Dinner Partying

This falls under one of our favorite things to do as a couple. We like our home, I love cooking, we enjoy being with people, so inviting people to come to us is something we really look forward to, although we do it a lot less and with a lot more planning now that we have Claire.

We've started having people from Dan's work world come over on occasion. I think it's a nice route to getting to know someone you only see at the office. We did two dinners of this nature last year and we did another last week. We time dinners for 7 pm (Claire's bedtime) which is great for avoiding toddler issues with guests and then still gets us to bed early enough (because we are old and she gets up early).

On the menu:

• Asian Stuffed Mushrooms (done before, will repeat, recipe below)
• Parmesan Stuffed Dates Wrapped in Bacon (always a favorite)
• Crostini with White Bean Puree, Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
• Slow Cooker Beef Burgundy served over Egg Noodles (was supposed to be Polenta)
• French Apple Turnovers with Vanilla Ice Cream (amazing)

The first two are tried and true favorites. The third was an experiment, it was okay, but I won't do it again.

The Beef Burgundy was amazing. I got the recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Slow Cooker Revolution. I've spoken to people before who HATE this cookbook because it is the complete opposite of what some people consider the beauty of slow cooker recipes - throw a bunch of things into a pot and 8 hours have a tasty meal. I'd argue there are very few ways to magically do that, and if you want something that tastes awesome, has complex flavors and gives the impression it took hours, it will take longer than chopping up some ingredients and coming back to it in the evening. Here is the recipe, and you'll see what I mean, but it was totally, 100% worth the extra effort, as it always is from this cookbook.

Things to work on: food photography. But, here is Beef Burgundy

Beef Burgundy 

Ingredients:

• 1.5 lb stew beef
• Salt and Pepper
• 1 tbs vegetable oil
• 4 oz bacon (about 4 slices), minced
• 3 onions, minced
• 1 carrot, peeled and minced
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbs minced fresh thyme
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2 1/2 cups Pinot Noir
• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, plus additional as needed
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups frozen pearl onions
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 tbs unsalted butter
• 2 tbs sugar
• 1 lb cremini mushrooms, trimmed and halved if small or qurtered if large

Preparation:
Dry beef with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Place half of beef in slow cooker. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown remaining beef well on all sides, 7-10 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.
Cook bacon in skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, about 5 minutes.  Stir in onions, carrot, tomato paste, garlic, and thyme and cook until onions are softened and lightly browned, 8 – 10 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in 1 1/4 cups wine, scraping up any browned bits and smoothing out any lumps; transfer to slow cooker.
Stir broth, soy sauce, and bay leaves into slow cooker. Cover and cook until beef is tender, 9 to 11 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high.
About 20 minutes before serving, bring frozen pearl onions, water, butter, and sugar to boil in 12-inch skillet. Reduce to simmer, cover, and cook until onions are fully thawed and tender, 5 – 8 minutes. Uncover, bring to a boil, and cook until all liquid evaporates, 3 – 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and cook until vegetables are browned and glazed, 8 – 12 minutes; transfer to slow cooker.
Add remaining 1 1/4 cups wine to skillet and simmer until it has reduced by half 6 – 8 minutes; transfer to slow cooker. Let stew settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using a large spoon. Discard bay leaves. (Adjust stew consistency with additional hot broth as needed.) Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles.


I know any parent reading this is wondering how this cooking happened without full time help. Well, it did require probably 2-3 hours of Molly time, but I did all the shopping with Claire, and three out of the five recipes were completed with her either crawling at my feet or napping. I used the time that I did have help to finish cooking, set the table, clean up, etc. That is the beauty of the slow cooker in my mind - I was able to assemble the main course at 7:30 am with some careful chopping and browning done the day before. There was very little hands on time required for this menu during the actual dinner, which meant I could eat and chat.

I was intending to serve the beef over polenta but failed to read the recipe in advance and didn't time it right so I made a split second decision to switch to egg noodles in the interest of schedule. 

The apple turnovers were awesome and I will make those likely 100 more times in the course of my cooking life. They took about 10 minutes of hands on time. I highly recommend using the ice cream to the right - dinner parties are not the time for diets and the actual vanilla beans make the flavor so much better.

It was a lovely evening and we had some tasty wine from the special wine fridge, and I was still in bed by 10 with a clean kitchen, so I'd call it a success. Oh, and Claire loved the beef!  She ate it with the same enthusiasm as she did with this roll. 

Asian Stuffed Mushrooms 

Credit goes to my mom (Chef Vicki) for this lovely recipe

• 36 mushrooms   
• 36 mushroom stems removed and chopped fine
• 4 slices bacon
• 1/2 cup green onion chopped fine
• 1 tbsp minced garlic
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp lightly toasted sesame seeds
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup of water      

In a skillet, cook bacon until crisp, drain and crumble. Set aside. To bacon fat, add onions, garlic and stems. Cook until soft. Add soy, sesame oil, sesame seeds and breadcrumbs. Add cooked bacon and season with pepper. Add water until mixture resembles stuffing consistency. Divide among the mushroom caps and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.