Poker Party Foods Ideas - The Homemade Touch

The arrangements for a poker night party should keep in mind a few ideas:

- When you play poker, you don't want to loose your concentration.

- Poker makes you thirsty!

- Drinking makes you hungry.

And here you are, in a vicious cycle, struggling to find the best ideas for food and drinks, when your husband calls you from work Friday at 3 to let you know that "Honey, I'm not sure if I told you, but I'm having a few friends over tonight for a poker party, something simple, you know, to keep us sober hahahaa".

So you hang up the phone and make a shopping list in your head for the poker party foods, to grab on your way home, while trying to remember what you might still have in the fridge and in the closet. All in all, when you get home, you should have:

For the first appetizer (Home made chicken pate):

1. 1 pound chicken liver;

2. 3-4 table spoons of sour cream;

3. 1 small onion;

4. 5-6 dill pickles (regular size);

5. 2 eggs;

6. butter - should be soft, quantity depends on taste, I use around 2 tbs;

7. fresh ground pepper - to taste;

8. mustard - 2 tbs.

9. salt - to taste.

For the second appetizer (Bell peppers stuffed with fresh cheese)

1. ½ pound farmer's cheese;

2. 2 table spoons sour cream;

3. fresh dill

4. ground pepper;

5. salt - to taste;

6. 2 radishes and sweet basil leaves for decoration.

For first two appetizers, you will need at least 8 large, belly-round bell peppers, try to use all colours: green, red, yellow, chocolate.

For the third appetizer (Sardines salad):

1. Four 3.75 oz sardines cans;

2. 2 small onions;

3. 3 -4 spoons mayonnaise;

4. 5 regular size potatoes;

5. salt and ground pepper - to taste;

6. lemon juice - to taste.

For the main course (Wings marinated in honey and beer):

1. 20 chicken wings;

2. 4 table spoons of honey;

3. 4 table spoons of "5 spices" (you can find it in the Arabian market);

4. 1 bottle of beer;

5. salt to taste.

Now, let's get to work, for your poker foods.

Home made chicken pate

Wash thoroughly the chicken liver and put it in a pot with cold water. Bring it to a boil, spoon the foam, lower the heat, add just a pinch of salt and cover. Let it simmer for at least 45 minutes, or until you consider it's perfectly done. In a separate pot, boil 2 soft eggs, regular size. Take them out and peel them.

Let it cool (you can drain the liquid to speed the process). Move it into the robot bowl. Add the onion, the pickles, all cut in small cubes, the eggs, sour cream butter, salt, mustard, ground pepper. Mix it all together, with the robot, until it becomes like a pate. The composition should be soft, but not dripping. Taste it and add salt, ground pepper or sour cream as you consider (sour cream is necessary if the composition is too "sandy" or too sour.)

Cover it and put in the fridge.

Now, you can start the second appetizer, Bell peppers stuffed with fresh cheese.

Cut the fresh dill - quantity depends on taste, the more, the better, as this is the main taste in this dish.

In a bowl, mix the cheese, the sour cream, dill, salt and ground pepper.

Now it's time to arrange them as they will be served.

Wash the bell peppers. Cut them in generous slices, keeping in mind that you will need to fill them with the pate and cheese, so you want them pretty large (quarters usually).

Now, fill them with the pate and with the cheese that you prepared earlier. Finish the ones with pate with round slices of pickles, and the ones with cheese, with thin slices of radishes and sweet basil leaves. Alternate them on big plates, playing with the colors.

For the Sardines salad, you will need to boil the potatoes in their skin, then peel them and cut them when they are cold enough, into cubes. In a bowl, mix together the sardines, the onions cut in small cubes, the potatoes and the mayonnaise. Add salt, ground pepper and lemon juice according to your taste.

Serve this salad in small bowls, decorated with parsley leaves. Or not decorated at all, they will be too busy eating it!

For the wings, marinate them with all the above ingredients for 1 ½ hour (while you prepare the appetizers). Then throw them in the oven, preheated at broil, 450 degrees. Put them as low as possible in the oven and keep an eye on them. They will look burned soon, but don't worry, it's only the honey which makes them like that. Turn the oven to 400 after 5 minutes and turn them after 15 minutes on the other side. They should be ready in about 30 -40 minutes after putting them in the oven.

I suggest you leave the wings in the oven, the appetizers in the fridge, on big plates, call your husband to buy some bourbon, lemons and oranges, for a nice twist to the famous Mint Julep.

When you have the ingredients, in a large bowl, glass muddle brown sugar, mint leaves and lemon juice, until sugar is dissolved. Add mint and continue mixing. Then add the bourbon. Set that as well in the fridge. Like this, all they will have to do will be to take their glasses, put ice and then pour the bourbon mix!

When all is done... I strongly recommend that you do not loose time with decorating the room or the table. A simple table cloth, as dark as possible, will do. And, by all means, go have fun with your girl friends when everything is starting!