Last Year's Staff Retreat Menu

Grove Hall
Originally uploaded by As Seen Through Hazel Eyes.

MSS Staff Retreat Tuesday Lunch & Dinner

Tuesday Lunch:
Cheese Board with Almonds, Grapes and Baguette
Sweet Potato Chips
Tortellini with Spinach Walnut Pesto
Balsamic Chicken Salad
Roast Ratatouille
Tossed Salad
Strawberry Shortcake

Tuesday Dinner
Flour Taco Shells
Turkey Filling
Vegetarian Filling
Lettuce
Guacamole
Salsa
Cheese
Tortilla Chips
Corn Salad
Fruit with Vanilla Sauce (served in waffle cups)

Drinks
Iced Tea
Cranberry Juice
Seltzer
Coke
Diet Coke
Sprite

Tuesday Lunch

Cheese Board with Almonds, Grapes and Baguette
Sweet Potato Chips
Tortellini with Spinach Walnut Pesto
Balsamic Chicken Salad
Roast Ratatouille
Tossed Salad
Strawberry Shortcake


Cheese Board
2 (10-ounce) tins smoked almonds
1 pound wedge Brie
1 pound wedge Saga blue
1 (6-ounce) log goat cheese, any variety
2 baguettes, sliced
1 pound grapes, separated into small bunches

Pour nuts into bowl and set on cheese board. Arrange cheeses with baguette slices and clusters of grapes.

Tortellini with Spinach Walnut Pesto
12 ounces chopped walnuts
6 family size (18-ounce) packages, cheese filled fresh tortellini
3 cups vegetable broth
30 ounces (3 packages) baby spinach, reserve a few leaves for garnish
6 cloves garlic
1 cup grated Parmigiano or Romano
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or freshly grated
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Toast walnut pieces in a small pan or toaster oven until lightly browned. Remove from heat and cool.

Place a large pot of water on to boil. When it comes to rolling boil, salt the water and cook tortellini to package directions.

Heat 1 cup vegetable broth to a boil and remove from heat.

Using a food processor, working in batches, grind spinach leaves with nuts, chicken stock, and garlic. Transfer ground spinach nut paste to a large bowl. Stir in the cheese, nutmeg, and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Coat hot, cooked tortellini with sauce

Balsamic Chicken Salad
6 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3 cups chicken broth
1 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt or salt
1 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2 cups raisins
Boiling water
3 cups olive oil
1 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon snipped fresh tarragon
Shredded lettuce
Finely shredded lemon peel

Flatten chicken slightly with your hand. Place in a rectangular baking dish. Drizzle with wine or broth; sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper.

Bake chicken, uncovered, in a 350 degree F oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until tender and no longer pink. Let cool in dish. Drain off liquid.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, cover raisins with boiling water. Let stand for about 15 minutes or until the raisins are plump. Drain.

In a bowl, whisk together olive oil and vinegar. Whisk in tarragon and the 1 teaspoon lemon peel. Stir in raisins. Pour over chicken in dish. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 12 hours, turning the chicken occasionally.

To serve, slice and arrange chicken on shredded lettuce. Spoon some of the marinade and raisins over chicken. Garnish with additional shredded lemon peel..

Roast Ratatouille

4 large red bell peppers, seeded and cut lengthwise into 1-inch wide strips
10 baby eggplant, quartered lengthwise
12 baby zucchini, quartered lengthwise
10 plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise and seeded
4 shallots, peeled and sliced lengthwise
Extra-virgin olive oil, to coat
Coarse salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Working on a cookie sheet, combine vegetables. Drizzle liberally with extra-virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat vegetables evenly. Roast until just tender, 15 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter.

Tossed Salad
Lettuce
Apples
Tomatoes
Assorted Dressings

Strawberry Shortcake
Sliced strawberries w/sugar
Pound Cake
Cool Whip

Tuesday Dinner

Flour Taco Shells
Turkey Filling
Vegetarian Filling
Lettuce
Guacamole
Salsa
Cheese
Sliced Olives
Tortilla Chips
Corn Salad
Tomato Rice
Fruit with Vanilla Sauce (served in waffle cups)


Chipotle Turkey Taco Filling:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan
3 pounds ground turkey breast
3 small onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
6 chipotles in adobo sauce, chopped
3 cup tomato sauce
3 rounded tablespoons chili powder, a rounded palmful
Salt
1 1/2 cup water
In a small skillet preheated over medium high heat, add oil and turkey breast meat. Brown meat 2 or 3 minutes, then add onions and garlic. Cook onions and meat together for another 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in chipotles, chili powder and tomato sauce. Season your filling with salt to your taste. Stir 1 1/2 cup water into your filling. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until ready to serve.
Pico de Gallo:
6 vine ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 small jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
2 small white onion, chopped
6 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Coarse salt
Combine all Pico de Gallo ingredients in a small bowl and serve.

Guacamole
4 avocados, mashed
juice of one lime
3 garlic cloves, freshly pressed
5–6 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup cilantro, cleaned and chopped
1–2 seedless jalapeños, diced
Mix avocado with lime juice and then stir in the rest of the ingredients.
Tomato Rice
2 cup rice
2 cup tomato juice
2 cup water

Vegetarian Filling
1 cup onion, julienne cut
1 1/2 cup bell pepper, julienne cut
1 1/2 cup zucchini, julienne cut
3 cup black or pinto beans, cooked
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon red pepper
3/4 cup salsa of your choice
Cilantro
Sauté the vegetables in a nonstick skillet with 3 tablespoon water (i.e., steam vegetables), stirring constantly.
Season with garlic, Italian seasoning, oregano, black and red pepper, and cook 10 minutes, adding more water if necessary.
Corn Salad
6 cups corn kernels
12 large tomato, sliced in wedges
1 1/2 cup sliced red onion
1 1/2 cup chopped green pepper
cilantro
6 TB vinaigrette
Toss all ingredients until well mixed. Refrigerate at least 1/2 hour to let flavors blend.


Fresh Fruit with Cinnamon-Vanilla Sauce
2 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons cornstarch
8 cinnamon sticks
4 can (12 fl. oz.) Carnation Evaporated Milk
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
24 cups assorted fresh fruit (apples, bananas, grapes, mangoes, papayas, peaches, and/or strawberries)
Ground cinnamon (optional)
Waffle cone cups

Combine sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon sticks in medium saucepan. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes just to a boil and slightly thickens. Remove from heat and remove cinnamon sticks; stir in vanilla extract. Refrigerate for 2 hours or until well-chilled.

Arrange fruit in serving Dish. Top with sauce. Sprinkle with cinnamon, if desired.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today's my mom's birthday. We had her over for dinner and Chris made chicken Parmesan. I got some Asian eggplant from the co-op I belong to (Purple Dragon) so he baked that for me (I'm the only vegetarian) and then cooked it with a red sauce and fresh mozz (or mutz as they say here in Hoboken).

I made a salad (the lettuce I got from the co-op was a little fibrous though) with carrots, zucchini (both from the co-op) and green pepper. I used a special julienne peeler to create an interesting look of ribbons in the salad. My sister (TJ) thinks it loses too much texture that way though. I tried making an Italian dressing but it wasn't as good as my melicious dressing. I made it with oil, balsamic and dried Italian herbs. I also added crushed garlic. Not the most exciting salad but it was the first thing to go so I guess I could have made more.

We had excellent corn on the cob - just right for this time of year! Also, we had Portuguese dinner bread (usually I would make the bread in the machine but simply did not have time). I would have loved to get Dom's bread but I completely forgot till I was almost home. The pathmark bread was fine though.

My centerpiece dish was linguini with a fresh tomato sauce. I sauted garlic in oil, added white wine (cartlidge & brown sauvignon blanc) and after cooking it down threw in fresh tomatoes (from the co-op - so beautiful!) that I had pureed in the food processor with about 2oz of basil. The tomato mixture barely heated up before I took it off the stove. I chopped up a tomato and some basil and shaved some fresh parm into long strips for garnish. It was a simple yet delicious compliment to Chris' chicken.

I made an iced tea with a flowery herb tea that my mom gave me for Christmas. I pureed some apricots and a peach from the co-op and stirred it in with a little honey. It was so so so good and refreshing. As it got to the end though, I realized I should have strained it. There was too much sediment from the fruit and TJ and Chris didn't care for it. Plus it stuck to the glass. Would definitely make this again.

Ben (my brother) couldn't come unfortunately because he was in Philly for work, but Brenda (his girlfriend) came with Margee Liz (my 1-year-old niece). Ben is a trained pastry chef and manages a whole foods bakery. Brenda brought a whole foods almond cake - it was like a tirimisu (my favorite dessert) but with ameretto. It was an amazing dessert and a perfect match with the dinner. Mom was concerned about the alcohol in it but I have a feeling the sugar is probably more harmful. Needless to say we spent less than 2 seconds discussing it and just enjoyed it for what it was - simply delicious!

Highlights:
We all chipped in and got my mom a photo printer. She loves her digital camera that she got after Margee Liz was born but doesn't have a good way to distribute her millions of photos. So I think once she figures out the printer, she'll be very happy.

My dear Cassie called to say Happy Birthday. She is in Georgia with her dad for the month and doesn't call very often but at least she remember to call her gran-anne. She's a good girl . . . I really miss her. (note to self . . . need to start planning her 18th birthday - September 22)

Brenda announced that she and Ben have made the decision to get married. Nothing fancy . . . just a simple celebration with family and close friends. They are planning to do it in the next few months.

Ben called in to say Happy Birthday to mom

TJ came with her new boyfriend. This is the first man she's ever brought over. She seems very happy and he seems quite nice. He's very likeable. It was good to see her with someone.

Margee Liz is almost walking. She's all over the place using the furniture to hold her up. What a doll!

It was a really nice evening - my mom deserved it and I hope she felt loved and celebrated.