Thursday, December 2, 2010

Holiday Party Treats

Now that holiday parties are in full swing opportunities abound to show off some Eating Local prowess. Whether hosting a party or bringing a dish to a potluck, anyone can proudly proclaim that he or she is celebrating the local bounty of the season. Here are some finger food ideas:

Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms
Mountainview Mushrooms from Filmore, UT and herbed goat cheese by Shepherd's out of Erda, UT do most of the work for you.

Pop out the mushroom stems and dice them.
Mix these into the goat cheese along with a little hot water. Add only enough water so that mixing isn't too difficult.
Spread the cheese mixture inside the mushrooms, and mound it a little.
Place the mushrooms on a broiler pan and broil on high for about 10 minutes.

If you're hosting the party, serve these straight out of the oven, if not, they are still tasty cold.

Cheese and Crackers
These homemade crackers are just a little salty-sweet, and they go great with Beehive Cheese's Seahive Cheddar. The cheese choices really are endless, visit the Cheese page to see what I mean.

110 Mile Wheat Thin Crackers
1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup honey
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter
2/3 cup milk
salt for the tops (optional)

-Preheat oven to 325
-In large bowl combine flours and salt
-Cut butter into the flour mixture until it resembles course meal.
-Seperately combine milk and honey.
-Slowly blend in milk and honey using only enough liquid to form a dough mixture that will hold together in a cohesive ball.
-Divide dough into two equal parts for rolling.
-Roll out on a floured surface or pastry cloth, until dough is 1/16- 1/8 inch thick.
-If desired sprinkle with salt and gently roll into dough.
-With sharp knife cut crackers into 2" x 2" squares.
-Transfer onto ungreased baking sheet.
-Prick each cracker 2-3 times.
-Bake 20- 25 minutes or until lightly browned.

Meat and Cheese Platter
I'm inspired by Morgan Valley Lamb's Salami (which I still need to try) and Canyon Meadows Ranch's Beef Jerky.

Put together a festive tray of any or all of the following:
Lamb Salami
Beef Jerky (variety of flavors)
Beehive Cheese's Seahive Cheddar incorporating RealSalt and local honey
Rockhill Creamery's Boo Boo Baby Swiss
Gold Creek Farms Mozzarella
Drake Family Farms Goat Milk Feta

Of course, all of the cheese makers listed above carry a variety of cheeses beyond what is listed, and they are all amazing!

Fruit and Nut Tray
Get out that cool serving dish with all of the separated sections and fill it with these treasures:
Dried Cherries from Woodyatt Cherry Farms
Red Rock Pistachios (spotted at Harmons 7800 S 700 E)
Walnuts or Pecans from your tree or from a friend (mine are from friends)
Dried Apricots (again, mine are from a friend's tree)
Pine Nuts (spotted at Harmons Brickyard)

Rainbow Carrots
Well, this is easy.
It's just carrot sticks, but they look great because they are rainbow carrots coming in purple, white, dark yellow, and light yellow. Dress it up with a sour cream and herb dip.


1 comment:

Tara said...

How could I forget Creminelli sausages?! These make a great addition to the meat and cheese tray.