Chef’s Best
Food for a party
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Mark Hutchinson, owner
and head chef at Hutch's. |
owner/chef at Hutch’s
I’ve had great success with the following recipes for party food and have adjusted them for the home kitchen. I think you’ll like them too, but don’t be afraid to adapt them for your needs. They can be used as accompaniments for main dishes as well. For example, the marinade for the chicken can be used on whole chicken breasts, and the mushroom fries are great with grilled steaks. The butter is good on anything, and the guacamole—well, you get the idea!
Mustard Marinated Chicken Skewers
3 oz. dry white wine
1/4 cup bourbon
3 TB cider vinegar
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 TB chopped garlic
1/4 cup dijon mustard
2 TB vegetable oil
1 TB each fresh herbs (parsley, chives, rosemary)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into strips
Garlic Herb Butter
Blend the following ingredients in the food processor:
1/2 lb unsalted butter, softened
3 cloves chopped garlic
2 fresh shallots, chopped
3 TB fresh chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
To prepare marinade for chicken, combine wine, bourbon, vinegar, black pepper, and garlic in a small sauce pan. Heat over a high flame until reduced by half. Pour into a mixing bowl and let cool. Add mustard, oil, and herbs, combine. Add chicken strips and refrigerate at least 3 hours. Thread strips onto wooden skewers and broil in hot oven at 500 degrees for 5-10 minutes. remove from oven, brush with garlic butter, and serve. Reheat gently if necessary.
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10 med. sea scallops
spice mix
guacamole
pico de gallo
crisp tortillas
Spice mix:
1/4 cup ground cumin
2 TB paprika
2 TB chili powder
1 TB light brown sugar
1 TB fresh cracked black pepper
1 TB cayenne pepper
2 TB dried oregano
Guacamole
Blend together:
3 ripe Haas avocados, skinned and mashed
1 fresh jalapeno seeded and finely diced
3 TB finely diced yellow onion
4 TB fresh chopped cilantro
Juice of 2 limes
salt to taste
Pico di Gallo
Mix together:
3 chopped ripe tomatoes
1/2 small onion, diced
2 TB chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste
Sprinkle scallops with spice mix, sear in a hot skillet or grill for 1 minute on each side until barely opaque. Cut each scallop in half width-wise. place 1 teaspoon guacamole on each crisp tortilla, place a scallop half on top. Top each scallop half with another 1/2 teaspoon of guacamole and scatter the pico di gallo over all the scallops.
Portobella Fries
2 lbs med. portabello mushrooms (stems removed)
cajun remoulade
seasoned flour
cornmeal crust
egg wash
Cajun Remoulade
Mix together:
1 cup mayonnaise
4 TB pickle juice
1 TB finely diced yellow onion
2 TB cajun spice
Seasoned flour
Mix together:
3 cups all purpose flour
2 TB cajun spice
Egg wash
Mix:
2 cups half and half
1 egg
Cornmeal crust
Mix:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup fine yellow cornmeal
2 TB cajun spice
Cut mushrooms into 1 inch rectangular steak fries. Gently dredge the mushrooms in the seasoned flour mix, then in the egg wash, and finally the cornmeal crust, shaking off excess. Fry the mushrooms a few at a time in hot peanut oil (350 degrees), taking care not to crowd them, for 2 or 3 minutes until golden brown. Drain them on paper towels and sprinkle lightly with salt. Serve immediately with the cajun remoulade on the side.
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Mark Warren, owner and head chef at Zu Zon's.
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owner/chef at Zu Zon Bar and Grill
My wife Susan and I approach Zu Zon with a light-hearted attitude—from our bar, the “Monkey Lounge,” to the animal-print covered chairs in the dining room. We bring the same feeling to our food. As you’ll see from the recipes that follow, we like to play on traditional food “punched up a notch.” We like to call it “casual food with an attitude.”
Wild Mushroom Stuffed Pierogi with Onion Marmalade
Pierogi Dough
6 cups flour
2 TB unsalted butter
1/2 cup milk
8 oz sour cream
1 tsp salt
Make a well with the flour, and add all the ingredients. It may look dry but DO NOT add any more liquid. take dough and knead for a few minutes until the dough is formed. Cover. Let it rest. Roll out, cut into circular shapes (use a 3.5” approx. diameter cookie cutter), and fill with wild mushroom ragout.
Wild Mushroom Ragout
1 cup Madeira
1 cup dried porcini
1 cup sliced portobella
1 cup sliced shiitake
1 TB chopped onion
1/2 cup veal demi-glace (can be purchased from gourmet supply venues, or substitute good beef stock)
pepper and salt to taste
2 TB butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Bring Madeira to a boil and add porcini; simmer until porcini are soft. Saute other mushrooms in garlic and butter. Add reserved porcini and liquid. Add veal demi-glace and cook down until very little liquid is left.
Onion Marmalade
2 Spanish onions, chopped
2 TB unsalted butter
sugar to taste
salt and pepper
Saute onion in butter, until very soft and caramelized; add sugar.
Serve pierogi with onion marmalade on the side.
Crab Spring Rolls
10 lbs finely shredded green cabbage
4 TB finely julienned carrots (chopped in 1” lengths)
1/2 bunch celery, julienned
1 medium red onion, julienned
2 TB minced ginger
2 TB sugar
1 TB chopped garlic
1 1/2 tsp white pepper
2 lbs backfin crab meat
2 qts water
60 wonton wrappers
Bring water to a boil. Add sugar and garlic. Blanch cabbage, carrots, celery, and red onion in the boiling water until crisply tender. (3-5 min) Strain vegetables in ice water. Squeeze as much water from vegetables as possible. Combine vegetables, crab meat, pepper, and ginger in large bowl and carefully mix together. To make rolls, follow directions on package of wontons. Yield: approximately 60 rolls.
Roquefort and Caramelized Onion Bundles with Pear Chutney
Pear Chutney
4 pears, diced
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 TB unsalted butter
2 TB fresh finely chopped ginger
2 TB diced red pepper
2 TB chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper
Sauté onion and garlic in butter, then add peppers, ginger, and garlic. Add pears and raisins. Add sugar and vinegar. Heat until thickened.
Roquefort and Onion Bundle
4 leeks, cut into strips and blanched
5 sheets Phyllo dough
Clarified butter
4 oz Roquefort
2 oz cream cheese
1 egg
1 large onion, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)
Lay out Phyllo, brush with clarified butter. Stack Phyllo into five layers. Cream cheeses, egg, onion, and walnuts. Cut Phyllo into 5” x 3.5” rectangles. Put a TB of cheese mixture in the center of each rectangle. Fold rectangles into small bundles and tie with leek strips. Bake in oven at 375 degrees until browned. Serve topped with chutney.
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