October Dinner Party

Blackened Shrimp with Charbroiled Tomatillo Sauce (from Medizona in Scottsdale, AZ- p. 175) and Mango Olive Salsa (from Medizona in Scottsdale, AZ- p. 210)



These were really delicious. The spice blend on the shrimp was really flavorful and the tomatillo sauce had great flavor too. While I do not like olives, I have to say that they actually tasted really good in the mango- olive salsa. A great appetizer.

Gypsy Stew (from The Pink Adobe in Santa Fe, NM- p. 99)



For this soup, I simmered a whole chicken with onion and garlic, then de-boned and skinned it, chopped it and put it back in the broth. Then tomatoes, roasted green chilies and some spices were added and simmered a little more. Then the soup was ladled over a big hunk of Monterey Jack cheese, which melted and made the soup extra yummy- because you can never go wrong with a big hunk of melted cheese!

Pink Adobe Steak Dunigan (from The Pink Adobe in Santa Fe, NM- p. 144)
Baked Spinach Gnocchi Verde with Alfredo Sauce (from The Rose Restaurant in Prescott, AZ- p. 187)
Roasted Garlic Flan with Warm Pumpkin Salsa (from Moasic in Scottsdale, AZ- p. 185)



Grilled steak is always good, but this was topped with mushrooms sautéed in butter and a green chile sauce. I was not that impressed with the green chili sauce- it was more chunky than saucy and not that flavorful, but with the mushrooms and steak it was good. And again, I do love a good steak!
The “gnocchi” were good, but not true gnocchi (a potato based dumpling), because they were made mostly with ricotta cheese, mixed with sautéed fresh spinach, which was really the main flavor in the gnocchi. The alfredo sauce was made by reducing brandy (never had alfredo with brandy), adding cream and then thickening with cornstarch. The recipe called for entirely too much cornstarch, and it got pretty solid. If I’d had more cream I would have thinned it back out and I think it would have been fine.
The garlic flan was really good- a baked mixture of pureed roasted garlic, cream and eggs- how can you not like it? And the salsa was fresh pumpkin, apples and onions sautéed with a bit of brown sugar to make it sweet. This was a really good and interesting side dish.

Caramel Pecan Cheesecake (from Rocking V café in Kanab, UT- p.220)



Mmmmmmmmmmmmm… Cheesecake… This was fabulous. The crust was thick and crunchy and buttery, and the filling was the perfect density. Topped with caramel and pecans, it was amazing!