Author Topic: Treats for visiting guests? (Read 825 times)

Questor · « **on:** October 15, 2009, 08:57:04 AM »

What do you like to serve as a special treat when you have company over for dinner?

I like to prepare something I think they will like but would be unlikely to make for themselves. I like to make a paella, which is a Spanish rice dish. A favorite dessert to serve is home made vanilla ice cream with berries. Home made is fantastically better than any commercial version because vanilla ice cream loses its flavor shortly after it's made.

-Shaggy- · « **Reply #1 on:** October 15, 2009, 12:56:33 PM »

Whatever they bring with them is fine with me.

Redtail1949 · « **Reply #2 on:** October 15, 2009, 01:35:31 PM »

Boudain and beer to start while the steaks are on the grill.

rockbilly · « **Reply #3 on:** October 15, 2009, 04:00:52 PM »

Sometimes I dream about the delicious paella they served in the Argon Region of Spain, when I do my tongue gets to flopping around in my mouth so bad that I think its gonna knock my brains out. A good paella is hard to beat, and even harder to duplicate without true Spanish chorizo and saffron. Someone once told me to use Mexican chorizo but there is as much difference between Spanish and Mexican chorizo as there is between night and day.

And having spent many years of my life among the Cajuns I can also appreciate a meal of Cajun origin. COurse you gotta have a few crawdads to suck on while waiting for the boudain. As my old friend use to say, “spend one Saturday night as a coonass and you will never want to be anything else.”

Oldshooter · « **Reply #4 on:** October 15, 2009, 04:25:04 PM »

I love to cook out. So my special treat is usually; Fried Seafood, Boiled seafood, Grilled Steaks or BBQ (I make a brisket or ribs that will make you go home and slap your mama, well maybe not your mama, but you get the point). I can and do make a few Cajun dishes like crawfish etoufee, gumbo and Sauce Piquant .

Our favorite desert is Usually fresh fruit salad made fresh and with whipped cream! We also like Ice cream made with Diet orange soda, condensed milk and crushed pineapple that is light cool and guilt free, but is delicious.

Cabin4 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 15, 2009, 04:28:08 PM »

I like to do either a whole pork or beef tenderloin and serve it with a sauce like a hollandaise or peppercorn sauce. One my other favorites are I'll marinate shrimp and scallops in my special marinade. Either of these I grill either outside or on our indoor gas grill. Fresh asparagus and a potato dish of some sort. My wife makes all sorts of deserts so I just stay away from that area. I like working the grill. I’ve also done wild game tenderloin either bear or hog the same way for guests.

Hodr · « **Reply #6 on:** October 15, 2009, 04:45:54 PM »

I like to make 2" thick pork chops. Sear them in bacon drippings, deglase with whiskey, make a rue with butter, flour and burnt chunks in pan. Use whole milk to make gravy, a lot of gravy. Pour gravy over chops in large casserole, cover and cook at 325 for a full hour. While it is cooking make a big pot of calrose rice using chicken stock, onions, garlick, salt, pepper, and butter. Put rice in large seving dish lay chops on top, pour on all of the gravy. Add hot biscuits, butter, local honey, sweet potatoes in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a garden salad. For dessert set wine glasses in the refrigerator with layers of sliced strawberries and peaches covered with a sweet wine. easy to set up and make in advance which gives time to sit and talk before and after dinner.

blindhari

Cabin4 · « **Reply #7 on:** October 15, 2009, 04:54:30 PM »

blindhari aka Emeril....

Sounds D---elicious!

Hodr · « **Reply #8 on:** October 15, 2009, 05:15:00 PM »

Cabin 4,
I was raised in a restraunt and started cooking about 8. I am in my sixties now and never learned really fancy, just simple midwest. My wife and I have taught a lot of Boy Scouts how to cook though over the years. We also taught them how to clean up and do dishes. I've always thought that helped any guy in a marriage.

blindhari

gypsyman · « **Reply #9 on:** October 15, 2009, 06:58:05 PM »

Well, if all you guys email me your address's, I'll set up a cross country schedule of gun show's in your area's, and I'll be the official food testor of the Graybeards web site. Get there a day or 2 ahead of the show, and you can cook me dinner. Nothing fancy, just what you discribed in your post, maybe a Michelob of Heiniken just to finish it off. All I have to do is convence my wife it's part of the job. gypsyman

Sourdough · « **Reply #10 on:** October 16, 2009, 02:10:25 AM »

When people show up unexpectedly, depends on who it is. If it is a bunch of Sky's friends, they throw a bunch of Moose Burgers on the grill or the George Foreman. They will go through five pounds of burger a week, sometimes more.

If it is someone else, I'll throw a loaf of bread in the oven. When it's done I'll pullout a stick of Moose, or Caribou Sausage, and some cheese. Don't expect the wife to cook, and I don't.

Now if it's planned, Michelle will fix a Roast (Moose) with vegetables in a basting bag, mashed potatoes, corn bread. Or something like that.

LONGTOM · « **Reply #11 on:** October 16, 2009, 07:29:48 AM »

My special treat for the guests that show up is that they all get to go out to the shooting bench and fire a few rounds with some of my guns both before and after we eat.
Sometimes we don't even eat!!!

LONGTOM

burntmuch · « **Reply #12 on:** October 16, 2009, 07:38:25 AM »

Blindhari You had my mouth watering there

Bigeasy · « **Reply #13 on:** October 16, 2009, 07:40:38 AM »

If they aint from around here, I'll slice up a Soupie, let em try it with a little hard cheese. AFTER they eat it, I'll tell em how its made....lol

Larry

Cabin4 · « **Reply #14 on:** October 16, 2009, 09:34:19 AM »

What is soupie?

ms · « **Reply #15 on:** October 16, 2009, 09:59:40 AM »

[Contents]

Lebanese Kibbeh

KIBBEH

2 1/2 cups cubed tender lamb
2 cups burghul (crushed wheat)
2 medium sized onions
2 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. pepper
Ice water
Kibbeh is virtually the national dish of Lebanon and to call it a meat loaf does not quite raise it to the heights it deserves. Its traditional preparation is dramatic. It requires a stone mortar and a heavy pestle called the jorn and modaqqa. The meat is pounded with rhythmic motions until it is smooth and pasty. All the neighborhood knows the sound of kibbeh in the making.

Select lamb from loin of the animal. Pound the cubed meat with a teaspoon of salt in a stone mortar with a wooden mallet. Remove meat from mortar when it becomes pasty. Now pound onion with a teaspoon of salt and the pepper until it is reduced to a pulp. Combine meat and onion and pound together until very smooth. Wash burghul well in running water but do this quickly so that it does not soften. Press to remove water. Knead burghul and meat with the hands. Pound together in mortar. Add salt to taste. Dip mallet in ice water occasionally to keep meat moist and smooth. Properly prepared kibbeh must be pounded at least an hour. Then it is ready to be eaten as it is, or cooked in a variety of ways.

Preparation time may be shortened considerably by grinding meat several times through fine blade of meat grinder. Grind onion twice. Grind onions with meat once. Combine washed burghul with meat-onion mixture. Knead well, seasoning with salt and pepper. Grind this mixture three times adding a tablespoon of ice water to keep it smooth.

greg916 · « **Reply #16 on:** October 16, 2009, 02:37:39 PM »

Hickory and applewood smoked pork shoulder

The Hermit · « **Reply #17 on:** October 16, 2009, 03:44:03 PM »

I seldom get company back here, but when I know folks are comming in the summer, they usually expect a treat. I set up the tripod and dutch oven cook a roast over the firepit. I have a turkey in the smoker and cook corn on the cob in my steamer. For dessert, I serve a home made beverage right from my own still, cooled in the creek. Black River salmon, lightly smoked, served with my own canned roasted peppers is also a treat in season. MM good...

The Hermit

rockbilly · « **Reply #18 on:** October 16, 2009, 04:34:23 PM »

Ain’t none of you ole boys mentioned baked coon, collard greens and fried corn pone washed down with a big glass of sassafras’s tea. Course you also gotta have a shot of red eye after wards………….when ya really wanna make your guest feel at home.

Heather · « **Reply #19 on:** October 16, 2009, 04:53:04 PM »

When we have guest it is usually A LOT of people..at least 20 or 30. I make hamburgers and hot dogs with mac and cheese and chips. It is cheap, easy, and all the kiddos LOVE IT! When it is just the adults or just some of my family I'll cook is a pork roast with potatoes, carrots, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers. I can prepare it during the day, spend time with everyone, and pull it out when we are ready to eat.

Heather

nw_hunter · « **Reply #20 on:** October 16, 2009, 05:26:21 PM »

Quote from: blindhari on October 15, 2009, 04:45:54 PM

I like to make 2" thick pork chops. Sear them in bacon drippings, deglase with whiskey, make a rue with butter, flour and burnt chunks in pan. Use whole milk to make gravy, a lot of gravy. Pour gravy over chops in large casserole, cover and cook at 325 for a full hour. While it is cooking make a big pot of calrose rice using chicken stock, onions, garlick, salt, pepper, and butter. Put rice in large seving dish lay chops on top, pour on all of the gravy. Add hot biscuits, butter, local honey, sweet potatoes in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and a garden salad. For dessert set wine glasses in the refrigerator with layers of sliced strawberries and peaches covered with a sweet wine. easy to set up and make in advance which gives time to sit and talk before and after dinner.

blindhari

Ah come on! Your just looking for an excuse to do some drinkin

Hodr · « **Reply #21 on:** October 16, 2009, 08:48:59 PM »

nw_hunter,
Actually I quit drinking alcahol over 20 years ago. This does not mean I don't use alcahol in some of my cooking. Whiskey reductions for gravy, beer for batters, wine for marinades, or sweet wines to accent fresh sliced fruit. (fom a Portugeese friend)

At my age a mild low acid coffee or tea seems to be the best tasting thing around. As a matter of fact I have had gastric bypass surgery and I can't eat 90% of what I cook. That's why its such a treat in both directions, guests enjoy the food and I like the conversation before, during, and after a meal. I even do dishes!!!!

blindhari

Rustyinfla · « **Reply #22 on:** October 17, 2009, 01:03:01 AM »

I'm with Heather, when we have someone over it's usually family. The wife has three sisters, two have husbands. One has two kids, the other has three kids, and we have one. There is one of the kids who has married, the rest all have friends that show up with them. We usually have a theme such as Thanksgiving or Christmas and all the things that go with it.

I'm all over a good Paella, but I've found a shortcut. There is a company in Tampa called Vigo that makes all kinds of Cuban. Spanish food products. You can find them online if you want to see their whole product line. They have a boxed Paella dinner that is a pretty good start. It comes with a can of mixed seafood that is a good start and has a lot of flavor in it. If you use that as a springboard and add other seafood of your own liking you'll have a wonderful dinner.