Golden Globe Party

On Sunday, we hosted a gathering with my sister to watch the Golden Globes. I thought I’d share some pictures of the decorations (All the decorations, I get from Party City, who have two great Hollywood themes :)) and food (with recipes).

The Food

Wild Rice, Feta and Grape Salad

This salad was the hit of the night! It was especially impressive that it was liked so much as it was a complete improvisation, no recipe here. It was inspired by a salad I had at Miraval, but for which I could not find a recipe, even in the Miraval cookbook. I only remembered it had feta, rice and grapes, and we took that and ran with it.

Recipe:

Wild Rice
White Rice
Grapes, cut in fours and seeded
Feta Cheese
Marinated Cooked Chicken

The salad is pretty simple. Cook both rices (note that wild rice takes a while to cook!). Mix the cooked rices, grapes and feta together, until you like the mix. No exact science here – just to your taste. Marinate the chicken in some salt, pepper and your favorite spices. Cook it and cut in pieces and add it to the salad.

The dressing presents various options. You can go simple and just dress it with olive oil. We did a more involved vinaigrette, which was just a result of seeing what we had in the pantry that inspired us. We made a vinaigrette with olive oil, an anchovy, mint, feta and the liquid from a canned greek appetizer (of olives and feta cheese).

Green Goddess Dip & Smoked Salmon Dip

Green Goddess: Another recipe from myrecipes.com

2 cups trimmed watercress (about 2 bunches)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup canola mayonnaise
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, and pulse 8 to 10 times or until just combined. Scrape the mixture into a bowl or serving dish. Cover and chill for 8 hours or overnight.

Salmon Dip

1 (8-ounce) tub light cream cheese $
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 ounces smoked salmon, chopped, divided
Dill sprigs (optional)

Combine first 3 ingredients in a food processor. Add half of salmon; process until smooth. Fold in remaining half of salmon. Garnish with dill sprigs, if desired.

Avocado and Feta Dip – this recipe is from my Christmas Dinner

Peach Salsa – this goes great with warmed Brie, it gives it a good contrast

2 cups chopped peeled peaches
3/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Dash of ground red pepper

Combine all ingredients and serve.

Potato, Egg, Pea & Salmon Salad

This salad was based on a salad from Ottolenghi’s Plenty, which I will copy below. We did the salad with a couple of changes:

I used Sabanera potato as I couldn’t find New Potato here in Colombia
To make it a heartier salad I wanted to add a protein. I decided to add Olive Oil Poached Salmon, which also gave it nice color.
I did not use pine nuts, as getting them is ridiculously expensive, and I didn’t feel they would be missed.
I added more peas than in the recipe, and used canned petit pois.

Royal Potato Salad

12 quail eggs
1¾ pounds small yellow new potatoes, scrubbed
1 cup loosely packed basil leaves
½ cup flat-leaf parsley leaves, plus chopped parsley for garnish
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
⅓ cup pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup frozen peas, blanched
⅓ cup mint leaves, thinly sliced
½ teaspoon white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a medium saucepan, cover the quail eggs with cold water. Bring the water to a boil and simmer the eggs for 3 minutes for hard-boiled eggs (or about 30 seconds for soft-boiled eggs). Run the eggs under cold water until cool, then peel and set aside.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil and cook the potatoes until they are soft but not falling apart, about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a blender or food processor, combine the basil with the parsley, Parmesan, pine nuts and garlic and blend until combined. Add the olive oil and pulse until a runny pesto forms. Transfer the pesto to a large bowl.
Drain the potatoes and cut them in half as soon as they’re cool enough to touch. (They will absorb more flavor when they’re hot.) Toss the potatoes with the pesto, peas, mint and vinegar until combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cut the eggs in half and gently fold them into the salad. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately or at room temperature.

Avocado and Strawberry Salsa

2 teaspoons canola oil
6 (6-inch) whole-wheat flour tortillas
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups finely chopped peeled ripe avocado (about 2)
1 cup finely chopped strawberries
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon minced seeded jalapeño pepper
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
3/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare chips, brush oil evenly over one side of each tortilla. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over oil-coated sides of tortillas. Cut each tortilla into 12 wedges; arrange wedges in a single layer on two baking sheets. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes or until crisp.
Combine avocado and remaining ingredients; stir gently to combine. Serve with chips.

Prosciutto, Peach & Arugula Bites

This recipe is from Myrecipes.com.

4 cups lightly packed trimmed arugula
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 (1/2-ounce) slices prosciutto, each cut in half lengthwise
3 nectarines, each cut into 8 wedges (about 3/4 pound)

Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl; toss gently to combine. Arrange 3 or 4 arugula leaves at 1 end of 1 prosciutto strip. Place 1 nectarine wedge on top of arugula; roll up. Place bundle, seam side down, on a serving plate. Repeat procedure with remaining arugula, prosciutto, and nectarines.

The Desserts