Menu

Brisket with potato rolls and Texas Pecan-Cilantro Pesto
Cranberry Salsa
Jalapeno Bites
Cheese platter, including Baked Brie, Texas-style
Margarita Shrimp
Devilish Eggs
Assorted munchies
Texas Gingerbread with Dulce de Leche
Cointreau Sparkling Sangria
Peach Tea Punch
Soft drinks, Mexican sodas, bottled water, coffee

Baked Brie, Texas-style

2 sheets puff pastry
1 (1.1pound) round of brie
8 oz Texas peach-jalapeno jelly
1 cup chopped pecans
4 tablespoons melted butter

Place one sheet of pastry on cookie sheet. Center brie on pastry and spread jelly on the brie. Sprinkle with pecans. Place second sheet of pastry on top of brie and seal on the sides by pinching top and bottom together at edge, similar to a pie crest. Seal edges with butter. Refrigerate brie for 1 hours. Pre heat oven to 375 . Place brie in oven and bake until pastry is light brown, about 25 minutes. Allow brie to sit for 10 minutes before serving. This will help maintain the brie's shape when cut. Serve with dried fruit, crackerbreads and olives. Place additional cheeses in area for a cheese and fruit station.

Margarita Shrimp with Fruit Salsa

2 pounds frozen, cooked, peeled, tail-on shrimp
1 bottle of margarita mix, plus tequila and Triple Sec to prepare fruit salsa (recipe follows)
Margarita or coarse salt
Sliced peppers, cilantro leaves and lime slices for garnish

Allow shrimp to thaw in the refrigerator for a day. Two hours before serving, cover the shrimp with prepared margaritas. Return to refrigerator for an hour and a half. Prepare fruit salsa and refrigerate until serving time. At serving time, salt an oversized margarita glass by dipping the rim in margarita mix or water, then into margarita or coarse salt. Makes 16 servings.

Fruit salsa: Combine 1 cup strawberries, finely diced: 1 cup mango, finely diced: 1 cup kiwi, finely diced: 1 cup papaya, finely diced: ½ cup yellow pepper, finely diced: ½ cup red onion, finely diced: 2 tablespoons shopped cilantro: and ½ cup Triple Sec. Refrigerate until serving time.

Jalapeno Bites

12 large fresh jalapeños
1 8 oz package cream cheese
8 slices bacon, uncooked, cut into thirds

Preheat oven to 375 . Split jalapenos in half lengthwise; remove seeds. It's best to wear plastic gloves for this. Stuff each jalapeno half with cream cheese, wrap in bacon and secure with toothpick. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes or until bacon is crisp. Serve hot from the oven. Makes 24 servings.

To make ahead: Assemble the bites the night before, wrap tightly and refrigerate until ready to cook.

Cranberry Salsa

1 bunch green onions
1 bunch fresh cilantro
2 fresh jalapenos, seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1 lime

Combine all ingredients in food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. For best results, refrigerate overnight or at least 3 hours before serving. Serve with scoop-size corn chips or with brisket sandwiches. Makes enough for 20 to 25 small sandwiches.

Cointreau Sparkling Sangria

4 ounces Cointreau
4 ounces cognac or brandy
4 ounces white grape juice
4 sprigs fresh mint
12 strawberries, hulled and quartered
20 seedless white grapes
2 fresh or frozen peaches, pitted and cubed
1 bottle sparkling wine, chilled

Combine all ingredients except sparkling wine in pitcher and chill 2 hours. Our mixture and sparkling wine in punch bowl and add ice. Serve in champagne flutes. Makes about 20 drinks.

Note: Large blocks of ice work better in punches. Freeze water in paper coffee cups or small empty milk cartons.

Peach Tea Punch

Peach-flavored tea bags
1 quart cranberry-raspberry juice
1 pint fresh or frozen raspberries

Brew 1 quart of peach-flavored tea. In a 2 quart container, combine tea and cranberry-raspberry juice. Serve over ice in a tall glass and top with a couple of raspberries. Or, serve warm in mugs and top with a couple of raspberries. Makes 10-12 servings.

Brisket

2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 bay leaf, crushed
1 (4-ound) brisket, trimmed
1 ½ cups beef stock
Water as needed.

Preheat oven to 350 . Combine all dry ingredients and rub on both sides of brisket. Place in roasting pan and roast uncovered for one hours. Add beef stock and enough water to yield about ½ inch of liquid in the pan. Cover tightly, reduce heat to 300 and cook for 3 hours or until tender. Remove meat and let sit for 20minutes. Before carving, pour juice from the pan over brisket, then carve across the grain. Slice carved pieces into thirds for easy serving at the buffet. Makes enough for 20 to 25 small sandwiches. Serve with Texas Pecan-Cilantro Pesto, your favorite BBQ sauce and potato rolls.

Texas Pecan-Cilantro Pesto

2 cups cilantro leaves, packed
1 cup pecans
6 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons black pepper
8 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, shredded

Combine all ingredients except cheese in blender and blend well. Add cheese and stir. Can be made the night before and refrigerated. Makes 2 ½ cups.

Devilish Eggs, Two Ways

1 cup of your favorite homemade or store-bought pico de gallo, chopped fine or pulsed in the food processor until fine
12 hard-cooked eggs, cut in half
½ cup sour cream
Hot sauce to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 ½ cups guacamole
2 tablespoons of fresh red pepper, chopped fine
2 tablespoons of fresh yellow pepper, chopped fine

Drain the chopped pico for about 1 hour in the refrigerator. This will give you a dry product. Chop yolks from 6 eggs and add to pico de gallo, stir by hand. Fold sour cream into pico-egg mixture. Season to taste with hot sauce, salt and pepper. Spoon or pipe into 12 egg halves. Chop remaining 6 egg yolks, chopped and combine with guacamole. Add peppers and season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon or pipe into 12 egg halves. Makes 24 servings.

Texas Gingerbread with Dulce de Leche

5 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/3 cups butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups chopped pecans
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 ½ cups buttermilk
1 cup light molasses
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 eggs
Bottled dulce de leche
Candied pecans and confectioners' sugar for garnish (optional)

Pre heat oven to 350 . Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter, until it is about pea size, and add pecans. Press 2 ½ cups of mixture into the pan. Add remaining ingredients into remaining flour-butter mixture. Mix well. Our over crust and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a tooth-pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool, cut into squares and top with dulce de leche, candied pecans and confectioners' sugar if desired. Makes 12 servings.