Mamma Mia Reprise Party

So it appears that the Mamma Mia Sing-A-Long party may become an annual event for me. Ever since my party last year, my friends (who were reluctant at first) and I have been known to turn a regular evening into a night filled with ABBA songs, much to Joe (and my neighbor's) chagrin. This was easily solved by making sure Joe was far far away, and inviting said neighbor, who responded, 'if you can't beat em, join em'.

I was in London for work in January and got to see Mamma Mia (with some of the original cast!) at the Prince of Wales Theater. I went by myself, sat front row center and am not even kidding when I say this was one of the BEST experiences of my life! I was singing ABBA songs for weeks after seeing it and decided it was time for a reprise - hence the 2nd annual party.

This year, I timed it for when my sister was visiting me from Houston while the school she teaches at was on spring break. As you can see, she had a wonderful time (except for the part where she got out of the cab coming in from the airport and had to wait on the sidewalk outside my condo with her luggage and wait for Dancing Queen to be over so I could hear my phone ring - oops: )

As far as the menu went this year, since I had the party on a Friday and my friends specifically requested I make baklava again, I was a little constrained in terms of taking on any extra challenges. The one thing I really wanted to incorporate this year though was lamb, and I found an easy way to do it in the form of lamb meatballs (don't worry Mom and Dad, we didn't eat them until midnight since it was a Friday during Lent, I swear : )

Menu:

Olives & Feta

Pita with Tztatziki & Melitzanosalata

Lamb Meatballs

Spanakopita

Baklava

Last year, I had way too much food, so this year's smaller menu worked out perfectly. With a little pre-planning and the help of a friend, this was a totally stress free event to pull off.

I made the tztatziki and melitzanosalata on the Wednesday night before the party, and my friend Melissa came over to help with the baklava and meatballs on Thursday night. That actually translated to me rolling the meatballs (which took all of 20 minutes), then drinking wine and watching - I mean 'supervising' Melissa make the baklava for the next hour and a half. Worked for me, and while it tasted every bit as good as last year's, her final product was much prettier than mine. So hopefully that becomes an annual thing too....



I'll repost any recipes that I made again here this year.

Tztatziki
adapted from elly says opa

Ingredients:

1 16 oz low fat Greek Yogurt
1 seedless cucumber
4 cloves garlic
1-2 tsp white wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1 lemon

Peel & seed the cucumber. Using a box grater, shred cucumber and squeeze out all the excess moisture (I used a towel, which Elly also suggests) - you really want to get it as dry as possible.

Mix together the yogur with the cucumber and grate the garlic over the mixture using a micro-plane (or you could make a garlic paste). Mix in the vinegar and lemon juice, then salt & pepper to taste.

Like I said, I made mine a couple days in advance, but Elly recommends letting it sit at least a half hour in the fridge to let the flavors marry.


Melitzanosalata
source: About.com

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
4 teaspoons of wine vinegar
3 cloves of garlic, minced
sea salt
freshly ground pepper

Pierce the eggplant with a fork and broil for 10-15 minutes until the eggplant turns black and is very soft. Set to cool and drain on a rack with paper towels underneath.

As soon as it can be handled, peel by hand (the skin will come off easily), and transfer to a bowl. Chop the pulp into small pieces with a knife, and mash with a fork. With a wooden spoon, stir in oil and vinegar slowly, alternating between them, until well blended. Stir in garlic, salt, and pepper.

Serve chilled or at room temperature, with pita wedges.

Spiced Lamb Meatballs
source: elly says opa



These little devils were heavenly - the cinammon and spices really makes for a rich flavor, I've been craving them ever since I made them!

1 lb. ground lamb
1/2 small onion, grated or finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced or pressed
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 tsp. ground allspice
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
fresh ground pepper
olive oil for pan frying

I prepped these the night before, mixing all the ingredients together for the meatballs (except the olive oil) and formed the meatball, letting them sit in the fridge until I was ready to fry them the next day.

Using a dutch oven or heavy pan, heat up the oil for frying, and brown the meatballs until cooked through.

I served mine with the tztatziki.


Baklava:
source: Elly's recipe on bakespace.com


1 package phyllo dough (16 oz.)
1 cup butter, melted
1 lb. chopped toasted walnuts
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Syrup:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup honey
2 tsp. lemon juice

Remember to thaw your phyllo before working with it! Your best bet is to put it in the fridge the night before.

Preheat oven to 350, and grease a 9x13 pan. Mix walnuts,cinnamon and cloves, and set aside.

Layer 1 sheet of phyllo on the bottom of the prepared pan, keeping a moist towel over the phyllo that you are not working with.

Brush melted butter over it and top with a second sheet. Continue this until you have layered 8-10 phyllo sheets.

Sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture over the phyllo and then repeat the layering 2 times, ending with layers of phyllo. I cut mine into square inches. Bake for 45 minutes.

For the syryp, heat sugar, honey, water, lemon and cinnamon in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil to thicken slightly, and then remove from heat. Allow to cool before pouring it over baklava.





Until next year Dancing Queens.....

Bacon-wrapped Scallops on Rosemary Skewers

I got this idea from Joe's cousin Mark, he made them with oysters though. I figured scallops were a safer bet for such a large crowd. I LOVE the idea of using rosemary sprigs as skewers, the flavor is amazing. I'm already brainstorming what to do next with them, water chestnuts, cheese, meatballs......




Rosemary (enough to make about 24 skewers)
2 cloves minced garlic
Scallops (24)
Bacon (depending on the size of the scallops you may be able to cut the bacon strips in half)
1 lemon
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup olive oil
pepper

Take each sprig of rosemary and remove all the leaves except for the tops. Reserve the sprigs to use as skewers.

Chop up some of the rosemary leaves. Mix in with the scallops, wine, pepper and olive oil in a bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over the scallops. Chill the scallops in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Wrap the scallops in the bacon and skewer wtih the rosemary sprigs.

Cook in the oven for about 25 minutes at 425 degrees.

Stuffed Mushrooms (Spinach & Crabmeat fillings)

I usually make these with baby portabella caps, but since I was making a lot for the party I used regular button mushrooms instead. I don't think I'd use them again, the baby bellas taste better and easier to work with, these ones kept rolling around because they were so top heavy.

These are another super easy party food though, since you can make the majority of the 2 separate mixtures together, then end up with 2 totally different ones!

I got the crabmeat filling recipe (altered slightly) from a cooking class I took at Viking a few years ago, and figured spinach would work well as a substitute for those who don't like crab.





Stuffing:

Both stuffings share some common ingredients so mix these together first:

1 brick cream cheese (softened)
1 cup mayo
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 cup of parmesean cheese
2 cloves minced garlic
2 minced shallots
2 tsps parsley flakes
pinch of salt and pepper

Split the mixture in half.

Crab Stuffing

1 can crabmeat

Add the crabmeat in with half of the above mixture

Spinach Stuffing

1 frozen package spinach

Thaw and drain the spinach and mix in with the other half.


Mushrooms

The stuffings should cover about 36 mushrooms. Clean the mushrooms and remove the stems.

Spoon in the mixtures to the mushrooms. Sprinkle the mushrooms with breadcrumbs and parmesean cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

Crostinis - Carmelized Onions with Gorgonzola and Crabmeat

Carmelized Onion & Gorganzola Crostini

2 vidalia onions
Italian seasoning
salt
pepper
olive oil
Loaf french bread

Chop the onions in half moon slices. Sautee with olive oil and seasonings, once the onions start to soften keep the heat on medium - low so they carmelize but don't burn.

Once they are carmelized, top crostini slices with the onion mixture and crumble the cheese on top.

Bake for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Crabmeat Crostini

I had leftover crabmeat stuffing from the mushrooms, so just topped the rest of my bread with it and baked with the onion crostinis.

Pesto Pastry Roll-ups

This recipe obviously uses Pesto and Puff pasty. You can make make both from scratch or purchase both already made.

I wouldn't even know where to begin making puff pastry so bought mine in the frozen section.

I did make the pesto from scratch though.

Pesto

2 - 3 cups basil (sometimes I use a mix of parsley and basil)
1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts
1 cup freshly grated parmesean
3 garlic cloves, minced
salt
ground black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil (not 100% sure how much I use honestly, but you're drizzling it in slowly so just eyeball it till you get it to the right consistency).

This is a pretty basic, traditional pesto recipe. I make it all the time and it is good to make in large batches and freeze some. Because most of the ingredients are not cooked at all, be sure to use fresh, good quality ones, especially the cheese and the olive oil.

Once you have the basil rinsed, cheese shredded, garlic minced and pine nuts toasted, combine everything in a blender or food processor. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper.

If you're using a blender, start it with a little bit of oil. Drizzle in oil slowly as you're blending. The pine nuts should be warm when you put them in and will help break everything down.

Roll-ups

So once you have your pesto ready, spread out a thawed puff pastry. Spread an even layer of the pesto on. Roll the pastry lengthwise.

I used the whole box and ended up with 4 rolls. If making ahead of time, this is a good place to stop, just wrap them up and refrigerate.

Once you're ready to bake them, slice the rolls into about 1/2 inch disks and spread them out on a pan.

Finally, brush each piece with egg wash before putting in the oven.

Bake for about 20 - 25 minutes at 350 degrees.