August 9, 2007
Add relaxation to Rehearsal Dinner menu
Follow JewishJournal.com on 
(Page 3 - Previous Page)
Makes about 2 quarts.Champagne Apricot Truffles
From Kathy Cary, chef/owner of Lilly's Restaurant, Louisville, Ky. The recipe was inspired by Camille Glenn, the dowager of Southern cookbook writers.
1 cup dried apricots, cut into sixths
1 cup Champagne or more to cover the apricots
1 pound bitter chocolate
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup Champagne
1/4 pound shelled pistachios, toasted and finely chopped (optional)
Place apricots in a bowl. Add enough Champagne to cover. Soak apricots in Champagne overnight.
To make ganache: Melt chocolate in a double boiler. In a separate saucepan warm cream to about the same temperature as the chocolate. Whip the cream into the chocolate mixture. Remove from stove. Add 1/2 cup Champagne to the ganache mixture. Cool.
With a small scoop, shape dollops of the chocolate mixture into walnut-sized balls. Press a few pieces of Champagne-soaked apricots into each of the balls. Roll completed balls in pistachios to coat the balls.
Makes about 36 truffles.
Gonzo Bellini
From Vincent Scotto of Gonzo restaurant in Greenwich Village.
1 pint strawberries or peaches
1/4 cup sugar
2 bottles Champagne
Puree strawberries or peaches; place in pan with the sugar; bring to boil, cool. Add ice and Champagne. Serve in Champagne flutes.
Frozen Aquavit in Ice Mold
From "Effortless Elegance With Colin Cowie."
1 bottle aquavit or vodka
1 round metal container 8 inches in diameter and 12 inches deep
Fresh flowers with foliage (stick to color scheme of wedding)
For a striking presentation, fill a metal champagne bucket or a large plastic bucket with water. Stand a bottle of Aquavit or vodka in the middle of the bucket and tuck handfuls of roses, wildflowers, lemon slices, leaves, berries or grapes. If you like you can accentuate the colors of the wedding.
Place in the freezer until the water is completely frozen, from eight to 24 hours.
Just before guests arrive, remove ice mold from freezer. Run outside of the bucket under hot water until it releases the block of ice. Place ice mold on tray with folded napkin underneath to absorb any melting ice.
The ice mold will last four to five hours but the napkin should be changed frequently. If the bottle is empty you can simply refill it.
If using vodka, it can be flavored by adding lemon rind, chili peppers or berries directly into alcohol. When making ice mold, instead of flowers, use same ingredient as flavoring.
For lemon vodka, add lemon halves, wedges and foliage to water. They will float and form magnificent patterns in the ice.
For berry vodka, add berries and foliage to water.
For chili vodka, add dried, whole chili peppers.
Once mold is set, you can store it in freezer and refill container to start another mold.
