Janet puts together a delicious spread for her Friday night Book Club including flavorful Moroccan Chicken Skewers with Herb Sauce that feature paprika, ginger and cumin. Her Mediterranean Spiced Cucumber Medallions prove to be a truly refreshing treat. Decadent Five Spice Carrot Cupcakes with Ginger Frosting impresses the group, and simple Vanilla Bean Sugar Cubes add the perfect flavor to a fresh cup of coffee.
Portable food that's delicious, healthy, fun and easy to make. That's what’s on Ellie's menu as she cooks up a fabulous Lime, Peanut and Noodle Salad to take to work. Back home she's cooking an indoor picnic of Crispy Chicken Fingers with Honey Mustard Sauce, Crunchy Green Apple and Carrot Salad and Chocolate Dipped Strawberries on a fruit skewer to share with her daughter and some friends. It's anytime, anywhere, any generation food.
Invite your friends over for appetizers that are really dinner! Instead of 2 larger dishes, we’ve got 4 small dishes with all the intense flavors you love, plus an easy dessert to just pop in your mouth. We're breaking all the rules today with this easy sit down meal.
Gameplan
2 Days Before Party
Scoop out individual balls of ice cream for Creamy Orange Bon Bons.
Melt chocolate to coat Creamy Orange Bon Bons.
Chop vegetables, combine with tomatoes and lemon juice for Gazpacho.
Coat re-frozen ice cream scoops in powdered orange, coat in melted chocolate, and re-freeze for Creamy Orange Bon-Bons.
1 Day Before Party
Coat and braise artichokes and place in oven for Roasted Artichoke Pesto on Crostini.
Saute shrimp, halibut and clams on the stovetop to combine in the Gazpacho.
Leave mixture on oven on stovetop to reduced.
Coat and refrigerate goat cheese rounds to top tomatoes for Grilled Goat cheese on Tomato Rounds.
Puree and refrigerate Roasted Artichoke Pesto.
1 Hour Before Party
Combine blue cheese and cream with other ingredients, and begin to reduce for Blue Cheese Fondue.
Skewer and marinate skirt steak for Pesto Marinated Skirt Steak Skewers with Blue Cheese Fondue.
Remove Fondue from heat. Reheat right before guests arrive.
Grill Pesto Marinated Skirt Steak Skewers.
Saute Goat Cheese Rounds for Tomato Steak, place on tomato slice, top with herb salad.
Mix seafood and popcorn with gazpacho and serve.
Eat and Enjoy!
Are you ready for some chips, dips and a hearty meal that will score with your friends? It's easy. Bring your team spirit and your appetites; we're watching the big game from the back of the pickup!
Gameplan
Day Before Game:
Mix and refrigerate Spiedini sausage
Coat and caramelize meat for the Chiarello Chocolate Chili con Carne
Mix and stew broth for chili, recombine it with the meat, simmer for 1 and 1/2 hours
Strain and add black beans and chocolate to chili, simmer, cool and refrigerate
Day of Game:
Pop popcorn for both flavored popcorn
Coat and mix Basil-Parmesan Flavored Popcorn
Coat and mix Chocolate-Orange Flavored Popcorn
Mold Spiedini sausage onto soaked skewers, wrap in foil to ready for grill
Grill Avocados, mash and mix Rockamole
Heat up chili on stove, transfer to pot, that is portable, to get to party
Pack up foods and popcorns to go to party
At Game:
Grill Skewers on BBQ
Heat up chili in pot on grill
Wine Recommendation
Garguilo Vineyard Pinot Grigio; beer
It's all about cocktails and canapés with Mary McCartney's good friend, the one and only broadcasting maven, entrepreneur and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey. They're getting together for a fabulous cook-along, mixing up a new cocktail called a Bright Spirit (invented by Mary and named by Oprah!) and making history with Oprah's first-ever homemade dip, the incredible Bloody Mary Dip with Focaccia Skewers. But before that, Mary shares three stunning party-worthy hors d'oeuvres: beautiful Beet and Carrot Blinis that are guaranteed to impress, stunning Teriyaki Sesame Tofu Bites that are completely irresistible and Baklava Phyllo Cups for something sweet. There's cooking, dancing and incredible fun, so let the party begin.
Jeff Corwin makes his way back to beautiful Greece, where he spent time as a graduate student. On the island of Crete, Jeff power milks dozens of sheep in minutes and churns the results into a toulomotyrion, a soft cheese fermented in a goat’s stomach. The ultimate “guest” meal on Crete is slimy snails, so Jeff hunts them and slurps them down. He then goes underwater in a quest for octopus and the tasty roe of the spiny sea urchin. Catch in hand and with nerves of steel, he cooks up Kakavia, a fisherman’s stew with the dangerous “scorpion fish.” In the Peloponnesus, things heat up as Jeff skewers a whole lamb for the spit, complete with organs wrapped in intestines, called Kokoretsi, as an appetizer.
George heads to the Far East, and returns with some low-carb inspiration. Teriyaki sesame chicken skewers, Szechuan vegetable stir fry with kim chi, bok choy and sliced bamboo shoots, a simple ginger salad with iceberg lettuce, and a Shrimp Egg Foo Young dish top his menu. Forget ordering in, start cooking!
Top 5 Tips
1. Sesame oil is a heart-healthy alternative when you want to add a nutty flavor to your dishes.
2. Since milk should be avoided on a low carb diet, eat veggies like bok choy and spinach. They’re high in calcium, so your daily intake won't suffer.
3. Sesame seeds have zero carbs and are full of fiber. Use them to coat fish as an alternative to bread crumbs.
4. Vegetable choices don't need to be limited to your everyday staples. When cooking low carb Asian cuisine, bamboo shoots, kimchee, straw mushrooms and bean sprouts are great alternatives.
5. Cook with canola oil when you want the flavor of the food to shine. Canola oil is healthy, like olive and sesame oils, without the strong flavor.
Hosting a surprise party shouldn't stress you out. We'll show you how to make an easy get together that your guest of honor will never see coming.
Gameplan
Day Before Party:
Assemble, mix and refrigerate Blue Cheese Caesar Dressing for salad.
Mix topping for Strawberry, Rhubarb and Banana Crostata, refrigerate.
2 Hours Before Party:
Blind bake tartlet shells for the Caprese Tartlets.
Mix, whisk and refrigerate Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette for Shrimp Spiedini.
Slice tomato and mozzarella for the Caprese Tartlets.
Assemble and then bake the Caprese Tartlets.
1 Hour Before Party:
Chop and mix filling for Strawberry, Rhubarb, and Banana Crostata, place in baking dish, sprinkle with topping. Set aside till ready to bake.
Wash then shred the salad greens, toss with Blue Cheese Caesar dressing and place in Romaine leaves for serving.
Wrap, skewer and grill shrimp for Shrimp Spiedini. Top with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette.
At the party:
Place the Strawberry, Rhubarb and Banana Crostata in the oven to bake.
Eat and Enjoy!
Chef George Stella invites his family and friends over for a dinner party that no one would ever suspect was low carb! He starts off the meal with one of his personal favorites – teriyaki sesame chicken skewers served outside a hollowed out melon half filled with melon balls. Next he prepares fresh Key West crab cakes (without using breadcrumbs) and a mustard dipping sauce; grilled Jamaican jerk pork loin cooked to perfection with a light summer squash salsa; and a healthy dessert –a gratin of fresh berries with a little sour cream. No sooner do the guests arrive than they all dig in to taste the fruits of George’s creations.
Top 5 Tips
1. Watch out for mayonnaise that is labeled "light," as it may contain more sugar than regular, full-fat mayo.
2. When cooking with crab, splurge for the real thing. Many imitation crabmeats contain added sugars.
3. Baking powder, along with eggs, will act as a binder in place of the usual carb-heavy breadcrumbs.
4. Pork is an excellent carb-conscious option. It is low in fat, has zero carbs, and usually costs less than beef.
5. Cantaloupe is a good fruit choice for the low carb dieter. Contrary to popular belief, George says that many fruits are acceptable on a low carb diet, but limit your intake.