Progressive meal tastes best when cooked by friends

smcclanahan

Good food and good friends; is there any better way to spend an evening during the holiday season to help bring in a new year? Last weekend was our annual progressive dinner that Scott and I participate in during the holidays. The locations were divided into courses at three different couple's homes.

The first course was soup and appetizer where we enjoyed a delicious shrimp chowder, hot crab dip and a cold cheese ball. The second location was the salad made of fresh spring blend greens and baby spinach with kiwi, star fruit, fresh raspberries, sugared toasted almonds and red raspberry vinaigrette dressing. The entrée was a thick bone-in pork loin chop covered in a rub and grilled to perfection served over a mound of garlic mashed potatoes and surrounded by steamed vegetable blend and yeast rolls. And then as we nearly had to be rolled out of that location we were off to the third and final stop in our culinary journey: Dessert. Here we were treated to a cold mint dessert, cranberry pie, white silk raspberry torte and a sparkling drink to end the evening.

The 10 of us started this journey at 4 in the afternoon to assure we had plenty of time to enjoy each course and be able to visit along the way. It is over with for another year, but plans are already being made for next year.

It just wouldn't be right to tease you with all of this and not give you any of the recipes, so here are a few of the recipes we enjoyed at our dinner.

Delicious Hot Crabmeat Dip

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 (6 1/2 ounce) can flaked crabmeat, drained

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon prepared mustard

1 teaspoon horseradish

1 teaspoon powdered sugar

4 dashes Tabasco

Combine all ingredients and pour into a buttered casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve hot with crackers.

Quick Shrimp Chowder

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 medium onion, chopped

2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans cream of potato soup, undiluted

3 1/2 cups milk

1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 1/2 pounds medium fresh shrimp, peeled

1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Fresh snipped parsley as garnish

Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium heat; add onion, saute 8 minutes until tender. Stir in cream of potato soup, milk and pepper; bring to a boil. Add shrimp, reduce heat and simmer, stirring often about 5 minutes or until shrimp turns pink. Stir in cheese until melted. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately with oyster crackers if desired. Yields 12 cups.

Spinach and Raspberry Salad

8 cups baby spinach or a blend of greens

3/4 cup sugar toasted almond slices

1 cup fresh red raspberries

3 kiwis, peeled and sliced

1 star fruit, sliced for garnish on top

1 bottle T. Marzetti Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing

1/4 cup seedless red raspberry jam

2 tablespoons sugar

To make the dressing, combine the bottled dressing, jam and sugar in a dressing shaker or container where it can be well combined. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Combine the salad greens with 3/4 cup of the almonds, and half of the raspberries. Plate per serving and top with additional almonds and kiwi and a sprinkling of fresh raspberries. Drizzle with dressing, top with a slice of star fruit and serve immediately.

The pork chops were a thick 12-ounce bone-in pork loin chop covered in a rub of:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

1 tablespoon chopped thyme

2 tablespoons chopped oregano

1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper

Combine all ingredients and generously rub over chops. Allow this to be refrigerated for several hours. Before grilling, allow meat to come just to room temperature and grill over medium coals (350 to 400 degrees) for 12 minutes or 160 degree internal temperature, turning only once during cooking. Allow to rest and serve over a mound of fresh garlic mashed potatoes.

Cranberry Nut Pie

1 1/4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 egg

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch pie plate and layer the cranberries on the bottom. Sprinkle with brown sugar and chopped walnuts. In a large bowl, beat egg until thick. Gradually add sugar, beating until thoroughly blended. Stir in flour and melted butter. Blend well and pour over cranberries. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve warm.

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If you tried a new recipe this holiday season and would be willing to share it, please send it in and maybe we will add it to our progressive dinner menu for next year.

As we begin this new year together as recipe collectors, please remember that this column is so interesting when you write in and share your favorite recipes. I look forward to hearing from you. Until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at smcclanahan@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699; Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by the Southeast Missourian staff.