Menu and Recipes

COCKTAILS 
Mirassou Wine - Chardonay and Pinot Grigio 
Absolut/Izzy Martinis: Lemon Clementine and Sassy Caterer

STARTERS
 Cheesy Corn Bites
 Roll Your Own Sushi
Assorted Breads
Lavash  

MAIN COURSE 
Beet & Goat Cheese Salad
Pea & Parmesan Wonton Ravioli
Rosemary Herbed Chicken & Vegetables 
Cognac Marinated Beef Tenderloin
 Red Wine & Rosemary Marinated Steak 
Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps     

DESSERT
Mixed Berry Tartlets
 No Bake Cheesecakes 
Chocolate Hazelnut Piroulines

Recipes

Lemon Clementine
2 parts Absolut Citron
1 part IZZE Sparkling Clementine

Fill a martini shaker with crushed ice, add 2 parts Absolut Citron,
 1 part IZZE Sparkling Clementine. Shake, pour, enjoy!

Sassy Caterer 
3 parts Absolut Citron 
1 part Izze Sparkling Pomegranate

 Shaken over ice and served in a very large chilled martini glass!

Lavash

Ingredients 
Mayonnaise
Parmesan cheese
Lavash Crackers
Havarti Cheese

Preparation
Mix equal parts mayonnaise with Parmesan cheese
Spread on lavash cracker
Top with thinly sliced Havarti Cheese

Microwave for 30 seconds, serve.

Cheesy Corn Bites 
48 Appetizer Servings

Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature  
1 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese  
1 large egg  
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels  
48 scoop-shaped tortilla chip (one 10-ounce bag)  
Chopped chives or cilantro, for sprinkling   

Preparation 
Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl, mix the cream cheese, pepper jack cheese, egg and corn.   Arrange the chips on a large rimmed baking sheet and place approximately 1 tsp corn mixture in each. Bake until the filling sets, about 20 minutes.   Sprinkle the corn bites with the chives; serve warm.

Pea and Parmesan Wonton Ravioli 
4 Servings (about 32 ravioli)  

Ingredients
 2 2/3 cups frozen peas (3/4 pound)
 1/3 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano (plus additional for serving)
 2 teaspoon chopped mint 
About 64 dumpling or wonton wrappers 
3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted  

Preparation 
Cook peas in boiling salted water until just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and cool, then purée in a food processor.

Stir in cheese, mint, and 1/2 tsp each salt and pepper.   Put a rounded tsp filling in center of a each wrapper. Lightly brush edge of wrapper with water, and then place a second wrapper on top to seal, pressing out any trapped air. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling, keeping ravioli covered as you work.  Boil ravioli in 2 batches in a pasta pot of salted boiling water until tender, 2 to 3 minutes per batch, removing with a slotted spoon.

Drizzle with butter and sprinkle with cheese and pepper.

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese
8 Servings

Ingredients
 4 medium beets - scrubbed, trimmed and cut in half
 1/3 cup chopped walnuts  
3 tablespoon maple syrup  
1 (10 ounce) package mixed baby salad greens  
1/2 cup frozen orange juice concentrate
 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar  
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
 2 ounces goat cheese

Preparations
Place beets into a saucepan, and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then cook for 20 to 30 minutes, until tender. Drain and cool, then cut in to cubes.

 While the beets are cooking, place the walnuts in a skillet over medium-low heat. Heat until warm and starting to toast, then stir in the maple syrup. Cook and stir until evenly coated, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

 In a small bowl, whisk together the orange juice concentrate, balsamic vinegar and olive oil to make the dressing.

 Place a large helping of baby greens onto each of four salad plates, divide candied walnuts equally and sprinkle over the greens. Place equal amounts of beets over the greens, and top with dabs of goat cheese. Drizzle each plate with some of the dressing.

Cognac Marinated Beef Tenderloin
10-12 Servings

Ingredients
1/3 cup shallot, minced  
3 garlic cloves, minced  
1 teaspoon dried thyme  
1 teaspoon dried savory  
1 teaspoon pepper  
1/4 teaspoon salt  
3/4 cup cognac  
3 pounds beef tenderloin, fat trimmed

Preparation - Marinate 
Coat a saucepan with vegetable cooking spray and place over medium-high heat until pan is hot. Add shallots and garlic and saute until tender. Add thyme and next 4 ingredients and bring to a boil.Remove and let cool.

Place tenderloin in a large, heavy-duty, zip top plastic bag and pour the cooled marinade in and seal the bag. Shake the bag until the meat is well coated. Marinate for 8 hours in the refrigerator, turning the bag occasionally.

Preparation - Tenderloin
When ready to cook, remove meat from the bag and discard marinade. Place meat on a rack in a roasting pan coated with cooking oil spray. Insert meat thermometer into thickest part of tenderloin, if desired.

Preheat oven to 500 degrees and place tenderloin in oven. Now reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for 50-55 minutes or until meat thermometer registers 140 degrees for rare, or 160 degrees for medium.

Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Red Wine and Rosemary Steak Marinade 
8 Servings

 Ingredients
2 cups favorite dry red wine (Do Not use cooking wine - has salt added to it)  
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar 
8 cloves of fresh garden garlic, roughly chopped or dried garlic flakes if out of season 
3 tablespoon fresh herb garden rosemary, roughly chopped or dried rosemary if out of season 
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes  
2 teaspoons kosher salt or sea salt 
1 tteaspoons freshly ground black pepper or multi-colored peppercorns

Preparation
To Marinate the Steaks:
Place the steaks in a large, resealable plastic bag and pour in the marinade. Press the air out of the bag and seal tightly. Turn the bag to distribute the marinade, place in a bowl, and then refrigerate for 1-1/2 to 2 hours, turning the bag occasionally. This allows your steaks to fully absorb all the robust flavors in this wonderful marinade.

  Please calculate the meat you chose separately!  

Remove the marinated steaks from the plastic bag and discard the marinade. Pat the steaks dry with paper towels so they beautifully caramelize on the grill during cooking. When done drying, allow the steaks to sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes before grilling.

Pre-heat your grill. Grill the marinated steaks over direct HIGH heat until medium rare, 6 to 8 minutes, turning once halfway through grilling time. Allow the steaks to rest after grilling at room temperature for a few minutes before serving.

Rosemary Chicken
4 Servings

Ingredients
4 chicken breast halves
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces
3/4 pound small red potatoes, halved
3 shallots, blanched, peeled, halved (or sweet onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1-1/2 teaspoons crushed rosemary
Salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup chicken broth (from a can)

Preparation
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Combine the red pepper, yellow pepper, green pepper, potatoes, shallots, garlic, 2 Tbsp oil, rosemary, salt & pepper in a bowl. Toss.

Spread in 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Combine the remaining 1/2 Tbsp oil with lemon juice. Rub over the chicken.
Arrange chicken skin side up over the vegetables. Drizzle the chicken broth over the chicken.

Bake, uncovered at 450 degrees, for 20 minutes or until chicken sizzles. Reduce oven heat to 375 degrees. Bake for an additional 10-20 minutes or until chicken and vegetable test done.

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps
 8 Servings

 Ingredients
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
 2-1/2 pounds diced chicken breast 
2 tablespoons grill seasoning 
2 red bell peppers, diced 
1 onion, chopped 
3 cloves of garlic, grated 
1 teaspoon cornstarch 
3/4 cup hoisin sauce 
1/4 cup chicken stock
 8 ounces water chestnuts, diced 
1/4 lb bean sprouts 
3 tablespoon sesame seeds 
1 head lettuce  

Preparation
Heat vegetable oil over medium high heat. Add chicken, grill seasoning, bell peppers, onion and garlic. Stir until thoroughly cooked. Add hoisin sauce and chicken broth and continue cooking until flavors blend. Add cornstarch to help thicken.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add water chestnuts, bean sprouts and sesame seeds and mix well. Serve along side fresh, whole lettuce leaves for wrapping.

Mixed Berry Tartlets
12 Servings

Ingredients
2 - 15 ounce package rolled refrigerated unbaked pie crusts
Nonstick cooking spray
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 - 12 ounce package frozen mixed berries
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup lemon curd
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
mint springs

Preparation
Let pie crusts stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 400º. Lightly coat twelve 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with cooking spray. For pastry shells, unroll pie crusts. Use a 3-1/2-4-inch round cutter to cut six rounds from each crust. Press rounds into prepared muffin cups, pleating to fit.

For tartlet filling, in a medium bowl combine the 2 Tbsp sugar and the cornstarch; stir in berries and lemon juice. Spoon berry mixture into pastry shells. Bake for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Carefully remove tartlets from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire rack.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine whipping cream, lemon curd, 1 tsp sugar and vanilla. Beat with wire whisk or electric mixer on medium speed until cream mixture mounds and is fluffy. Spoon on tarts. Garnish each with a mint sprig.

No Bake Cheesecake 
Makes one 9” pie or (aprx) 10/12 individual pies  

Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese, soften (do not use no-fat or low-fat) 
1 small can sweeten condensed milk 
1/3 cup lemon juice (or less) 
1 teaspoon Vanilla 
1 - 9” graham cracker crust (or 10/12 individual crust)  

Preparation
In medium bowl, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add sweetened condensed milk, blend thoroughly. Stir in lemon juice and vanilla. Pour into pie crust, chill at least 2 hours.

  Just before serving, top with fresh fruit, pie filling or topping of your choice.   (We used fresh strawberries with Hershey’s chocolate shavings and a Hershey square for garnish.)