Capital Cooking with Lauren DeSantis Invites You to a “Cocktail Party”

Capital Cooking is throwing a cocktail party with dishes that are sure to delight guests and hosts. On the newest episode of Capital Cooking, host Lauren DeSantis walks viewers through several simple and delicious recipes with the help of special guest and friend Rachel Pryor.

To begin, they will make baked brie with cherry preserves, a fast and easy starter for any cocktail party. Next on the menu, endive boats with cranberries, Gouda, and pesto. Guests will surely be impressed with the beautiful presentation of these endive boats but will be surprised when they find out how quickly they can be made. Lauren and Rachel finish up the meal with a chicken satay. After allowing the chicken to marinate in curry sauce for thirty minutes, Rachel takes to the grill and Lauren prepares a rich peanut sauce to accompany the chicken.

A cocktail party cannot be complete without a signature cocktail. Nathan from Imperial Vodka steps in to show Lauren how to create a Cherry Blossom, originally created by Chris Kelley of Mie n Yu and a Three Carats.

Start off the social season right with Capital Cooking and don’t miss the opportunity to wow guests. Recipes featured in this episode are available in the Capital Cooking Cookbook. Get yours today at https://www.createspace.com/3374156 for $29.99. Watch Capital Cooking on the Dish Network channels 9396 and 9407.

Cocktail Party will air on Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 4 p.m. EST.

Capital Cooking is the first television show of its kind and now airs in more than 20 million households on Dish Network through CoLours TV. Capital Cooking highlights cooking traditions of regional cuisine from all areas of the country as well as international dishes. Throughout the series, DeSantis will incorporate entertaining tips into the shows, will cook with local chefs, and will demonstrate how to make recipes with ingredients that viewers can find at local grocery stores and farmers’ markets. Visit www.captialcookingshow.com for more information on upcoming events and http://captialcookingshow.blogspot.com for daily updates.

Photo by Emily Clack

Behind the Scenes: Cocktail Party

What better way to spend a Saturday than with good food, good people, and good drinks. It is always fun to have sponsors on the show and Nathan from Imperial Vodka was no exception. His charming attitude and excellent bar-tending skills made him a favorite of all those at the filming. Nathan made a Three Carats cocktail, which became an instant hit, partly due to its beautiful pink color and partly because of its light and refreshing taste.

Special guest and friend, Rachel Pryor, kept everyone laughing with her stories of life on the Hill and how she juggles the pressures that come with being a successful young professional. Although Rachel has several allergies, we made sure the menu avoided anything harmful to her. Simple things, such as replacing the cherry preserves for the baked brie with raspberry preserves and substituting cranberries with the endive boats made the menu appropriate for all. It just goes to show that when it comes to cooking, nothing is set in stone and it can pay off to mix things up. 

After a long day of preparing, filming, and photographing food, it is most rewarding to fix a plate of the tempting dishes all for yourself. The cast and crew were certainly spoiled with chicken satay and peanut sauce, as well as baked brie and endive boats. It’s safe to say that nothing was spared and everyone went home full and content.

Photos by Emily Clack