Family Birthday Dinner

The last two weeks in February is basically like a second Christmas in my family because my mother, father, sister and niece all have their birthdays. I had them all up at our house last night for a celebratory dinner. Inspired by the fun fondue night we had on vacation I decided to give it a whirl myself. I figured it is pleasing to everyone (my sister being a vegetarian, it's easy to have meat and meatless dipping options) and doesn't involve a ton of cooking while your guests are there, leaving me more time to visit with my family.
I've only made chocolate fondue on my own before, so I scoured the internet for recipes. I found a very simple recipe that called for Emmenthal (a Swiss), Gruyere and cheddar cheeses. It also called for white wine, and a some flour and butter to make a rue. I know traditionally, fondues often call for Kirsch (a cherry liquor), but since I didn't have a bottle, and wasn't psyched to go spend the money for one that I probably wouldn't crack open again for years, I was happy to have a recipe without it. Other traditions with fondue include a pinch of nutmeg (which I did include) and rubbing the bottom of the pot with garlic before putting the cheese in (which I didn't do, but would try next time because I think this recipe could have used a bit more pizazz).
Having decided on my main course, I went searching for appetizer ideas. I wanted to do some fun things that were knew to my family. I found two simple, crowd-pleasing recipes in Paula Deen's Cookbook "The Lady and Sons." I highly recommend picking up a copy because she has some fantastic, easy recipes with ingredients that are not hard to come by. My first choice was spinach and feta stuffed mushrooms. The second was hot crab canape. To round off my appetizer table, I went with a (store bought) hummus and pita. This assured everyone would find something they liked (and other than a couple tablespoons of the canape, there was nothing left when my family was done).
I had never made stuffed mushrooms before. Mushrooms are not really my favorite- there is something about their spongy texture that wigs me out when I bite into them. When they are cut up and cooked down in things- like a pasta sauce, I don't mind. But they are not something I willingly put on things like pizza and salad. I tried to keep an open mind though, and knew my family would enjoy the offering. I hand-picked crimini mushrooms (also known as "baby bellos" as they are actually immature portabello mushrooms) from a bin at my favorite produce shop so that they would all be of relatively equal size. The brown crimini mushrooms have more depth of flavor than white button mushrooms. To prep the mushrooms I took the stems out, and used a small pairing knife when necessary to make sure the cavity inside the mushroom had plenty of room for stuffing. Then I wiped all the dirt off the caps with a damp paper towel. Mushrooms will soak up water like sponges if left to soak, so you don't want to do that for washing them, however, Alton Brown proved on Good Eats that a quick dunk, or a quick dash under running water doesn't give them enough time to soak up a significant amount of water, so you can go that route instead of the wet cloth wipe. The filling was super easy- a package defrosted frozen spinach, well drained, a couple ounces of cream cheese, a few ounces of feta cheese, some chopped scallions and salt and pepper. Just stuff and bake for about 15-20 minutes at 350. I have to admit, even with the texture of mushrooms not being my favorite, the filling was so delicious I couldn't resist having a couple ;)
The hot crab canape was also easy to put together. It involved a package of cream cheese, some crab meat, mayonnaise, chopped onion, horseradish and seasonings. The recipe said to bake it in a shallow baking dish, but didn't offer a size. I looked at the amount of mixture in the bowl and thought my best option would actually be a glass pie plate. The round shape wouldn't make overdone corners of dip and it was a nice shallow vessel. When it came out of the oven the top had browned just slightly and it was just started to bubble a bit on the sides. It was delicious. Paula, I salute you.
For our fondue adventure I steamed some broccoli and cauliflower, cut up two kinds of kielbasa- one turkey, one traditional beef and pork and put them in the microwave for a few seconds to warm, boiled some small red bliss and yukon gold potatoes, and cut up two loaves of crusty bread- one sourdough and one Italian. The nice thing about the dipping options is the don't have to be kept really hot, since the fondue with re-warm them a bit, which means you don't have to rush or time things perfectly. Potatoes also hold their heat for quite awhile, so you can put them out first if you need the room on your stove for others. To make the fondue, I first made a rue, then added the wine and cooked that until it was on a low boil. This gave it a chance to thicken from the rue, and also cooked off much of the alcohol. Then I slowly added the cheeses (shredded) a handful at a time and stirred until smooth. As Papa reminded me- you don't want to stir too rigorously as you can make it a bit "gluey". The result was slightly stringy, but not unwieldy and quite tasty, although I think it could have used a bit more "punch"... perhaps from some garlic next time. In any event, it makes for a very fun and social dinner with everyone gathering around the pot. Fondue may go in and out of style in the culinary world, but it will always be vogue in my house!