Here they are...forever ago + 1 day...
We wanted this party to be a casual summer BBQ. But I wanted to make sure that it was special enough to celebrate Melanie and Jon's engagement, so I relied on BBQ staples with a twist for the menu.
Now when I say "I" what I really mean is my fabulous-chef of a sister, and my equally talented mother-in-law. I just made sure their food had pretty plates to live on.
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| Courtesy of High Street Market |
Tip: If you are not a good cook, don't try to become one in time for the party. While I came up with the menu...the real cooks in my family (my sister and mother-in-law) totally deserve all the credit for their magnificent dishes!
Melanie & Jon's Summer Engagement BBQ Menu
Appetizers
Asparagus Roll Ups
(made by my mother-in-law, courtesy of Southern Living November 2001)
Ingredients:
24 fresh asparagus spears
1 8 ounce package cream cheese
1 4 ounce package crumbles bleu cheese
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
12 slices thin bread, trimmed
12 slices sliced deli ham
1/4 can butter
paprika
Serving Size: 12 appetizer servings
Garnishes: green onion curl, red bell pepper
Preparation:
Snap off tough ends of asparagus, and remove scales from stalks with a vegetable peeler, if desired. Arrange asparagus in a steamer basket over boiling water. Cover and steam 4 to 6 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove from steamer, and cool on paper towels.
Directions:
Stir together cream cheese and next 3 ingredients.
- Roll each bread slice with a rolling pin to flatten. Spread 1 side of each slice with 2 tablespoons cream cheese mixture; top each with 1 ham slice.
- Place 2 asparagus spears, tips pointed toward opposite ends, on 1 end of each bread slice; roll up, and place, seam side down, on a greased baking sheet. Brush with butter; sprinkle with paprika.
- Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until golden. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately.
- Note: Freeze unbaked rollups up to 1 month in an airtight container. Thaw in refrigerator, and bake as directed.
Janet's Black Bean Salsa
(I am not kidding when I say every single time my mother-in-law makes this, every single person asks her for the recipe. This won't disappoint!)
Ingredients:
16 ounces cooked black beans
16 ounces fresh or frozen corn kernels
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
salt and ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped ripe tomatoes, drained
Serving Size: 8
Directions:
- In large bowl, combine beans, corn, cilantro, green onion, red onion, lime juice, oil and cumin.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover and chill at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
- Just before serving, stir in tomatoes.
- Serve with blue and white corn chips or the new Guacamole chips.
Sides
Avocado Chicken Salad in Lettuce Cups
(created by my sister) |
| Kitchen Space |
Ingredients:
Chicken breasts
2 Avocados
2 cups of grapes
2 tbsp. mayo
1/8 cup of sour cream
Salt/pepper
Garlic powder
Almonds
Roasted red pepper sauce
Gouda cheese
Directions:
- Cut raw chicken in bite sized pieces and cook in a skillet until cooked through
- Add salt, pepper, and chili powder to skillet
- Let cool
- Add 1-2 avocados cut into small pieces and grapes cut in half
- Mix in 2 tbsp. mayo, 1/8 c. sour cream
- Add salt, pepper and dash of garlic powder
- Lay on a bed of lettuce or scoop individual servings into lettuce cups
- Sprinkle sliced almonds on top and drizzle roasted red pepper sauce over top
Watermelon Salad
(created by my sister) |
Ingredients:
1 Whole watermelon
Olive oil
Salt/pepper
Whole mint leaves
Feta cheese
Peeled pistachios
Directions:
- Slice half a watermelon into triangle wedges
- Sprinkle 1 tbsp olive oil and salt over top
- Add whole mint leaves, feta cheese, and peeled pistachios to taste
Main Dish
Wasabi Burgers
(made by my sister) |
| Martha Stewart |
Ingredients:
4lbs ground beef/chicken
4 tbsp of soy sauce
2 tbsp wasabi powder
Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
- Combine ingredients into patties
- Grill.
Served with avocado aioli:
Ingredients:
1 avocado
1/2 cup mayo
1/4 cup sour cream,
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper
Also served with ginger sesame slaw:
Ingredients:
1 package shredded cabbage
1/8 c. rice wine vinegar
1/8 c. soy sauce
1 tbsp. shredded ginger
1 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. sesame seeds
Salt & pepper
Signature Drink
White Sangria
(recipe by Rachel Ray)  |
Photography by Ian Wallace |
Ingredients:
3 shots Calvados or other apple liquor
1 lime, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
2 ripe peaches, cut into wedges
3 ripe green apples seeded and cut into wedges
1 bottle white Rioja Spanish wine or other dry white wine
1 pint raspberries
Sparkling soda water, for topping off glasses of sangria at table
Directions:
- Combine sugar, Calvados, lime, lemon, peaches and apples in a large pitcher.
- Cover with 1 bottle of Rioja
- To serve, spoon fruits into glasses or goblets, adding a few fresh raspberries in each glass, pour wine over top of the fruit.
- Top glasses of sangria off with a splash of soda water and serve.
Dessert
Lemon Cookies
(Made by my mother-in-law, recipe by Betty Crocker)
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| Betty Crocker |
1 Box of Betty Crocker SuperMoist lemon cake mix
1/3 Shortening
1/3 Cup butter or margarine, softened
1 Egg
1 Container Betty Crocker Whipped or Rich & Creamy lemon frosting
Directions:
- Heat oven to 375 degrees F
- In large bowl, beat cake mix, shortening, butter and egg on medium speed about 2 minutes or until blended
- Onto ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart
- Bake 9-12 minutes or until light brown around edges
- Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet; cool completely
- Frost with frosting
| Carmel Brownies (created & made by my mother-in-law) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Bakeat350 |
Ingredients:
2/3 c. evaporated milk, divided
14 oz. pkg. caramels
3/4 c. butter, melted
1 pkg. German Chocolate cake mix
1 c. chocolate chips
1/2 c. chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350.
Directions:
- Melt caramels with 1/3 c. evaporated milk over low heat. (Unwrapping the caramels is the most tedious part of this recipe.)
- Combine the melted butter, remaining 1/3 c. evaporated milk and cake mix
- Spread 1/2 the batter into an ungreased 13 X 9" pan
- Bake for 6 to 8 minutes
- Sprinkle the top with pecans
- Spread melted caramels over the nuts
- Drop remaining cake batter on top. Don't worry about spreading the batter out--it will spread while baking
- Bake an additional 15-20 minutes
Enjoy!
