Tapas Party @ Home

Last weekend, the hubby and I had a somewhat spontaneous party and invited some friends over. Having a party motivates the both of us to clean up the house and making it guest worthy! I will usually take charge of the kitchen and cooking, while hubby has the whole house to himself…to clean that is!

We made everything about 3-4 hours before the guests arrived. The only thing I made the night before was the flan, which took FOREVER to cook (about 2 hours), thanks cooking the custard in a big and deep container!

Here’s what we served our guests:

1) Sangria (Bottom Left) -  What is a Tapas Party without some Sangria?  This was a concoction of merlot, syrup, orange juice and slices of lemon, lime and orange. I think all of us enjoyed this bowl of Sangria….not a drop left at the end of dinner! =)

2) Edamame Spread (Bottom Right) – Inspired by the ones served @ Solea’s, I made my own version. Pureed edamame, peppers, cheese, olive oil and seasoning. Served this with slices of baguette.

3) Stuffed Mussels (Bottom Left) – Chopped mussels with onion, pepper and seasoning in a béchamel sauce, topped with parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs.

4) Garlic Mushrooms (Bottom Right) – Sautéed cremini mushrooms with garlic, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

5) Roasted Asparagus with Red Pepper Sauce (Bottom Left) – Asparagus doused with some salt, pepper and olive oil and roasted till tender. Sauce was red pepper pureed with a splash of red wine vinegar for some zing.

6) Tortilla Espanola (Bottom Right) – Spanish Potato Omelet. One of my favorite Spanish Tapas!

 

7) Hooters Style Chicken Wings (Bottom Left) – Deep fried wings coated with hot sauce and butter. This has become hubby’s signature dish. =)

8) Garlic Shrimp (Bottom Right) – Succulent shrimp sauteed in olive oil, butter, garlic and a sprinkle of chili flakes for a little kick!

  

9) Spanish Flan (Bottom) – Custard cooked in a water bath. This is one of the easiest and yummiest desserts to make! Mental note to myself, bake the custard in smaller ramekins instead of a big container. Baking the custard in a big container took the custard about 2 hours to cook and set!! Ramekins only took about 1 hour or less.

On top of Sangria, we also had some yummy and somewhat pricey wine that our friends brought over! Good food, great wine, awesome company….it was a great way to end the week and lI guess look forward to the Monday blues? =p Will be posting recipes to the stuff I made at the party soon! =)