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éntertain
let your
Season sizzle
If you’re dreaming of a white Christmas, then you are in the wrong part of the country. The desert southwest provides snow that lightly dusts the top of the distant mesas like powdered sugar on a layer cake. Treetops glisten just as beautifully following a light winter storm. And the rain doesn’t hinder the gleaming of colored lights strung upon the branches. You don’t need pine boughs and holly berries when the mountains themselves celebrate the season with sagebrush streaked across the Vermillion cliffs. woman
Southwest Style
H
ere in the Red Mesa country, the holidays have their own distinct flavor of cayenne and cinnamon spice. “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” carries a hint of “Feliz Navidad” and our chestnuts are roasted over a backyard chiminea. Really, who needs Frosty the Snowman when you have Gila monsters? Capitalize on the exceptional southwest climate by taking your holiday decor outside. Enliven your outdoor living space or front porch with an eclectic mix of holiday frolics and authentic finds from the Four Corner states. Start by combining a palette of southwest colors to work from such as burnt sienna, honey yellow, salsa red and warm olive. Pull in a mix of furniture made from wicker, wrought iron and wood. There is an abundance of handmade pottery in the southwest. Adding pots and tall vases to your setting gives an organic appeal as well as dimension to your outdoor space. Natural Succulents that are prolific in an arid climate can be brilliantly incorporated into floral centerpieces. Don’t forget to include pomegranates, oranges, or any other fruit, berry, or peppers authentic to the region. Set a place at your table for a bounty of southwestern good taste. Always available, fiesta-inspired dinnerware brings the desert colors and southwest designs alive in your dining area. From rustic brown pine cone sets, clay stoneware in vibrant canyon colors, or to the vibrant olé of a fiesta, let your table be a setting that is inspired by the region and the season.
So add a dash of salsa to the Thanksgiving turkey and sing your favorite Christmas carol on the golf course. Then, head back to the house for an outdoor celebration (why not start it off with a Pomegranate Margarita – with or without the alcohol). There is nothing like embracing this fresh time of year outdoors – authentic and sizzlin’ in southwest style!
Pomegranate Margaritas (Recipe found on Delish.com) Ingredients: 1 can (12-ounce) frozen limeade concentrate, thawed 2 cups water 3 1/2 cups gold tequila 2 cups pomegranate juice 1 cups triple sec 5 limes Ice cubes for serving 1 cup fresh pomegranate seeds (from 1 pomegranate)
Set Decor: Forevermore Events Design, Laura Stagg Photography: Gideon Photography, Jimmy Bishop, Accessories Provided By: Tai Pan Trading
Directions: 1. In large pitcher, combine limeade and water until well blended. Stir in tequila, pomegranate juice, and triple sec. 2. Cut each lime crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick wheels; cut a slit in each wheel, from center to edge. To serve, place ice cubes and a few pomegranate seeds in each glass; place a lime wheel on rim. Virgin Pomegranate Margaritas: Substitute 2 cups lemon-lime seltzer for tequila and triple sec. Substitute pomegranatecranberry juice for pomegranate juice. Proceed as above. Tips & Techniques Intense lime flavor comes from a budget-friendly can of concentrate. Mix and refrigerate the margaritas up to a day ahead.
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NOVEMBER thru DECEMBER 2010
Elegance Redefined
WEDDINGS - RECEPTIONS - CELEBRATIONS - HOLIDAY PARTIES - CORPORATE EVENTS
170 SOUTH MALL DRIVE - ST GEORGE, UTAH - 435-627-6900
VILLAGARDENSEVENTS.COM
Slow Down your Holiday Entertaining By Kathryn van Roosendaal Since the dawn of history, mankind has used slow cooking to get the most out of food. Cooking on low heat for hours tenderizes tough cuts of meat, softens woody root vegetables and allows spices and herbs to penetrate even the most tasteless dishes. With the invention of the electric slow cooker – the most famous of which is the Crock Pot by Rival – slow cooking a delicious meal has become even easier. It really is as easy as throwing it all in the pot and then going about your day. Little do most people know, but the slow cooker is good for more than pot roast and stew. Dips, sauces and even beverages can be slow cooked as well, opening up a world of possibilities during the busy holiday season. Imagine throwing the ingredients for chocolate sauce or meatballs in a Crock Pot then forgetting about it while you finish with the decorations. Then you bring out the finished product – still in the pot, no less – and your guests get fresh dip that stays hot as long as you need it to. No muss, no fuss. Only a little planning is needed to do your whole party using slow cookers. Pick out your recipes, figure out how long each needs to cook, and then get the ingredients together. Most party foods take 1 to 3 hours in a slow cooker, leaving you plenty of time to decorate, freshen up and enjoy the day instead of slaving in a hot kitchen.
Taco Meatballs Tacos aren’t exactly finger food, but these delicious meatballs can be. These combine all the favorite taco flavors into tiny morsels that can be popped into the mouth with no muss and no fuss. Ingredients: 3 pounds frozen cooked meatballs (I love the Kirkland brand from Costco) 1 16-ounce can tomato sauce 1 package taco seasoning 1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup Method: Thaw the meatballs overnight in the fridge. Combine the sauce ingredients in a 4-quart slow cooker. Stir well. Add the meatballs and stir to coat. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours or until heated through. To serve, simply provide small plates or napkins and toothpicks. You can make it extra fancy by topping with fresh chopped tomatoes and/or bell peppers.
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NOVEMBER thru DECEMBER 2010
Spicy Queso Dip
Nothing says Southwest like a spicy cheese dip served with tortilla chips. This one is extremely easy to make. You can make it spicier or milder by using different types of chili peppers. Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 4-ounce cans chopped chili peppers 1 14-ounce can Mexican style stewed tomatoes 1 pound sharp American cheese, shredded or cubed Method: Heat the oil in a medium skillet. SautĂŠ the onion until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the chili peppers and tomatoes with the liquid and bring to a boil. Pour into a 2-quart slow cooker. Add the cheese and stir until the cheese is mostly melted. Cook on low for 2 hours, stirring a couple times to ensure the cheese is mixed in completely. Serve hot with tortilla chips.
Southwest Chocolate Sauce
Mexican chocolate is less sweet than American chocolate and the sauces made from it are spicy. This is a milder version to please American taste buds but it still has the Mexican spice, making it a Southwest original. Ingredients: 24 ounces dark chocolate chips 1 1/4 cups evaporated milk 1/4 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon dash of Cayenne pepper, or to taste 1 1/2 tablespoons Kahlua, optional Method: Place all ingredients in a 2-quart slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes or until the chocolate is melted. Stir well, cover and cook on low for 1 hour more. Serve with cut fruit, pound cake squares, marshmallows and shortbread cookies.
Since relocating from Los Angeles almost a decade ago, Kathryn has embraced the Southwest lifesyle with vigor - the landscape, the art and, most of all, the food.
woman
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A Wintry Cup
Warm Drinks for the Holidays By Xania Woodman One wintry night during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, I happened upon a posh party at the Stein Eriksen Lodge. I was half frozen from walking the wintry streets so, not wanting to partake of anything served on the rocks or chilled, I was overjoyed to discover a delicious warm holiday punch made with Hendrick’s Gin and served from a crock pot. What a treat, I thought, and what a welcome break from the ubiquitous coffee, tea and hot cocoa! You don’t have to be a resident of the cold, dark north to enjoy a hot toddy or a steaming cup of wassail on a wintry night. Even in warmer climes the temps can still drop below freezing at night, making a chilled drink unwelcome. So if eggnog and cocktails leave you cold during holiday gatherings, consider firing up the crock pot for seasonal drinks sure to warm hands as well as hearts.
Hendrick’s Hot Gin Punch English Wassail Recipe from The Big Slice, Holiday Baking Party. “Here we come a-wassailing...” goes the song. What exactly does that mean? Wassail is a fairly stiff brew that made the holidays all the more festive for Merry Old England. Carolers soon found out that if they went door to door singing they were often invited in for a cup of hot wassail. So the meaning gradually changed from caroling, simply singing for its own reward, to wassailing, singing in anticipation of a nice shot. Ingredients: 10 very small apples 1 large orange stuck with whole cloves 10 teaspoons brown sugar 2 bottles dry red wine OR cranberry juice for a non-alcoholic version 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1 teaspoon ground ginger 3 cloves 3 allspice berries 2 or 3 cinnamon sticks 2 cups extra fine sugar 12 to 20 pints of apple cider according to the number of guests 1 cup brandy, omit for non-alcoholic wassail.
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Adapted from the original 1850 recipe found in the book Drinking with Dickens by Charles Dickens’ great-grandson Cedric Dickens and lent to us by the fine folks at Hendrick’s gin; this recipe is inspired by Charles Dickens’ own gin punch recipe. According to Hendrick’s, it is the etiquette to quote while pouring the first cup: “Punch, my dear Copperfield, like time and tide, waits for no man,” David Copperfield, 1850. Ingredients: 3 brimming teacups of Hendrick’s gin 3 teacups of Madeira wine 3 cloves Pinch of grated nutmeg Large teaspoon of cinnamon powder 2 teaspoons of brown sugar 6 large lemon and orange twists Small slice of orange 1 fresh pineapple 4 large spoons of honey Juice of 2 lemons
Method: Core the apples and fill each with a teaspoon of brown sugar. Place in a baking pan and cover the bottom with 1/8-inch of water. Insert cloves into the orange about 1/2-inch apart. Bake the orange with the apples in a 350-degree F oven. After about 30 minutes, remove the orange and puncture it in several places with a fork or an ice pick. Combine the red wine, cider, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, allspice berries, cinnamon, sugar, and water in a large, heavy saucepan or crock pot and heat slowly without letting the mixture come to a boil. Simmer on very low heat for 15 minutes. Strain the wine mixture and add the brandy, if using. Pour into a large crock pot to keep it warm and float the apples and orange on top. Serves 15 to 20 people.
Method: Mix all ingredients in a pot. Warm but not quite until ebullition (boiling). Let your concoction cook without boiling for 20 minutes to a half hour. While it cooks the taste will change, make it to your own taste balancing the sweet/sour balance with honey and lemon. You can also re-warm the mix, sometimes the punch will get better and better as you cook it more. When you think it is ready, pour in a teapot and serve hot in tea cups with gingerbread on the side. Serves 6.
More recipes at www.abigslice.com
More recipes at HendricksGin.com. NOVEMBER thru DECEMBER 2010
Gift
Cert ificates Available
Mulled Wine
By Bobby “G” Gleason, Master Mixologist at Beam Global Spirits & Wine. “Mulled wines have been around for a long, long time,” says Gleason. “This is my version that I created for the holiday cocktail season. Mulled wine traces its roots back to Hippocrates during Medieval times. Many cultures drank it and it has had many names and variations.” Ingredients: 1 bottle quality red zinfandel wine 1 ½ ounce Courvoisier Exclusive 1 ½ ounce Harvey’s Orange 1 ½ ounce agave nectar The peel and juice of one fresh orange 1 cinnamon stick 10 to 12 whole cloves 2 whole star anise 8 to 12 whole allspice 1 piece crystallized ginger Method: Place whole spices into a tea bag or secure inside a coffee filter. Place this in a sauce pan with wine, cognac, Harvey’s, and agave nectar. Add the orange peel (you can “stud” the peel with the cloves) and juice, then bring to a simmer. Transfer to a crock pot to keep warm. Serve in heat-proof glasses with a lemon twist. Serves 8. More recipes at Courvoisier.com.
woman
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Mayan Winter
By Andrew Pollard, Vice President of the Nevada Chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild. “This cocktail is warm and comforting on all levels,” says Pollard, “from the warm cocoa blend to the Aztec spice brought in by the cayenne powder.” At the time of print, the Mayan Winter was entered into the finals of the Gran Gala Shakedown cocktail competition. Adds Pollard, “This is one worth writing home about.” Base Ingredients: 2 ounces Gran Gala Triple Orange Liqueur OR for a non-alcoholic treat that’s just as sweet, leave out the Gran Gala and Amaro and add a dash of Monin orange flavored syrup 4 ounces half and half ½ ounce Amaro Meletti (available at DrinkUpNewYork.com) 2 tablespoons Godiva dark chocolate cocoa powder 2 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters Pinch cayenne powder Garnishes: Orange Cardamom foam* 1 whole orange for zest Small bowl of cinnamon-sugar 3 green cardamom pods Special utensils: Brulee torch Method: In a crock pot, bring half and half to a simmer. Stir in cocoa powder and cayenne until dissolved. Add the Gran Gala, Meletti and Angostura bitters. Stir for one minute over high heat. To serve, pour mixture into a coffee cup and top with the cinnamon-crusted orange-cardamom foam (recipe below). Grate fresh orange zest on top and finish with three green cardamom pods. Serves one.
Cardamom Syrup In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of distilled water to a boil. Add 1 cup sugar and stir until dissolved. Add in 1/2 cup cracked green cardamom pods and steep on low for 1 hour. Strain the syrup and chill until ready for use. More recipes at GranGala.com.
*Orange Cardamom Foam Ingredients: 2 ounces Gran Gala 2 ounces cardamom syrup (recipe below) 2 ounces half and half 6 ounces egg whites Method: Combine ingredients in the canister of a dessert whipper. Charge the dispenser with a CO2 cartridge and chill until ready for use. To garnish the hot chocolate, shake the canister right-side-up vigorously before use. Pull the trigger very slowly as the contents are under high pressure. Dispense a thick layer of whipped topping on the drink, then dust with a spoonful of cinnamon-sugar and caramelize to a nice brown with the brulee torch. Makes one canister, about 15 to 20 servings.
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Xania Woodman is originally from New York, and is an impassioned nightlife and beverage writer, and all-around career carouser.
NOVEMBER thru DECEMBER 2010