As promised, here are the recipes from our most recent and very fun Mah Jongg Wednesday.

First, from my favorite chef, the Barefoot Contessa’s Lemon Drop Cocktails:

LEMON DROP COCKTAIL
Serves 6

2 cups frozen vodka
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 lemon, thinly sliced

Combine the vodka, lemon juice, and sugar and pour into a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour into martini glasses and garnish with lemon.

For our lunch I made a chopped salad inspired by Joe Trama, the executive chef at Grace’s Marketplace.

YUMMY CHOPPED SALAD
Serves 6

Romaine lettuce
Garbanzo beans
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumber
Kalamata olives (buy the ones without pits)
Feta cheese
Red onion (optional – I don’t use this ingredient)
2 Chicken breasts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash and dry the chicken breasts and then rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Place them on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and cook for 35 – 40 minutes.

Once the chicken breasts have cooled enough to handle, remove the skin and dice the breasts into bite-sized pieces.Shred the romaine lettuce and place in a large bowl. Add the Garbanzo beans and pitted Kalamata olives.Cut the cherry tomatoes in half, length-wise.Cut the cucumber into small diced pieces.If you decide to add red onion, dice it up into small pieces and add to the bowl.

Break up the feta cheese. Add the chicken pieces and dress with a balsamic dressing. I don’t season this dressing as the olives and the feta are very salty. I put salt and pepper on the table and let everyone add them to their own taste.

YUM!!!Dessert was a variation of a Barefoot Contessa creation. The night before the luncheon I made her fabulous Raspberry Sauce:

BAREFOOT CONTESSA’S RASPBERRY SAUCE

1 half-pint package fresh raspberries 
                                                                                                     1/3 cup granulated sugar 
                                                                                                                          1/4 cup water 
                                                                                                                                                 1 cup (12 ounces) seedless raspberry jam (if you can’t find seedless raspberry jam, pour the sauce through a sieve before chilling)                                                                                                         1 tablespoon Framboise liqueur

Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 4 minutes.
Pour the cooked raspberries, the jam, and Framboise into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and process until smooth.
Chill.

When it was time for dessert I scooped Talenti Tahitian Vanilla Bean gelato into a bowl, added raspberries and blueberries, and then topped it all with that fabulous raspberry sauce. I usually serve some biscotti with this dessert but today we had those amazing Kristin Marin Mah Jongg cookies. Plus, S1 brought some AMAZING Dulce de Leche cookies – also known as Alfajores – and S2 brought some delicious miniature Madeleines.