An Oscar Party ~

It's all about the food! (And of course the drink, company, and that award show.)
 


I first saw these dangerously delicious "cheez-it-ish crackers" on a blog that I follow regularly, The Kitchen Lioness. Andrea, the author of this blog is an amazing photographer and writer. She is part of a cooking group (French Fridays with Dorie) that is cooking their way through Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table. I have this book - and good thing too, for this group does not post the recipes, just their results. Had I seen the recipe in the book before seeing her post I would have passed it up. The picture in the book does not do the crackers justice, not the way Andrea's does. I used her idea of shaping the crackers in the form of stars - it was the Oscars after all.

I was surprised by how much they taste like the name brand Cheez-It, only better. Made with butter and my favorite cheese, Gruyère, and a bit of pepper; what's not to like.

The recipe calls for Aleppo pepper which I could not find (did not put in a lot of effort) so I subbed cayenne which was an option in the recipe. Aleppo is not as hot as Cayenne, still I used the same amount.

 Source: Penzeys Spices

These are crazy easy to make and horribly addicting. Dangerous to have around - you may want to make these only when there are others to share with - or maybe not.

Success meter (1-3): 3 

These little crackers pair perfectly with a glass of champagne.

We always have an over-abundance of good food at our Oscar parties.

Cheese log w/crackers, Asian beef in crisp wonton cups, roasted sweet potatoes with aioli, and 

cheez-it-ish crackers.

Rice and cheese balls.

Focaccia with olive tapenade, broccoli salad, Mediterranean crunch salad, and three pizzas!


Photo credit goes to our lovely daughter who made the focaccia and olive tapenade.

Another equally delicious and fast recipe: Roasted sweet potatoes with a spicy aioli.

I roasted diced sweet potatoes tossed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper in a 400° oven until soft.

Mini coffee ice cream balls for dipping in chocolate fondue.
Half of the balls were rolled in ground chocolate covered coffee beans.

There are only three ingredients in the fondue: milk, cream and chocolate (a ganache), so be sure your chocolate is of good quality.

Photo credit: our daughter.
Thanks Ash - You saved the day !

We All Scream For...

COFFEE ICE CREAM!!!

From the book Baked Explorations
by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

                                                                                   Coffee Ice Cream
                                                

This is good. Lick the plate clean good.

This is the third recipe I have made from this book - all outstanding! I love everything about this book from the cover, to the stories and tips inside and even the feel of the book; and of course the recipes. If you buy only one cookbook this year, this should be it.

I stole a wee taste as the mixture was cooling to room temperature and this is great from the get-go. Already it is smooth and creamy with a wonderful coffee flavor, tasting like I imagined the finished product would be, only cold. I think this would be good as is poured over strawberries and pound cake. It is going to be hard to wait for it to finish chilling so I can devour this lovely concoction. This coming from a person that is not real fond of ice cream; I prefer frozen yogurt, till now maybe. Coffee ice cream is my sister's favorite and I told her I would save her some - not sure there will be any to save.

I was tempted to add some grated dark chocolate to the ice cream, but after having that sweet taste I thought to leave well enough alone. Now that it sits in the freezer I'm wishing I had, just to add a bit of visual pop to the ice cream. Next time. There will be a next time.


Success meter (1-3): 3

Stir until dissolved.

Whisk your yolks just till combined.

Stir until the mixture "coats the back of a spoon".

This means you can run your finger through it and

the track remains - it does not close back up.

Cover room temperature mixture with plastic wrap.

Making sure that the wrap touches the mixture itself

to keep a skin from forming.

Chilled and ready to freeze!

 

What made me go to this book again is that I saw this recipe on a fellow bloggers website and for the life of me I cannot recall which one. I thought that I had bookmarked the page. Should you be reading this and have seen my comment on your ice cream post, please let me know so that I may link back to your site.

Book Seven: Gifts from the Kitchen by Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library

Recipe: Espresso, White Chocolate and Macadamia Nut Bark


You could not ask for an easier recipe. Only four ingredients: white chocolate, dark chocolate, macadamia nuts and ground coffee; and it's so elegant looking!

I wanted to make something different for our shuttle driver Sid as a thank you for washing my car for me last week. We often get brownies, breads, cookies and donuts at the shop from customers and vendors. So when I came across this recipe I thought it would be perfect.

This is good, but I was a bit disappointed that I could not detect the coffee flavor. The recipe called for fresh, finely ground coffee, not instant. I have always (as other recipes call for) used instant espresso powder and had this on hand. I wonder if regular coffee would have been stronger? As to the macadamia nuts, my grocer did not carry unsalted nuts as the recipe asked for. I did not stress over this due to the fact that not so long ago the whole sweet and salty taste was the way to go. No worries, I'm sure Sid will be happy with any kind of sweets.

Success meter (1-3): 2