With all of the holiday parties this month I decided to opt for an easy, quick, bar food menu. I figured why fit in another heavy long dinner into the month. It just so happens when I was picking out recipes- almost every one had alcohol as an ingredient. Overall- the dinner ended up being kind of disastrous- but hey at least we got a buzz from it all!
Beer Cheese- Joy of Cooking 2006 (Rissa)
Simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat:1 cup beer
While the beer is heating, whisk together:
1 tablespoon cornstarch1 tablespoon water
Add the cornstarch mixture to the beer and cook, whisking, until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Lower the heat and whisk in 1/ 2 cup at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next:
2 cups Cheddar (8 ounces), grated1 ounce cream cheese, cut into pieces1 ounce blue cheese, crumbled1/ 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard1/ 2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Rissa- This was a really easy dip to make. Basically, the beer and cheese combination all simmered together for just enough time to taste like a good dip to put bread in..but not like TOO much beer. I also liked the cream cheese and blue cheese addition to it. Gave it just the bite that I like. It was so easy we had to keep the bread coming because we couldn’t stop dipping our hands in the bowl! This is ideal for a fondue pot or something that would keep the dip warm for a while. Excellent party dish.
Kristin: Thumbs up. This was delicious. The consistency would have lasted longer if we had a fondue pot. (Really need one of those!) Will definitely make this again for a party.
Heather: Thumbs sideways. I liked this but it had a really strong blue cheese taste and if I made it again, I would probably omit the blue cheese.
Rissa: Thumbs up!
Nicole: Thumsbs up – with all the yummy cheeses it was hard to go wrong with this one.
Bitter Greens Salad with Sourdough Croutons and Warm Tomato - Cooking Light
Heather- This salad sounded really delicious but it ended up being a lot of work for what sounded like a relatively simple salad. The croutons were made fresh from a load of sourdough bread. I cooked down tomatoes, vinegar and shallots to make the warm vinaigrette. Because the vinaigrette was warm, it wilted the salad greens. I’m not sure any of us really understood the concept of a warm salad dressing but it was worth a shot. I would not make this again – too much work for something that didn’t end up that delicious.Kristin: TWO THUMBS DOWN. This may be the worst salad I’ve ever had. The dressing was sweet, and also it was way too hot. If I were to ever serve again (which I won’t) the dressing would be nuked.
Heather: Thumbs down.
Rissa: Thumbs down. No warm, wilted salad for me please!
Nicole: Thumbs sideways. I actually am a fan of wilted spinach salads, so this one was okay for me; a bit too much effort though for the result.
French Dip Sandwiches- Rachael Ray
Kristin- These sandwiches were super easy to make. Really all you have to do is make the au jus and put some deli meat onto the sandwich bun. This turned out not to be a hit with the girls. My boyfriend and I actually liked the sandwich, though I thought there was too much bread. Next time I will buy different sub buns. A good weekend lunch if you if your into the French dip thing!Heather: Thumbs down – To be fair, I didn’t actually try these because I don’t eat roast beef.
Rissa: Thumbs down. Not a big fan of french dip sandwiches.
Nicole: Thumbs sideways – A bit too hearty for me, but I liked the combo of the sandwich and dipping sauce (this was my first French dip sandwich).
Beer Battered Onion Rings- Cooking Light
Nicole- I could sum up these onion rings by saying they were “interesting”. Not totally bad, but not as yummy as a regular onion ring. Because they were not deep fried the onion did not get as soft as a regular onion, so they did not taste completely cooked. I also learned that my technique of dipping multiple rings at once did not work well; Heather suggested separating the rings to dip individually, and that worked much better.Kristin: Thumbs down. They weren’t terrible, but I think there’s just no way to make a “light” version of onion rings.
Heather: Thumbs down. You just can’t do cooking light versions of fried food. There’s no comparison to the real deal.
Rissa: Thumbs sideways. I thought they were pretty decent for someone who wants to save calories but wants some good ol’ onion rings.
Nicole: Thumbs sideways.
Bananas Foster- Allrecipes.com
Kristin- Probably the most fun dish of the night. We cooked the bananas with lots of fun sugary stuff, added liquer, and then lit the baby up! It burned for what seemed like forever...to the point we actually put the flame out. This could be where we went wrong... since the alcohol didn't burn off it tasted like a cocktail (stiff one at that) instead of a dessert. Oh well!Heather – Thumbs sideways – This would have been so delicious if it didn’t have such a strong taste of the alcohol. I felt like I could have gotten drunk off the dessert. I would definitely make this again using a non-99-proof banana liqueur, if one even exists that is.
Rissa: Thumbs down- a little too crazy for me!
Nicole – Thumbs sideways – I actually thought that it was okay, but I am a big fan of bananas.
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