Special Occasion Meals Made Easy

Special occasions call for impressive meals. And, the best ones are the easiest to prepare. The key to creating impressive meals is selecting a few special ingredients, adding complementary flavors and keeping the preparation minimal. Proper planning and understanding the basics of flavor can make anyone successful in the kitchen.

“Flavor is simple,” says Laurie Harrsen, Manager Consumer Affairs for McCormick & Company, Inc., the world’s largest spice and flavoring company, “all it takes is matching the right flavor with key ingredients. Make flavor your ally and create a delicious meals for your favorite someone.”

The basics of creating impressive meals

• Selecting special ingredients:
  When planning a menu, think about what foods are special and what everyone loves to eat. When you envision exceptional meals, what comes to mind? Shrimp, steak, portobello mushrooms, wine and chocolate – ingredients that all clearly translate into that “special dinner.”



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• Add the flavor:
  When thinking flavor, all you need are a few spices and herbs to enhance your ingredients and make the perfect dish. Pair complementary flavors with key ingredients to make a natural match. As a rule of thumb, dill add fresh flavor to any type of seafood.

  While thyme richly accents. Beef. Garlic adds a contemporary twist to potatoes, while vanilla perfectly soothes the bitter aftertaste of chocolate. Remember less is truly more when using flavors to complement special ingredients.

• Planning the menu:
  After matching ingredients to flavors, you are ready to complete the menu planning process. Here is a sample menu of simple, yet impressive, dishes where flavor flows through each course (recipes follow).

  Appetizer – Creamy Shrimp and Dill Puffs
  Entrée – Beef Medallions in Portobello Wine Sauce.
  Sides – Garlic Mashed New Potatoes, Choice of: broccoli, carrots, green beans
  Dessert – Decadent Chocolate Almond Torte

Easy preparation

Minimize your time in the kitchen by familiarizing yourself with each recipe. Make sure you have all ingredients before you begin. Measure out the ingredients and set out necessary utensils. Advance planning and preparation saves time.

Let’s start with the appetizer – Creamy Shrimp and Dill Puffs. Thaw the frozen precooked shrimp and prepare the easy cream cheese filling the night before. Al you need to do on the day of your meal is assemble the puffs, bake and garnish with extra dill.

We suggest a main attraction of Beef Medallions in Portobello Wine Sauce. You’ll truly impress dinner guests by transforming a simple cut of steak into an elegant entrée – all in one skillet. Cook the meat first, then prepare the sauce in the same skillet. This technique guarantees tender, juicy meat without overcooking.

Garlic Mashed New Potatoes is the perfect accompaniment and can be prepared the night before. Place the mashed potatoes in a greased casserole and refrigerate overnight. Prior to serving, warm in the oven and they’ll rival your favorite restaurant’s rendition of garlic mashed potatoes.

Add color and texture to your main dish with a bag of prepared vegetables from your grocer’s produce department. Simply steam and serve.

Offer an elegant finale with a Decadent Chocolate Almond Torte. This dessert is ideal to prepare the night before, refrigerate and serve once the meal is completed. Top the torte with whipped cream and fresh raspberries for the perfect finishing touch.

Add an impressive touch

Creating ambiance transforms any tabletop into an elegant showcase with these simple ideas.

1. Throw crushed velvet over the table.
2. Sprinkle confetti or glitter sparkles.
3. Place rose buds in a glass bowl filled with bubbly-water as a centerpiece.
4. Place and light a floating candle in colored-glass bowl as a centerpiece.
5. Fill a shiny silver ice bucket with fresh flowers. Scatter rose petals and confetti around the base of the bucket.

Preparing an impressive meal is as easy as selecting special ingredients, matching complementary flavors and keeping preparation simple. For more ideas on easy meals to impress, please visit www.mccormick.com or call toll free, 1-800-MEALTIP (1-800-632-5847).

Recipes

Creamy Shrimp and Dill Puffs

Serve your company a special starter: zest up traditional cream cheese and crescent rolls with subtle accents of ginger and dill. Dill, adds fresh flavor to any seafood as well as an impressive garnish to the puffs. Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 17 minutes

1/3 cup whipped cream cheese
1/4 teaspoon McCormick Dill Weed
1/8 teaspoon McCormick Ground Ginger
1 tablespoon chopped green onions
1 can ( 8 0z.) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup chopped precooked shrimp
1/4 teaspoon McCormick Dill Weed, to garnish

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a small bowl, mix cream cheese, dill and ginger. Stir in green onions. Set aside.

Unroll crescent dough; separate into 8 triangles. Cut each triangle in half to make 16 triangles. Place crescent triangles into standard-size muffin pans so that the bottom of the muffin cup is covered and crescent corners are lying outside of the cup.

For each cup, spoon 1 teaspoon chopped shrimp into bottom. Top with 1/2 teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture. Loosely fold dough corners into center; pinch corners together and twist to seal tightly. Lightly sprinkle tops with additional dill. Bake 15-17 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 16 shrimp bites. Per each shrimp bite: About 68 Calories, Fat 4g, Protein 2g, Carbohydrate 6g, Cholesterol 4 mg, Sodium 176 mg.

Beef Medallions in Portobello Wine Sauce

Thyme richly accents the flavor of beef in this meal’s leading dish, while ground pepper and garlic add a strong kick. Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes

1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup Madeira or Port wine
1 tablespoon McCormick Thyme Leaves
1/2 teaspoon McCormick Ground Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon McCormick Garlic Powder
10-12 ounces (2 large) portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
1 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin steaks, cut 1-inch thick
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a medium bowl, stir broth, wine, thyme, black pepper and garlic powder until blended. Add mushrooms; toss to coat well. Cover and set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add steaks and cook 4-5 minutes per side or until desired doneness. Remove steaks from skillet; place on plate. Cover to keep warm.

Add onions to skillet; cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes or until tender and translucent. Add flour and salt; stirring constantly, heat 1 minute. Pour mushroom mixture into skillet. Stirring occasionally, boil 10-12 minutes or until sauce is thickened and mushrooms are tender. Add steaks to sauce; heat 1 minute. Serve immediately.

Makes 6 servings Per serving: About 376 Calories, Fat 28g, Protein 23g, Carbohydrate 8g, Cholesterol 86 mg, Sodium 405 mg.

Garlic Mashed New Potatoes

This side dish is a perfect accompaniment and can be prepared the night before. Place the mashed potatoes in a greased casserole and refrigerate overnight. Prior to serving, warm in the oven and they’ll rival your favorite restaurant’s rendition of garlic mashed potatoes. Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 25 minutes

2 pounds red bliss potatoes, quartered (or baby red potatoes, halved)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/4 teaspoons McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 teaspoon McCormick California Style Garlic Powder
1 cup milk
2 tablespoon butter margarine
1/2 cup sour cream

In a 4-quart saucepan, place potatoes; cover with water bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

Drain potatoes in a colander. Return potatoes to saucepan and reduce heat to low. Add Parmesan, Montreal Steak seasoning and garlic powder. Mash potatoes with potato masher or a fork, gradually adding milk, butter and sour cream until ingredients are combined and potatoes are fluffy.

Serve immediately, or spoon into a lightly buttered 1 1/2-quart baking dish, cover with aluminum foil, and keep warm in a 250 F oven until ready to serve (up to 1 hour).

Makes 5 (1 cup) servings Per serving: About 326 Calories, Fat 14g, Protein 10g, Carbohydrate 40g, Cholesterol 36 mg, Sodium 401 mg.

Decadent Chocolate Almond Torte

This dessert is ideal to prepare the night before, refrigerate and serve once the meal is completed. Top the torte with whipped cream and fresh raspberries for the perfect finishing touch. Prep Time: 25 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes

6 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate, broken into small pieces
2/3 cup butter
1/4 teaspoon McCormick Almond Extract
5 large eggs
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons McCormick Pure Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon McCormick Ground Nutmeg
1/2 cup slivered almonds, coarsely chopped

Garnish: (optional)
Canned whipping cream topping
Fresh raspberries

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 F. Butter a 9-inch cake pan. Cut a 9-inch diameter circle out of wax paper. Place in bottom of buttered pan.

In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate and butter in microwave* on high 1 minute. Stir and microwave again for 30 seconds or until melted. Stir in almond extract.

In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg. Using an electric mixer, beat on high speed for 8 minutes. Gently stir in melted chocolate mixture and slivered almonds. Pour into cake pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out mostly clean. Cool cake in pan for 2 hours (cake will fall in center slightly during cooling).

Use a knife to loosen sides of cake from pan. Invert a serving plate over cake pan and flip over; life pan off cake. Remove waxed paper from cake. Serve, or cover and refrigerate overnight. If desired, garnish with shipped cream just before serving and top with fresh raspberries.

* In step 2, chocolate can be melted on the stove, if desired. Place chocolate and butter in medium saucepan. Heat over low heat, stirring occasionally, until just melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in almond extract. Set aside.

Makes 8 servings. Per serving: About 418 Calories, Fat 30g, Protein 7g, Carbohydrate 30g, Cholesterol 176mg, Sodium 204mg.