HOME & GARDEN A T H O M E W I T H N A N C Y W E L C H written by NANCY WELCH photographed by KRIS DECKER 30 GreerNow JANUARY 2008
HOME & GARDEN Get Lit with Nancy Welch Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming, WOO HOO, WHAT A RIDE. -Author unknown (quote is on a sign in the Corporate Deli in Greenville) Here is to 2008! It may be too late for you to use the ideas and recipes for your New Year s Eve party, but as the motto suggests, one good party a year is really not enough so celebrate, celebrate, celebrate all year and skid through this year sideways screaming What a Year! To do that, you need to invest in some martini glasses. The investment will be well worth the trouble, time, and money because I am going to give you so many ideas that all fit inside a martini glass, you will wonder why you did not purchase them sooner. Now before you read any further, all of these recipes are to be served in a martini glass but not all at the same party! I do not want you to think you had to have 4-dozen martini glasses for a party. Select one martini idea and then wrap the rest of the party around that. Are we altogether? Most of the stores where we love to shop now carry plastic martini glasses. These are great because you can put them in a large bag and store them on the top shelf of a closet or under the bed until your next party. You can also find glass ones at a restaurant supply store where they are very inexpensive if purchased by the dozen. You will need 12 glasses for a party. Let us go back to the motto and begin our salute to 2008 by combining chocolate and martinis. In fact, we can start with a chocolate martini and go from there! chocolate martini 1 1/2 oz. vodka 1 1/2 oz. Bailey s Irish Cream or Godiva s Chocolate Liqueur 1 1/2 oz. White cream de Cacao 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup Chocolate kisses Squeeze chocolate syrup in the bottom of a Martini glass. In a shaker with several cubes of ice, pour all ingredients except chocolate kisses. Shake a few times to chill the vodka, but do not bruise it! Pour shaker contents into glass through strainer. Drop chocolate kiss into glass. Note: all ingredients except chocolate syrup should be chilled. Now that we have that one out of the way, let us look at some other ideas for using your new glasses. If you have been to several parties in the last two or three years, you have probably been to a buffet dinner where they had a potato bar. Not only is a potato bar fun, it is also easy on the hostess. GreerNow JANUARY 2008 31
potato martini bar Mashed potatoes Chives Sour cream Grated cheddar cheese Cheese sauce Butter Crumbled bacon Cooked broccoli Well, you can go as far as you want to go with the toppings. Just set up your potato bar with your martini glasses. Next, have a large bowl of mashed potatoes. If you dare, you can even use instant mashed potatoes but be sure everyone puts some kind of topping on them or they will recognize the instant taste. Preferably mash your own, but I will leave that to you. Then, in matching containers (soup bowls work fine) arrange all of the toppings so that people can prepare their own loaded potato. The nice thing about the martini glass is that you can put this on your dinner plate, hold the foot of the glass by your thumb, and arrange the other food from the buffet under the glass. Works like a charm. You can also use this same idea for a breakfast martini. Have friends over for breakfast and put cooked grits in the bottom of a martini glass, then add cooked crumbled sausage, ham, or bacon, scrambled eggs, grated cheddar cheese, and top with chives or parsley! Serve biscuits or toast and your breakfast martini is a hit. What I want you to see is how much fun it can be to do something a little different. You can serve appetizers out of the glasses such as shrimp cocktails or crab balls. shrimp martini cocktail Take 1 tablespoon of cocktail sauce and put it in the bottom of all of the martini glasses, one per person. On top of the sauce, arrange 3 or 4 peeled and cooked shrimp, depending on the size of the shrimp, enough to fill up the glass. Cut a lemon wedge and hang it on the edge of the glass. 32 GreerNow JANUARY 2008
crab ball martini 1 pound crabmeat 1 cup (about 4 slices of stale bread) bread crumbs, freshly made 1 egg 4 tablespoons thick mayonnaise 3 teaspoons dry mustard or 2 teaspoons regular mustard 2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley Salt and pepper to taste Mix all ingredients until mixture binds together. Form balls the size of golf balls. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for about 5-8 minutes or fry in oil until done. Drain on paper towel. Sauce: 1 cup mayonnaise 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon horseradish Dash of lemon juice Mix together. When ready to assemble, place a generous tablespoon of sauce in the bottom of Martini glass. Place the crab ball on top of sauce. Garnish with lemon wedge on the side of glass. It might be that you would rather save your martini glasses for dessert. Here are three Martini Desserts that you can try. Find the one you like and serve it, or for a special dessert tray after a lovely dinner, you might prepare a few of each, particularly if it is a large party. Prepare a recipe of each one. The color combinations will dazzle your guests as you arrive with a large tray laden with red velvet martinis, fudge and pecan martinis, and after dinner mint martinis! The evening will end on a very high note. Like BRAVO at the top of their voices! red velvet martini 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 tablespoon baking soda 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 eggs 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil 1 tablespoon vanilla 1 tablespoon vinegar 1 tablespoon red food coloring 1 cup buttermilk Frosting: 1 stick softened butter 8 oz. softened cream cheese 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 pound box powdered sugar 1 carton Cool Whip Mix cake ingredients together. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour batter into a greased large sheet pan 9x13 or larger if you have it. Bake for 30 minutes or until done. Set aside to cool. Mix frosting ingredients together. When ready to assemble, dip rim of martini glass on a damp cloth, then into a saucer of powdered sugar. Then carefully put a tablespoon of frosting in bottom of martini glass. Using a 2 1/2 biscuit cutter, cut a round of cake from the pan. Place it on top of frosting. Press down so that the cake touches the frosting. Make a dollop of Cool Whip on top of cake. Dollop should come up above the rim of the glass. GreerNow JANUARY 2008 33
fudge pecan martini Chocolate Fudge: 2 squares unsweetened chocolate 1 stick butter 2 cups powdered sugar 1 egg Melt together chocolate and butter. Sift sugar into chocolate. Add egg. Mix with electric mixer until smooth. Set aside, but keep warm. Pecan layer: 1 Pillsbury ready to roll out piecrust 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 1/2 cup white sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons flour 3 eggs 1/2 stick butter 1/3 cup light cream 1 cup chopped pecans Vanilla ice cream Roll out piecrust onto a floured surface. With rolling pin, make crust fit a 9x13 pan or casserole dish. Mix all ingredients together well. Cover crust with chopped pecans. Pour mixture over pecans. Bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Pie may not be firm in the middle but will be after it cools. Let it cool completely. When ready to assemble, take 1 tablespoon of chocolate fudge and put in the bottom of martini glass. With 2 1/2 or 3 biscuit cutter, cut a round of the pecan layer. Put in martini glass and press down to meet the chocolate fudge. Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of pecan layer. Spoon 1 tablespoon of warm chocolate fudge on top of ice cream. Dust whole glass and fudge topping lightly with powdered sugar. Serve immediately. Note: First two layers can be done ahead of time. Fudge can be heated up in microwave to pour over the ice cream at the last minute. after dinner mint martini 2 cups (24) crushed Oreo cookie 1/8 cup milk 7 oz. jar marshmallow crème Few drops peppermint extract Few drops green food coloring 2 cups whipping cream, whipped or Cool Whip Fresh mint sprig Combine crumbs and butter. Gradually add milk to marshmallow crème, mixing until well blended. Add extract and food coloring. When ready to assemble, spoon 1 tablespoon of crumb mixture into martini glass. Spoon green mixture on top of crumbs. Then put large dollop of whipped cream or Cool Whip on top. Sprinkle more crumbs over top. Place fresh sprig of mint on inside edge of glass. If you ask me, we have gotten the New Year off to a grand start. Martinis and chocolate are quite the way to usher in 2008. However, do not wait until next year s New Year s party to try these. There is always Valentine s Day, Mother s Day, Father s Day and oh yes, how about next Saturday? Cheers and HAPPY NEW YEAR! d 34 GreerNow JANUARY 2008