All recipes for this year's ball can be found below. If you would like to sign up to make food for the ball, please contact food coordinator Karla Martin at karlam at pacbell.net.
| 1/2 lb. | artichoke quarters |
| 6 oz. | white onion, finely diced |
| 2 tsp. | garlic (.02 lb) |
| 2 oz. | pancetta, finely diced |
| 3 tsp. | olive oil |
| 5 tsp. | parsley, dried and chopped |
| 2 Tbsp. | basil, fresh chopped |
| 1/4 tsp. | lemon zest |
| 12 | eggs, AA large |
| 1/4 cup | cream |
| 1-1/2 oz. | grated Parmesan |
| 1/4 Tbsp. | salt |
| 1/8 tsp. | black pepper |
Makes 1 Frittata
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| 4-5 lb. | asparagus, the thinner spears will look prettier and come with about 30 to a 1 lb. bunch |
| 8 jars | pimiento strips or roasted red peppers |
Note: Count the asparagus bunches, since they may vary in number. We need about 150 spears.
Wash asparagus. Cut top 5-6 inches, put aside bottom parts (eat for supper??). Blanch by bringing lightly salted water to a boil and adding asparagus. Cook just until they turn bright green, 1-2 minutes. They should still be crunchy, almost like raw. Cool. Drain pimiento. If the pimiento strips are wide, you can cut them lengthwise so that they are thin enough to tie. Tie one strip with a single knot around each asparagus spear, about 3/4 inch from the wide end (as if it was a hilt).
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| 2 cups | sharp cheddar cheese, grated |
| 1 cup | flour |
| 1/4 lb. | butter |
| 48 or so | green olives with pimiento |
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put the cheese and butter in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the flour and mix well. Roll out to 1/4 inch thichkness. Cut the dough into 2 inch squares (or so) and wrap a square around each olive, sealing the seams. (Actually, I didn't worry about making squares; I just took what looked like a good amount and mashed it around the olive.)
Place cheese balls on a cookie sheet and bake 15 minutes (or so). Check after the first 10 munutes to make sure they don't burn.
(I don't think mine were in any danger of burning. I had to make myself leave them in long enough. They look just a little darker and sort of toasty when done.)
Makes 48.
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Pastry:
| 6 cups | flour |
| 2 cups | margerine |
| dash | salt |
| water |
Soften margarine. Using pastry cutter or fork, cut in flour and salt until there are uniform medium granules. Add water in small amounts, stirring just until blended into a smooth pastry. Don?t over stir. Roll out onto a floured surface as thin as you reasonably can. Using a round cookie cutter, cut circles just the size to fit into 1-1/2 inch tart pans. Press pastry circle into each tart hole in the pans. Set aside.
Filling:
| 1/4 cup | butter |
| 4 oz. | unsweetened chocolate |
| 3-1/2 to 4 cups | sugar |
| 2 Tbsp. | flour |
| pinch | salt |
| 1 cup | milk |
| 4 | eggs |
| 2 tsp. | vanilla extract |
Melt butter and chocolate. Add sugar, flour, salt, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Beat w/ electric mixer for 6 minutes. This needs a real mixer; beating by hand does not really work. Pour filling into the tart shells, filling 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 20-30 minutes, until the filling is cooked. Move tarts to a cooling rack.
It is simple to do this in 2 or 4 batches, if you do not have enough tart pans for all 120. Mix up all the pastry. Take half or a quarter of the pastry and make the appropriate number of tart shells. Cover remaining pastry in plastic wrap until time to use. Make half the filling and fill tart shells. Bake. The remainder of the filling can be held for a second batch, but I don't recommend holding it for more batches. Mix the second half the filling when you reach the point of needing it.
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| 2 oz. | unsweetened chocolate |
| 1/2 cup | butter |
| 2 | eggs, beaten |
| 1 cup | sugar |
| 1/4 tsp. | peppermint extract |
| dash | salt |
| 1/2 cup | flour |
| 1/2 cup | chopped walnuts |
Melt chocolate and butter over hot water; set aside. Cream together eggs, sugar, peppermint extract and salt. Add chocolate mixture. Stir in flour and nuts. Pour into greased 9x9x2-inch pan and bake in a 350 oven for 20-25 minutes. Cool and spread frosting.
| 2 Tbsp. | butter, softened |
| 1 cup | confectioner's sugar |
| 1 Tbsp. | cream |
| 3/4 tsp. | peppermint extract |
Mix above ingredients together until smooth. Frost cake and refrigerate until chilled and set.
| 1 oz. | unsweetened chocolate |
| 1 Tbsp. | butter |
Melt together chocolate and butter. Drizzle over cake, tilling pan until glaze covers all. Refrigerate 5 minutes to firm glaze. Cut into squares.
Makes 3 dozen.
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| 12 pints | strawberries |
| 12 oz. | semi-sweet chocolate chips |
| 2 oz. | paraffin |
Carefully wash strawberries, but leave on hull. Melt chips and paraffin in top of double boiler and keep liquid over the heat as you work. Holding onto the hull, dip half or 2/3 of each berry into the chocolate. Place on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper. Chill to harden chocolate. Store in refrigerator. Note: These do not need to be made the day of the ball, but are best if made only a day or two before. Be sure the berries are fresh and free from rot.
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| 15-20 | Tangerines |
| 60 | Kumquats |
Peel and separate the sections of tangerine, cleaning the strings so that they look nice and are ready to eat. Wash kumquats and fix ready to eat. If you cannot get kumquats that are ripe and good to eat raw, just use all tangerines.
The kumquats are optional, and may replace up to one third of the tangerines.
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| 8 | Medium Tart (Black Twig) Apples |
| 1 package | cranberries (12 oz) |
| 1 | lemon |
| 2 tsp. | cinnamon |
| 1 tsp. | salt |
| 1 tsp. | mace |
| 2 C | sugar (approx) |
| 4 Tbsp. | Corn Starch (approx) |
| 1/4 cup | water |
Core apples, chop fine (e.g. each 1/4 apple into 6 slices longways, then 1/4 crosswise). Mix with cranberries & juice of lemon, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and mace.
Cook until barely tender. Mix cornstarch with water and drizzle into boiling fruit mixture a bit at a time, stirring constantly, until gets to a fairly thick state that will set when cooled (if in doubt, take a bit out and chill by dropping onto a cool plate). Set aside to cool.
Makes enough filling for 5-6 dozen.
| 2 cup | flour |
| 2/3 cup | Crisco |
| 1 tsp. | salt |
| 1/4 cup | water |
Make regular pie crust (Cuisinart Crisco and salt into flour, dribble in water while stirring lightly with a fork).
Makes enough crust for 3 dozen tarts. Double the recipe for 6 dozen. This is one 2-crust pie worth of pastry.
Take small balls of crust and press into mini-muffin pans (1-7/8" diameter by 7/8" deep, approximately) so crust is about 1/8" thick and extends about 1/4" above top of muffin pan. Experiment to get correct amount of crust to start.
Prick bottoms and bake at 450 degrees F for 5-6 min until golden brown (Watch it! They go fairly fast from golden brown to burn!) Remove from oven and fill with apple-cranberry mix. Can heap the filling up fairly high since will hold. Note: the cranberries burst on cooling to produce a bright shiny red apple filling that glitters in the shells. Nice mixture of sweet and tart tastes.
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| 1 | 12 oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate |
| 1 | 6 oz. can frozen lemonade |
| 3 | 6 oz. cans frozen cranberry juice |
| 1 qt. | water |
| 2 qt. | carbonated lemon-lime beverage (i.e. Sprite) |
Mix all but carbonated beverage. Cover and chill. Add carbonated beverage just before serving.
Makes 4 quarts or about 32 servings.
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| 50 | dates (8 oz package of pitted dates) |
| 4-5 oz. | cream cheese |
| 50 | blanched almonds |
Cut the date lengthwise (but not all the way through) and remove the seed. Fill the cavity with cream cheese. Top with a blanched almond.
Makes 50 dates.
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| 4 Tbsp. | Sour cream | |
| 2 oz. | Fresh mint leaves, chopped | |
| 2 lb. | sweet butter | |
| 1/4 tsp. | salt | |
| 6-8 | large cucumbers, peeled and slices thin | |
| 100 slices | thin white bread (about 5 loaves) |
In a food processor, blend sour cream and mint. Add butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time. Pulse. Add salt. Blend well. Spread half the slices of bread with a thin layer of the mint butter. Add 5-6 cucumber slices to each half, overlapping slices slightly. Add top piece of bread. Remove crusts from each sandwich, making a neat square or rectangle. Cut each trimmed sandwich into 4 servings.
Makes 200 small sandwiches.
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| 4 oz. | coconut |
| 8 oz. | cream cheese |
| 4 tsp. | mango-ginger chutney |
| 1-1/2 tsp. | garam masala |
Spread coconut on large baking sheet and toast in 350 over until brown. Cool and chop.
If chunky, chop chutney. Cream together cream cheese, chutney, and garam masala. Refrigerate for an hour or until mixture is firm enough to handle.
Roll mixture into 1/2-inch balls. Roll balls in chopped coconut.
Makes 50 balls.
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For 6 curried eggs (12 half-eggs):
| 6 | egg yolks |
| 3 Tbsp. | mayonnaise |
| 1 tsp. | Madras hot curry powder |
For 4 dozen eggs (96 half-eggs):
| 4 dozen | eggs yolks (start with 4 1/2 dozen) |
| 1-1/2 cups | mayonnaise |
| 2 tsp. | white pepper |
| 2-2/3 Tbsp. | Madras hot curry powder |
Mix filling thoroughly, preferably with a blender or food processor. Pastry bags do not like lumps -- and you won't either if you're the one who fills the eggs.
Put eggs in cold salted water (salt helps keep egg white from coming out all over the place in case an egg should crack before it has become firm).
Bring to a slight boil (the first big rolling bubbles are forming on the bottom, but are not making it to the top of the water), lower the heat ( see occasional bubbles forming on the bottom) and keep on the heat for 8 minutes (a hard boil produces rubberier eggs than a gentle simmer). Stir several times, thus trying to better center the yolks. Take off heat and rinse with cold water, not allowing eggs to uncover. As they cool, they will absorb water, and will be easier to peel. keep covered in cold water (even with ice cubes), to cut possibility of spoilage (and salmonella).
To peel, crack lightly all over, rub the egg fairly vigorously between your palms (this greatly loosens the shell). After peeling, put back in cold water.
To cut, use a thin sharp knife. Place the knife in a pan of cold water after each cut, as this makes cutting much easier. Cut lengthwise, and try not to cut where the yolk is very close to the surface. Store the whites in very cold water, and put the yolks frequently into the refrigerator to keep them cold).
Don't make the eggs more than I day in advance; cooked eggs don't keep as well as eggs in the shell in their original carton. Also don't wash the eggs when you buy them ( if you are keeping them several days before using); they lose freshness faster when the shell has been washed. Fill the eggs the same day as they are to be eaten. Use a pastry bag to fill egg white cavities generously. Sprinkle the tops with paprika. Refrigerate.
6 dozen were made for the 1991 BACDS Playford Ball, and they were scarfed up. I started with 7 dozen eggs, but some eggs didn't peel cleanly, and others broke when they were cut. Medium eggs were used, to keep the halves bite-sized. It is a good idea to make a trial run with a few eggs, to verify that the eggs are suitable, and that the curry powder tastes good. The eggs should be about I week on shelf (so as not to stick to shell), but no more (so as not to be too stale). If the eggs have 2 to 2.5 weeks of shelf life left (but not more), they seem to peel well.
Try several brands of Madras curry powder (purchase in an Indian store), as often the curry powder on the shelf has lost its flavor. The brand that tasted best looked awful on the outside: it was rusty, dented, and stained. (I got it at Spiceland in Santa Clara, on Pomeroy St., just off El Camino, east of Lawrence Expressway).
Michael recommends:
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| 3/8 cup | sliced almonds |
| 1 cup | crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (about 4 oz), softened |
| 3 oz. | cream cheese, softened |
| 2 tsp. | brandy |
| endive |
Preheat oven to 325F. Spread out almonds in a small baking dish and toast until lightly browned, 7 to 10 minutes (or less). Let cool. Chop coarsely. In a small bowl or food processor, combine Gorgonzola, cream cheese, and brandy. Blend well. Wash endive. Place level teaspoon of mixture on base of endive leaf. Top with chopped nuts
Makes 24.
6 times this recipe for the '96 ball, with 16 endives, and came out approximately even.
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| Figs | |
| Gorgonzola Cheese | |
| Walnuts |
Halve figs. Spread 1 tsp. gorgonzola on each fig half, and place a walnut half on top.
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| 9 cups | rolled oats (old-fashoned or quick) |
| 1-1/2 cups | flaked coconut |
| 1/2 cup | shelled sunflower seeds |
| 1-1/2 cups | sugar |
| 1-1/2 cups | butter or margerine |
| 5-6 | eggs, slightly beaten |
| 3 cups | dried fruit (try 3/4 cup each of golden raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricots, and dried pineapple |
| 2 tsp. | almond extract |
Dice the pineapple and apricots into raisin-sized pieces.
Cover large cookie sheet with wax paper; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine oats, coconut and seeds.
In a 2-quart saucepan, combine sugar, butter, and eggs. Cook over low heat until slightly thickened, stirring constantly (it sticks to the bottom of the pan and scorches easily). Add dried fruit. Continue cooking until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Stir in almond extract. Pour fruit mixture over oat mixture. Stir until well blended.
While the mixture is still warm, shape into 1 inch balls. Place on prepared cookie sheet, leaving a little space between balls. This is the part that can be a little frustrating. The dough quickly gets your hands so sticky that you can no longer form balls. You must stop every 10-12 cookies, scrape your hands, and wash them. Refrigerate cookie sheets until balls are firm. Transfer to an airtight container lines with wax paper, separating layers with wax paper.
Makes 100-120 balls.
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| 4-1/2 cups | sugar |
| 1/2 cup | butter |
| 1 (12-oz.) can (1-1/2 cups) | evaporated milk |
| 4-1/2 cups | miniature marshmallows |
| 1 (12-oz.) pkg. (2 cups) | semisweet chocolate chips |
| 12 oz. | sweet baking chocolate, cut into pieces |
| 2 oz. | unsweetened chocolate, cut into pieces |
| 2 teaspoons | vanilla |
| 1/8 teaspoon | almond extract (optional) |
| 1 cup | chopped walnuts or pecans (use in half of output, as some folks like theirs with and some without) |
Prep time: 40 minutes (Ready in 1 hour 40 minutes)
Makes 60 Squares.
| 9 | large flour tortillas (about 10" in diameter) |
| 1 bunch | cilantro |
| 2 Tbsp. | toasted sesame seeds for garnish) |
Chop the cilantro. Cut each tortilla into as large a square as possible. Spread a thin layer of hummus over the tortilla, covering it (about 1/3 cup). Sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Roll the tortilla as tightly as possible. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour. Unwrap tortilla roll, and cut into 1/2" slices. This is where you find out if you've wrapped the tortilla tightly enough. If you haven't, your pinwheels will collapse. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
Makes 130-150.
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| 1 Bowl | melon balls |
| toothpicks |
Bill's note: We bought 3 cantaloupes and 3 honeydew melons for the '96 Ball there were just a few pieces left over. You get fewer pieces from a melon when making melon balls instead of melon chunks, but they look prettier.
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| 24-30 | vanilla wafers |
| 1-1/2 lbs. | cream cheese, softened (3 8-oz. packages) |
| 1 cup | sugar |
| 1/4 tsp. | nutmeg |
| 1 tsp. | vanilla |
| 3 | eggs |
| 24-30 | paper baking cups |
Combine all but vanilla wafers and beat until smooth. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line muffin cups with paper baking cups. Place one vanilla wafer in each cup. Pour cream cheese mixture over wafer, filling cup 2/3 full. Bake at 325 degrees F for 20-25 minutes.
Cakes can be frozen for up to one month once cooked, and topped with one teaspoon of prepared pie filling up to one day before serving. Remove the paper baking cups before serving.
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| 1/2 lb. | sharp cheddar cheese, shredded |
| 1/3 cup | Italian (seasoned) bread crumbs |
| 1 can (13 3/4 oz) | canned artichokes hearts, chopped |
| 6 | eggs, beaten |
| 1/2 tsp. | salt |
| 1/4 tsp. | pepper |
| 1/4 tsp. | Tabasco or Old Bay seasoning |
Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all ingredients together. Grease mini-muffin pans. Fill mini-muffin pans about 3/4 full. Bake about 12-15 minutes at 350F. Cheese was bubbly when cooked. Use a small rubber spatula to remove quiches from the pan.
Makes about 36 mini-quiches.
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There is no actual recipe - just two large cans of mixed nuts.
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A bowl of pineapple chunks and toothpicks to spear them with.
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| 2 cups | butter |
| 16 oz. | cream cheese, softened |
| 1 cup | sugar |
| 2 tsp. | vanilla |
| 6 cups | flour |
| 3 Tbsp. | Poppy seeds |
| 1-1/2 cups | raspberry jam |
Heat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Beat at medium speed on an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add flour and poppy seeds. Beat at low speed until soft dough forms. Work with 1/6-th to 1/8-th of dough at a time. On a lightly floured board, roll dough to 1/8-th to 1/4-th inch thickness. Using a 2-1/2 inch round cookie cutter, cut circles. Place circles 1 inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Spoon about 1/4 tsp. of raspberry jam onto center of each circle. Fold one half of circle over the other half. Press edges with a fork dipped in flour to seal. If you have difficulty sealing, moisten half the edge with water before folding. Repeat with remaining portions of the dough.
Bake for 7-9 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool completely.
| 2 cups | powdered sugar |
| 1/4 to 1/3 cup | milk |
| 1 tsp. | almond extract |
In a small mixing bowl, combine glaze ingredients. Stir until smooth. It should be thin enough to drizzle but not so thin it remains sticky. Drizzle glaze over cookies in a set of stripes. Don't try to cover entire cookie, you just want a nice pattern of glaze. Let dry completely before storing.
Makes about 140 cookies. These should not be stored too long, but can be made a couple day ahead.
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| 10 oz. | frozen raspberries (one package) |
| 3 cups | apricot nector |
| 1 liter | white grape juice |
| 12 oz. | raspberry-lemonade concentrate (1 can) |
| 1 liter | sparkling water |
| 2 liters | lemon-lime soda |
Volunteer just supplies the ingredients. Punch will be prepared by kitchen staff.
In blender, puree raspberries, adding grape juice if necessary to make a consistency that is easily put through a sieve. Sieve to remove seeds. Mix in apricot nectar, remaining grape juice, lemonade concentrate and water to go with the concentrate. Cover and chill. Add carbonated beverage just before serving.Makes 4 liters or about 36 servings.
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| 2 cup | vanilla cookie crumbs |
| 1 cup | finely chopped pecans |
| 1-1/4 cup | powdered sugar |
| 1/3 cup | rum |
| 3 Tbsp. | apricot preserves |
Store in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Makes about 50 balls.
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| 32 oz. | cream cheese |
| 2 pkg. | fresh dill |
| 3 loaves | thinly-sliced 2" square cocktail rye bread (roughly 120 slices) |
| 2 pounds | good-quality smoked salmon |
Clean dill. Reserve enough for one tiny sprig on top of each serving. Blend the rest with the cream cheese in a food processor. The day of the ball (not earlier): Spoon about 1-1/2 tsp. of dill mixture onto a thin slice of rye bread. Top with a small piece of salmon and decorate with a tiny sprig of dill.
Makes about 120 open-faced sandwiches.
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| 12-16 | Fresh medium mushrooms |
| 1/2 cup | butter |
| 3 Tbsp. | finely chopped green pepper |
| 3 Tbsp. | finely chopped onion |
| 1-1/2 cups | fresh-bread cubes (1/4 inch) |
| 1/2 tsp. | salt |
| 1/8 tsp. | pepper |
| Dash of cayenne |
Makes 12-16 servings.
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A bowl of seedless grapes.
Editor's Note: For the '95 Ball, we bought 11 pounds of grapes. It was about the right amount for 180 people.
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| 1 cup | butter |
| 1/2 cup | brown sugar |
| 1/4 cup | granulated sugar |
| 2-1/4 | cups flour |
| 1/2 tsp. | salt |
| Templates or cookie cutters in mask shapes | |
| Icing if desired |
Mix butter and sugars until blended. Add flour and salt and mix thoroughly. Roll out dough until 3/8-inch thick, and use cutters or templates to cut into mask shapes. Re-roll and re-cut scraps until dough used up.
Place pieces on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Decorate with icing as desired.
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| 4 pkgs | chopped, frozen spinach |
| 4 cups | herb stuffing |
| 2 large | minced onions |
| 1 Tablespoon | thyme |
| 2 cloves | garlic, minced |
| 8 | eggs |
| 1 cup | parmesan cheese |
| 1 to 1-1/2 cups | melted butter |
Thaw spinach. Press out water. Mix in other ingredients. Roll into small (1/2-inch diameter)balls and place on cookie sheet. Refrigerate 2 hours. Bake 30 minutes at 300F.
Makes about 200 pieces.
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There is no actual recipe. We had two trays in past years, which was too much. 1 large tray should do. Whoever does this has free reign to pick their favorite vegetables, or buy a large veggie tray from Safeway.
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| 1 cup | butter |
| 2 | egg yolks |
| 1-1/2 cups | sugar |
| 2-1/2 cups | flour |
| 10 oz. jar | raspberry jam |
| 1 cup | chocolate chips |
| 4 | egg whites |
| 1/4 tsp. | salt |
| 2 cups | finely chopped nuts |
Cream butter with the yolks and 1/2 cup sugar. Add flour and knead. Pat batter on a greased 15x10 inch jelly roll pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from oven, spread with jam and top with chocolate chips. Whip egg whites with salt until stiff, gradually beat in remaining 1 cup sugar. Fold in nuts. Gently spread on top of jam and chocolate. Bake about 25 minutes in 350 oven. Cut into squares.
Alisa Dodson notes: The mistake I always make with this recipe is to use all the sugar at the beginning, creaming it with the butter and egg yolks. You only use 1/2 cup there! Maybe you are more together about these things than I am, but here's the warning if you aren't! Also, if you don't have a jelly roll pan, you can borrow one or both of mine.
Makes 5 dozen.
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Last Updated: Sun Jan 4 14:05:45 2009