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Cooking for a Crowd

Happy Mother’s Day

Menu

• Oranges, Spiced Walnuts and Cranberry on Greens
• Hawaiian Sweet Rolls (purchased)
• Chicken and Mushrooms in Tarragon Cream
• Your choice of Pasta or Sugar Snap Peas
• Chocolate Truffle Tart

You may want to set this menu aside and take Mom out to Dinner for her special day! But just in case you’d rather cook, this menu features some very tasty items that are easy to prepare. In fact, you may prepare the salad and dessert ahead of time. The Chocolate Tart is especially good and very rich  Serve it with a beautiful strawberry, a scoop of whipped cream or ice cream, or some raspberry sauce on the plate!

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Oranges, Spiced Walnuts and Cranberry on Greens

8 Servings

6 tablespoons honey
1½ tablespoons water
1 teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup walnut halves and pieces
2 teaspoons sugar
1 head romaine or butter lettuce
¾ cup water
¾ cup cranberry juice
2 teaspoons sugar
¼ cup dried cranberries
8 oranges, peel and white pith removed, sliced into ½” rounds, chilled

50 Servings

2 cups honey
9 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon, ground allspice
4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons ground ginger
6 cups walnut halves and pieces
8 teaspoons sugar
6 heads romaine or butter lettuce
4 cups water
4 cups cranberry juice
4 tablespoons sugar
1½ cups dried cranberries
50 oranges, peel and white pith removed, sliced into ½” rounds, chilled

Preparation

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or pan spray. Blend first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Add nuts; toss to coat well. Strain nuts, reserving liquid. Transfer nuts to baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. Cool completely.

Whisk ¾ cup water, juice and reserved liquid from nuts in saucepan. Stir in dried cranberries. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until cranberries soften and liquid is reduced to thin syrup, about 20 minutes. Can be made 3 days ahead. Store nuts airtight at room temperature. Cover and chill cranberry mixture.

To serve, arrange orange slices on greens. Spoon cranberry mixture over oranges, then nuts. If you choose to serve the oranges without greens, garnish with mint.

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Chicken and Mushrooms in Tarragon Cream

6 Servings

3 whole boneless chicken breasts, halved
1½ tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, sliced thin
¾ lb. mushrooms, sliced thin
1 cup chicken broth
½ cup cream
1 teaspoon dried tarragon (or to taste)
1 teaspoon minced parsley

50 Servings

25 whole boneless chicken breasts, halved
¾ cup olive oil
2 cups butter
3 onions, sliced thin
6 lbs. mushrooms, sliced thin
2 quarts chicken broth
1 quart cream
3 teaspoons tarragon (or to taste)
1 tablespoon minced parsley

Preparation

Season chicken breast halves with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil and half of butter over medium high heat and brown chicken in batches, transferring to a platter as browned. Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet and sauté onion and mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until mushroom liquid is evaporated. Add broth, chicken and tarragon with any juices on plate and simmer, turning chicken once until done, about 15 minutes. Transfer chicken to platter.  

Add cream to mushroom sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining butter. If desired, thicken sauce with tablespoon of corn starch dissolved in 3 tablespoons of cold water. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve chicken over pasta, and sprinkle with parsley.

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Pasta

You’ll need ½ cup of cooked pasta for each serving. Pasta can be cooking while you prepare the chicken. Fettuccini noodles work well for this, but any style will work.

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Sugar Snap Peas

8 Servings

1 small pkg. frozen sugar snap peas

50 Servings

5 pkgs. frozen sugar snap peas

Preparation

Blanch peas in boiling water until hot, remove from water, toss with small amount butter and salt and pepper. Do not overcook.

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Chocolate Truffle Tart

12 Servings

3 oz. sweet butter
½ cup sugar
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
¾ cup pastry or all-purpose flour
10 oz. semisweet chocolate
1¼ cups heavy cream

50 Servings—4 tarts

12 oz. sweet butter
2 cups of sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups cocoa powder
3 cups pastry or all-purpose flour
40 oz. semisweet chocolate
5 cups heavy cream

9½-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom (or springform pan)

Preparation

Using a food processor or electric mixer, combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Process until mixture is creamy. Add cocoa and process until mixture is a dark, smooth paste. Add flour and pulse just until blended to form dough. Place dough for one tart onto a piece of plastic wrap and press into a large disc. Wrap and refrigerate until chilled or until ready to use. You may refrigerate for three days, or freeze for up to 6 months.

To line pan, removed chilled dough from refrigerator. If it is hard, let stand until rollable but firm. Roll out between two pieces of plastic wrap or parchment. Peel away top sheet of plastic, pick up the bottom sheet and invert dough onto tart pan. Line pan with dough, using plastic wrap on top side to ease dough into corners. Peel away plastic wrap. Check to see that pan is evenly lined, patching as necessary. Cover and refrigerate the shell for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pierce bottom of tart pastry evenly with a fork. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until it is set around edges (crust may look slightly wet or undone in the center). Cool on a rack.

Place chocolate in a medium-size heatproof bowl; set aside. In saucepan bring cream to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately pour hot cream over chocolate; let stand for 30 seconds. Stir very gently just until chocolate melts completely and mixture is smooth.

Pour chocolate mixture directly into cooled chocolate tart shell. Tilt or shake pan gently, if necessary, to spread chocolate evenly over shell. Refrigerate 3-4 hours, until set.

Before serving, let the tart sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. The shine will come back to the surface of the pie.

PRISCILLA TAYLOR

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