Menu:
Gruyere puff pastry
Salad
Veggie platter w/ dip
Corn cheddar chowder w/ a side of crispy bacon to top the chowder
Buttermilk Biscuits to go w/ the chowder
Mini Burgers
Bread Pudding w/ vanilla ice cream
Mini Burgers
I used Costco dinner rolls which turned out well. I was going to use King's Hawaiian rolls but since we were already at Costco we picked up these instead. We got the ground beef from Costco also and the burgers turned out so juicy and delicious!
Gruyere puff pastry
I got the idea of making these from a wedding we went to back in October. We couldn't stay for the reception b/c we had another wedding to go to that night (yes I know two weddings in one night!! what are the odds?), but those cheese pinwheels that we had stuck in my mind. I just had to try to recreate it. This isn't exactly how they were but still tasty.
I bought frozen puff pastry from TJ's - one box contained two sheets of puff pastry. Grated gruyere (one of my favorite cheeses!) and sprinkled it on the puff pastry. Rolled it up like a jelly roll and put it back into the freezer for a little bit so it would cut easier. then just sliced them and baked them until they were golden brown. Serve warm!
Corn Cheddar Chowder
my first soup that didn't come from a recipe! Here's how I made it.
In my Le Creuset dutch oven I browned some chopped bacon until they were crispy. These were drained on paper towels and put aside for topping the chowder later.
I removed most of the bacon grease from the pot leaving just a little bit to cook the chopped onions. Added carrots and celery. Deglazed w/ some white wine. Added potatoes, red bell peppers and thyme.
Then added one whole container of organic chicken broth that I got from TJ's. Also added one bay leaf. Simmered until the potatoes were almost done. Added frozen white corn since corn isn't in season right now. The frozen white corn from TJ's is delicous and sweet. I wasn't sure when to add the corn but I didn't really want the corn to get all mooshy, so I added it when the potatoes were almost done.
Poured in about 1/2 cup cream but you can leave it out if you want to cut calories. divided by 10 people it's not a lot of cream. I also added shredded cheddar cheese just b/c I had some leftover... probably added about 1/2 a cup.
Then what I did was take about two cups of the soup and pureed it in the food processor or if you have a blender that would work also. Added it back to the soup - this thickens it up nicely. You can thicken up the soup by doing this instead of adding cream. that's basically it! sorry for no measurements... I usually just throw in whatever when I cook. Oh yeah remember to salt and pepper along the way!! I forgot to mention that. I guess next time I should keep track of my steps as I cook.
Buttermilk Biscuits
I got the recipe from Martha Stewart online. I actually saw them make it on their Everyday Food show. It looked so good and I was thinking it would be great w/ the soup but I must have done something wrong b/c they were not delicious at all. I might have worked the dough too much or added too much flour. I won't be using that recipe again. I will try again until I succeed!
Had some leftover buttermilk and made some pancakes for breakfast. delicious!!
