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[jdmessner]

I am on our county Community Mental Health board and we recently hired a new CEO. We are doing an introductory reception on Thursday. Somehow I volunteered or was volunteered (not sure which) to organize and cater the reception. We have invited a lot of people from a wide variety of offices and agencies throughout the county and want to make a good impression. I have no idea how many people will show up, which always makes things interesting. The reception is from 5 – 6:30 p.m. We figured people will probably want something to eat, but not dinner. My goal is to provide some good appetizers that are easy to eat. Here is what I am looking at so far:

Spinach Pie - I have several boxes of phyllo dough in the freezer that I am looking to use up and figured this would be reasonably easy to make and serve.

Chicken on a Stick - Cubed chicken thighs marinated and wrapped in bacon.

MikeMcQ’s Twice Smoked Salmon Salad and Cheddar Open Face Sandwich – I have made this a few different times and I really like it. I will try brining it this time and serving it on thinly sliced garlic bread made from baguettes.

Brisket Dip – This is the dish that most intrigues me. I found a 2 lb. brisket flat. I plan to smoke it and cube it to make a dip and serve it with tortilla chips. I will also have hummus and salsa with some veggies.

My wife is making a cake and we will also have cookies and popcorn.

Anyone have a good punch recipe? 

[Kristin Meredith]

Not sure that this qualifies as a punch, but I remember this from a coffee that was hosted for my Mom and me when I was about 15.  Large punch bowl, a gallon of good vanilla ice cream placed in the bowl, then hot, fresh brewed coffee poured on top till punch bowl is filled. Could use decaf in evening.

[jdmessner]

So far so good. Prepped the chicken, smoked the salmon, veggies for the brisket dip, and the brisket. I am thinking about a modification on the salmon. After toasting the baguettes it dawned on me that I might be better off doing the salmon spread as a dip rather than making 200 bite sized open face sandwiches. The only down side is the dip will not go as far.

The brisket dip is fairly simple. I smoked a 2 lb. flat, 2 med. onions, 8 roma tomatoes (seeded), 1 each red pepper, green pepper, and a yellow pepper. After I skinned the tomatoes and peppers, I pulsed them in the food processor. Added some lime juice, olive oil, salt and garlic. Tomorrow will cube the brisket, add cheese, heat and serve. I am curious to see how it turns out!

The coffee drink sounds great! I probably will not use it tomorrow, but will try it at some point this spring or summer.

[jdmessner]

After a couple of hours:
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Pulsed veggies for the brisket dip:
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[jdmessner]

Things went well! I did have to make a few adjustments on the fly. The original plan was to use the big cast iron pan for the spinach pie and to bake it on site. They have a full sized oven, so it should not have been a problem. I went in5 this morning to drop off some stuff. On a hunch I took a rack from my oven (it was easier to carry then the pan), to see if it would fit in their oven. The rack was just a little bit too big and the pan would not have fit. It would not have been pretty if I got there and could not bake it! Instead I ended up baking the spinach pie on site in a chafing dish and served the bacon wrapped chicken out of the pan. I really wanted to use the big pan because it was locally designed and made. There were a lot of county VIPs there, so it was nice to put in a plug for a local business.

The brisket dip turned out very well, I would do it again. The salmon was also good, it is turning into one of my favorite recipies.

Here are a few pictures. I thought I took more, but didn't! Someone else with better camera said he would send me his. If he does, I will post them.

Salmon and brisket dip.
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Spinach pie
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Chicken
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My wife made the cake.
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I

[Kristin Meredith]

WOW!!! It all looks great!

[yorkdude]

Very nice, that brisket dip sure sounds intriguing.

[Bar-B-Lew]

Nice work once again.  You are a gift to that community.

[jdmessner]

Very nice, that brisket dip sure sounds intriguing.

I searched a lot of recipes to find something that would make a little bit of brisket work for a large number of people. With the finely diced brisket and the pulsed smoked veggies, this certainly fit the bill. The recipe I adapted came from Sweet Life, under brisket dip.

[Trooper]

" Somehow I volunteered or was volunteered (not sure which) "

I'm sure that this was a combination of both, JD.
Marcellus is a better place because of people like you in that small community.

In closing, we all love the way you dazzle us with your trick photography.

Trooper
 Keep the faith

[jdmessner]

Not sure that this qualifies as a punch, but I remember this from a coffee that was hosted for my Mom and me when I was about 15.  Large punch bowl, a gallon of good vanilla ice cream placed in the bowl, then hot, fresh brewed coffee poured on top till punch bowl is filled. Could use decaf in evening.

Just for the record I ended up going with an easy traditional punch. Equal parts ginger-ale, Hawaiian Punch, and pinapple juice. Nothing to write home about, but it was easy and tasted good.