Appetizer

Ladies Fiesta Dinner Party

4 · Jun 30, 2014 · 6 Comments

+ This Ladies Fiesta Dinner Party brought to you by Pepcid® +

As you all know… I LOVE to entertain! The idea of spending time coming up with a menu and cooking all day makes me happy… Seriously I love it! Recently, I had the chance to throw a fun Ladies Fiesta for a few friends for a fun Girls Night IN at my place. SUPER FUN!! Some of you may have followed along on Instagram while I was prepping for the night. Here’s the menu…

Frozen Shirley Temples

Spicy Scallop and Shrimp Cocktail

Creamy Avocado Gazpacho

Light Tacos

Creamy Corn Cups

Fiesta Summer Salad

Dirty Diet Coke

ChocoFlan

Many of the recipes are from or inspired by one of my favorite Food Network Chef’s Marcela Valladolid from Mexican Made Easy. When I decided to have a girls night, I thought a classy fiesta would be super fun and Marcela was the perfect chef to turn to for all kinds of classy fiesta recipes. I didn’t want a night full of chips and guacamole followed with a pan full of enchiladas. I wanted it to be light, fresh and refined. This menu was perfect… Except for one thing.

Here’s a little known fact about me… I have struggled for years with mild heartburn. Over the years, I have learned what foods trigger this condition in me and you would be surprised that even a relatively fresh and light fiesta menu like the one above could cause all kinds of issues with my sensitive stomach. You would think that the typical fiesta fair like heavy burritos and enchiladas would be the only culprits, but it’s not. Everyone is different but even fresh food, if they are high in acid like tomatoes, can trigger a rough night. That’s why when it comes to nights like this, I turn to Pepcid® to help me enjoy the food that I so lovely prepared for my friends! Wouldn’t it be a shame to go to all that work just to suffer in the end? If you are like me at all, you should visit the Pepcid® Facebook page for all kinds of ways to help keep your stomach happy!

Here’s how the night went… I prepped food all day, and while I was doing that I watched as the clouds rolled in. The plan was to eat outside and enjoy a nice summer evening and a rain storm was NOT on the menu. Sure enough, about an hour before the ladies were to arrive, the clouds opened up and DUMPED a ton of rain. YAY! Not to worry, I kept working on party prep and when my friends arrived I put them to work, drying of the table and chairs, no worries there. The rest of the night was perfect, so we didn’t let that little bump create issues for this fiesta! We set the table with fun mismatched plates and dressed it with some simple greenery, lanterns and candles. It looked lovely!

Cocktail + Frozen Shirley Temple +

Once everything was dry, we had my version of a frozen Shirley Temple.

How fun is that? I made a cherry popsicle in my Zoku with all the tasty cherries that are in season right now and then paired it with some coconut La Croix seltzer water to make a fun “cocktail” to start off the night (we aren’t big cocktail drinkers here.) You can get the recipe here!

Appetizer + Scallop & Shrimp Cocktail +

For an appetizer I served a scrumptious scallop and shrimp cocktail…

I kicked this up a notch with some doctored cocktail sauce and then added pan seared, chilled scallops to the shrimp and it was divine. To make it even easier I removed the tail on the shrimp and added it right to the cocktail sauce. It’s much easier to eat with a fork and you don’t have to deal with messy hands… perfect! You can get this recipe here.

Soup + Creamy Avocado Gazpacho with Spicy Croutons +

Next, for the soup course… I served a creamy avocado gazpacho that really hit the spot.

When it comes to cooking for a dinner party, you want simple, yet tasty. Especially in the summer, when you have access to all kinds of fresh veggies, gazpacho is perfect. It’s a chilled soup that is perfect for a classy fiesta. You can find this recipe here.

Main Course + Light Tacos, Fiesta Summer Salad & Creamy Corn Cups +

Since this was a fresh summer take on a fiesta, I decided to go with a lighten-up version of tacos. I found this fun recipe from Marcela for a light taco that used butter lettuce for the shell rather than your traditional corn tortilla. It was super tasty and you can find Marcela’s recipe here.

With the light tacos I served the most amazing salad…

It is a mexican take on a panzanella salad full of tomatoes, olives, spicy croutons and few more tasty surprises. You can find that recipe here.

The last side dish was a little more decadent than the other lighter recipes that we had enjoyed throughout the night. Creamy corn cups are an iconic Mexican treat full of all kinds of creamy goodness. I took that recipe straight from Marcela and you can find that recipe here.

Dessert + CocoFlan & Dirty Diet Coke +

Get ready… this dessert will ROCK YOUR WORLD! Yea, not kidding…

If you are a chocolate cake lover and a flan lover (which apparently I am) This recipe will knock your socks off. It’s chocolate cake and flan together. Again this is one of Marcela’s recipes and it is for sure a show stopper. I will have to say, your guest may beat down your door the following day to get access to the leftovers (if you have any!) Surprisingly enough, this actually pairs nicely with a dirty Diet Coke! You can get the recipe for the ChocoFlan here and the dirty Diet Coke here.

All in all the night was SUPER fun, a total flavor festival and thanks to Pepcid I wasn’t regretting it afterward.

Disclaimer // I have received information, product and materials from McNeil Consumer Pharmaceuticals C0., the makers of PEPCID®. The opinions stated are my own. This is a sponsored post.

Creamy Avocado Gazpacho with Spicy Croutons

2 · Jun 30, 2014 · Leave a Comment

+ Creamy Avocado Gazpacho with Spicy Croutons inspired by Tori Richie from Appetite for Adventure on The Food Network +

There is nothing better on a hot summer day than a cool, refreshing gazpacho! What is gazpacho? It’s a cold soup that is typically made with pureed vegetables or even fruit. It is fresh, clean and so delicious! Here is my take on Tori Richie’s Avocado Gazpacho recipe…

Creamy Avocado Gazpacho with Spicy Croutons

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

A creamy and light cold soup that your friends and family will love!

Author: Heather // WhipperBerry

Recipe type: soup

Cuisine: Mexican

Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

2 large cucumbers - peeled & seeded
3 avocados
2 limes - juiced
½ cup vegetable stock
1 small jalapeño - seeded and chopped
3 green onions - white and green
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon pepper
olive oil
4-5 grape tomatoes - diced
¼ cup queso fresco - crumbled
4 large slices of crusty bread or pumpernickel bread
½ stick of butter
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon mexican oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Clean and prep all your veggies and roughly chop each one. Add the cucumber, avocado, lime juice, vegetable stock, jalapeño, green onion, salt, cumin, chili powder and pepper to the jar of a blender. Blend until pureed. If the mixture is too thick, you can add more vegetable stock until you reach your desired consistency.
Chill in the refrigerator for a least 30 minutes.
For the spicy croutons... Cut bread into small bite sized pieces. Place in a 450˚ oven for 10 minutes.
Melt butter and add chili powder, cumin, crushed Mexican oregano and salt.
Remove croutons from oven and drizzle with butter mixture and toss to coat.
Put croutons back into the oven for an additional 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool.
When you are ready to serve the gazpacho, place the soup in small bowls, drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil and top with spicy croutons, diced tomatoes and crumbled queso fresco.

Fiesta Scallop and Shrimp Cocktail

4 · Jun 30, 2014 · 1 Comment

+ Fiesta Scallop and Shrimp Cocktail recipe inspired by Marcela Valladolid from The Food Network’s Mexican Made Easy +

This is a fun new take on your basic shrimp cocktail and it’s super easy to make. The recipe was inspired by one of my favorite Food Network Chef’s Marcela Valladolid from The Kitchen and Mexican Made Easy Fame. I of course had to put a little WhipperBerry spin on it. Instead of poaching the scallops, I actually pan seared my scallops and then chilled them. It added a little more depth to the flavor of the scallop and I love it. Also, rather than starting from scratch with my cocktail sauce, I use a commercially prepared cocktail sauce as my base and then doctored it with some of Marcela’s ingredients. Here’s the recipe…

Fiesta Scallop and Shrimp Cocktail

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

10 mins

Surprise your guests with this fun and spicy to take on the classic shrimp cocktail!

Author: Heather // WhipperBerry

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 lb. cooked shrimp (peeled, deveined, tail off)
8 large sea scallops
3 cups cocktail sauce
1 large lime (juiced)
½ of a serrano chili (finely diced)
¼ teaspoon of Tabasco Soy Sauce
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper

Instructions

In a large bowl or large canning jar, mix your cocktail sauce, lime juice, serrano chili, and spicy Tabasco soy sauce. Mix well, cover and let chill in the refrigerator for a least 30 minutes.
Prepare scallops by rinsing gently with cold water, removing the "foot" a little flap that you will find on the side of the scallop. Just pull it off and discard. Completely dry the scallops and set on paper towel to absorb any moisture.
In a skillet, add olive oil and set over high heat. Once the pan it hot, add the scallops and turn down the heat to medium high.
Let the scallop cook for 2 minutes or until seared (brown) on one side and then flip over to sear the other side for another 2 minutes. Remove from the pan. Let cool and then store in an air tight container with a paper towel at the bottom, in the refrigerator until chilled and ready to use.
When ready to serve, cut the scallops in half and place in a medium sized bowl. Add the shrimp making sure they are rinsed, dried and tail removed, into the bowl. Cover with cocktail sauce and combine. Place in serving cups with a small stock of celery to garnish.

Indian Themed Dinner Party

1 · May 31, 2014 ·

This Indian Themed Dinner Party is brought to you by Silk Coconut Milk // I adore coconut… Like a lot. My husband and I share this love and it’s a treat that we will take in any form possible. Sweet or savory, there is something about coconut that just takes recipes to a new level.

Not to long ago, the folks at Silk challenged me to throw a coconut themed dinner party and with it being coconut, I was for sure up to the challenge. I checked out Silk’s Coconut Milk Pinterest Board and their Silk Coconut Milk Web Page and decided on an Indian themed night.

We started the night with a flavorful butternut squash coconut and lentil stew…

This soup was inspired by a recipe that was created by Aarti Sequeira of Food Network fame. She is my go to girl when it comes to Indian dishes. She just takes a rather mysterious cuisine and takes all the mystery out of it. Most of the recipes that I used for this dinner have been modified from her recipes and they turned out aaaamazing.

Click HERE for the Butternut Squash Coconut and Lentil Stew Recipe

For our dinner, I set a simple table out in my backyard with mismatched plates and some fresh flowers from Trader Joes. It couldn’t be more simple. I’ve collected all of my plates and bowls primarily from Target and Anthropologie. I like buying mismatched plates, that way, if I fall in love with a plate, I buy one which doesn’t break the bank and add it to my collection.

Next on the menu for the evening was my Coconut Curry Shrimp…

Now this shrimp isn’t your typical deep fried tropical shrimp dish. It has a lovely curry flavor and it covered with dried unsweetened coconut with no frying at all…. It was lovely.

Click HERE for my Coconut Curry Shrimp Recipe

For the main course, I made Coconut Curry Meatballs served over rice. These little goodies were the star of the show…

Forget what you have every thought about meatballs! These scrumptious bites have a totally different flavor profile and they were divine.

Click HERE for the Coconut Curry Meatballs with Rice

Finally, we topped off the night with a creamy and refreshing coconut lime granita…

This is a frozen treat that is a little like lazy man’s ice cream. It’s super simple to make and you don’t need an ice cream maker. The bonus… It’s dairy-free! One of my friends who joined us for the evening has a daughter with a major milk allergy and this little treat will help when everyone else in the family is enjoying a bowl full of ice cream. She won’t feel left out at all!

Click HERE for the Coconut Lime Granita Recipe

My friends were floored when I told them that every single recipe had Silk Coconut Milk in the recipe in some form.

Who knew coconut milk was so versatile. Its not just for drinking or making smoothies, you can make all kinds of dishes. Visit the Silk Coconut Milk site for a $1 off coupon plus a whole bunch of fun recipes to try with your new SECRET INGREDIENT!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Silk. The opinions and text are all mine.