Beer Tasting Party

We thought this was a family friendly menu, so we decided to get together for a family feast.  This was a much less sophisticated beer tasting party than Martha's - more beer drinking than tasting really.  Although we did LOVE Martha's idea of the chalkboard oilcloth tablecloth. It was great to mark which dishes were which and the kids loved drawing at the dinner table.  We bought ours online for about $10 a yard at Fabric.com.

On the menu:

1. Smoky Parsnip Crisps
2. Roasted Buffalo Shrimp
3. Cocktail Meatballs
4. Bacon-Blue Cheese Sandwiches
5. Leek, Potato, Morel Gratin

Desserts from April's issue:

1. Lemon Curd Pistachio Sundaes
2. Golden Cakes with Ginger-Poached Fruit

As we did for the dessert party in February, we split up the dishes.  We learned from that experience and did a much better job dividing the tasks and were much less stressed for it.  Ali was responsible for the parsnip crisps, the bacon blue cheese sandwiches, the leek, potato, morel gratin, and the golden cakes with fruit.  Jacqui was in charge of the buffalo shrimp, the meatballs, and the lemon curd pistachio sundaes.

Ali - Smoky Parsnip Crisps:
I have never deep-fried anything and after this experience I doubt I will again.  Needless to say, I don't have a deep fryer and I found out that maintaining the appropriate frying temperature is quite an art.  My first batch came out limp and oil laden.  My second batch was much better, but I had the temperature at about 400 degrees instead of Martha's recommended 365. I peeled about ten parsnips and made about 5 batches of chips.  They were actually quite good right out of the pan.  But, I made them three days ahead of our party, since Martha said that they'd last up to five days in a zip-lock bag. So I let them cool and dry, and put them in a bag.  So what Martha said was true, if you like limp and soggy chips.  Unfortunately, I don't.  I tried to re-crisp them by baking them right before the party. No such luck.  They ended up in the trash.

I should also highlight the disgusting film of grease on the floor and everywhere immediately around the stove.  So gross.  And right before we went to bed, Ben and my eyes watered and burned terribly.  Sounds like fun, right?

Don't do it. Ever. Stick to Terra chips - much tastier and much less mess.

Jacqui - Roasted Buffalo Shrimp:
The shrimp were super easy.  Yet, I still managed to make a mistake.  The recipe called
for zest from two lemons and 2 T. of lemon juice, all of which I threw in the shrimp
sauce. Oops. The lemon juice was for the dip, not the sauce.  The shrimp would have
been slightly drier and more "roasted" as the title of the recipe says, but they were
delicious anyway.  I would make them again and I would make them the right way,
because I like my shrimp drier on the outside, but Ali said she'd make them the same
exact way again.  The dip for the shrimp was really good too.  The only modification I
made to the dip was adding some celery salt to replace some of the regular salt. It added
some nice flavor. All around, great dish.  My favorite, runner up for everyone else.

Ali: Was my fav. too, Jacq.  Mistake and all - definitely a keeper!

Yum, I'm getting hungry thinking about them.

Jacqui - Cocktail meatballs:
While these meatballs were easy, and the kids ate a ton of them, my husband and son
agreed that "the ones from Costco are much better."  Well since nothing is easier than
opening a zip top bag and defrosting a few meatballs in the microwave, I think I'll be
sticking with Costco in the future.  It also saves me from having to roll raw meat in my
hands - something non-meat eaters like me really do not enjoy doing.

Ali: Benjamin loved these meatballs and granted he has never tried Costco meatballs -
he must have eaten at least eight. "More MEATBALLS!" is still ricocheting through my
head.  I have to say though, the likelihood of my making these is slim... what's the name
of the ones from Costco, Jacq?

Could have used a sauce or something.

Ali - Leek, Potato, Morel Gratin:
I normally associate any-gratin with cheese, no?  There's no cheese in this recipe. But there is lots and lots of cream...  I went to WholeFoods in search of fresh morel mushrooms as instructed and only found dried ones, so instead I used portobello mushrooms.  I didn't think there'd be too much difference.  The result?  So bland.  Ben had to break out his hot sauce.  Jacq and Scott thought the dish was OK, but I think they were being generous.  Me?  I could have done without it, especially considering the cream content.  Just not worth it.

Jacqui: Ok, so I think of cheese too when I think of gratin, but I looked it up. True it was
on Wikipedia so take with a grain of salt, but sounds right: The etymology of gratin is
from the French language in which the word gratter meaning "to scrape" or "to grate"
as of the "scrapings" of bread or cheese, and gratiné, from the transitive verb form of
the word for crust or skin. Who knew?

Ali - Bacon and Blue Cheese Sandwiches:
The boys loved this one and ranked it as their favorite for evening.  And really, what's not to love? Blue cheese?  Bacon?  I bought the onion jam from Williams Sonoma and the sandwiches wouldn't have been the same without it.  The combination is very, very rich and the bite of the blue cheese (I used Stilton) was balanced by the sweetness of the jam. So good.  With that said though, I only had a half because of its richness.  The boys, on the other hand, had either two or two and a half each. Did I mention it has bacon?

For those who don't know, Jacq is a pescatarian, so her sandwich only had the cheese
and jam.  What did you think?

Jacqui: I liked it.  As Ali said it was very rich, and probably more so without the bacon,
because of the concentration of cheese, but tasty.  I'm probably still partial to an old
fashioned grilled American cheese with tomato though. :)

As for the kids - well, we knew better than to try to give them blue cheese.  They had a more
traditional grilled cheese with cheddar/American cheese and bacon.

Jacqui - Lemon Curd Pistachio Sundaes:
The March issue didn't have many desserts and the April issue is loaded with them, so
we got a jump on April and borrowed two for our dinner.  I got to pick first this time so I
chose the pistachio sundaes. Good choice!  I didn't realize how easy it was when I picked
it, but it was, and turned out delicious too.  And the lemon curd recipe is keeper for so
many other things.  Would be wonderful on those scones I made in February, or on a
spoon, right out of the container - right Ali?

We actually did a blind taste test of this curd and one Ali brought back from England
and Martha's won hands down.

Ali: Sorry Tidsa lemon curd, but there really was no comparison.  This stuff IS
AMAZING!!!  No joke.  For all the duds and frustrations I've had in this project so far
finding this recipe has made everything worth it.  I actually preferred it without the ice
cream and with the cake I made below.

Ali - Golden Cakes with Ginger Poached Fruit:

I made the poached fruit ahead of time.  The recipe called for pineapple and mango, both
fruits I love, as well as fresh ginger and clove berries.  The ginger and cloves transformed
the freshness of the fruit, into something woodsy and earthy tasting.  It seemed just not
right.  The cake actually tasted like a drier Dunkin' Donut.  Definitely edible, and out of
the desserts, the cake was the kids' favorite... well, besides the ice cream, but who can
compete with ice cream?

It was all such fun!!  I'm not sure who enjoyed themselves more, the kids or the adults!!

Ali and Jacqui