Deus Ex Culina

2 Cocktail Pary Recipes

In the South, the fall means many things culinarily speaking: Football Tailgates, Oyster Roasts, Barbeques… and the beginning of cocktail party season. From comparing notes with others and investigating regional history, it seems that the South has elevated the cocktail party to the level of high art. Some say it is the general amiability of the hosts and the desire to make one’s guests feel comfortable that has propelled the evolutionary process. Digging a little deeper turns up another, more pragmatic reason: Cost. After the Civil War, Reconstruction and into the early part of the 20th century, most socially prominent Southerners had grand family histories but very modest bank balances. The cocktail party evolved as a way to fulfill one’s social obligations without the expense of a formal seated dinner. A few cocktails (Scotch or Bourbon for the Men; White Wine or Vodka Tonic for the Women), a few canapés, maybe a Pork Loin or Smoked Turkey and everyone leaves happy.

Doing our part to keep the social wheel turning has necessitated having a few standby recipes on hand to make the process of organizing a party as painless as possible. Scroll down for 2 quick and easy recipes sure to amaze and delight your party guests:

Goat Cheese Bruchetta:

Makes 24 / increase decrease as needed.

1 large French Baguette
1/4c olive oil
1 ts garlic powder
1c Pesto
8oz Log of Goat Cheese
3 large Roma Tomatoes
6 large Sun Dried Tomatoes (NOT OIL PACKED !)
1Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
Pinch Salt and cracked Black Pepper

Put Goat Cheese log into the freezer.

Seed and finely chop tomatoes. Set aside in a small mixing bowl.

Reconstitute Sun Dried Tomatoes (add tomatoes and warm water to a sauce pan, bring to a boil, drain, pat dry) then finely chop, then add to chopped Roma Tomatoes, add Balsamic Vinegar, Salt, Pepper to tomatoes; mix then set aside for 30min

Preheat oven to 400’

Cut baguette into 24 slices; discarding round ends Put slices onto a baking sheet
In a small bowl, mix olive oil and garlic powder

Brush top of each bread slice with olive oil/garlic Bake in oven until golden brown and crispy (~15min). Take from oven and cool.

Assembly

Spread pesto on each toast round.

Remove Goat Cheese Log from freezer and Put a 1/8” slice of goat cheese on top of pesto/toast round

Using a teaspoon, put a small amount of reserved tomato mixture on top of the goat cheese. Press down slightly to adhere.

Serve immediately or cover and chill for up to 4hrs. To serve, allow to come back to room temp.

Shrimp and Proscuitto Skewers.

Makes 24; Increase/Decrease as needed

24 med shrimp, peeled, deveined and chilled
2 heaping Tbs chopped garlic
2 Tbls Mrs. Dash- Tomato Basil seasoning (salt and MSG free; should be on the spice shelf of the grocery store)
2 Tbls Olive Oil

12 long/ thin slices Prosciutto (use real, not domestic, you can taste the difference).
24 sprigs of Rosemary, 4-5” long, bottom ½ peeled of rosemary

Put chilled shrimp, garlic, Mrs. Dash and olive oil in a bowl, Mix and let stand for 30 min.

Heat skillet or grill pan to high/hot, add shrimp and sauté until just cooked through. Shrimp should be bright pink with a crust of garlic and seasoning. Allow to cool enough to handle.

Cut a slice of Prosciutto in ½ along narrow side (slices should be long and thin to start).

Fold each ½ to make a long thin strip.

Roll up 1 shrimp in each slice of Prosciutto, secure with a Rosemary Skewer.

Serve immediately or cover with a damp paper towel and chill up to 4hrs.

Both recipes are quick and easy to prepare and have been a repeated hit with my guests !

Octopus Risotto

Octopus? Octopi?

Rob Sama has been pesking me to cook octopus with him. We were finally able to get together this Saturday to cook the octopus using a Mediterranean recipe that my Spanish grandfather often used. The result is that you get a yummy, fairly easy recipe AND a bonus picture of Sama and the elusive Viking Zen!

Ok. WHERE can you find octopus? If you live in the Boston area, you can call Rob and tell him to go buy octopus at the Super 88 in Brighton. It's a Chinese market and you can purchase previously cleaned and frozen octopus for the low low price of $10ish bucks.

NEXT

You've gotta rinse the octopus and then you've gotta tenderize it. We didn't have a mallet to tenderize it, so Sama used a large can to do the deed.

Okay- here are your ingredients:

PANTRY RAID

2 lbs of octopus
6 tbsp of olive oil
1 sage leaf
1 parsley sprig
400 grams of arborio rice (risotto grade)
red wine (good stuff, please)
salt
pepper
3 onions (large)
garlic
sausage (two large)- we used sweet Italian sausages for this.

TANTALIZING TENTACLES!

You've tenderized your octopus...Now, you've got to get a large pot of water boiling. You're going to fill it up with one chopped onion, some salt, pepper, and once it's boiling, put your l'il buddy in there. You can put up to a cup of red wine in that water.

You're going to let it boil for approximately an hour. The meat should become pretty tender.

While that is happening, fry the sausages in some butter. I chopped ours before, because I wanted less fat and wanted a "rugged texture", similar to meatballs.

While the octupus is still boiling, you get a saucepan and cook two onions and garlic (to taste). Once the onions are transparent, add the sage leaf and the parsley sprig. Add the sausage pieces.

After the hour is up, remove the octopus from the broth that's formed in the pot. Chop it up into inch-long pieces. Keep the broth- you're going to need it to cook the rice. Put the onion-olive oil- garlic mix into another pot and do the following measurements= 2 cups of the octopus water per cup of arborio rice. Watch the rice boil- make sure it stays pretty moist- arborio absorbs a lot of water. You may have to add some water during the cooking process.

Once the rice is fully cooked, add the octopus pieces. Mix it all up.

Serve in a nice dish and enjoy in good company!

Sama and VikingZen