Dinner & Drinks: Plan the Perfect Outdoor Evening

I am a huge fan of warm weather and living in New York I desperately wait for spring. Because of the snow, I don't have the luxury of barbeque's throughout the year, so as soon as the weather permits, I'm outside cooking. So whether your like me and have to wait, or if you live in an area where you have all year long, (in which you are a very lucky person) this information promises to give you a delicious evening.

I'm a TIPS certified bartender and a SafeServ certified Pastry chef. Even though I'm not trained in the culinary aspect, I still know "my way around the kitchen." I'm going to walk you through step by step how to prepare everything from your dinner to drinks for an extra special evening.

You want to start by having the run down of your evening. Getting the timing straight for the preparation and cooking so you can enjoy the evening as much as your guest(s). We begin with the obvious, the shopping list. As you read on take some notes down of the items you may not have on hand. Its important to go through every recipe to make sure you have all and enough of each ingredient. As simple as this sounds, it is a terrible waste of time to have to go to the store mid-recipe. trust me, I've gotten a little cocky at times and have skipped this step in a rush. Its paid back by then wasting even more time going to the store and possibly ruining the recipe.

The dessert should be your first task. Once you finish this, it can wait in your refrigerator until its time to eat. I like to make this recipe 1-2 days prior to the event. I'm suggesting a wonderful fresh fruit tart for this menu; I love this tart for because it's beautiful to look at and wonderful to eat. It will last in your refrigerator and not get soggy. To prepare crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Gather 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar, sifted; 1.5 cups all purpose flour; 12 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened. Combine all ingredients in a food processor/mixer until a ball forms; then press dough into a 12" tart pan with a removable bottom. Make sure to push dough into indentations around sides and pat down to make as even as possible. If you don't have this tart pan, you may use a round spring form pan-but it will not have the same presentation. Bake this for 10-12 minutes, rotating pan half through cooking time. Set aside and let cool completely. The crust should have a very light brown color; leave in pan.

Next step is the filling. You'll need 8 ounces softened cream cheese; 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Beat all ingredients together to a spreadable consistency and spread over crust. Next! Moving on to the fun part, the fruit topping. Fresh strawberries and blueberries for the 4th of July masterpiece, or add kiwi, pineapple and raspberries for a full fruit explosion! Basically whatever fruit you like for taste purposes or presentation-you can't go wrong with fruit. (TIP: Dry fruit completely after washing or better yet, skip water and just wipe with a wet paper towel. This will help the life span of freshness for the fruit.) Arrange fruit in patterns where each slice will get the same variety. You don't want one slice strawberry and one blueberry.

The final step before putting away is the glaze. This gives the shine and seals the fruit to hold it longer. For this you will need a 6 ounce can of frozen limeade concentrate, thawed; 1 Tbsp. cornstarch and line juice; and 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Heat all ingredients in a saucepan until thick and clear, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely before applying to tart. Use pastry brush (or a marinating brush) and glaze entire top covering generously but you will have left over. Throw in the fridge and your done! (The glaze alone is not too tasty, but in combination with the other flavors-its amazing.)

Now that the desserts out of the way, you have to decide your entire layout. Starting with drinks, appetizers or both? Wine is easy and classy, but is also sometimes boring. If your feeling up to a "real drink" to kick off the event, I will offer 2 martini recipes. One is for the sweeter taste buds and the other is quite stiff-but both are crowd pleaser's. Either will compliment a nice antipasto platter that I will get to next. For the sweeter side is the "Peachy Keen Martini Dream". This recipe is for 1 drink, for more double the recipe. You'll need 1.5 ounces of your favorite vodka; 1 ounce of Peach Schnapps; fresh peach slices and champagne (look for mini bottles) Take the vodka and schnapps and shake on ice. If you don't own a mixer set just combine liquors in a seal-able jar, shake and store in fridge to get cold. When serving pour liquor combination into martini glass with 2-3 peach slices inside and fill 2/3. Then top off glass with champagne. Let me say, WoW! As for the stiffs, grab a strainer and a spoon cause we have the "Mojito Martini"! If you are choosing this drink, you should get (or already own a mixer set) Just mint, lime, sugar and vodka-VERY STRONG! For this grab 3-4 mint leaves in a mixer glass with 1 tsp. sugar. Muddle the two together and squeeze a few lime wedges and place the ice on top; add 2 ounces vodka. The original liquor is rum for the Mojito-but this is a martini! Shake and then strain into martini glass. The longer the shake the colder the drink; the little bits of ice break down and it eases the initial taste of the alcohol.

Set these up along with some green or purple olives, marinated mushrooms, roasted red peppers, fresh mozzarella balls and maybe some prosciutto rolled. Place nicely on a serving platter and you'll have a wonderful anti pasta platter plus martinis for a great "cocktail hour" to set the mood. All of these items can be purchased at your grocery store, so set it up, wrap it up and through that in the refrigerator as well. Another course complete without much work on your part.
So to recap, we have cocktails, appetizers and dessert out of the way; not too bad right? For the entree that I have chosen, is the first meal I cook outside every year. I wait for this steak, counting down the days! I'm a little passionate about cooking and eating food. Anyway, I've tried broiling this and using the George Forman grill and it just doesn't come out the same. It is meant for an outdoor grill. I prefer charcoal grills-so I really don't know much about gas grilling. Either way the recipe wouldn't change.

Get a nice strip steak, I've also tried this with other cuts and I stand by the strip. You'll also need 8 ounces of beer, I prefer using Heineken; 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar and 2 Tbsp. of KC Masterpiece Honey Teriyaki with sesame seeds marinade. (Your can substitute your favorite teriyaki.) Two hours before grilling, combine all ingredients in a Ziploc bag and insert strip. Close and place in the refrigerator. For a delicious side dish take baby carrots and double boil them to steam until when poked with wooden spoon, it leaves a mark. Don't make so soft, about 15-20 minutes on medium high heat should do. Then carefully pour out water from bottom pot and pour in carrots. Lower heat, and place carrots back on. Add 1/2 brown sugar (depending on how many carrots) and stir until they're covered in a gravy. This should only take 3-5 minutes. Do this while the steak is grilling, you don;t have to hover over either while cooking. Throw the carrots in a bowl and place on table and wait for the steak. If you want a starch on the plate, its simple and easy to throw a potato in the microwave.

Now that all the food is prepared, all you had to do was heat dinner and the rest of the day was yours to enjoy. Your desserts ready and if you want o go out with a bang, you can serve a perfect after dinner drink with your dessert instead of just coffee/or simply before. Try this "Coffee Martini" which is smooth and delightful. Just 1 ounce vodka, Starbucks coffee liquor (you can use Kahlua also) and Baileys/Irish Cream. Shake on ice or can also be prepared before and stored in refrigerator. Serve alone in martini glass or with a dollop of whipped cream!

There you have a wonderful, easy to execute menu to make for a delicious evening. Sit back and relax while presenting a menu that looks like you slaved for days. Making meals and desserts by scratch gives you a healthier product. The tart is not made with shortening as in bakeries-so there is NO TRANS FAT! All health aside, the taste is even more amazing. Try these recipes for yourself, alter or add to make them your own! But please, enjoy and be safe.