Beach Food

[rubychan]

I am finally taking vacation!! WOOO HOOOOO!!:D :D :D :D :D Headed to the BEACH......

Okay... I want to cook some stuff while I am there. The first part of the week Art's parents are going with us so we will go out alot, but they all (Art and Kathryn included)leave on Thursday, I am staying and my girlfriends are coming down and we are staying in one of their beach houses...
anyway there will be QUITE A FEW cocktails served...
Any good cocktail recipes and also dips, finger food... munchies. nothing heavy or too time consuming...
Any ideas?
Did this post make ANY sense??
:o
chan

[krhm]

Sounds like fun!

Here is my all-time favorite cocktail recipe. It's from Bon Appetit, Jan 2003. I make up a big pitcher ahead of time.

CABLE CARS

1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbs. sugar

1 cup ice cubes
5 tbs. spiced rum
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (IMHO, it really must be fresh)
3 tbs. orange curacao
2 orange peel twists

Bring water and sugar to a boil, and stir until dissolved. Let cool completely.

Mix cinnamon and sugar on a small plate. Rub cut lemon around rims of martini glasses, then dip in cinnamon sugar.

In a shaker, combine ice, rum, lemon juice, orange curacao, and 2 tbs. sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker. Shake until mixture is frothy, and strain into glasses. Garnish with orange peel twists!

Kari

[cangoss]

When we're at Cape Cod with extended family, these appear on our appetizer menu a couple of times a week:

HELEN'S "CRABBIES"

1 small can crab meat
1 jar Kraft Old English cheese
1 T. mayonnaise
1/2 stick butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pck. English muffins, halved

Mix all ingredients together and spread on muffin halves. Place on cookie sheet and put in freezer 1 hour; remove from freezer and cut each muffin into quarters. Bag and refreeze or, to serve: broil til golden brown and bubbly. Note: you can use canned chicken, ham, tuna or salmon in place of the crab meat. If the can of meat contains a lot of water, drain it off. If frozen, you can bake in the oven - 350°-375°, 15-20 minutes or til bubbly.

January 1999, Menu Minder ("Ask Your Neighbor")

[landk]

Sounds like a lot of fun! When I think of the beach, I think seafood. Just simple boiled shrimp...fresh shrimp, Old Bay Seasoning, lemons, mustard seeds, a can of beer and vinegar is all it takes. Boil all ingreds. (except for the shrimp) for about 10 mins. and then put the shrimp in and cook for about 3 mins. That's it!

Buy a pound of jumbo lump crabmeat, a bottle of cocktail sauce, package of cream cheese and worch. sauce. Take your crabmeat and mix with softened cream cheese & worch. and form into a ball. Pour cocktail sauce over top and serve with various crackers.

[rubychan]

yum... those all sound fabulous... i cant wait!!

any good salads out there??

[Lys]

RubyChan - in terms of salads, I had posted one on another thread - a Chinese Chicken Salad from Bobby Flay that was delicious - you could make the dressing ahead of time and mix everything there....or were you thinking more along the lines of a green salad?

in terms of munchies, I am a huge fan of the union square nuts... delish!!! oh, and tabouleh with chicken (barefoot contessa) is a great one that I have actually packed in a cooler to bring down to the beach. Have a great vacation!

[faygs]

I LOVE this recipe. The only thing is, it's best eaten right after it's dressed so make sure to pack the dressing seperately and add it right before serving.

Orzo Salad
Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

4 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 cups orzo
1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups red and yellow teardrop tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
About 3/4 cup Red Wine Vinaigrette, recipe follows
Salt and freshly ground black pepper


Pour the broth into a heavy large saucepan. Cover the pan and bring the broth to a boil over high heat. Stir in the orzo. Cover partially and cook until the orzo is tender but still firm to the bite, stirring frequently, about 7 minutes. Drain the orzo through a strainer. Transfer the orzo to a large wide bowl and toss until the orzo cools slightly. Set aside to cool completely.
Toss the orzo with the beans, tomatoes, onion, basil, mint, and enough vinaigrette to coat. Season the salad, to taste, with salt and pepper, and serve at room temperature.


1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Mix the vinegar, lemon juice, honey, salt, and pepper in a blender. With the machine running, gradually blend in the oil. Season the vinaigrette, to taste, with more salt and pepper, if desired.

Yield: 1 3/4 cups