Easy Entertaining! (December 7, 2001)
It's the season, you'd love to have friends and colleagues over
for smart little parties, but ooooohhhh, who's got the time to put
together something really good without hiring professional help?
Last time you tried to pull off a coup like this you wound up in
a mess in the kitchen with last minute details while your guests
sipped champagne and wondered where the host had gone. Never again,
you later vowed, staring at the stack of dishes and wondering what
happened to the evening…
Help is here! Julia Aitken, leading food writer, cookbook author
and food editor of Elm Street Magazine, has the answer in
her terrific book Easy Entertaining. We loved Easy Entertaining,
and not only for the yummy recipes; the very first page is entitled
"Entertaining 101," and it's full of great tips on planning
and shopping for a dinner party. Next comes the delicious follow-up:
"My Top Twenty Tips for Entertaining," with rule number
one, "Don't entertain people you don't like" – we
were hooked! It doesn't stop there; the book gives you instructions
for "The Prudent Host's Pantry" and the "Dinner Party
Survival Kit" and then, to make sure your event is perfect,
"A Word About Wine."
The recipes are perfect as well, with everything from pre-dinner
nibbles to sit-down appetizers such as Brewer's Mussels, Smoked
Fish Monte Carlo and Nut-crusted Scallops with Mango Salsa. Then
on to soups, pastas and breads, fish and meat, side dishes and salads
and finishing with desserts like Figs Poached in Mulled Wine with
Spiced Cream and a Chocolate Grand Marnier Fondue.
Hey, it's easy! Set the date, invite the guests. You, with Julia
Aitken and Easy Entertaining at your side, are easily the
Host of the Season!
On the menu today:
Sizzling Shrimp
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This delectable first course is a tad messy but
perfect for sharing among good friends. Serve straight from
the baking dish with good-quality crusty bread to map up the
spicy olive oil. More shrimp? Of course…oh, isn't entertaining
fun! |
Serves 6
Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C).
9 inch (22.5cm) ovenproof earthenware dish or glass pie plate
1½ lbs. raw large shrimp, peeled and deveined, patted
dry (750 g)
3 cloves garlic, sliced
¼ tsp. salt (1 mL)
¼ tsp. hot pepper flakes (1 mL)
½ cup olive oil (125 mL)
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Accompanying wine?
Tony Recommends...
a white wine with good acidity and a touch of residual sugar
– Oregon Pinot Gris or a German Riesling Spätlese
Trocken |
Spread out shrimp in baking dish; tuck slices of garlic in amongst
shrimp. Sprinkle with salt and hot pepper flakes. Drizzle oil evenly
over shrimp.
Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring once or twice
until shrimp are pink and opaque and oil is bubbling. Serve at once.
Tapenade-crusted Lamb Racks
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A perfect main dish this season, a little rack of lamb coated
with tapenade, the traditional French olive paste that's usually
served atop good sliced bread. Make it easy on yourself, buy
frozen lamb racks that have been "frenched," or
had the bones already cleaned of excess fat.
Julia's tip: Tapenade can be made ahead and refrigerated,
covered, for up to 2 days.
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Serves 6
1½ lemon
¾ cup pitted black olives (175 mL)
3 Tbsp. drained capers (50 mL)
4 tsp. olive oil (20 mL)
1 ½ clove garlic, sliced
1 ½ tsp. fresh thyme leaves (7 mL) (or ¾ tsp.
/ 4 mL dried)
3 frenched lamb racks, 11 oz. each, about 2 lb. 1 oz. in total
(930 g)
Fresh thyme sprigs
Cut 6 thin slices from lemon; set aside. Squeeze 2 tsp. (10 mL)
juice from rest of lemon. In a mini chopper, food processor or blender,
combine lemon juice, olives, capers, olive oil, garlic and thyme;
process until finely minced and well combined.
Place lamb racks, meaty-side up, on baking sheet; spread olive
mixture over top of each lamb rack. Roast in preheated oven, uncovered
for 20 minutes (rare), 25 minutes (medium-rare) or until a meat
thermometer inserted in meaty part of lamb (not touching any bones)
registers 140°F or 150°F (60°C or 65°C).
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Accompanying wine?
Tony Recommends...
a medium-bodied red – red Bordeaux or California Meritage |
Remove lamb from oven; transfer to a warm serving platter. Let
stand, loosely covered with foil, for 10 minutes. To serve, slice
lamb between bones into individual chops. Serve garnished with reserved
lemon slices and fresh thyme.
Viennese Chocolate Triangle Cake
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Remember that last trip to Vienna? All those pastry shops,
coffeehouses, chocolate cakes, candies, all picture perfect
and decadent beyond belief... ah, let's try just one more…
And here it is. Julia Aitken has taken that unglamorous workhorse
of desserts, the frozen pound cake, and transformed it into
a magical concoction fit for a royal table. Come on, it's
easier than it looks, and what a dazzling finish to the perfect
dinner party! Oh, Julia, are you available again next week?
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Note: Make ahead and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and
up to 24 hours.
Serves 6
Butter Cream
2 Tbsp. boiling water (25 mL)
2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (25 mL)
½ cup unsalted butter, softened (125 mL)
2 cups icing sugar, sifted (500 mL)
1 Tbsp. milk (15 mL)
Cake
1 frozen loaf-shaped pound cake (10 oz / 300 g)
8 oz good quality semi-sweet chocolate (250 g)
¼ cup unsalted butter (50 mL)
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil (15 mL)
Candied violets, edible flowers or gold leaf, available from
cake decorating stores
Butter Cream: In a small bowl, combine water and cocoa;
stir until smooth. Set aside. In a medium bowl, beat butter until
creamy. Beat in 1 cup (250 mL) icing sugar until light and
fluffy. Add cocoa mixture, milk and remaining icing sugar; beat
until smooth and fluffy. (Don't worry if butter cream curdles slightly.)
Cover; set aside.
Cake: Unwrap pound cake; place on a sheet of wax paper (to
prevent cake from sticking) on work surface. With a long sharp knife,
trim rounded top from cake to form a flat surface. With the cake
sitting flat on work surface, cut in half horizontally. With each
half sitting flat on work surface, carefully cut each horizontally
into 3 thin slices.
Set aside the slice from the bottom of cake. Spread each of the
remaining 5 slices of cake with about 2 Tbsp. (25 mL) butter
cream; stack slices neatly on top of each other. Transfer cake to
a platter. Measure out 2/3 cup (150 mL) butter cream and set
aside; spread remaining butter cream evenly over sides of cake.
(The cake should be completely covered with butter cream.) Freeze
for 1 hour or until firm.
Remove
cake from freezer. Stand frozen cake vertically on short end. With
a long sharp knife, make a diagonal cut crosswise through one short
end to the opposite short end to form two long wedges (see diagram).
Place reserved cake slice on a wire rack standing over a sheet
of wax paper. Spread with 2 Tbsp. (25 mL) reserved butter cream.
Arrange the 2 wedges of cake, with long frosted sides meeting, on
top of the reserved slice to make a long triangle shape. Spread
remaining butter cream over the cake to cover it completely, filling
any cracks. Freeze for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in the top half of a double boiler, melt chocolate with
butter and vegetable oil, stirring occasionally until smooth. (Alternatively,
microwave on medium for 2 minutes until smooth, stirring once.)
Let cool to room temperature. Spoon chocolate over cake to cover
it completely, using a spatula to smooth the surface. Let cake stand
on wire rack until the excess chocolate has dripped onto wax paper
and chocolate has firmed up slightly.
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Accompanying wine?
Tony Recommends...
a Late Bottled Vintage port, 10 Year Old Tawny Port or Cream
Sherry |
Using 2 spatulas, carefully transfer cake to a serving platter.
Refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours before serving.
Garnish with candied violets, edible flowers or flecks of gold leaf.
We wish to thank Publisher Robert Rose, Inc. for permission to
use these recipes and photographs from the Easy Entertaining
Cookbook.
Food photography by Mark T. Shapiro.
Happily tested by Helen Hatton and Ron Morris.
