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Olives and a Classic Cocktail!

I love olives of any kind. They are briny and tasty little morsels. I had a big jar of pimento olives in my fridge and puff pastry sheets in my freezer so I came up with this hors d’oevre to pair with one of my favorite classic cocktails. The Dirty Martini. Olives in puff pastry are so yummy and couldn’t be easier. The dirty martini is often my  go -to drink at a bar. I like them slightly dirty with blue cheese stuffed olives. I buy the blue cheese stuffed olives in a jar at Wegmans. If you are ambitious you can also stuff your own.

Recipe: Olives in Puff Pastry

• 2 Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets
• 18-20 Large Pimento Stuffed Olives
• Bowl of Luke Warm Water

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Thaw puff pastry sheets on counter for about 40 minutes. Cut sheets into 3 long strips. Cut along the fold lines. Cut each strip into into 3 squares.
3. Dip your finger in the warm water and run it around the bottom edge of the puff pastry sheet.
4. Place an olive above the bottom damp edge on the sheet and roll it up and around the olive. Press down the wet edge to seal it closed. Using a knife trim off your roll on the open ends. There should only be about 1/8 – 1/4″ of the pastry sheet sticking out from each end of the olive. Place it on a baking sheet covered with parchment.
5. Repeat with remaining puff pastry sheets and olives.
6. Bake in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes until puffed and golden.

Recipe: Dirty Martini

• 3 Ounces Vodka or Gin
• 1/2 Ounce of Dry Vermouth
• 1/2 Ounce of Brine from Olives
• 2 Olives or Blue Cheese Stuffed Olives

1. Chill a Martini glass
2. Combine Gin or Vodka with Vermouth and Brine in a cocktail shaker.
3. Fill shaker with ice.
4. Shake and strain into a Martini glass.
5. Garnish with 2 Olives on a pick and serve.

For more entertaining, cooking, and recipe tips from Zareen, check out her blog called Cooking With Z.

Baked Brie with Caramelized Onions & Pear-Apple Champagne Cocktail – Great for this weekend or Thanksgiving!

Halloween’s over. Next up Thanksgiving. With this yummy food centric holiday approaching at the end of this month, I thought throughout November, I would share you with a cocktail and appetizer that you could use for the coming weekend or on Thanksgiving. One of my favorite appetizers is Bon Appetit’s Baked Brie with Caramelized Onions. It’s great for a holiday too because you can make the topping the day before and just bake it before serving and it is an easy dish to make for a crowd. Gooey warm brie with caramelized onions – this one is always a hit!

For the cocktail, I wanted to share my recipe for a Pear-Apple Champagne Cocktail. The flavor of pears and apples are so reminiscent of fall and for a holiday the champagne makes it festive.

Recipe: Baked Brie with Caramelized Onions
Adapted from Bon Appetite

• 2 tbs butter
• 4 large onions, sliced
• 1 tbs fresh thyme leaves -minced
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 4 oz. dry white wine
• 1 tsp sugar
• Kosher Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper to taste.
• (1) 8″ – 10″ in diameter wheel of Brie
• 2 French bread baguettes, sliced

1. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions. It will seem like too many onions but they will really cook down. Saute the onions about 6 minutes until they begin to get soft.
2. Add minced thyme and lower the heat to medium. Cook about 20-25 minutes, until the onions are golden brown in color. Stir often.
3. Add the garlic and and cook an additional 2 minutes.
4. Stir in 2 ounces of the wine cooking for 2 more minutes until almost all of the liquid has evaporated. about 2 minutes. Sprinkle the sugar on top of the onions and cook 10 minutes until the onion mixture is soft and brown. Pour in the remaining 2 ounces of wine and mix until it just evaporates this take around 2 minutes.
5. Mix in salt and pepper and let mixture cool. Once the mixture has cooled, you can place it in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to two days.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Unwrap the Brie and carefully slice off a thin layer on top. You want to remove the white rind from the top of the Brie only and leave the rind on the sides and the bottom intact. Place in a pie dish about no more than 1″ larger than Brie wheel, rind side down. Place the onion mixture evenly on top of the Brie. Bake until cheese just melts, about 30 minutes. Serve with baguette slices.

Recipe: Pear-Apple Champagne Cocktail

• 1 oz. Pear Vodka like Grey Goose Poire
• 1.5 oz. Apple Cider
• 4 oz. Champagne
• 1 Small Pear (like Seckel Pears), thinly sliced

1. In a shaker filled with ice, mix Pear Vodka and Apple Cider. Pour into the bottom of a Champagne flute.
2. Top with Champagne.
3. Garnish with a pear slice.

For more recipes, cooking and entertaining tips from Zareen, check out her blog Cooking With Z.

Elegant Cocktails and Appetizers for a Quick Upscale Evening

When I entertain I am a believer in the drink of the night. I often try to have a specialty cocktail to start off the evening. It’s fun, festive and sets the tone for the evening. This Wild Hibiscus Champagne Cocktail is such a great one to keep in your repertoire for an upscale evening. For one thing, it is ridiculously easy to prepare, it takes under a minute. It is not only elegant, stylish and delicious but it looks gorgeous and inviting. What more can you ask for in a cocktail? The flower opens up in the glass from the bubbles and imparts a mild raspberry and rhubarb flavor. The wild hibiscus flower is also completely edible. You can purchase the Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup online or at a Williams Sonoma store and keep them on hand for when you want to serve this drink. Of course, if you are planning to serve this upscale cocktail, you will want serve an upscale appetizer. Siberian Nachos are a great choice for something tasty, different, elegant and again simple to throw together.

Recipe: Wild Hibiscus Champagne Cocktail
Ingredients

• Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup
• Champagne

Instructions

Gently place one flower at the bottom of the champagne flute. Pour in the champagne. Top off with a teaspoon of the syrup.

Recipe: Siberian Nachos
Adapted from Red Square

Ingredients

• Wonton Wrappers
• Vegetable Oil
  
• Smoked Salmon – diced
  
• Wasabi
• Creme Fraiche
• Chives – thinly sliced
  
• Caviar (optional) or Black Sesame Seeds
  

Instructions

1. Using a sharp knife cut the wonton wrappers into triangles.
2. Pour the vegetable oil into a deep wide pot so it has about an inch of depth and heat.
3. Once the oil is well heated (you can test this by throwing in a splash of water and see if it sizzles).
4. Gently fry the wonton triangles until they evenly browned and crisp. Be careful not to overcrowd the pan when frying. Drain triangles on paper towels.
5. Make the wasabi cream. Add creme fraiche to the wasabi and mix. Use 2/3 wasabi and 1/3 creme fraiche.
6. Assemble the Siberian Nachos. Top the wonton chips with diced salmon. Drizzle the wasabi cream over the salmon. You can put the wasabi cream in a small ziploc bag and snip the very tip of the corner off. Use this to drizzle the wasabi cream in a cross hatch pattern across the salmon. Top with a sprinkling of the chives and if you so choose a little of the caviar or a light sprinkling of black sesame seeds.
   
7. Arrange on a platter serve and enjoy!
   

For more entertaining, cooking, and recipe tips from Zareen, check out her blog called Cooking With Z.