Little Kitchen Catering

Anyone tired of staring at spinach salad yet?

I know, I know... first I tell you I will have a week of Thanksgiving recipes, and then I leave you high and dry with a two during the biggest month of food.  Followed by the fact that I am not even sharing a recipe now.  But I haven't exactly been sitting around eating bon bons so I thought I would share what has been going on in the little kitchen.  Sunday night I catered a cocktail party for 75 and I have been in a tizzy of gourmet appetizers for a couple of weeks.  Unfortunately, I was way more focused on getting out hot food than getting good pictures, but I will share what I do have.  Starting with the menu...

Bloody Mary Soup Shot with Herb Marinated Shrimp and Olives

Baked Brie with Crackers and Fruit

Ham and Gruyere Thumbprints

Olive Tapenade Crostini

Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Chipotle Mayonnaise, Arugula, Focaccia Toasts & Roasted Tomatoes

Spanakopita

Lamb Chop Lollipops

Prosciutto wrapped Asparagus with Marinated Tomatoes and Mozzarell

Gingerbread Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, Coconut Macaroons, Dark Chocolate Fudge Bites,

Madeleines, and Cheesecake Brownie Bites

This is the moment where I need to immensely thank my mother and friend Jennifer for being the best help a girl could ask for.  It was a tall order, but somehow we got all the food out and we are still standing.  Excuse the fuzzy iphone pics, but here's a sampling...

Prepping in the little kitchen...

My new best friend, Pat with Roasted Shrimp Cocktail

Display of desserts (just a sidenote, I simply filled the trays with desserts...did not decorate this beautiful island)

Fuzzy pic of grilled beef tenderloin bites with roasted tomatoes, chipotle mayonnaise and arugula...

very blurry pic of one of the food tables...

close up of the bloody mary soup shots with shrimp and olives...

Mr. Hungry's plate of leftovers... just a few of the items.

 

Sorry once again for the bad pictures, but I thought I would share what I have.  This may or may not be my sad attempt at getting some grace for being gone so long.  But I will be back with a few recipes from the party... hopefully sooner than later. 

Spinach Salad with Pumpkin Seeds & Dried Cherries

Continuing the week of Thanksgiving ideas...

We are not big salad people.  I have nothing against it and I actually love a good salad, but I find it not so necessary for weeknight meals.  If I make a salad, it usually gets pushed aside when there are other things to eat like pasta.  However, here come the holidays and I found a perfect salad that would accompany hearty dishes.  It's a little bit special with pumpkin seeds and dried cherries, but still very easy and not many ingredients in the dressing. If you are starting to think about a Thanksgiving meal, this could be a perfect fancy, but not fussy salad for the big day.


From my little kitchen to yours... Enjoy.

Spinach Salad with pumpkin seeds and dried cherries
Adapted from Food Everyday, Martha Stewart
Serves 4
Recipe Notes
There are a few options when it comes to dried cherries.  The only ones I have found that I don't like are the brand Sunshine that come in a yellow package.  Other than that, I have tried a lot of brands and I like them all.
Ingredients
4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
2 tablespoons olive oil
coarse salt and ground pepper
8 ounces baby spinach
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/4 cup raw pumpkins seeds
Step by Step
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spread raw pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Roast for 10 minutes, until seeds have puffed and lightly browned.

In a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, mustard, olive oil until thickened and well blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add spinach, red onion and cherries and toss to combine.  Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds and serve immediately.

Apple Spice Cake with Caramel Drizzle

One of the biggest days for food is coming up... Thanksgiving.

Now most people have the same traditional meal every year with lots of family favorites, but just in case you need to spice it up this year, you need this cake.

I cannot believe that in over a year of writing at this lovely little location, that I have not shared this cake.  It's about as cozy and fallish as a cake can get.  Juicy bites of apple and crunchy nuts wrapped in a full-of-spice cake, drizzled with caramel sauce is about as dreamy as it gets on a cold day.

And I know pies are usually the star of Thanksgiving, but this cake would complement them well and be a little unexpected.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups vegetable oil

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

3 to 4 Granny Smith apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (3 cups)

1 cup chopped assorted nuts, such as pecans and walnuts (optional)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Nonstick cooking spray with flour

Ingredients for Caramel Sauce
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
Step by Step

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12-cup Bundt pan with cooking spray; set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine vegetable oil, sugar, and eggs; mix on high speed until lemon yellow.

 With mixer on medium speed, gradually shake in dry ingredients until just incorporated.

Add apples and, if desired, nuts, to batter; mix to combine. Add vanilla, mixing until incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pan, and bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 75 to 90 minutes.

Remove from oven, and cool slightly on a wire rack.  Invert cake onto rack; turn cake right-side up to cool completely on rack.  
Before serving, make caramel sauce.  Combine caramel sauce ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Stir until sauce is well combined and thickened.
Drizzle each piece with caramel sauce and serve immediately.  

Candy Corn Pretzel Bites

And so the million combinations for pretzel bites continue...

However, this time we are using a Hershey Kiss that is seasonal so you better act fast!

Have you seen these little guys?

Candy corn flavored Hershey Kisses.  My friend Jennifer introduced me to them and while I actually can't stand candy corn, these are pretty addicting.  Add a pretzel and a dark chocolate m&m and you've got quite the perfect little bite. 


Recipe Note
I have only seen the candy corn kisses at Target.  I scoured grocery stores for a long time so let me you save you a trip and just head to Target.  If you have made the original pretzel bites, know that these are a little different.  The candy corn hershey kisses do not harden as well as hugs do.  If you are making a big batch and want to throw them in a bag, I suggest making ones with double pretzels.  I had to lay them side by side with parchment paper on top or they get kind of melty on each other. 
Ingredients
1 bag candy corn Hershey kisses (see recipe note)
1 bag square pretzels
1 bag dark chocolate M&Ms
parchment paper
Step by Step
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Place one kiss on top of each pretzel.  Bake for 3 to 4 minutes, until slightly melty.  Remove baking sheet from oven and top each kiss with an m&m.  Press down slightly so that the hershey kiss smushes down on the pretzel.  Optional:  Press another pretzel on top instead of the m&m.

nutty chocolate chip cookies

I am in search of a signature cookie.  I know that there are much bigger fish to fry in the world, but this is close to the top of my list.  I just want that one cookie that you know will always be good, but is not too complicated so you could whip some up for any occasion.   

This here is my first attempt at finding that cookie, and it is a really good one.  I'm not quite ready to give up my search, but this was good enough to share.  A little nutty, a little chocolaty, but not too heavy.  The best part is that dough froze well and I will even venture to say that the cookies tasted better after the dough had been frozen.  

From my little kitchen to yours... Enjoy.

Nutty Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe Notes
It says to sift the flour.  If you do not a sifter, you can use a strainer.  You just want the flour to be fine, fluffy and have no clumps.  Another option is to just fluff the flour a little with the measuring cup before you measure it.  It is ideal to sift, won't totally ruin the cookie if you don't have a sifter.  I always bake cookies now with parchment paper.  Haven't seen a burnt edge since I started.  If you really don't want to buy this, you can cook on an ungreased cookie sheet, but I highly recommend the parchment paper. 

Ingredients
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (12 ounce) package semisweet chocolate chips
1 (4 ounce) bar Hershey's milk chocolate, grated
1 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Equipment
blender
parchment paper

Step by Step
Heat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a bowl, cream butter and sugars until creamy and fluffy.  Add eggs and vanilla, mix well and set aside.

Place oatmeal in a blender and grind to a fine powder.  Add gradually to sugar- egg mixture, along with flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  Stir just to combine all of the ingredients.  Add chocolate chips, grated chocolate, and nut.

Roll into golf ball- sized balls for a medium sized cookie.  For small cookies, use a heaping teaspoon. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place dough 2 inches apart.  Bake for 8-12 minutes (depending on dough size), until slightly golden brown.  

soft pretzels

We had our own little Oktoberfest celebration this weekend and if I have my way, it will be the way we celebrate the occasion every year from here on after.  For that matter, it might be the way I celebrate everything.  We made soft pretzels and I am hooked.  It's a blessing and a curse when I find something I love so much.  A blessing because it's another great recipe to share but if I make these as often as I want, I would turn into one gigantic carb.

This is not by any means one of those quick recipes, but it was quite fun making them and even more fun eating them.  If you have a few friends or kids that want to join you in the kitchen, rolling these suckers is a fun little project.

We added some parmesan cheese to a few and cinnamon sugar to a few more.

My friend Kate made two great dips... a worcestire dip and a beer cheese spread.

If this wasn't indulgent enough, after one bite of the cinnamon sugar pretzel, I heard, "this would be even better with some icing"... from another, "oh I think this would be good with some Nutella.  Well, what do you know, I had both in the pantry and they made the cinnamon sugar pretzels even better.

This is the perfect weekend project.  Warning... make at least two per person or you might start feuds over who gets the goods.

pretzel rollin fun...

Don't be discouraged if your pretzels don't turn out well from the get go.  Even the ugly ones taste good... that was my first one, eek.

the baking soda bath... sounds weird, but makes for a great pretzel

Soft Pretzels

Adapted from Alton Brown, Food Network

Recipe Notes

Some people use pretzel salt and if you want to go all out, feel free. However, I used coarse sea salt and if you don't have it, I would suggest buying it.  You will use it way more than you think.  Make sure you provide a lot of time for these suckers because you will need to let the dough rise for an hour.  

Ingredients

1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water (a meat thermometer comes in handy to test temperature)

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 package active dry yeast

22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted

Vegetable oil, for pan

10 cups water

2/3 cup baking soda

1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water

Coarse salt

Optional toppings

parmesan cheese, shredded

cinnamon and sugar

Equipent

stand mixer with a dough hook

parchment paper

Step by Step

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in a large pot.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Pinch the dough at all places that it intersects tightly so that it will stay together.  Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula or strainer spoon and return to the baking sheet.

For regular pretzels:  Brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with coarse salt.

For cinnamon sugar pretzel:  Brush with melted butter, dip in sugar and sprinkle cinnamon on top.

For parmesan pretzel:  Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with shredded parmesan cheese.

Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Serve warm with various dips.