The casual style of summer means that occasions for entertaining can pop up as quickly as dandelions, creating a need to feed a horde of hungry guests in a hurry. Here are some ideas from leading food manufacturers to help you through the remaining summer entertaining opportunities.
Read on to find recipes for biscuits, a salad, a fresh-baked chocolate crescent dessert and four varieties of ribs.
For brunches and breakfasts, nothing beats good old-fashioned biscuits. Martha White Foods, which was founded in 1899, provides its favorite recipe for "Hot Rize" Biscuits.
Martha White "Hot Rize" Biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cups self-rising flour
1/4 cup solid shortening
3/4 cup milk
Preparation:
Heat oven to 450 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet. Place flour in a large bowl. With pastry blender, fork or fingers, cut in the shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Add the milk and stir with fork until soft dough forms and mixture begins to pull away from sides of bowl. On lightly floured surface, knead dough just until smooth. Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness.
Cut with floured two-inch round cutter. Place biscuits on greased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.
Variation: For buttermilk biscuits, substitute 7/8 cup buttermilk for milk and add 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to flour.
Yield: 14 biscuits
Biscuit Bites
- Martha White, based in Nashville, Tenn., trademarked the phrase "Hot Rize" in 1953 to promote the benefits and convenience of its self-rising products to Southerners who baked biscuits daily.
- If you don't have self-rising flour on hand, you can get the results you want by adding 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to each cup of all-purpose flour. Mix well with a fork.
- Those who have never made scratch biscuits will be surprised at how easy they are to make. Even cooks who used to make their own but have since fallen into the habit of using canned biscuits, will appreciate the mouth-watering taste of these fresh hot biscuits.
- These biscuits are wonderful served under a load of sausage gravy, or as a flaky accompaniment to an old-fashioned farmhouse breakfast of eggs and bacon, sausage or ham.
- They are equally good served with butter, jam or honey, alongside a light breakfast of mixed fruit. They also can be split and topped with strawberries and whipped cream or milk for individual strawberry shortcakes.
Another fresh-baked breakfast treat comes from the folks at Fleischmann's Yeast, who suggest Chocolate, Chocolate Crescents. These homemade crescents include a double-dose of chocolate, with melted chocolate used in both the pastry dough and the filling.
As a bonus, children will happily get involved with filling and rolling the crescents. Plus, the aroma of fresh-baked yeast-risen rolls and chocolate is sure to draw a crowd.
Chocolate, Chocolate Crescents
Ingredients:
3-1/4 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1-1/4 cups sugar, divided
1 pkg. rapid-rise yeast
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter or margarine, divided
1 square (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate
1 square (1 oz.) semisweet chocolate
2 large eggs
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
powdered sugar for dusting
Preparation:
In a large bowl, combine one cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar, undissolved yeast and salt.
In a saucepan, combine milk, water, 1/4 cup butter or margarine and both squares of chocolate. Heat over medium-low heat until the chocolate melts and the temperature reaches 120 to 130 degrees.
Stir milk mixture into dry ingredients. Beat for two minutes at medium speed with an electric mixer, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add one egg and 1/2 cup flour and beat two more minutes at high speed. Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough.
Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about eight to 10 minutes. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the chocolate filling. In a small bowl, combine remaining cup of sugar, cocoa powder and three tablespoons flour. With fork or pastry blender, cut in remaining 1/4 cup butter and blend well. Stir in remaining egg and the pecans. Stir well.
Divide dough into 12 pieces. Roll each piece into an 8- by 4-inch oval. Spread chocolate filling evenly over each oval. Beginning at the short end, roll up tightly. Pinch seams to seal.
Place rolls, seam side down, on heavily greased baking sheets. With a sharp knife, make five slits on top of each roll, cutting halfway through. Curve ends to form crescents. Cover and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about one hour.
Bake at 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until done. Remove from sheet and cool on wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar.
Yield: 12 crescents
Athenos Mediterranean Foods, makers of feta cheese and humus, have a recipe for a spinach salad featuring grilled Portobello mushrooms and crumbled feta cheese. This white and crumbly semi-soft cheese is the current culinary darling, and with good reason. It adds wonderful texture and flavor to salads, pastas and pizzas.
Grilled Portobello Salad with Feta
Ingredients:
1 cup Italian salad dressing, divided
1 lb. Portobello mushrooms
one 8-oz. pkg. feta cheese, crumbled
one 10-oz. pkg. torn spinach
3 plum tomatoes, sliced
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
Preparation:
In a shallow dish, pour 2/3 cup salad dressing over mushrooms, then cover and refrigerate for one hour to marinate. Drain and discard the dressing. Grill or broil the mushrooms until they are cooked through--about eight to 10 minutes. Cut into slices. Toss mushrooms with remaining ingredients.
Variations: Substitute 3/4 pound cooked boneless chicken breast or 3/4 pound beef sirloin steak for mushrooms.
Yield: 4 servings as main dish
Feta Facts
- Feta cheese was first introduced to Americans as a topping on Greek salads. Since then, the American appetite for feta cheese has blossomed. Sales have increased annually by 15 percent for the last 10 years, according to Athenos figures.
- Athenos makes a variety of plain and flavored fetas. Those watching fat can try reduced-fat feta, with 35 fat calories as opposed to 50 in traditional feta and 10 mg. of cholesterol instead of 20.
Rib Roundup
Tabasco Brands of Avery Island, La., suggests ribs as a nice alternative to grilled burgers and dogs, and they've offered up four tempting recipes. Choose from pungent Caribbean country-style ribs, sweeter Pacific Rim short ribs, succulent Southern-style pork ribs or sizzling Texas-style baby back ribs.
Thoughtful hosts and hostesses will head to a discount store and buy a supply of face cloths to moisten and place on a small plate beside each diner. A generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice on each cloth will help clean sticky fingers.
Carribean Country-Style Ribs
Ingredients:
3 lbs. pork loin country-style ribs
1/2 cup mango chutney, chopped
4 tsp. Tabasco brand pepper sauce
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1-1/2 tsp. chili powder
3/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. thyme leaves
Preparation:
Place ribs in a five-quart saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer one hour or until ribs are fork-tender . Drain.
Preheat grill to medium or preheat oven to 450 degrees. Meanwhile, combine chutney, pepper sauce, oil, chili powder, cumin, salt and thyme in medium bowl.
Place ribs on a rack inside the grill or on a broiler pan. Brush the ribs with chutney mixture. Cook 20 minutes or until brown and heated through, brushing occasionally with chutney mixture and turning once.
Yield: 4 servings
Southern-Style Pork Spareribs
Ingredients:
4 lbs. pork spareribs
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
1/4 cup orange juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. Tabasco brand pepper sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
Preparation:
Place ribs in a five-quart saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer one hour or until ribs are fork-tender. Drain.
While the ribs are simmering, add honey, ketchup, vinegar, orange juice, garlic, pepper sauce and salt in a one-quart saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, five minutes or until mixture thickens.
Preheat grill to medium or preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place ribs on rack in grill or broiler pan and brush them with honey mixture. Cook for 20 minutes or until brown and heated through, brushing occasionally with chutney mixture and turning once.
Yield: 4 servings
Texas-Style Baby Back Ribs
Ingredients:
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. dry mustard
1-1/2 tsp. dried basil
1-1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. Tabasco brand pepper sauce
2 racks baby back pork ribs, 1-1/2 to 2 pounds each
Preparation:
Preheat grill to medium-high. Meanwhile, combine sugar, mustard, basil, onion powder and salt in a small bowl. Stir in pepper sauce until smooth. Rub mixture over ribs.
Grill ribs four to six inches from heat for 15 to 20 minutes, turning once, until sizzling, well browned and cooked through. To serve, cut ribs into serving-sized portions or cut each rib apart and pile them on a platter as hors d'oeuvres.
Oven method: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place ribs, curved side down, on rack in large baking pan. Cook for 30 minutes, then turn curved the side up and bake 10 minutes more. When the drippings in the pan start to smoke, add water to cover the pan bottom. Turn ribs over again and cook until sizzling and well browned.
Yield: 4 servings
Pacific Rim Short Ribs
Ingredients:
3 lbs. short ribs, cut into 3-inch lengths
one 8-oz. can pineapple chunks in juice
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup soy sauce
3 Tbs. Tabasco brand green pepper sauce
1 Tbs. sesame oil
1 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 green onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
Preparation:
Place each rib bone down and remove excess fat with sharp knife. Score each rib in crisscross pattern, cutting meat halfway to bone. Set aside while making marinade.
For the marinade, place pineapple with juice, sugar, soy sauce, pepper sauce, sesame oil, vegetable oil, green onion, garlic and ginger in food processor and blend until smooth. Place mixture and ribs in resealable plastic bag or large nonreactive dish. Close bag or tightly cover dish and refrigerate at least four hours or overnight, turning occasionally.
Preheat grill to medium or preheat broiler. Remove ribs from marinade and place on lightly greased grill or broiler pan. Reserve marinade. Cook ribs, about 30 minutes, turning and basting often with marinade until ribs are well browned on all sides.
Yield: 4 servings
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service)
