Summary of All New Season's Best Recipes:)!

[pampchefrhondab]

Hi All,

I don't know if anyone has posted this info. yet, I'm just catching up this morning, but I wanted to post this info. which was sent to me by my Director on the new recipes in the Season's Best:


Here's info on all of the new Season's Best from our Kick Off. Hope it's helpful:

Lemony Gingertinis - we had non-alcoholic version. Really tasty and good using LIME sherbet instead of lemon sorbet. One consultant mixed in the sorbet with it instead of serving over sorbet/sherbet. Some reported they had tried the version with vodka and it's good, too!

Smoky Buffalo Chicken Wings - These would be a good demo, easy and really tasty. Personally, I think they are too messy but good taste.

Moroccan Hummus Cups - this was the only one we didn't get to taste.

Fresh Pineapple Salsa - Really tasty, but it is really repetitive and lots of chopping, so wouldn't be a good demo.

Cheesy Tex-Mex Roll-Ups - This is easy and would be a good demo. Really tasty. Can use purchased guacamole instead of making your own.

Steamed Wonton Purses - They were a huge hit. Most of us thought we wouldn't like them, since they are more of a dumpling than the fried wontons we are used to. But they were delicious. Serve with the new Ginger Wasabi sauce instead of making your own.

Quiche Lorraine Tartlets - This was a repeat from last season. Good flavor and makes a pretty good demo.

Jalapeno Popper Pizzas - this was probably the hit of the day for main dish/appetizers. Great demo recipe.

Grilled Chicken Penne al Fresco - We had seen that this was a bit bland on the directors loop, so added some of the new sun dried tomato seasoning (about 2 tsp?) and it was fabulous. I'm definitely putting this one on my recipe list for the season. (I used already grilled chicken breasts, available in the freezer section at Walmart or groc ery.)

Asian Pork & Noodle Skillet - another repeat from last year. We prepared it with chicken instead. Really tasty and easier and cheaper with chicken. A great demo.

Mexican Chicken Lasagna - It was really tasty and she said it would be a good demo but would try next time with flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas. One consultant said he had tried it that way and would need to cut back on the enchilada sauce, as they don't soak up as much as the corn tortillas do. Nice way to demo the Deep Covered Baker.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Sausage Risotto - Really good flavor and would be a good demo. Can use regular long grain rice instead of the Arborio if you can't find it.

Casbah Chicken and Couscous - Really tasty and pretty with mango and red onion. Moroccan seasoning is an acquired taste but I did this one last season and it went over well.

Sweet and Sour Pork and Pineapple Stir-Fry - Also a big hit. Great flavor. One consultant also prepared for her family, substituting bell pepper for the snap peas and said she thought it was better that way. Good demo and could do with chicken instead of pork.

Deluxe Cheeseburger Salad - Great looking dish. Makes a great demo and keeps the house cool, especially if you make the hamburger bun croutons ahead of time at home, so you don't need the oven.

California Club Pizza - Really great super starter recipe. You can use a lot of other tools, though, if you have them so you can show more. Great flavor! Be sure not to overbake the crust as it gets really hard.

Tropical Torte with Fresh Pineapple - This was my favorite dessert of the day. Frozen Sara Lee pound cake is on sale at Kroger for $2.69 (usually $5), so load up Tues before it goes off sale! Mango sorbet is at Walmart. This was beautiful and delicious and will be a hit at shows. When using the Pineapple Wedger, be sure to r ock the wedger from side to side, to make it easier to go through the pineapple.

Chocolate Banana Cream Trifle - One we tried didn't have the chocolate ganache, but it was still delicious. Tasted like it had Eagle Brand milk in it but didn't, so you get that flavor and texture without the extra calories and fat. Recommend doubling the recipe to fill up the bowl, otherwise, it will only be about 1/2 full.

Chocolate Velvet Cake with Strawberries - It's a beautiful presentation. Because the recipe is intended for microwave, the ingredients are different from most cakes. I personally think it changes the texture of the cake so although it was good, it wasn't my favorite. (I'm a chocolate cake FREAK, so others may not agree.) It was still good, though, and really PRETTY!

Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cakes - They looked really good, but again microwave cake recipes have a different texture. And a lot of trouble to make individual cakes for a larger crowd. Probably not a great demo. And I would rather have the Turtle Fudge Skillet Cake -- more moist and a better demo.

Creamy Mojito Torte - Consultant couldn't find mint extract so used peppermint, and it was a bit strong with mint flavor. She used rum extract. Looks like it would have too much rum if you used the real stuff? Not sure. It looked beautiful - one of the prettiest recipes we had there, but wasn't my favorite on flavor. Maybe because I'm a chocoholic?

Decadent Dulce de Leche Tart - Very rich but DELISH... Dulce de leche can be purchased with the Mexican/International foods section of Walmart or grocery. If you can't find it, you can substitute Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk. (Dulce de leche is like caramelized Eagle Brand.) Good demo.

Double Chocolate Mousse Cups - Waffle bowls are available at Walmart for about $2 for 10 bowls. These were delicious and make a grea t demo. Season's Best says you can substitute regular ice cream cones for the waffle bowls, but consultant felt like they would be hard to fill and might tip over, so probably better to go with the bowls.

Summer Berry Shortcakes - a repeat from last spring, they are not just beautiful but really delicious. A good demo. And if someone doesn't like blueberries, could probably do a warm raspberry sauce, but the color is best with blueberries.

 

[tlag1986]

Thanks for the summary of the recipes. Nice to know some of the information, since I have not had the opportunity to make all of the recipes.

 

[candiejayne]

Thank you for sharing, I hadn't seen that yet, and it was nicely presented.

 

[DessertDivaFL]

California Club Pizza will be a great demo recipe. The Double Chocolate Mousse Cups would be too! I will be suggesting those for my March Shows.

Thanks for posting!

 

[kaseydee]

I was reading through this & knew it sounded familiar. When I got to the Chocolate Banana Cream Trifle I knew why. I'm the one that made it w/out the chocolate...lol. This was from my director. My boyfriend told me we had plenty of cool whip but when I went to get it out one was good & one wasn't so I had to cut something out & I picked the chocolate. Small world!

 

[BlessedWifeMommy]

Love this list! Thanks for posting it!

 

[Fluffy215]

I made the double mousse cups for my host appreciation party and they are absolutely awesome. I have a bridal shower in April I am demoing these for. But I would suggest to put the chocolate on the cups before hand because that can be tedious and time consuming. I have over 25 people coming so told the host that I will have 25 cups ready and demo just 5 and then triple the recipe for the mousse.

 

[janezapchef]

Awesome! Thanks for posting -- reminds me I was supposed to write ours up too! Better get on that!

 

[JAE]

Thought I'd add my two cents, and now that I've typed it all I think it's worth a little more than that.

I made the mojito torte for our recipe demonstration. It had a lot of steps, so really read it over and be prepared when doing it as a demo. Even practice at home if you have time. I normally don't practice at home first, but this one has a lot of steps. For instance, I forgot to add the rum extract to the actual cake mix. Bummer.


I had to purchase rum and mint extracts, and they were $3.99 each. I'll be offering this as a demo and bringing the extracts unless the host has rum or the extracts already.


The reason it's such a great demo is you can use $500 worth of product. My kitchen was such a mess because I had so many products out, and the dishwasher had clean dishes. Easy Accent Decorator, Microplane Adj. Grater, Stainless Mixing Bowl set, 5" Santoku Knive for cutting the lime, Citrus Press, Torte Pans, Parchment Paper, Easy Read Measuring Cups and the Mini, Prep Bowl, lots of Scrapers, Cooling Rack, SA Round Platter, Oven Mitts, etc...


The ingredients cost me about $14 because I had to buy the extracts, but if you bring them or host already has them it will cost around $8 if things are on sale. Full price will cost more, of course.

I think the filling is really good and can be used for other cakes, and it would be great for Profiterole Puffs. Yummm!

Also, I had a lot of filling left over because the well on the bottom layer of the torte wasn't very deep. I should have cut off the big lump on the top before dumping it out. Otherwise, I really should have just filled it with half the filling anyway.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

Thought I'd add my two cents, and now that I've typed it all I think it's worth a little more than that.

I made the mojito torte for our recipe demonstration. It had a lot of steps, so really read it over and be prepared when doing it as a demo. Even practice at home if you have time. I normally don't practice at home first, but this one has a lot of steps. For instance, I forgot to add the rum extract to the actual cake mix. Bummer.


I had to purchase rum and mint extracts, and they were $3.99 each. I'll be offering this as a demo and bringing the extracts unless the host has rum or the extracts already.


The reason it's such a great demo is you can use $500 worth of product. My kitchen was such a mess because I had so many products out, and the dishwasher had clean dishes. Easy Accent Decorator, Microplane Adj. Grater, Stainless Mixing Bowl set, 5" Santoku Knive for cutting the lime, Citrus Press, Torte Pans, Parchment Paper, Easy Read Measuring Cups and the Mini, Prep Bowl, lots of Scrapers, Cooling Rack, SA Round Platter, Oven Mitts, etc...


The ingredients cost me about $14 because I had to buy the extracts, but if you bring them or host already has them it will cost around $8 if things are on sale. Full price will cost more, of course.

I think the filling is really good and can be used for other cakes, and it would be great for Profiterole Puffs. Yummm!

Also, I had a lot of filling left over because the well on the bottom layer of the torte wasn't very deep. I should have cut off the big lump on the top before dumping it out. Otherwise, I really should have just filled it with half the filling anyway.

AND it was the prettiest dessert at the meeting!:thumbup:

 

[Symara]

isn't mint extract and peppermint extract the same thing?

 

[ChefBeckyD]

isn't mint extract and peppermint extract the same thing?

No, mint extract is a mixture of different mints. It's a milder flavor.

 

[Symara]

ah, alright. so it has maybe spearmint in it also? I didn't know that.

Thanks for the info!

 

[ChefBeckyD]

ah, alright. so it has maybe spearmint in it also? I didn't know that.

Thanks for the info!

Yes, I know it has spearmint too - and it may have some wintergreen...I'm sitting here with my first cup of coffee, and too lazy and relaxed to actually get up and walk to the kitchen to check.

 

[JAE]

I don't know how any of these recipes will demo because I haven't made any, yet. But I thought I'd share what I thought of the flavors.

Decadent Dulce de Leche Tart was sooooo good. It was very rich so it can be cut into a lot of smaller slices. It will feed a crowd. The consultant who prepared it said it was very simple, too.

The Mousse Cups were also very tasty. I hadn't considered ever trying them myself, but they tasted so good, I'll have to find an excuse to make them for something.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Sausage Risotto had great flavor. I don't like sticky rice or pasta, so I hope I can figure out how to do this with a fluffier rice. Otherwise, it was very good.

Grilled Chicken Penne al Fresco: I really liked the light flavor of this recipe. I don't know if the consultant changed anything, but I thought it was excellent.

Mexican Chicken Lasagna has been great each of the three times I've tasted it. ChefBeckyD made it with green enchilada sauce and it was good that way too. I only use the green because my kids don't do spicy.

I was really surprised how great the Jalapeno Popper Pizzas tasted. I think my kids will even like these.

 

[JAE]

No, mint extract is a mixture of different mints. It's a milder flavor.

I looked it up online because I had already gone to the store and didn't realize I needed mint extract. I have peppermint and was hoping to be able to use it. I found online that it isn't a good substitute so back to the store I went for another $3.99. It may be less expensive at a bigger grocery store chain, but I didn't have time to go to the big store.

 

[ChefBeckyD]

I don't know how any of these recipes will demo because I haven't made any, yet. But I thought I'd share what I thought of the flavors.

Decadent Dulce de Leche Tart was sooooo good. It was very rich so it can be cut into a lot of smaller slices. It will feed a crowd. The consultant who prepared it said it was very simple, too.

The Mousse Cups were also very tasty. I hadn't considered ever trying them myself, but they tasted so good, I'll have to find an excuse to make them for something.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Sausage Risotto had great flavor. I don't like sticky rice or pasta, so I hope I can figure out how to do this with a fluffier rice. Otherwise, it was very good.

Grilled Chicken Penne al Fresco: I really liked the light flavor of this recipe. I don't know if the consultant changed anything, but I thought it was excellent.

Mexican Chicken Lasagna has been great each of the three times I've tasted it. ChefBeckyD made it with green enchilada sauce and it was good that way too. I only use the green because my kids don't do spicy.

I was really surprised how great the Jalapeno Popper Pizzas tasted. I think my kids will even like these.

I was surprised by the three that I bolded. I wouldn't have made any of them w/o trying them first - but I really liked them all! The Tart, and the Mousse Cups I didn't think I'd try, just because I'm not a big dessert person, but I liked both of these really well. I have a friend who is having a PC party the first week of March, and it's her birthday...and she loves chocolate and raspberry together, so I think I'll make the mousse cups w/ raspberries on top as a surprise dessert for her party!

The Popper Pizzas - wow! Those were so good! I could have eaten 3 or 4....or 10!

We also had the Fresh Pineapple Salsa - now, at our Regional Meeting, we had this, and I LOVED it there, but at our cluster meeting this week, it was way way way too spicy. I couldn't eat it, and I'd taken a big helping of it, because I loved it so much the time before. I'm going to have to make some myself.

 

[janezapchef]

I made the mojito torte for our meeting, but I used peppermint extract. Let's just say I'm glad mint extract is different. I'll have to try that. I couldn't find it at our store, so, I just used peppermint extract. I really thought the filling was gross, so, I'm hoping the "milder flavor" of mint extract will be better. It was fun to make and did look gorgeous! I was disappointed in the taste because I really liked making it and thought it looked impressive.

 

[heather223]

Jane, I ate it and liked it. And for the record- I usually don't care for mint.

 

[vonfirmath]

What a great summary!

The way they encourage us to use the Season's best for demo recipes... I wonder if it was originally envisioned that if someone wanted the recipe for the food they ate that night, they'd purchase the Really Cheap Season's Best to get it?

 

[ChefPaulaB]

I was surprised by the three that I bolded. I wouldn't have made any of them w/o trying them first - but I really liked them all! The Tart, and the Mousse Cups I didn't think I'd try, just because I'm not a big dessert person, but I liked both of these really well. I have a friend who is having a PC party the first week of March, and it's her birthday...and she loves chocolate and raspberry together, so I think I'll make the mousse cups w/ raspberries on top as a surprise dessert for her party!

The Popper Pizzas - wow! Those were so good! I could have eaten 3 or 4....or 10!

We also had the Fresh Pineapple Salsa - now, at our Regional Meeting, we had this, and I LOVED it there, but at our cluster meeting this week, it was way way way too spicy. I couldn't eat it, and I'd taken a big helping of it, because I loved it so much the time before. I'm going to have to make some myself.

I took all of the ingredients to my sisters house to do a small demo and just threw it all in the bowl (after cleaning and wedging the pineapple and everything) and chopped with the Salad Choppers (kind of a take on the Salsa demo that everyone does)... the only problem is the red onion that I purchased was soooo strong (and none of us are super onion lovers) so it overpowered the it... we tried to pick all of the onions back out, but we threw it out. Will try again without onion....