New Year's Eve in review

Yes, it's the end of January, and I'm just now getting around to posting my New Year's Eve recipes.  We had a fun party at our house with several families who have kids around the same ages as ours. The first part of the evening was a family dinner complete with Minute to Win It games for the kiddos, and then at around 9, we put the kids down upstairs in a mock slumber party.

Our menu:
Jalapeno Cheddar crackers
Pomegranate Cosmopolitans
Chili
One-bowl Chocolate Cupcakes with
Magnolia Buttercream Frosting


The Jalapeno Cheddar crackers were the first recipe I had tried from my new Christmas book (from Q, of course!), Barefoot Contessa Foolproof.  They are very similar in concept to her Parmesan Thyme crackers, so I whipped them up on Christmas afternoon and put them in the freezer. Then all I had to do the day of the party was thaw, slice, and bake them.  They really are delicious.

2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp baking powder
14 TBSP cold unsalted butter, cut in 1/2 inch dice
5 oz extra-sharp white cheddar (Costco, bay-bee!)
1 TBSP minced jalapeno pepper (seeds and ribs removed)
1/4 tsp chili powder (I used ancho, but she called for chipotle)
3 TBSP ice water

Place the first 3 ingredients in the food processor, fitted with the steel blade, and pulse to combine.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.  The add the cheese, jalapeno, and chili poder and pulse again. With the food processor running, add the ice water all at once.  Continue pulsing until the mixture begins to come together in a ball. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on a cutting board, dump the dough out, and roll into a log about 14 inches long.  I find that the plastic wrap actually helps me form the log and smoosh all the dough together (technical term). At this point, I froze the log.

Then, when we came back from Iowa the day before the party, I moved the dough log from the freezer to the fridge. All I had to do the morning of the party was slice them about 3/8 of an inch thick, place them on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, brush with egg wash (1 egg beaten with 1 TBSP milk), sprinkle with salt (I just had kosher salt, but the recipe called for fleur de sel or sea salt), and bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Yum. I love having something for guests to munch on when they arrive, and it's a bonus if it's something easy that doesn't add to the "30 minutes before they get here!" rush. Check, and check.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for the chili recipe...that's worth coming back for.