Roaring 20's/ Great Gatsby Party Spread

The flappers, the decadence, the thrill of pretending to violate prohibition laws of days gone by... Who doesn't love a Roaring 20's or Great Gatsby themed party...?  I personally did this spread for a birthday party but it works great for a New Year's Eve party as well.  Here, I give recipe ideas that are easy yet fancy as well as I had both vegetarian and gluten-free diet guests to accommodate, so this party is in true Gatsby form in order to serve a wide variety of pallets for all those crazy party guests...Enjoy!!!

On the Menu
Caviar Platter

Crudites Cups

Mini-Shrimp Cocktail 

Lisa's Famous Artichoke Dip 

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Steak & Scallops with Mashed Potatoes Martinis

Champagne & Chocolate Cupcakes

Caviar Platter - I can in no way afford Russian Beluga caviar (approximately between $30-$250 per oz)  but did splurge to bring my spread to that fancy level with black lump fish caviar and wild salmon roe caviar, which both range approximately $10-15 per 2 oz. jar.

Ingredients:

2.5 oz jar of black caviar
2.5 oz jar of  salmon roe caviar

1/2 red onion, diced

2 hard boiled eggs, peeled, chopped

1 pkg. of neufchatel cream cheese, soften

1. On your serving platter, begin with spreading the cream cheese in the center of the dish, leaving a 1" margin from the rim of your dish.
2. Place red onion and eggs around cream cheese in an order or design of your choosing.
3. Top cream cheese with half of the black caviar and half of the roe.
4. Serve with preferred crackers (I used GF crackers)

Crudites Cups - Requires small individual cups to serve in.

Ingredients:

3-4 stalks of celery

1/2 head of broccoli

3-4 carrots

2 cups preferred ranch dressing/ dip

1. Thoroughly wash all vegetables.
2. Cut celery into approximately 3" sections, then slice lengthwise into thirds.
3. Peel carrots, cut into approximately 3" sections, then slice lengthwise into pieces similar to the size of your celery sticks.
4. Cut broccoli into individual florets.
5. Fill each individual appetizer serving cup with preferred dressing or dip (I used
   
   Greek yogurt based dressing to accommodate my GF diet guests, as well as it is a much healthier alternative to normal salad dressings and vegetable dips) about 1/4 full.
6. Arrange celery and carrot sticks in the "back" portion of the cu, and place the broccoli floret in the front.            

Mini-Shrimp Cocktail - Requires small individual cups to serve in.

Ingredients:

1/2 lbs cooked shrimp, peeled, tail-on, de-veined (or a shrimp ring platter)

2 cups cocktail sauce

1. Fill each individual appetizer serving cup with preferred cocktail sauce, about 1/4 full.
2. Arrange about 4 shrimp tails in cups, tail up and hanging over the side of the cup.

Click Here for Lisa's Famous Artichoke Dip

Crab Stuffed Mushrooms - ingredients may need adjusting based on size of mushrooms you use.

Ingredients:

1-2 pkgs of large, whole Bella Mushrooms caps, stems and inner rims removed, thoroughly washed

1 can of real crab

3/4 cup panko bread crumbs

3/4 cup monterey jack cheese shredded
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. old bay seasoning
1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare a baking sheet (I lay down tin foil for easier cleaning) and grease pan or spray with olive oil cooking spray.
3. Arrange mushrooms "up-side-down" on baking sheet so the cups are face up.
4. In a mixing bowl, blend all ingredients together, except the mushroom caps.
5. Scoop 1-2 tbsp. of mixture (depending on size of caps) into mushroom bases.
6. Cook for approximately 10-12 minutes or until cheese is completely melted and mushrooms brown slightly around the edges.

Steak & Scallops with Mashed Potatoes Martinis - Requires martini glasses (either plastic party ones or real glass ones) and cocktail toothpicks.

Ingredients:

1-2 7oz New York Strip/ Boneless Sirloin Steak
3 tbsp garlic paste
salt & pepper to taste

1/2 - 1 lbs. cocktail scallops
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup white wine
1 tsp red pepper flakes

8 cups mashed potatoes

1. Prepare barbecue grill to medium - high heat, depending on meat rareness preference.
2. Trim fat from sirloin steak.
3. Spread 1 tbsp. per steak (assuming 2 are being used) of garlic paste evenly over each steak.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Grill steaks to desired rareness (I prefer Medium, so about 5-8 minutes each side).
6. Remove from grill and set aside on plate.
7. In a skillet melt butter over a medium heat.
8. Add last tbsp of garlic paste and wine.
9. Toss in cocktail scallops until each scallop is well coated with butter and wine mixture.
10. Raise heat to medium-high heat and sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
11. Sear scallops and shake skillet to "roll" scallops to get an even sear on all/ most sides.
12. Spoon mashed potatoes into martini glasses to make them half way full.
13. Cut steaks into 1-2" pieces, and skewer steak and scallops alternating on cocktail toothpicks (I did some that were purely scallops for those guests preferring to avoid red meat, and steak only for those that don't eat shellfish).
14. Place completed toothpick skewers into mashed potatoes and serve.

Champagne & Chocolate Cupcakes - For these cupcakes, I used both chocolate and yellow cake mixes, and alternated between triple chocolate fudge icing and cream cheese icing as the base.  I used gold, white and chocolate sprinkles and gold and pearl dragees, alternating between different flavor combinations as well as found champagne bottle cupcake toppers (which served as the 'birthday wish candles for a birthday party).

My Speakeasy Table is where I served the champagne and champagne accessories, which
can also serve as dessert for those who want to pass on cupcakes (but who would do that, right?) Strawberries are a natural accompaniment for champagne (and chocolate dipping sauce is a natural accompaniment to strawberries).  In addition, other berries can be dropped into the champagne to enhance the flavor of the drink as well as have champagne soaked berries at the end of the cocktail. 

Speakeasy Table:
Gold & Pink Champagne
Fresh Strawberries w/ chocolate dipping sauce
Fresh Raspberries & Blackberries
Ferrero Rocher Fine Hazelnut Chocolates

More Decoration Ideas:

Fiddy had his tux on...!

Channeling Daisy...