Our Latest Cooking Show: Cocktails & Tapas!

We filmed another episode of the cooking show last week.

My friend, Trish, cooked with me.  Trish and I went out to dinner last month along with another friend, Gayle.  We ordered our usual Lemon Drop Martini, and as we were toasting our friendship Trish suggested that I should do a cocktail-themed cooking show.

I gave her my standard reply, "only if you'll cook with me!"

Ply Trish with lemon drop martinis and she will agree to anything.  We decided on a theme of Cocktails & Tapas, because Trish has a love of deep-fried food. I knew I would need to use the deep fryer to keep her happy, and since there is no deep-fried cocktail in my recipe repertoire it only seemed fitting to mix a few tapas into our cocktail show.

We started off with Blueberry-Peach Sangria.  This is my go-to sangria recipe.  And as you can tell by the nearly-empty pitcher in the background, it was a hit with everyone at the taping.

Click here to be taken to the printable recipe.

Then we mixed up a few Blackberry-Ginger Mojitos, inspired by my friend, Gayle, who confided that her recent trip to Puerto Rico sparked a love of mojitos.

Here's the printable recipe.

After we had the drinks prepared, we moved onto the tapas.

First up were the Stuffed Cucumbers with Feta.  

They're so quick and easy to prepare, and can be kept in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve them.    Here's the printable recipe.

Then we moved onto Bruschetta with Oven-Roasted Tomatoes.

Slow-roasting the tomatoes helps to concentrate their flavor, and they're especially good this time of year when you can still get your hands on tomatoes at the Farmers Market!  Or better yet, pick them from your garden (lucky you).

Next on the menu: Baked Chicken Taquitos.  Yummy, cheesy, fast & easy to prepare if you use a store-bought rotisserie chicken.  

Here's the printable recipe.

Then it was time to drag out the deep fryer, for our Fingerling Papas Fritas with Lemon Garlic Aioli.

Out of all of the dishes that we prepared, these were Trish's favorite.  I think they may have been the favorite of a few of the people at the taping, because at the end of the night, this was the dish that disappeared in a snap.  Here's the printable recipe.

While the first batch of potatoes was frying, we quickly prepared our Shrimp, Scallops & Arugula with Lemon Parmesan Vinaigrette.

Click here for the printable recipe.

And finally, while the second batch of potatoes was frying, we made Shisito Peppers and Prosciutto.

Shisito peppers are not hot peppers.  Not usually. About one in ten shisito peppers will be hot.  On the Scoville pepper scale, they range from 100 to 1000 heat units.  By comparison, jalapeño peppers range from 2500 to 8000 heat units.

This is my favorite dish that we prepared.  It did not disappear as quickly as the potatoes did, so I had leftovers the next day!

Here is the printable recipe.

We spent about two hours preparing eight recipes...and then proceeded to demolish just about everything you see here!