Hogwarts Herald

Things are really coming together for the party - less than a week to the movie (woo woo!) and just about 2 weeks until the book release! A couple more recipes to plan…

Here’s a nice summery salad/snack - again, we’ve been inspired by Molly Weasley - this time it’s Cauliflower…

Cauliflower Salad
1 head cauliflower - florets separated into bite size pieces
4oz (or more if you like) of each: Oil cured ripe olives; spanish olives; black olives and green olives. Mix and match as you like.
Optional add ins: Artichoke hearts; caper berries; red bell pepper; button mushrooms; really, anything that tastes good marinated…

Marinade/dressing
2 green onions - either minced or cut into 1/4 inch “circles” - your choice
1 teaspoon “real” garlic powder - reconstituted in 1 tablespoon water
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 sprigs fresh flat leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flake
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup olive oil

Prepare:
1. Mix onion, garlic powder, herbs, red pepper and vinegar in a glass bowl. Whisk to combine.
2. While whisking, drizzle oil into bowl. Whisk in salt and pepper to taste.
3. Toss cauliflower and olives (and any other additions) in dressing.
4. Transfer salad to air tight container and refrigerate for 4 hours (at least)
5. Bring up to room temperature before serving.
6. Serve with crusty bread.

The vinegar will break down (ie cook) the cauliflower as it marinades - if you’re making this salad way in advance and still want some “crunch” - add the vinegar to the mixture a few hours before serving.

Harry Potter party, Harry Potter recipes

Dips are always a big hit at parties - and I’m sure that we can conjure up some “crafty” recipes. I would note, however, that there is a chance that it will be mercilessly hot the night of our party - so if any dips require “cooler” temperatures - be sure to serve appropriately (in chilled thermal containers, by placing the bowl of dip in a larger bowl of ice or inside).

Polyjuice dip (black olive tapenade)

1 1/2 cups Kalamata or other oil cured olives, pitted
4 garlic cloves
1/4 cup fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (or to taste)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix olives, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a food processor until very finely chopped.
With processor running, drizzle in oil - should result in a pasty spread. I usually like my tapenade a little chunky, but for this batch - it should be as smooth as possible (adding some canned “black olives” will help with the texture)

Berty Botts Vomit dip (creamy salsa dip)
8oz sour cream
8oz mayonnaise
8oz pre-packaged salsa

Mix all ingredients together and let chill for at least an hour (longer is better) - **note, if you find that your salsa is a bit watery, drain it before adding to the mixture.

Nearly Headless Nick’s mold dip (blue cheese onion dip)
16oz sour cream
1 packet dried onion soup mix
6oz (more or less depending on taste and strength of flavor) blue cheese

Mix all ingredients together and let chill overnight - the flavors will be more pronounced the longer it sits.

Serve the above dips with crackers, corn chips, toast points, raw vegetables…

Harry Potter book release party, recipes

4 weeks until party time!

mmm, more snack recipes please…

Licorice Wands
As much of a novelty as a treat (although I do love licorice)

1 bag of licorice sticks (black and/or red)
1 bag of white melting chocolates - you can get these at the craft store
bamboo skewers
sprinkles (optional)
styrofoam/oasis/some sort of base

1. Skewer each licorice stick with bamboo skewer
2. Melt chocolate according to package directions
3. Brush (or dip, roll, etc) chocolate onto one end (non-skewered) of licorice (this will be the handle)
4. cover with sprinkles (optional)
5. place skewer into styrofoam base to dry
6. allow to set in cool (even the freezer) place
7. to serve, either remove skewers and serve in glass or decorate styrofoam and serve right from there!

Harry Potter Party, Licorice wands, party planning

mmm, more snack recipes for the party - inspired by the treats served by Molly Weasley at the Burrows…

Dark Chocolate Fudge
3 C semisweet chocolate chips
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 t salt
1 C chopped walnuts
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

In over low heat, mix chips with sweetened condensed milk and salt until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat; stir in walnuts and vanilla. Spread evenly into non-stick aluminum foil lined 8 or 9 inch square pan. Chill until firm (about 2 hours). Flip fudge out of pan and onto a cutting board; peel off foil and cut into squares.

Nut Brittle Block
Recipe from Martha Stewart Holiday Handmade Gifts, December 2006.
Makes one 9-by-13-inch pan

Unsalted butter, softened, for baking sheet
Vegetable oil, for spatula
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
Pinch of salt
2 1/2 cups unsalted nuts, such as dry-roasted peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts, almonds or pecans, or toasted pumpkin seeds
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Brush a 9-by-13-inch rimmed baking sheet with butter, and oil an offset spatula; set aside. Put sugar, corn syrup, and salt in a medium saucepan with 1/4 cup cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Wash down sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystals from forming. Cook, swirling the pan occasionally, until the mixture registers 238° on a candy thermometer (soft-ball stage). Stir in nuts, and continue to cook, stirring often so that the nuts do not burn, until the mixture is medium amber in color, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Carefully stir in vanilla and baking soda (the mixture will foam up).

3. Pour onto prepared baking sheet, and using oiled offset spatula, quickly spread into a 1/2-inch-thick layer. Let cool completely.

4. Break brittle into pieces if desired; store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Harry Potter Party, chocolate fudge, nut brittle

So, as you may have read, I’ve been experimenting with a recipe for a summertime butter beer.

I think I’ve got it - butter beer sodas.

What you need:

1 pint vanilla ice cream
1 container butterscotch ice cream topping (or, if you’re game, make it from scratch)
1 bottle butterscotch italian soda syrup (pretty much the same stuff they put in the fancy coffees)
1 liter soda water

Do ahead…
Allow ice cream to soften to room temperature (about 30 minutes).
Once melted, transfer ice cream to a medium sized bowl.
Fold in 3/4 cup of topping. The more “air” you can get into the mixture the better (more fizz later). Be sure to throughly combine (topping will tend to sink, and stick to, the bottom of the bowl).
Return ice cream to container (it make not all fit; if so, put in a clean plastic container) - and freeze until set.

Ready to serve:
place a small scoop of ice cream mixture into a chilled beer mug (or a glass) - drizzle syrup on top of ice cream (check specific directions for portions - and adjust to taste).
top with soda and serve!

butterbeer, harry potter party

So, I’ve been trying to come up with a recipe for a summertime butter beer - I know that it’s usually served in (magical places) cooler weather - but it’s such a big part of the Harry Potter experience, that I wanted to try and come up with some thing for the party (which is, of course, in July).

I had read a few online “recipes” from other Potter People - almost all of them called for a warmed sparkling beverage of some type. One caught my attention - mostly because it had ice cream in it, but also because of the flavorings.

I have always imagined butter beer to be very butterscotchy - and frothy. So the icecream idea was intriguing.

What I did was allow 1 pt of vanilla ice cream to “soften” for 30 minutes at room temperature. Once soften, I folded in a good 1/2 cup of butterscotch syrup, returned the mixture into the container and “re-froze” until firm.

Once the right consistency, I scooped (again, about) 1/2 cup of ice cream into a glass. I next poured Ginger Beer (not ale) over the ice cream - it created a pleasing color - and was reasonably tasty. I tried two different ginger beers - one was a little too bitey and the other was a little too sour.

But I’m not giving up - sparkling apple cider and cream soda are next on my list.

butter beer, harry potter party

Mmmm, Cornish Pixies, I mean Cornish Pasties. Mini ones for the party.

Note - there is no pre-cooking of the ingredients in a traditional pasty - however, you can (but don’t tell anyone) pre-brown the meat and par-boil the vegetables.

Short Crust Pastry for three 9″ crusts (usually 1 and 1/2 recipe or 1 and 1/2 boxes of “roll out crust”)
2 pounds lean beef
3 medium potatoes (starchy)
1 lg onion
1 rutabaga or turnip (swede)
1 beaten egg
beef gravy (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

PREPARATION:
1. Finely dice the meat, potatoes, onion & rutabaga. Mix together in a large bowl and season to taste.
2. Roll out dough and cut into 2 to 3 inch rounds.
3. Put a teaspoon of the meat mixture on the pastry circle and top with gravy (optional)
4. Seal the edges with water, fold in half and crimp.
5. Brush beaten egg on top of each pastie and cut slits to vent.
6. Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 for 25 - 30 minutes - or until golden brown.

Harry Potter Party, Cornish Pasties