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Making Party Food with Clay Bakers
If you've been cooking with clay pots lately, and want to try your hand at preparing a larger meal using clay bakers, why not try a couple of clay pot recipes to serve at your next party? While you may have used clay bakers to prepare small to medium-sized meals for your family, you can make meals for large crowds using clay bakers that your guests will be talking about for years to come.
For starters, try a few appetizers in your clay pot. Chips and dip and finger foods are popular appetizer foods for parties and get-togethers, and making these dishes in your clay pot can help to reserve the flavors and seasonings. You can even make extra appetizers to serve as side dishes with the main course (especially if your guests are responding favorably). Here are some recipes for spinach dip, avocado dip, stuffed mushrooms, and roasted garlic that you can serve at any party, no matter what the size.
Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
24 large mushrooms, stems cut off at based and reserved
½ cup butter, divided
½ cup minced onion
¼ cup minced shallots
½ cup cream sherry
¾ cup breadcrumbs
½ cup minced fresh parsley
½ teaspoon dried tarragon
½ cup cream
salt and pepper
2 cups grated cheese (Swiss, Gruyere and/or Jarlsberg)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Directions
Before using, place both pot and cover in water in a clean sink for 15 minutes. Drain. Finely chop mushroom stems and reserve for later. In a skillet, melt ½ of the butter and sauté onion and shallots until soft. Add chopped mushroom stems and cook for several minutes until excess moisture is cooked away. Add sherry, breadcrumbs, parsley, tarragon, cream, salt, pepper and 1 cup of the grated cheese. Stir gently to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning. Fill mushrooms, mounding in the center, and place in drained clay pot. Sprinkle tops with remaining cheese. Place remaining butter and lemon juice in clay pot. Cover, place in a cold oven and set temperature to 425° F. Bake for 20 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Serve warm.
Hot Mexican Spinach Dip
Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) jar salsa
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, diced and softened
1 cup evaporated milk
1 (2.25 ounce) can chopped black olives, drained
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a medium baking dish, mix together salsa, chopped spinach, Monterey Jack cheese, cream cheese, evaporated milk, black olives, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Bake mixture in the preheated oven 12 to 15 minutes, or until bubbly.
Roasted Garlic
Ingredients
Nature's Oven Garlic Baker (if using larger clay pot, you can roast more than 1 head)
1 medium to large head of garlic
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
baguette or Italian Bread
Directions
Soak the entire garlic (or small) clay pot in water for 10-15 minutes before using. Cut the top off the garlic head so that the individual cloves are exposed. Brush the garlic head with olive oil and salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Place garlic head into the bottom of the clay baker, cover and place in a cold oven. Set oven to 350° F. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
To serve, simply remove individual cloves with a knife and spread on bread with butter if desired.
Avocado Dip
One 8 oz pkg. cream cheese, softened
2 med avocados, peeled, mashed
1 tbs finely chopped onion
1/2 tsp salt
Few drops Worcestershire sauce
Corn or tortilla chips
Directions
Combine cream cheese and avocados, mixing until well blended. Stir in lemon juice, onions, salt and Worcestershire sauce. Serve with chips. To serve warm, place dip in clay pot and top with shredded cheese and bake for about 10 or fifteen minutes. Makes 2 cups
If you're having a tapas-style party, these appetizers may suffice, as you may not want to try too many meals in your clay pot if it's your first time preparing for a large group. However, everyone always has room for dessert, so you may want to try to make a few sweet treats in your clay pot to send everyone off happy. Here are some recipes you may want to try:
Rompertopf Baked Apples
Ingredients
6 medium apples
butter
sugar
cinnamon
raisins
finely chopped pecans
½ cup of white wine
1 tablespoon of rum or rum flavoring
Directions
Before using, place both pot and cover in water in a clean sink for 15 minutes. Drain. Wash and core the apples. Seal the bottom hole with butter. Fill the cavities with raisins, pecans, sugar and cinnamon. Top each apple with a small pat of butter and place them in the pot. Pour wine and rum into pot over apples. Cover the pot and place in a cold oven. Bake at 425° F for about 30 minutes or until tender. Serve with the delicious juices while still warm.
Moist Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Ingredients
3 small ripe bananas or 2 large ripe bananas
4 large tablespoons sour cream
1 white cake mix
3 egg whites
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/3 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla flavoring Frosting
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 stick butter
1/3 c. nuts of your choice
1 box of powdered sugar (4 cups)
1 tsp vanilla flavoring
Directions
Blend bananas with mixer, adding your sour cream. When mixture is well blended, not lumpy, add your cake mix, egg whites, oil, milk, flavoring together and mix. Add milk last so you will be able to judge the consistency of the cake and adjust as needed. Once will blended, pour the mixture into a greased or sprayed 9x13 cake pan or 3 cake layers. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until cake is done. The cake will spring back to the center when touched if done. Remove cake from oven and allow cake to cool. Use wax paper over cakes to capture and retain moisture while cooling.
For frosting, mix cream cheese and butter together in a bowl. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix to desired consistency. If you like creamier frosting, you can add a little milk to the mixture. Then, add walnuts to icing, and frost each layer after the cakes have cooled.
Check out RomertopfOnline.com for more clay cooking ideas and recipes. |
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