Easiest, Lightest Dinner Party Dessert

I hate having to make desserts for dinner parties, not because it's not the crowning moment of the evening, but because by the time dessert comes out, everyone is always too full, too tired, or even too drunk! I think I solved the puzzle with the below churro recipe. It takes 5 minutes of prep and it's so simple.

I pair this with a spicy salted chocolate dip. A hit every time!

Ingredients (Churros): 

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
1 stick butter
1 cup each cinnamon and sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the puff pastry in half width-wise and then into about 4 inch long rectangles. ( I ended up with about 20 per pastry sheet).

Lay the cut pastry on parchment paper and bake for 12 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown.

Remove from the oven and immediately roll each pastry in the cmelted butter and then cinnamon sugar mixture.

Ingredients (Spicy Salted Chocolate Sauce)

12 ounces good quality milk chocolate
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tsp sea salt (to start)
Generous pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:

Heat the chocolate in a heavy-bottomed pan until melted. Add the cream and stir until very smooth.

To the chocolate mixture, add the salt and cayenne to taste. I always end up adding a lot of salt, which people like because they don't expect it, but be very sure to add it slowly and taste as you go along so you don't make it too salty or spicy!

A Very Non-Valentine's Dinner

Boyfriend and I aren't Valentine's Day fans. At all. So when we realized we had scheduled a dinner party for "Valentine's Weekend," we weren't all that upset.

I thought about making a more intimate dinner for the four of us (steak, potatoes, the works), but I gave up red wine for Lent (I KNOW. Don't say it) and our guest gave up chocolate! So, I settled on something totally not associated with the big day- shrimp creole!

I've been meaning to make this for years now and since boyfriend and his friend got back from New Orleans fairly recently, I figured they'd be good judges. Most of the recipes I looked at were super time intensive and complicated, so I adapted this one from skinnytaste. I served it over white rice (cooked in chicken broth and garlic to give more flavor) with really crusty bread on the side.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup plus 1T olive oil (divided)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 7 cloves of garlic, minced, divided
• 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• red pepper flakes to taste (I totally overdid it)
• 1/4 tsp Cajun Seasoning
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tbsp of all purpose flour (1 tsp corn starch for gluten-free)
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 lb of large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tsp hot sauce, to taste
• Scallion and pasley for garnish
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

First, peel and devein your shrimp (if not done already). Then, combine olive oil (about a quarter cup) and 5 chopped garlic cloves in a large Ziploc bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for ~3 hours.

While shrimp is marinating, you can make the tomato base. Heat the tablespoon of olive oil and add the garlic and onion. Once that's fragrant and the onions are turning clearer, add the green bell pepper, garlic and celery and saute until tender. Next, add the tomatoes and tomato sauce, spices, bay leaf and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for about 40 minutes.


While the tomato base is simmering, take the shrimp out of the bag and dump onto a large baking tray. Cook at 350-375 for about 6 minutes until opaque and no longer pink. Season with a bit of Cajun seasoning when they are hot out of the oven and set aside.

When the tomato base has simmered, combine the flour and water in a small bowl, and then dump into the tomato mixture. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce; stir together.



Add the shrimp to the dish and adjust seasonings to taste. Top with parsley and sliced scallions.


The evening was complete with Irish coffees with homemade whipped cream-- complements of B, who had never made it before! Look how proud this girl is!