Rum Balls

For the birthday dessert, I am thinking of making something small so we will not over eat but still can have some sweet at the end of the meal.  Instead of making a birthday cake, I decided to make rum balls. This recipe is also excellent for party snacks!

Ingredients
* Vegetable oil, cooking spray
* 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
* 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
* 3 large eggs
* 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
* 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark rum
* Coarse sanding sugar or chocolate sprinkles, for rolling

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350. Coat a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray; set aside. Melt butter and chocolate in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
2) Whisk together eggs, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large bowl. Stir in chocolate mixture, then fold in flour. Pour batter into prepared baking sheet. Spread evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake until top is shiny and a cake tester inserted into center comes out with some crumbs attached, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
3) Break up brownie into small pieces; transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. With machine on low speed, pour in rum, and mix until crumbs start to come together to form a ball.
4) Shape into 1-inch balls, and roll in sanding sugar to coat. Transfer to a baking sheet; refrigerate, uncovered, until cold, at least 2 hours. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Parmesan Zucchini Fries

 This is one of the best finger food.  Since we are eating crab during dinner, so it is good to have this on the side and eat with our fingers. This recipe is also a good idea for party food. Very easy to make and it is a delicious way to bring vegetables to the table.

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, trimmed

* 1/2 cup flour

* 2 teaspoons salt, divided

* 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided

* 3 large eggs

* 1 1/2 cups panko or plain bread crumbs

* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 425°. Arrange an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and a second one in the center. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Cut zucchini into thick French-fry-size sticks, about 3 inches long.

2) Arrange 3 shallow, wide bowls or pie plates in a row. In the first bowl, stir together flour, 1 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper. In the second bowl, whisk together eggs, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/4 tsp. pepper. In the third bowl, combine panko, Parmesan, dill (if using), and 1/2 tsp. salt.

3) Working in batches, first dip zucchini in flour, shaking off excess. Transfer to egg mixture and toss until coated. Let excess egg run off, then coat zucchini in panko mixture.

4) Arrange zucchini, without crowding, in a single layer on the prepared pans. Bake 15 minutes and then rotate the pans. Continue to bake until panko coating is golden and crisp, 7 to 12 minutes more.

Steamed Dungeness Crab

The most important thing to serve the best seafood at home is to get your seafood from a good source, a place that you know they provide the freshest seafood. It is always good to know where your seafood is from.  I went to a neighborhood seafood place called Fresh Fish Co.  The staff are very knowledgeable and helpful, they also let you know the best way to cook seafood.  The dungeness crabs were already cooked when I got them so it was very easy to prepare them when I have other courses to take care of.

Ingredients
* 2 Dungeness crab
* 1/2 stick butter

Direction
1) Steam dungeness crab for 5 minutes
2) Melt butter and pour to butter warmer to keep warm. Enjoy the crab meat by dipping in melted butter.

Cauliflower Soup with Parmesan Crisps

I used to avoid to cook with cauliflower because I didn't think it's tasty.  Lately, I found out that cauliflower can be an excellent vegetable to cook with when using tasty spices.  This soup use very simple ingredients and the flavor was excellent! If you don't want your soup to be too creamy, you can  skip the Parmesan cheese and the soup still tasted very good.

Ingredients
Soup
* 1 head cauliflower
* 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 quart low-sodium chicken stock 
* 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Crisps
* 1 cup shredded Parmesan
* Chopped chives, for garnish


Directions
Soup

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.


2) Remove the leaves and thick core from the cauliflower, coarsely chop, and reserve. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or soup pot over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the cauliflower and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until the cauliflower is very soft and falling apart, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and, using a hand held immersion blender, puree the soup, or puree in small batches in a blender and return it to the pot. Add the Parmesan and stir until smooth. Season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Keep warm until ready to serve. 

Parmesan crisps

1) Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread the shredded cheese over the foil in 1 even thin layer. Bake about 10 minutes until golden brown and crisps. Remove from oven and let cool 5 minutes. Break sheet of crisp cheese into large pieces and garnish each soup bowl with a couple shards and a pinch of fresh chives.

Pear Salad with Goat Cheese and Tamari Pecan

 You can make the salad dressing in advance. The dressing is mostly sweet, if you want it more tangy, you can add more cider vinegar.

Ingredients 

* 3 cups pear juice or unsweetened filtered apple cider or pear cider 

* 2 tablespoons pear or cider vinegar  

* 1Salt and freshly ground pepper  

* 1 1/2 teaspoons tamari or soy sauce  

* 2 teaspoons molasses  

* Pinch cayenne pepper  

* 1/2 cup pecan halves  

* 6 cups mixed bitter salad greens  

* 1/4 cup chopped raisins  

* 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbs 
* 1/2 ripe pear, cored, peeled, and thinly sliced

Directions

1) Bring pear juice to a simmer and skim thick foam that rises to surface. Reduce heat to low and simmer very gently, skimming occasionally, 30 to 45 minutes, or until juice reduces to consistency of maple syrup. Cool to room temperature. In a small bowl, combine pear syrup and vinegar. Whisk in oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Set aside.

2) Preheat oven to 350°. In a shallow bowl, stir tamari and molasses, a pinch of salt, and cayenne until blended. Add nuts; toss until coated. Transfer to a double layer of paper towels; drain briefly. Spread pecans on a baking sheet on a wire rack; roast 10 minutes or until fairly dry and toasted. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

3) In a large bowl, combine greens, pecans, currants and cheese. Whisk vinaigrette again and drizzle it over salad. Toss gently and briefly. Serve pear salad with pear slices.

Shrimp Salad with Mango and Avocado

 This appetizer can be served as party snack as well. If you cannot find Belgian endive, you can use tortilla chips instead.

Ingredients

* 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 2 pounds cooked shrimp , diced
* 2 ripe avocados , seeded, peeled, and diced
* 1 mango, peeled and diced
* 3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
* 6 heads Belgian endive (preferably 3 red and 3 white)
* Few sprigs cilantro , for garnish

Directions

1) In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon salt until salt dissolves. Slowly whisk in olive oil until well blended. Season with pepper.  
2) In a medium bowl, gently stir together lobster, avocados, mango, vinaigrette, tarragon, and cilantro.  
3) Remove bases of endives and separate leaves. Arrange lobster salad in the center of a large serving platter and place endive spears around the salad. Garnish platter with cilantro sprigs.

Thai Mussels

The first appetizer is Thai Mussel.  This can be a main course if you are making the same quantity as the recipe below.  We have about 3/4 of left over when we had it as an appetizer.  The red curry broth was very tasty and it matched very well with the mussels.  

Ingredients  
* 1 cup coconut milk
* 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
* 1 teaspoon red curry paste
* 2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
* 2/3 cup sake
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
* 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
* 2 pounds mussels, cleaned and debearded
* 2-4 basil sprigs (for garnish)

 Directions
1) In a large bowl, whisk together coconut milk, lime juice, curry paste, fish sauce, sake, garlic, ginger and basil.
2) Heat a heavy saucepan over high heat for about 30 seconds. Add mussels and broth. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes, or until mussels fully open.
3) Divide mussels into bowls and serve with broth and plenty of crusty bread.

Mr. S Birthday Feast 2013

I have a seafood theme for Mr. S birthday feast this year.  We are fortunate that we live in a neighborhood that have a local fish market to provide us the freshest seafood.  I always try to avoid seafood from chain grocery stores, because a lot of times they are frozen and defrosted before putting out to the display. 

For those of you who are new to my blog, it is my own tradition to make a meal feast for Mr. S to celebrate his birthday. You can click here to see the previous feast: 
Mr. S Birthday Feast 2012 
Mr. S Birthday Feast 2011


Here is this year's menu: 
Thai Mussels
Shrimp Salad with Mango and Avocado
Pear Salad with Goat Cheese
Cauliflower soup
Steamed Dungeness Crab
Parmesan Zucchini Fries Recipe
Rum balls

I always plan ahead when I am cooking a big meal. To cook this meal smoothly, I made the salad dressing and the rum balls the day before.  On the day of the feast, I spent around 2-3 hours to prep and cook.  The results of the meal was fantastic! They are very easy recipe and they all tasted delicious!