How Do I Throw a Party for ...? - Recipes & Recommendations for Special Events

By Beatrice Sikon

A guide to planning and recipes for 21 different special occasions, e.g., an Oscar Party, a school function, Thanksgiving Dinner, etc. Also Included are design ideas for organizing and managing a successful event.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781312815407

Book preview

How Do I Throw a Party for ...? - Recipes & Recommendations for Special Events

How Do I Throw a Party for…?

Recipes & Recommendations for Special Events

Written by: Beatrice Sikon

Copyright 2014 © Beatrice Sikon

Printed and bound by lulu.com

All Rights Reserved

ISBN 978-1-312-81540-7

For Larry …

Introduction

In 2008, I published Can I Have That Recipe!, a starter cookbook that allows you to prepare a wide range of meals from a simple family breakfast, to a more complex luncheon, to a formal and elegant dinner party. It includes what to purchase as standard equipment and utensils, and describes basic cooking terminology and techniques. It occurred to me at the time that what was also needed was a book that organizes recipes based on specific occasions, e.g., an Oscar party, a school function, Thanksgiving dinner, etc. 

This guide, How Do I Throw a Party for…? is the result of that effort. In the sections that follow, I have grouped together twenty-one sets of recipes from the overall selection available in Can I Have That Recipe!, suggested menus to serve at a myriad of special events and/or theme parties. I have added thirteen new recipes in this cooking guide that are not included in Can I Have That Recipe!, four absolutely critical for Thanksgiving, one for Easter, and one new starter/appetizer. All recipes are spelled out in full detail in the chapters that reference them. Recipes that are referred to from the original book, Can I Have That Recipe! are also spelled out in the specific event involved. Recipes can be doubled or tripled dependent on the number of persons attending the event. I have also included in this book complementary design ideas for organizing and managing a successful event. The Appendix contains a glossary of basic cooking terminology. Please refer to my original guide as well for more specifics regarding planning and cooking techniques.

Preparation and Presentation

Food preparation can and should be done ahead of time whenever possible – most recipes included in How Do I Throw a Party for…? can be prepared in advance and just reheated giving you time to be with your guests. These have been marked with a ♦ to make them easy to locate. Under What to Serve for each event, master recipes that are referenced are spelled out in full. Freshly minced herbs are always added just before serving. In addition to the recipes, I have provided suggestions for the presentation of the finished dishes. For instance, placing cooked dishes in ceramic/porcelain pottery or in oven-proof enameled cookware best shows off the texture and the color of the food involved, e.g., fresh cranberries in a light-colored serving dish, fruit tarts on glass plates, crème brûlée in white pots de crème ceramic pots; enhancing platters with decorative greens, or lining them with a layer of green leaf/Boston Lettuce, etc., makes the food you’ve prepared appealing and elegant.

Super Bowl Party

This is casual affair and at no point do you want to avert your eyes from the TV screen! Unlike the Oscars however, you will have lots of breaks - commercials, time-outs and replays during which to serve the food. Though I might add that the commercials are sometimes the best part of the show!

How to get organized:

Set the food up near the screening area and have most of it prepared in advance; half-time is appropriate to grill the hamburgers, hot dogs and buns which can be made up in advance and ready to go on the barbecue (yes, you must grill the buns too!). Once again, freshly whipped heavy cream or vanilla ice cream for the fruit tarts. Beer is the drink of choice for the Super Bowl. Some people put in place a betting pool contingent on the score of the game.

What to serve:

Guacamole ♦

Very Basic Clam Dip ♦

Hamburgers & Hot Dogs

Roasted Vegetables ♦

Pear Tart (Variation of Basic Apple Tart) ♦

Fruit Tart with Raspberries & Blackberries and Custard Filling with Macaroons (Variation of Strawberry Tart with Custard Filling) ♦

Guacamole ♦

This is an appetizer best served with white or hot blue corn tortilla chips. There is rarely any left over!

1 large white onion, peeled & roughly chopped

4 large cloves of garlic, peeled & minced

4 large ripe avocados, with skins & pits removed

Juice from 1 lemon

1 16-oz. can of peeled Italian tomatoes, drained & roughly chopped with a knife

Salt & freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground coriander

Place the chopped onion and the minced garlic in a mixing bowl. If you are using a food processor instead of doing your chopping on a cutting board, place the avocado in the food processor bowl and pulse a couple of times leaving rough chunks of avocado to mix into the serving bowl. Add the lemon juice, the drained tomatoes, the salt and the pepper, and the coriander (the lemon juice will keep your guacamole from turning brown). Mix all ingredients quickly and roughly with a fork. Spread the top evenly in the serving dish. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill.

Serves 6 - 8 persons.

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Very Basic Clam Dip ♦

This is the most basic starter ever!

1 pint sour cream

1 package onion soup mix

1  6-oz can of minced clams

Freshly ground pepper

Drain the juice from the minced clams and fold into the above ingredients.

If doubled, recipe serves 6 - 8 persons.

Hamburgers & Hot Dogs

The basic barbecue for all types of events as well as this one, e.g., a summer brunch, a school picnic, your child’s friends coming over, a teen birthday party, an Oscar party! Serve with potato salad, coleslaw, and green salad. You must supply fresh dill pickles, relishes and chutney for the meat!

2 lbs. of freshly ground round

2 eggs, beaten

12 all-beef frankfurters

Salt and freshly ground pepper

12 hamburger buns with sesame seeds, opened up

12 hot dog rolls, opened up

Blend the beaten eggs into the ground meat in a large mixing bowl along with the salt and the pepper. Form into 2 – 3 wide hamburger patties no more than ¾" thick so as to be able to cook evenly on the grill. Pre-heat the grill. Grill over high heat for 6 minutes turning half-way through the process.

Add the hot dogs to the grill after 3 minutes turning and browning on all sides.

Remove hamburgers and hot dogs from grill and immediately brown the buns and rolls placing them face down over the heat. It should take no more than 1 minute. Do not let them burn!

Serves 8 - 10 persons.

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Roasted Vegetables ♦

Potatoes, onions and sweet peppers are wonderful when roasted simply in the oven. Sweet potatoes, or yams, can be substituted for boiling potatoes, Bermuda (red) onions can be used and Vidalia onions when they are in season.

2 pounds of boiling potatoes

2 red sweet peppers

2 yellow sweet peppers

2 green sweet peppers

2 large white onions

3 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Basil, oregano & tarragon

Peel and cut the potatoes into quarters if large, halves if smaller. Clean and seed the peppers and cut into wide strips. Peel and quarter the onions. Place in baking dish and dribble olive oil on vegetables, sufficient to keep them from sticking.  Sprinkle with salt, freshly ground pepper, and herbs. Roast in oven uncovered at 350° for 1 hour or until the vegetables have started to brown. Turn vegetables periodically while cooking.

Serves 6 persons.

Pear Tart (Variation of Basic Apple Tart below) ♦

Using the recipe for Basic Apple Tart above and if in season, substitute peeled, cored and sliced pears for the apples.

Basic Apple Tart ♦

This classic French fruit tart uses a sweet short paste (flour, butter and shortening to which sugar has been added) to make the shell and can be served hot or cold with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Proportions are given for a 10" shell which should be made in a fluted, false-bottomed tart pan allowing you to de-mold it easily. The sweet short paste described below can be used for all the fruit tart recipes that follow.

Sweet Short Paste

1 ⅓ cups flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted, sweet butter and cut into pieces

3 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled

6 tablespoons cold water

Place all the ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until well mixed. Slowly add the water with the processor on until the mixture becomes dough-like and forms a ball. Flatten the ball of dough somewhat and wrap in a floured piece of waxed paper. Refrigerate for 4 - 6 hours or overnight.

Butter the inside and sprinkle flour loosely into the tart pan. Shake out excess. Remove the dough from the refrigerator, place between 2 sheets of floured waxed paper, sprinkle some flour on the dough as well and roll out at once else the dough will soften. When slightly larger in circumference than the tart pan, reverse the dough onto the tart pan, trim the edges and push/mold the dough into the fluted edges. Work fast! Pierce the inside and sides of the tart pan with a fork, place a smaller buttered and floured tart pan inside it and put in a 400° pre-heated oven.

For a partially-cooked shell:

Bake for 8 - 9 minutes, remove smaller tart pan and pierce the bottom of the tart again. Return to oven for 2 - 3 minutes more. When the shell is just beginning to color, remove from oven.

For a fully-cooked shell:

Follow the instructions for a partially cooked shell and bake 7 - 10 minutes more until the shell is golden brown. Can be de-molded onto a rack but I prefer to keep it in the tart mold so that it keeps its shape when the fruit and base are added.

A 10" partially-cooked tart shell

4 lbs. cooking apples

2 teaspoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed

½ cup apricot preserves

½ cup cognac, or light rum

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

⅔ - 1 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons unsalted, sweet butter

The rind of 1 lemon, grated

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375°.

Peel, core and quarter the apples. Cut into ⅛" slices to make about 3 cups. Place them in a mixing bowl with the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of the sugar to keep them from discoloring and reserve for the top.

Cut the rest of the apples into rough slices to make 8 cups. Place in a large skillet with the butter and cook, covered over low flame, for 20 minutes. Add the other ingredients above and cook over medium flame, stirring continuously, until apple mixture has more the texture of a thick sauce.

Spread the apple mixture in the base of the tart shell. Cover with an overlapping layer of the apple slices arranged in concentric circles. Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until apples are golden brown. De-mold and serve at once, or can be prepared in advance and reheated for 10 minutes at 375°.

Serves 8 persons

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Fruit Tart with Raspberries & Blackberries and Custard Filling with Macaroons (Variation of Strawberry Tart with Custard Filling below) ♦

When in season, a mixture of raspberries and blackberries can be used. Use master recipe below for Strawberry Tart with Custard Filling. Do not wash the berries. Place the blackberries in the center of the tart shell with the raspberries around them and closely together.

Strawberry Tart with Custard Filling ♦

Custard Filling with Macaroons

This custard filling is a thick, almond-flavored base used with fruit tarts, especially berry tarts such as strawberries, raspberries and blackberries.

1 cup granulated sugar

5 egg yolks

½ cup flour

2 cups boiling milk

1 tablespoon unsalted, sweet butter

1 ½ tablespoons vanilla extract

½ teaspoon almond extract

3 tablespoons orange liqueur

½ cup pulverized macaroons

Pulverize the macaroons in a coffee grinder, and reserve for later.

Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar into the egg yolks until the mixture turns pale yellow. Beat in the flour. Slowly pour in the boiling milk while stirring continuously. Place in a medium sized cast iron enamel saucepan over moderate heat and stir with a wire whip as it thickens. Continue cooking and stirring for 2 -3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, then the flavorings, the macaroons and the orange liqueur. Can be prepared in advance and stored in refrigerator for up to a week.

Makes about 2 ½ cups.

For the Strawberry Tart:

A 10" fully-cooked tart shell

1 quart large ripe strawberries, the hulled ends trimmed flat

1 cup red currant jelly

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cognac

1 ½ - 2 cups Custard Filling with Macaroons

Hull, wash and drain the strawberries.

Use the recipe for Basic Apple Tart above for the fully-cooked tart shell.

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