy cream in a bowl.
6.Stir well.
7.Fold in lemon juice.
8.Season with salt and pepper.
9.Set aside.
10. Wash and dry spinach leaves.
11. Line a rectangular mold with plastic wrap.
12. Prepare the terrine by alternating layers of smoked salmon, mascarpone mixture and spinach. Brush each layer with a little gelatin, but reserve ½ cup for later. Be sure to end with the salmon on top.
13. Enclose the terrine with plastic wrap.
14. Refrigerate for 6 hours.
15. When you are ready to serve, unwrap and carefully turn over the terrine onto a serving platter.
16. Brush the terrine with the remaining gelatin (soften the gelatin to re-liquify, first).

Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Dip

Ingredients:
4 red bell peppers
¼ cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 cups crumbled feta cheese
Salt
Pepper

Directions:
1.Char peppers directly over gas flame or in the broiler until blackened on all sides.
2.Enclose the pepper in a paper bag for 10 minutes.
3.Peel, seed and quarter peppers.
4.Puree peppers, oil, garlic and feta in a food processor.
5.Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6.Chill at least 3 hours or overnight.

Fresh Figs Wrapped in Prosciutto Stuffed with Parmigiano-Reggiano

Ingredients:
1 lb parmigiano-reggiano
½ lb prosciutto, sliced very thinly
16 figs

Directions:
1.Slice the top off of the figs.
2.Cut the figs cross-ways, being careful not to cut all the way through to the bottom. The fig should like a flower.
3.Cut off a chunk of the parmigiano-reggiano and stuff each fig.
4.Wrap each fig flower in a slice of prosciutto. Be sure to wrap around the outside, so as not to cover the flower.
5.Chill before serving.
6.Take out of refrigerator 15 minutes before serving.

*You can also serve this dish without the prosciutto as a dessert. You can even stuff the figs with a great gorgonzola and serve with a nice glass of port.

Sweet Things

No Butter, No Flour Dark Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup good quality unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 ½ cups confectioners' sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1tbs vanilla
4 large eggs
2 cups walnuts, coarsely chopped
Parchment paper or Silpat baking pad

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350º.
2.Whisk together cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar and salt in a bowl.
3.Combine vanilla and egg whites in a 2-cup glass measuring cup.
4.Slowly add the above to the cocoa mixture, beating at a low speed until glossy—about 2 minutes.
5.Stir in walnuts.
6.Drop 5 (¼ cup) mounds of batter about 3 inches apart onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
7.Put baking sheet on the oven's middle rack and reduce temperature to 325º.
8.Bake for 15 minutes.
9.Watch for small think cracks on the top of the cookies to ensure they are done.
10. Cool cookies on baking sheet and peel from paper.
11. To make another batch, raise oven temperature back to 350º and repeat.

Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Ingredients:
Long-stemmed strawberries Chocolate (white and dark)

Directions:
1.Melt chocolate over a double boiler over a low flame.
2.Make sure strawberries are not too cold.
3.Once chocolate is melted, remove it from the heat.
4.Dip strawberries into the chocolate.
5.Place on wax paper to cool.

The Tip

Cocktail napkins and coasters make great hostess gifts. Check out www.zgallerie.com for some unique coasters and www.potterybarn.com for fun and affordable cocktail napkins.