S3E6: Ladies First

Spatchcock Funk is all about showing the love and respect through bespoke experiences, and are firm supporters of women in the world. We thank our partners and friends by putting together a ladies night, complete with dips, drinks and a menu everyone will love.

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Recipes from this episode

Kir Royale

Bless Her Heart Dip

Zsa Zsa Pasta

8 Layer Bars

Kir Royale

Yields: 24 Servings
Prep Time: 35 minutes

When you’re trying to show the love for the women you love, you gotta do it right, and make it special. Special peeps need a special cocktail, and one of our favorite ways to celebrate our crew is with champagne, baby. The Kir Royale is for royalty and fit for a Queen. A lot of folks save champagne for special occasions, but you don’t need a special reason to let your people know they’re special. You should do that every day, baby. It originated in France (where champagne originates from, naturally), and parties up with Creme de cassis, which is a really nice black currant. We add in a drop of strawberry simple syrup and serve it right. So pop some bottles and make that party pop for the women in your life (or for yourself, you know we aren’t judging).

Ingredients:

4-6 oz of dry champagne, chilled
½ oz (basically a Tbsp) of creme de cassis
Splash of strawberry simple syrup
Sliced strawberries for garnish

Ingredients for Strawberry Simple Syrup

1 C water
1 C granulated sugar
2 C of chopped strawberries, fresh or frozen (but thaw ‘em)

Directions:

In a champagne flute, add in the champagne
Add in the creme de cassis
Add in the strawberry simple syrup
Stir
Garnish with the slice of strawberry
Cheer your girls

Directions for Strawberry Simple Syrup

Add all ingredients into a saucepan, and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly
Stir until all sugar is dissolved and let sit for 15 minutes

Bless Her Heart Dip

Yields:: 2-3 servings
Prep Time: 30 minutes

A great night in is even better with a great dip, and the perfect setting to spill the tea over, too. This is a decadent dip, using 4 marvelous cheeses and served with a beautiful, salty, fried cracker that’s super easy to make and always gets people raving. For us, bringing together great cheeses and applying heat makes things better, just like bringing together your favorite people and giving them some quality food and cocktails. Treat the people right, and this dip just does it, y'all. One of the best parts of this is the accessories, just like a perfect outfit. We pair this combination of killer cheeses, fontina, asiago, gorgonzola, and parmesan with some deep-fried saltine crackers, and they just hit right. The salty bite of the Cajun season works incredibly well, giving you the perfect bite to share some stories over…

Ingredients:

2 sleeves of Cajun deep-fried saltines (ingredients/directions below)
¼ lb shredded parmesan cheese (off the block preferred)
¼ lb shredded asiago cheese
¼ lb gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1 lb fontina cheese (cut the rind off and cube into 1” cubes)
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
¼ tsp of hot sauce
2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped up, divided
1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp Kosher salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Ingredients for Cajun Deep-Fried Saltines

4 C canola or another neutral oil
2 sleeves of saltine crackers
1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning

Directions:

Put your top rack in your oven 5 inches away from the broiler, and pre-heat the broiler
In a mixing bowl, mix all the cheeses and the hot sauce, and mix it evenly
Spread the cheese mixture all across a large cast-iron pan
Take the olive oil and mix half the rosemary and the thyme together
Spread the oil mixture evenly across the top of the cheese mixture
Throw it in the broiler for 5-6 minutes until it is melted and bubbly
Remove from the oven and top with the remaining rosemary and green onions
Serve it piping hot, with the crackers on the side
Dip in a cracker and take a bite of the cheesy goodness

Directions for Cajun Deep-Fried Saltines

Heat the oil in a deep pot to 300 degrees
Drop the crackers in 5-6 at a time, for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until they turn golden brown
Rest on paper towels
Season with Cajun seasoning while still warm
Store in an airtight container; they can be stored for up to a week in your cupboard

Zsa Zsa Pasta

Yields: 5 servings
Total time: 60 minutes

The incredible Zsa Zsa Gabor was known for many things, including her love of opulence and wealth, her breathtaking style, and her strong attitude and this dish embodies all that she is. We wanted something glamorous, decadent, and worth of a movie star and fashion icon, and this starchy main does all of that (it can also be vegetarian if you don’t add the salmon roe or caviar as a garnish). We take all of the top-level ingredients, including champagne and cream, to make a luxurious, velvety sauce to bathe some homemade mushroom, ricotta and shallot raviolis. One of our home girls (and stars on the show), Danielle, gave us these ravioli mushrooms, and she is a true star in the pasta-making world. We throw some fresh basil, salmon roe (that orange/pink caviar), and freshly cracked black pepper to make this dinner fantastic. These magical little pillows are the perfect pairing for champagne, great wine, and some great times with whomever you think is special and deserving of the Zsa Zsa treatment…. You sure are, and you gotta make time to care for and treat yourself!

Ingredients:

Homemade mushroom and shallot raviolis (ingredients/directions below)
Champagne cream sauce (ingredients/directions below)
¼ lb of salmon roe for garnish
Fresh basil, coarsely chopped
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Ingredients for Mushroom and Shallot Filling

½ lb of finely shredded baby portabella mushrooms
½ C of finely shredded shallots
3 Tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
2 Tbsp butter
½ C mascarpone cheese
¼ C finely chopped fresh parsley

Ingredients for Mushroom and Shallot Raviolis

5 room temperature eggs
2 C double zero flour
1 C semolina flour
¼ C flour for surface
Dampened cheese cloth
Mushroom and Shallot filling

Ingredients for the Champagne Cream Sauce

2 Tbsp olive oil divided
3 Tbsp butter, also divided
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 ½ shallots finely minced
1 C champagne, at room temperature
1 C heavy cream
½ C grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

If using the homemade ravioli, throw in salted boiling water for 3 minutes until they float
Strain the raviolis
Place 4-5 raviolis in a pasta dish
Ladle a scoop of the champagne cream sauce into the raviolis
Garnish with chopped basil and a little bit of the salmon roe
Take a bite of pure luxury

Directions for Mushroom and Shallot Filling

Heat the olive oil in your pan
Add the mushrooms and shallots and sauté until fragrant, stirring regularly
Add the butter, salt and pepper, stirring until butter is melted
Once heated, remove to a mixing bowl, add in mascarpone and parsley
Mix evenly, set aside

Directions for Mushroom and Shallot Raviolis

Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl (separate from your stand mixer) • Add the flours into the mixing bowl on your stand mixer
Quickly mix the flour until evenly mixed
Add the eggs and mix on low for 2 minutes
When the mixer starts having a hard time pushing it around, it’s good • Flour your counter surface, then take your kinda crumbly ball of dough and knead it for 5-10 minutes
Cover the dough ball with the dampened cheese cloth and let rest for 30 minutes • Once the dough is rested, flour your ravioli template tray
Insert the dough into the sheet roller extension on your pasta maker, starting at level 1, and repeating until level 6 (you might want to add a little flour each time) • Gently lay onto your ravioli template
Gently rest the dimpled plastic template on top to create your pocket • Add in ½ Tbsp of the shallot/mushroom stuffing into each dimple • Using your fingertip, add some water to the edges of the dough on all parts of the template
Layer the other sheet of pasta dough across the top
Gently but firmly press the sheet down
Use a rolling pin and roll across the top
Peel off the extra dough, discard, and flip your template, pop out the raviolis and gently tear them apart from each other as needed

Directions for the Champagne Cream Sauce

In a saucepan over medium heat, add 1 Tbsp of olive oil and butter until the butter melts
Add the garlic and the shallots for 3 minutes, until garlic is golden brown
Add the champagne and cook for 5 minutes until it reduces by half
Throw in the heavy cream, cook for 8-9 minutes until it thickens up nicely)
Add the parm and whisk it up until the cheese is melted and the sauce is creamy
Throw in salt and pepper to your liking

8 Layer Bars

Yields: 25 servings
Prep Time: 35 minutes

When you’re making a spread for the sweetest people you know, you need to bring a really great sweet treat for the grand finale. Something that’s easy to handle, fun to make, and even more fun to eat. We’ve got one of our favorite desserts of all time, 7 Layer Bars, with an extra layer for these women that just do so much extra stuff for us. That new layer? 24 karat gold, baby! A little bling never hurts, and if anything, can make someone feel that extra touch of specialness that we all deserve. Chocolate chips, coconut, cookie dough AND a little glamour? That’s something we can get on board with, and we’re all about layering the fun at a party and with any of our dishes. Layers of treats for some incredible people. A win every time.

Ingredients:

½ C unsalted butter, melted
1 C shredded coconut
1 ½ C crushed graham crackers
1 ½ C semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 C butterscotch chips
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1 C chopped walnuts
½ C 24 karat gold flakes (gold edible glitter can work too)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350℉
Line a 9×13 metal pan with parchment paper (this is the first layer) • Mix the melted butter and graham cracker dust until really well combined, almost like wet sand
Press it down really firmly into the pan (2nd layer…)
Add on a layer of the coconut (3rd layer!)
Throw on the chocolate chips (4th layer, wooooo!)
Make a layer of the butterscotch chips (5th layer, over halfway baby!) • Add a layer of walnuts (6 layers…)
Pour a layer of the condensed milk all over it for the 7th layer
Throw it in the oven for 25 minutes or so, until the edges are golden brown (check in on it around 20-22 minutes)
After they’ve cooled to room temp for an hour, refrigerate the bars in their pan for at least one hour to make ‘em easier to cut out
Cut ‘em up, and then lightly sprinkle with the gold for the 8th layer • Bling up those people you love