Year: 2007

Planning an evening for that special someone? For a unique dessert that’s sure to impress, try a fondue. Fondue pots can be found in most department stores, and use a simple tea light candle for heating. Just choose your sauce and a few creative items to dip and you’re ready to go.

For more fondue ideas, and all your fondue supplies, visit Whole Foods Market at Excelsior and Lake in Minneapolis or Grand and Fairview in St. Paul.

INGREDIENTS FOR CHOCOLATE SAUCE:

4 ounces milk chocolate chips
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/3 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup strong hot coffee

METHOD:

Combine the chocolate pieces in the top of a double broiler. Place over gently boiling water and cook until melted, stirring constantly. Stir in the corn syrup and coffee. Stir until smooth and shiny. Place in a fondue pot over a flame.

INGREDIENTS FOR CARAMEL RUM SAUCE:

1 (12 ounce) jar caramel ice cream sauce
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 teaspoon rum flavoring

METHOD:

Pour the caramel sauce and evaporated milk into a microwave-safe bowl. Heat for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Stir in the rum flavoring. Pour into a fondue pot over a low flame.

DELECTABLE DESSERTS TO DIP

Apple slices, banana slices, dried apricots, fresh pineapple, gingerbread cubes, marshmallows, pound cake cubes, shortbread or brownie cubes, cheesecake, and strawberries.

Both recipes serve 2

Ingredients:

6 1/3 ounces egg yolk
5 1/4 ounces sugar
10 1/2 ounces water
2 1/2 pounds dark chocolate
33 ounces heavy cream
2 cups fresh berries, such as raspberries or blueberries
1/2 cup powdered sugar
Vegetable oil cooking spray
5 medium balloons
Method:
Mousse
Whip egg yolks until light in color. Boil water and sugar until sugar has dissolved and temperature is 290 degrees. Meanwhile, melt 14.85 ounces of chocolate using a double boiler. Set aside remaining chocolate for shell assembly. Slowly add sugar water to egg yolks. Add melted chocolate to egg and water mixture. Add 1/3 of the heavy cream. Using a spatula, fold in remaining heavy cream. Let rest for 3 hours.

Chocolate Shell

Melt remaining chocolate using double boiler. Blow up 5 balloons to the size of your fist. Spray balloons with cooking spray. Holding the knotted end of the balloon, dip in melted chocolate, leaving at least 4 inches of the balloon free of chocolate. Freeze treated balloons for 1 hour. Remove from freezer and cut a slit in balloon to empty air and slowly pull balloon from shell.

To serve, fill cups with mousse, add fresh berries, and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Makes 6-10 servings

Ingredients

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla
3 eggs (beaten)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large bananas (ripe, mashed)
1 cup applesauce
1 cup butterscotch caramel sauce (micro-waved)

Method:

Mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon) together. Mix all other ingredients (vanilla, eggs, vegetable oil, bananas, applesauce, caramel sauce) together. Combine dry and other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour batter into two loaf pans and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 350 degrees.

This comes from Town Hall’s new dessert menu. Now baked entirely on-site.

Ingredients:

1 oz. Baileys Irish Cream
3/4 oz. Smirnoff Vodka
1/4 oz. White Creme de Cacao

Method:

Combine ingredients into a shaker. Add ice. Strain into a martini glass. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds dark chocolate
• 8 ounces heavy whipping cream
• 1 ounce orange liqueur (such as Cointreau)
• 4 ounces powdered sugar
• 4 ounces powdered cocoa
• 1/2 ounce vanilla extract

Method:
Chop
chocolate into small, similar-sized pieces. Steep cream over medium heat. Add
orange liqueur. Wisk in chopped chocolate until incorporated. Set in a metal
bowl and chill for 1 hour in refrigerator. Using a small melon scoop, form 2
ounce rounds of the chocolate mixture. Place powdered sugar and cocoa in
separate bowls. Roll truffles in powdered sugar or cocoa. Serve at room
temperature.

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 pounds of Tiger shrimp
Lime juice (2 limes)
2 cups Roma tomatoes, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup green olives, sliced into rings
1 jalapeno, minced (leave seeds in)
1/4 jar pickled jalapenos
1/4 bunch cilantro, minced
1/4 cup parsley, minced
1/3 teaspoon dry oregano
1/3 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 teaspoon kosher salt
8 ounces tomato juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon garlic

Method

Bring water to a boil in sauce pan and add shrimp, cover, turn off heat and allow to sit for 5 minutes or until shrimp are cooked. Remove from water and chill until ready to use.

Combine all remaining ingredients. Add shrimp. Taste and add additional salt and pepper as needed. Cover and store refrigerated for about an hour.

These tasty sausage rounds can be baked individually on a baking sheet or skewered onto bamboo skewers and baked.

INGREDIENTS

2 packages of "Thai One On" sausage
2 sheets frozen puff pastry dough (thawed several hours in refrigerator)
Seasoning of choice such as garlic, basil, or basic grill rub
Parchment paper
Optional sauce such as peanut, sweet ‘n sour, mustard, or barbecue

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up.

Remove sausages from the package and wipe away moisture with paper towel. Unfold the pastry sheets and cut each sheet into 4 rectangles. Roll each sausage in a rectangle of dough pressing to seal the edge. Slice each sausage into 5 or 6 rounds, discarding ends.

Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until golden. Serve with mustard, barbecue sauce, sweet ‘n sour, or bottled Thai peanut sauce.

Cool waters mean there’s an abundance of oysters, so try Oysters Rockefeller and enjoy the healthy benefits of seafood. McCormick & Schmick’s offers more than 40 varieties of fresh seafood available daily.

For this dish oysters are usually arranged in their deeper shells, on a bed of coarse salt, in four shallow pans.

INGREDIENTS:

16 oysters, scrubbed and shucked (save deeper shells)
1 pound coarse salt
4 tablespoons butter
4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, drained and crumbled
5 ounces spinach, finely chopped with stems removed
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped scallions
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped celery leaves
1/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1/2 teaspoon Pernod or pastis
Tabasco sauce

METHOD:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (broiler may be used instead).

Melt the butter over low heat.

Add the bacon crumbs and spinach, and the rest of the ingredients except the cheese and Pernod or pastis. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes over low heat, stirring the mixture until you have a lightly cooked stuffing. Taste and adjust the seasoning, if necessary.

Divide the stuffing among the oysters and sprinkle with the shredded Gruyere. Place under a hot broiler or in the oven until the oysters are lightly browned and bubbling.

Just before serving, put a few drops of Pernod or pastis on each oyster with an eye dropper. Serve in the pans of salt.

Serves 4

Cocktail Sauce

10 tomatoes, halved
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 – 4 ounce can chipotles in adobo
2 cups pineapple juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
salt to taste 1. Season the tomatoes with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Arrange cut side up on a sheet pan and sprinkle with the brown sugar. Roast in the oven at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until slightly charred.
2. Add the tomatoes, any juice from the roasting pan, chipotle chilies and pineapple juice to a sauce pot. Bring to a boil and reduce by 1/4. Puree in a blender. Cool and season to taste with salt.
3. Chill.

Shrimp Boil

1 lime
1 bay leaf
1 gallon boiling water
1 cup salt
2 pounds (16-20) shrimp 1. Add lime, bay leaf and salt to the boiling water.
2. In a bowl, pour boiling water over shrimp, let stand 8 minutes, strain and chill.

To Serve

1. Toss shrimp with chilled sauce and fresh lime juice.
2. Serve in a cocktail or martini glass with diced avocado and fresh cilantro.

Serves 4 as an appetizer or 8-10 as an hors d’oeuvre.

Ingredients

2 cups lobster dip, see recipe below
2 12" self rising pizza crusts
1/4 cup focaccia oil, see recipe below
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, shredded
Method:
Place the lobster dip in a shallow ceramic bowl and cook at 425 degrees for 10 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown on top. Meanwhile brush the crusts with the focaccia oil and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 10 minutes. When the crusts come out cut them into eight triangles and arrange it around the plate. Serve Immediately.

Lobster Dip

Ingredients
1/2 tablespoon butter
1/4 pound fennel bulb, peeled, halved and shaved paper thin
2 cups Mayonnaise, Extra Heavy (Hellmans)**
1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese, powdered
1 pound lobster meat, cooked
1/2 tablespoon salt

Method:

Saute the fennel and onion in the butter until the onion begins to brown in places. Cool and then add all of the ingredients together and mix thoroughly. Reserve cold until just before ready to serve.

**If you use the wrong mayo, this recipe will separate in the oven into an oily mess.

Focaccia Oil

Ingredients

1/4 cup garlic, minced
1/2 cup yellow onion, minced
2 cups olive oil
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Method

Mix together in a food processor and reserve cold. Unused portion can be chilled for up to 2 weeks.