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Lacy Cheddar Crisps
Smoked Salmon and Watercress Salad
With Red Onion and Caper Vinaigrette
Roast Rack of Lamb with Vinegar Mint Pan Sauce
Roasted Red Potatoes, Broiled Asparagus
Molten Chocolate Cakes with Sugar Coated Raspberries
LACY CHEDDAR CRISPS
Makes about 2 dozen crisps
Note: For peak freshness, make the crisps no more than 2 days before serving.
1 ½ cups (6 oz.) packaged shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Adjust oven racks to low and middle positions and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Spoon about 1 tablespoon cheese onto one sheet, then spread into a round with your fingertips so that cheese is more or less in a single layer. Repeat with remaining cheese, keeping cheese disks about 1 inch or so apart. (You should get about 12 wafers on a large sheet.)
Bake until crisps stop bubbling, 8 to 9 minutes, switching sheets after 5 minutes if they appear to be cooking unevenly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve cheddar crisps with salad.
SMOKED SALMON and WATERCRESS SALAD with RED ONION-CAPER VINAIGRETTE
Serves 8 
Note: Adding the sliced onion to the dressing instead of directly to the salad wilts it slightly so it loses its bitter bite.
The dressing can be made 1 hour before serving.
Tbsp. Fresh lemon juice
1 ½ Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
1 ½ Tbsp. Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup drained capers
½ medium red onion, thinly sliced
¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
8 cups trimmed watercress
2 4 oz. (about 8 thin slices) smoked salmon, torn or cut into bite-size pieces
Mix lemon juice, vinegar, mustard, a big pinch of salt, and pepper to taste in a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup or small bowl. Add capers and onion and toss to coat. Slowly add oil, pushing onion aside with a small whisk or fork and beating to form a thick dressing.
Mix watercress and half the salmon in a large bowl.
To serve, pour dressing over watercress and salmon and toss to coat. Arrange on salad plates, garnish with remaining smoked salmon, and serve.
Serve cheddar crisps with salad.
ROAST RACK OF LAMB with VINEGAR-MINT PAN SAUCE
Serves 8
Note to Host: Rack of lamb is too small to brown naturally during roasting (it overcooks before it browns), so it's important to sear it first. You can sear it and make the pan sauce early. Then, about 40 minutes before you're ready to serve, pop the lamb into the oven and quickly roast it.
The lamb can be seared up to 2 hours before roasting.
The pan sauce, minus the mint and butter, can be made as soon as the lamb has been seared. Pour the sauce into a Pyrex measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl, and set aside until just before serving.
Please supply 1 loaf of French or Italian bread for the Entrée. Place on table at time the Entrée is served.
A full bodied red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot noir, Syrah, Shiraz, or Zinfandel, can be served with the Entrée. ½ cup chicken broth
½ cup rice wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. mint jelly
3 8-rib each- French trimmed racks of lamb (about 1 - 1 ¼ pounds each) . The racks of lamb will be pre-ordered at Jewel and available for pick-up on Friday, Nov. 14th, under "Campus Green Gourmet Club".
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. or ¾ oz. package chopped fresh mint
2 Tbsp. butter
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.
Heat a 10-12 inch oven proof skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, mix broth, vinegar, and jelly in a Pyrex measuring cup or microwave-safe bowl. Set aside. Lightly sprinkle lamb with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with sugar.
Increase heat under pan to high (turn on exhaust fan). After 1 to 2 minutes, add lamb racks to skillet, (3 lamb racks will fit in one 10 or 12 in. pan)-- fat side down, and sear, for about 1-½ minutes. Turn lambs over and sear meaty section of bone side for about 1 minute. Finally, stand lambs up and sear meaty bottoms, about another 1-½ minutes. Transfer lambs to a platter.
Drain fat from pan (if any remains) and set pan over medium-high heat. Add broth mixture and boil until reduced by half, about 3-5 minutes. Return liquid to cup or bowl.
Place a small wire rack in skillet (optional), or transfer to oven roaster that wire rack will fit in (optional) and set lamb racks on wire rack. If you do not have a wire rack that fits in pan or oven roaster, just spray bottom with non-stick cooking spray. Insert oven meat thermometer from one end deep into meaty portion of a lamb rack. Place skillet
(or roaster) in oven and roast until meat thermometer or instant-read thermometer inserted from one end deep into meaty portion registers about 130-135 degrees, 25-30 minutes . Let lamb racks rest for about 5 minutes; the internal temperature will rise 5 to 10 degrees and lamb will be medium-rare to medium.
While lamb racks rest on top of stove (cover pan or roaster with foil), (heat from oven will keep racks warm), heat sauce in the microwave until very hot, about 1 minute. Whisk in mint and butter.
Slice racks into chops and arrange three on each plate. Spoon over hot sauce and serve.
ROASTED RED POTATOES
Serves 8 - 12
Potatoes made be prepared up to one hour before arriving at Hosts home.
Note: Roasting potatoes on the bottom rack of the oven as it heats makes them brown beautifully, and they also roast nearly twice as quickly.
3 pounds small red new potatoes, rinsed, dried, and halved
¼ cup olive oil
3 Tbsp. herbes de Provence
1 tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Toss potatoes with oil, herbes, salt and pepper to taste. Arrange cut side down on a large rimmed baking sheet. Set pan on lowest rack in cold oven, turn oven on to 425 degrees and roast until potatoes are tender and golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Serve along side the Entrée at dinner time.
BROILED ASPARAGUS
Serves 8
The asparagus must be prepared at Hosts home! Stay close by as it doesn't take long for the spears to cook.
There isn't another green vegetable that's as easy to prepare as asparagus. Just snap each spear - it always breaks at the point between tender and tough (wide end) - and discard the tough part.
3 pounds medium to medium-thick asparagus, tough ends snapped off (wide end)
Extra -virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Finely grated zest of one large lemon
Adjust oven rack to highest position and preheat broiler.
Drizzle asparagus with enough olive oil to coat and season generously with salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and place under broiler. Cook until bright green and just tender, about 4 minutes for medium asparagus turn thicker spears once after 4 minutes and cook about 2 minutes longer.
As the asparagus finishes cooking, toss with finely grated lemon zest.
Serve along side the entrée at dinner time.
MOLTEN CHOCOLATE CAKES with SUGAR-COATED RASPBERRIES
Serves 8
Note: These decadent, oozy cakes are drop-dead terrific and even easier than brownies. They are baked in paper liners in a muffin tin, so you don't have to worry about having matching ramekins. That also means you don't have to un-mold the cakes-just lift them from the muffin pan, peel away the liner and set on the dessert plates. And since the cakes bake for only 8 minutes, you can pop them into the oven as the main course is being cleared from the table and the coffee is being made.
Use extra-large baking cups for the cakes. These liners extend above the muffin cups, making it easy to lift the bakes cakes from the pan. If your baking cups are foil-lined, remove the foil layer and reserve for another use, or discard.
Bring below ingredients pre-measured to Host's home and assemble recipe just before baking.
16 Tbsp. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1-1/3 cup (8 oz) chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate, cut into small chunks
5 large eggs
½ cup sugar, plus, ¼ cup more for coating raspberries
Pinch of salt
4 tsp. all-purpose flour
1 pint (about 12 oz.) fresh raspberries
1 can Real Whipping cream
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Line 8 cups of a muffin tin (with ½ -cup-capacity cups) with extra-large paper liners (they should extend above cups to facilitate removal; if papers are foil-lined, remove foil layer). COAT PAPERS WITH VEGETABLE COOKING SPRAY.
Melt butter and chocolate in a medium microwave bowl 60 seconds on high, remove, stir to blend and microwave 30 seconds more if needed.
With an electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar, and salt in another medium bowl until sugar dissolves. Beat egg mixture, then flour, into chocolate.
Divide batter among muffin cups. Bake until batter puffs but centers are not set, 12-14 minutes, check at 12 minutes. Let stand in tin for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, flick raspberries with a little water and roll in sugar to coat.
Carefully lift cakes from tin and transfer to dessert plates, removing paper liners. Top each cake with sugared berries, real whipped cream and serve.
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