Monday, May 4, 2015

May The Fourth Be With You

Well, today's the day.  No...THE Day.  Of course I'm talking about May the 4th, also known as Star Wars Day!


Why is May the 4th called Star Wars Day?  Because it's punny.  Get it?  If you want to know more about this sacred pun day in Star Wars history, get it right from the source at StarWars.com.

For me, celebrating Star Wars Day is really a weekend-long extravaganza.  It consists primarily of wearing Star Wars shirts/accessories, watching all of the movies (in original order most of the time, but sometimes I change it up to chronological order), and of course, making Star Wars themed foods.

Even though most of the goodies I make for this celebration are finger foods, I'm still going to break them up into categories of Appetizers, Main Courses, and Desserts.

The Apps:

This first one is simple.  I call it - Sarlacc Dip.


Open up a container of your favorite hummus (here I used Cedar's brand Roasted Red Pepper).  Then stick some Hot Veggie Stix haphazardly around the edge of the dip, to represent the Sarlacc's many threatening tentacles and some tortilla bits inside to show what big teeth it has.  Done.  See, that was easy.


The next thing on the appetizer menu was originally called Yoda Bites, however, they didn't turn out to look anything like the Jedi Master, so I changed it to just Random Alien Bites.  Here's a pic after prep, before being baked, and the other one is after baked.  See what I mean?


These are buttery crescents wrapped around a delicious filling made from spinach, cream cheese, and some savory flavors.  You can also do a variation of non-spinach ones with different kinds of cheeses (including parmesan) and some garlic.  As you can tell, the ears just weren't long enough to warrant a title dedicated to Yoda, and honestly, they look kind of creepy, so Random Alien Bites it it!  Even though these may not be pretty, they are super tasty and gone before the middle of the first movie.  So, if you would like to give them a go, I recommend this recipe by Di Jinx for a quick and easy, yet delectable dish, found here.  Then shape them however you want or can.

Okay, on to the main courses...

The Main Attraction:

The theme of the main course items is all about Han Solo, but mostly, it's about his ship.  One of the most iconic ships in the Star Wars universe is the Millennium Falcon.  See here, I made some pizzas.


I used some packaged crust to make the dough.  Then I was going to use one of the awesome Star Wars sandwich cutters sold exclusively by Williams-Sonoma, many lightyears ago.  They are no longer carried by the company, however, you can still find some floating around the internet if you get the hankering to get your own.  However, I didn't feel like the personal pizzas would be quite big enough.  Luckily I had another option in my geek collection at my disposal.  Williams-Sonoma also (still) makes the Star Wars pancake molds that I decided to use for shaping my pizza dough and they worked very well.  


Just roll out the dough as thick or thin as you like, throw on your favorite pizza toppings, and bake according to package instructions - or until it looks done.  Ta-da, Millennium Falcon Personal Pizzas!

Next up, we've got our Mexican-style hot pocket, the Corellian Quesadilla.  What does this have to do with the Millennium Falcon?  Well, Han's famous ship was made by the Corellian Engineering Corporation, one of the 3 largest starship manufacturers in the galaxy.  But that's enough for the history lesson, let's see what kind of tasty treat this entity helped to inspire. 


I actually should call them Imperial Star Destroyer-dillas, because they look like those warships, but it just doesn't sound as catchy...or does it? Some of these pics are a bit dark, so here's a different shot - not near as fun though.


You can find the recipe for these on a previous blog post here.  Just scroll down the page until you get to the entry for Chicken Quesadillas and you'll find step-by-step instructions on how to make these babies, just minus the cool Star Wars name.

The Final Chapter:

For dessert, why not make some Thermal Detonators?  Now I made these for Star Wars Day before, but it was the Oreo truffle kind.  You can see that blog post here.  But here's a different kind of truffle you can do to mix it up.  It's a brownie-based center with salted caramel goodness drizzled on top and melted throughout. 

Salted Caramel
Oreo

Just get a box (or 2 bags) of brownie mix, whichever brand takes your fancy, and whip them up according to the instructions given.  Before putting them into the oven, unwrap about 16 caramels.  I used Milk Maid, but any kind will do.  Place caramels into batter in the pan evenly spaced and bake according to package instructions.  When they are about half way done, run a butter knife up and down the rows to marble the melty caramel throughout the batter.  When done, remove from oven and let cool completely or until you can handle them safely.  You can use an ice cream scoop for the next part or clean hands, or both.  Scoop out brownies and form into balls then place onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper.  Refrigerate for about an hour.  In the meantime, melt about 2-1/2 cups of chocolate chips in the microwave.  If the chocolate is really thick after melting, add a tiny bit of vegetable oil to thin it out.  DO NOT add milk or cream or you will have a big mess - trust me!  Ok, next, pull the brownie balls out of the fridge and dip them in the chocolate until covered and return to wax paper.  Heat up a couple of tbls. of caramel sauce, put it into a plastic baggy, snip the tip, and drizzle the caramel back and forth over the truffle balls.  Then set your course salt grinder to the biggest setting and grind it over the caramel-drizzled-chocolate-covered-brownies.  Refrigerate for another 30 minutes and viola!

So there you have it folks, another Star Wars themed entry in homage to May The Fourth.  Oh, that reminds me, I bought this game last year, because I like tabletop gaming, however, after reading through the instructions and watching the numerous YouTube video instructions provided by the company that made it, I'm still at a loss for how to play.  It just seems too confusing compared to other card games I've played.  So, if you have any tips, I'm all ears.


Happy Star Wars Day, Everyone!  And May The Fourth Be With You!