Get Together For Som's Birthday

We've been through quite a lot the last few months so I wanted to get some great food together and good friends together for Som's birthday.  Som loves the Baked Gouda Mac n Cheese that I make so he wanted that.  I decided to try to make them bite sized. They were a hit and people have been asking me for the recipe.

Find the recipe here.

I also made chicken lollipops.  I bought the wing party pack at Costco and wanted to use the wingette part too.  I watched YouTube videos on how to also make the wingette part into a lollipop.  It was a slow process and I'll never do it again.  I'll stick with the drummette part.  It was also a success.

The marinade for the chicken was simple.

Ingredients

½ cup ketchup

¼ cup hoisin

¼ cup low sodium soy sauce

¼ sugar

2 Tbsp. garlic powder

4 garlic cloves chopped

Mix it all together, pour over chicken, and let it marinate over night.

I also made crostinis.  One had goat cheese and prosciutto.  The other had goat cheese and caramelized mushrooms.

Below is salami, mozzarella and tomatoes on a toothpick.  So simple yet so delicious. 

I also made bacon wrapped dates and kielbasa but I didn't get a picture of either of those.  Usually I get pictures of everything!  I must have been running around so much that it slipped my mind.

The party was a huge success!

From the inspiring chef/party planner
~Sothea

Smoked Gouda Mac N Cheese

Ingredients

8 ounces of macaroni

½ lb. bacon – cooked and crumbled

2 cups half and half or milk

1 Tbsp. garlic herb butter

2 Tbsp. flour

8 ounces smoked Gouda

Olive Oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cook macaroni according to package
3. Set aside some bacon to top. Mix macaroni and remaining bacon together. 
4. In saucepan, add half and half or milk (whichever you chose) over medium low heat
5. Whisk in flour until smooth
6. Add butter
7. When hot add cheese.  Stir until cheese is melted
8. Add sauce to macaroni and bacon mixture.  Fold together
9. Oil ramekins
10. Add mixture to ramekins.  Top with reserved bacon
11. Bake for 15 minutes.

Printable Recipe

Wine and Cheese

I love entertaining.  I enjoy preparing and cooking for it.  I enjoy when people come over and have a good time.  However, I hate the clean up.  Last weekend, was the first time, we have entertained in awhile.  We had wine, cheese and a little debauchery also know as Cards Against Humanity.  I purchased two expansion packs and wrote some clever ones of my own.  The handwritten ones actually were the most popular of the night.

For food, I didn't want to just cut up cheese and put it on a plate so I tried some different combinations.  For the first dish, I was inspired by the mushroom and brie from Meditrina. This I paired with a Spanish Rose.  I have a Brie Baking Dish from Crate and Barrel. It is awesome. However, I bought a brie from Costco that was too large for the dish.  I had to trim around the edges to make it fit.  Then I caramelized red onions and mushrooms.  I deglazed the pan with red wine. I also added a little thyme in there as well. I cut off the top of the brie and then added the mushroom mixture on top.  I wanted the mushrooms and onions to sink into the brie.  I baked it on 350 for 8 minutes.  Since, I cut off the edges, the brie oozed over the baking dish.  It wasn't very pretty. However it was absolutely delicious.  It was a big hit and I don't think anyone minded that it wasn't the prettiest.

In the center of the picture below, I also had goat cheese in ramekins which I put in the oven on broil for a few minutes and then topped with honey.  This was paired with a Zinfandel.

To the far right, we had different red wines, a smoked gouda, cheddar from Beehive Cheese, and different meats.

I think the entertaining bug has bit me once more and I will have to put something together again soon.

XOXO,
Sothea