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GIADA: Mm-hmm.
I'm not putting my cocktail down. I really like it.
Today I'm taking some of my favorite breakfast foods
and turning them into elegant appetizers...
...with a poolside party and a signature cocktail.
Cheers!
Here's to us.
Yeah.
...all the great flavors of breakfast
in one perfect little bite.
...a decadent breakfast dish
transformed into the ultimate finger food.
...simple, dramatic, and loaded with flavor.
My friends Alie and Georgia shake things up
with a signature cocktail that packs a punch.
Cocktails and appetizers with a twist.
This is the cutest, tiniest thing I've ever seen in my life.
Delicious.
I could eat a lot of those.
-- Captions by VITAC --
Closed Captions provided by Scripps Networks, LLC.
I'm cracking six eggs for my mini smoked salmon frittatas,
and these are supercute, and they're really easy to eat.
They're like one-biters, really.
There we go.
Now, we're gonna add a little bit of milk,
and before I add the milk,
I just want to give it a quick little whisk,
break up the egg yolks a little bit.
And I like to add a little milk and a little crème fraîche
to the eggs
just to give them fluffiness and make them superlight.
It's actually something that my mom used to do all the time
when she made frittatas or eggs.
She'd always add milk
and sometimes a little bit of crème fraîche, as well.
Here we go. A little bit of milk.
And we're also gonna add
just a couple of tablespoons of crème fraîche.
And crème fraîche is a little bit lighter
than mascarpone cheese.
Mascarpone cheese tends to be a little bit denser,
so I really like the lightness in here,
and, you know, when I went to cooking school in Paris,
we used a lot of crème fraîche.
You know, it's a lot lighter than cream cheese, too.
It's quite good, though.
It just kind of creates a little bit of tang
and a lot of lightness.
Just mix that up.
We're gonna make a crème fraîche topping
to go on top of the frittatas.
So we'll sort of put a little crème fraîche
in the frittata and then more on top.
We're gonna add some salt, some pepper,
and now for some herbs.
So we're gonna start with a little bit of dill,
and I'm gonna add dill, and I'm also gonna add some chives.
I love the combo of the dill with the smoked salmon --
kind of lightens it up.
It gives it sort of a little bit of a sweetness almost
and creates a really great aroma.
So we'll add the dill right in there,
and then we're also gonna add some chives --
you know, bagels and lox kind of idea
with the onion and the smoked salmon.
Chives work really well, but they're super mellow.
Mix that right in there.
Also, the herbs -- Not only do they create a lot of flavor,
they create a nice green color, too,
which is really gonna look good with the smoked salmon.
Next, we're gonna add the smoked salmon,
and I found some really pretty smoked salmon.
And I kind of feel like people either love smoked salmon
or really don't like it,
so it depends on whether or not you really like it,
but I think smoked fish is delicious,
and I happen to love smoked salmon,
so it's a great way to add lots of flavor.
I like to just roll it up.
I feel like it makes it easier to chop.
Just make sure everything's really mixed well.
So now I'm gonna take my little mini-muffin pan.
What I want to do is take a little baby ice-cream scoop
and just basically scoop in the mixture
right into each and every one of these.
I pop these in the oven at 375 for about 8 to 10 minutes
until they're golden brown.
So I'm making the topping for my smoked salmon frittatas,
and we're using more crème fraîche to do it --
about 3/4 cup of crème fraîche.
So, basically, the rest of the crème fraîche,
and to it,
we're gonna flavor it a little bit.
We're gonna zest some lemon and juice some lemon
into the crème fraîche
just to give it a little bit of a citrusy, sort of zesty flavor.
Like the herbs,
I really like some lemon with the smoked salmon.
I think anytime you have some seafood or anything,
smoked lemon works really well with it --
Just lightens it all up.
Plus, I like the color.
Great.
So we got some lemon zest in there,
and we're gonna use the juice of half of a lemon.
Just a little bit of lemon juice.
You don't have to use a lot.
Some salt, some pepper, and then some more chives --
Again, reinforcing that little bit of onion flavor
that works well with the smoked salmon,
and, plus, I think it really looks pretty.
I always think you eat with your eyes first,
especially at a cocktail party.
They're little bits of food, and they have to look cute.
Right in there.
So now we got that in there, all we do is mix it together,
and as you can see -- yellow and green, so pretty --
and it smells good, too.
All right, so the topping is done.
So now we're gonna take our little mini frittatas.
You want to use a nonstick little mini-muffin pan,
and you want to spray it a little bit
with a little nonstick spray
just to make sure they come out very easily.
Put a little bit of the crème fraîche right on top
just like that
and land them on my little platter.
Aren't they cute?
Oh, my gosh.
And you can see a little bit of the smoked salmon
that kind of peeks through.
So you've got all these beautiful little colors,
and it just really works well.
A little dollop of the crème fraîche,
and you put them on the platter.
These are gonna be so delicious.
All right, I'm gonna finish off
the rest of my little mini frittatas.
Up next, I'm gonna make some French toast little fingers.
The perfect wake-up call --
French toast dipped in my bourbon maple syrup.
GIADA: I'm starting with my ginger bourbon syrup
for my French toast fingers,
and this is super yummy.
What I do is, I infuse some ginger in a little maple syrup,
and then I add some bourbon to it.
There's something really warming about bourbon,
and I really like it with the ginger,
and I love it with the French toast,
especially if you're gonna make it for an appetizer party.
You just want to cut the skin right off.
It's pretty fibrous, and the skin is pretty thick.
So I'm gonna cut it in half, and, really,
in order to get the ginger to release its flavor,
you really want to cut it up
before you put it in the maple syrup and heat it up.
Then we're gonna add 1 cup of maple syrup,
basically making a simple syrup,
but instead of using sugar and water,
I'm using maple syrup instead -- Makes it very easy to do.
So we're gonna use 1 cup of maple syrup --
nice and thick and slightly smoky,
which will be good with the bourbon.
Okay. Add that right in there.
And then heat the two up.
Bring it up to a boil, and then turn it off
and let the ginger infuse in the maple syrup.
Okay, so while that comes up to a boil, moving on,
we're gonna make sort of the batter for the French toast.
We're gonna start with six eggs. So here we go.
I like to use room-temperature eggs
and really just use room-temperature everything.
So that way, everything blends really well,
and you get a nice, smooth batter.
And Jade loves French toast.
She is a big, big lover of French toast,
and sometimes at Christmastime,
I make it with panettone, which is absolutely delicious.
But today, we're gonna make it
with some traditional challah bread --
nice and buttery.
All right, so let's just whisk the eggs first,
break up the yolks,
and then we'll add some milk to lighten it all up.
All right, so we're gonna add 1 cup of milk.
And, again, room-temperature milk.
That mixes really well with room-temperature eggs.
That way, it's smooth.
And 2 tablespoons of melted butter
just to create a nice richness.
Give that a whisk.
This is really, really easy to make.
And I think it just kind of -- I don't know.
I think it brings back memories for everyone --
childhood memories -- and it's really fun.
That's why I like doing breakfast foods
for a cocktail party -- the unexpected.
And we're also gonna add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract --
that little gourmet sweetness you just can't get from sugar.
Makes it -- Again, elevates it, makes it a little more grown-up.
And we're gonna add a little bit of salt,
and I like to use fine salt in something like this,
so that way, we make sure
that the salt dissolves really well in the egg mixture.
And then we're gonna spike it up
with just a little bit of bourbon,
and what I love about the bourbon
is that it's slightly smoky and rich, as well.
So it works well with maple syrup.
And we're gonna use just 1/2 teaspoon --
really, not very much at all.
You could add more if you wanted to.
It has a really great flavor.
Oh, and our maple syrup has come up to a boil with the ginger,
so we're also gonna add a couple tablespoons of the bourbon
right in here --
Spike it up. Make it absolutely delicious.
And what we do is turn off the heat
and just let this all sort of steep together.
And then right before I serve the maple syrup,
I just take out the ginger pieces,
mix the bourbon in... Ah, smells good.
It's just a little hint, just a little hint in the batter.
Most of the bourbon flavor is gonna be in the maple syrup.
And, of course, it's optional.
So if you don't like bourbon, you can always substitute
with another alcohol or just leave it out.
But, again, for a cocktail party,
it's what makes it extra-special.
Okay, batter is done.
Let's get to the challah.
So I'm using some beautiful challah
that I got at the bakery.
You can use whatever bread, obviously, you want
for French toast,
but the challah is so buttery.
It's light, but it's also dense.
It just tastes so much better. So I really like it.
So what we're gonna do is we're gonna take the challah...
...slice the challah up,
and then we're gonna cut little fingers out of it.
It's nice and soft, too -- the challah.
And it smells so buttery and delicious.
Perfect. So, now we got that.
Then I take two pieces at a time,
and I'm just gonna cut about one-inch pieces.
We're gonna just grab our baking sheet
that I lined with some parchment paper,
and you want to spray the parchment paper just a tiny bit
just to make sure that the pieces don't stick,
and we're gonna take a piece of the challah,
and we're gonna dip it like you would French toast
in the batter.
Allow the extra stuff to kind of drip off,
and then we'll land it on the baking sheet.
Grab another one. Here we go.
And you can make these smaller if you want to.
And then I'm gonna pop these in the oven at 350 degrees
for about 15 to 18 minutes until they're golden
and have a nice crust on the outside.
And then up next,
I'm gonna get started on my melon and olive skewers.
The perfect combination of sweet and salty --
These are always a party favorite.
I'm starting with a flavored honey
for my mini melon and olive skewers,
and I have a cup of water in here,
and to it, I'm adding 3/4 cup of honey.
This is gonna be nice and thick.
We're gonna create a little syrup from this.
Yummy.
And we're gonna add a little bit of heat
by adding 2 teaspoons of coarse black pepper,
and you want it to be course so it really infuses the honey,
gives it sort of like a little bit of a spicy kick.
Okay, and then to that, we're gonna add some herbs
to really infuse it with lots of flavor.
So two sprigs of rosemary,
and I like the rosemary 'cause it's nice and piney,
so it works really well with the pepper,
but, also, it sort of spices up the honey, too.
And four sprigs of lemony thyme --
a different kind of combination,
but it works really well with the sweet melon.
So we're gonna let that come to a boil
and then simmer it for about 5 to 8 minutes
until it thickens nicely,
and before I serve it and drizzle it over the skewers,
I'm actually gonna strain out the pepper and the herbs.
Let's get started on the skewering here.
So what I did is I just got a half of a cantaloupe.
I like to do these with cantaloupe
'cause I can find these all year 'round,
and the color combo is divine.
So what I'm gonna do is I just cleaned out half a melon.
So I took all the seeds out.
And we're gonna take a melon baller
and just scoop out little balls of cantaloupe.
They're super fun, and they're gonna look really pretty.
And I really like the melon 'cause it's nice and sweet,
and it's easy to eat, and it's fresh.
So it's gonna be really good.
And you can use any kind of melon you like.
So depending on the season and what you can find,
you can use watermelon, honeydew.
So now that we've got all our little balls done...
we're set up there.
Next, I'm gonna pick some basil.
So basically what we're gonna do
is we're gonna skewer some melons, some basil,
some mozzarella, and some olives.
And as you can imagine, just by looking at the colors,
you're gonna see how pretty it actually is and really tasty.
And I love the basil 'cause it's one of those herbs
that's so easy to eat just fresh like this,
and it complements the mozzarella, obviously.
Now, let's just get the rest of the assembly line together.
I'm gonna use little baby mozzarella
and some olives from the olive bar.
Before we start skewering, I'm gonna grab my platter.
So grab these small little bamboo skewers,
grab one of these melons,
and we start with a melon ball,
and then we take a little bit of basil,
a leaf of basil, fold it over, put it right next to it.
Then I take a small little mozzarella ball --
nice and creamy.
You can see the color combo.
And then we're gonna do another leaf of basil.
Fold it over -- nice, sweet basil.
And then an olive.
And I like the green olives, but you can pick and choose.
You can even do black olives if you prefer.
And see how pretty that looks?
I'm gonna finish the rest of these skewers,
and then I have two mixologist friends
that are gonna come over,
and we're gonna make the perfect cocktail for this party.
It's sweet, fiery,
and made with one of my all-time favorite ingredients.
GIADA: I personally like a themed cocktail,
and I kind of tailor the food to work with the cocktail.
Alie and Georgia are two hip girls
who are mixologists.
They kind of mix comedy...
If you are, like, a wuss,
I'd test it after five minutes and see how you feel about it.
...and cocktails together.
Makes for a really fun party.
[ Laughter ]
All right, ladies. What are you making for us?
From what I see around here, I think this is right up my alley.
Hopefully the rest of the ladies are gonna like it, as well.
What we're gonna make you -- kind of spicy,
but it's gonna be a mellowed-out cocktail
using Scotch bonnet that's been infused inside of Scotch.
Get it? It's a Scotch bonnet cocktail,
and it's a Scotch bonnet marmalade cocktail.
So we love jam.
Right?
So the Scotch with the Scotch bonnet infused in it.
Yeah.
How long do you let it sit?
Not long, because if you want to burn your entire face off,
then just let it hang out for like a day.
Yeah. No.
If you don't want to do that, give it, you know, a half-hour.
Not even a half-hour.
Do you open the Scotch bonnet up?
Yeah. What I'll do is I'll take a half a Scotch bonnet
and about 2 cups of Scotch.
Honestly -- 5, 10 minutes, and then get it out of there.
With the seeds and everything in it, right?
Don't chop and just leave it in there,
Don't leave the seeds.
If there are seeds left over, you should strain them.
Strain them out. It gets hot.
Mm-hmm. Exactly.
When we first made this, we left it in for like a day
just to see what -- You know,
that's how long you should infuse it for
and then tried it and -- Yeah. Our faces were melting.
That's one way to heat up a date with your boyfriend or husband.
Not a good idea, Julie, if you want to keep him.
Cocktails as revenge -- I love it.
Ohh. [ Laughs ]
GEORGIA: Yeah, it's liquid warfare if you let it sit too long.
GIADA: So you put the infused alcohol in there.
Exactly.
Right.
Fresh lemon juice. Yes.
And then we're using about a tablespoon
of your favorite just eat-alone marmalade.
Did I tell you that story? I told you that story.
JULIE: I came into a hotel room one time.
She was eating it out of the jar --
a little sample, just a little pick-me-up to go.
Then we add a couple dashes of orange bitters
just to kind of give it a nice little backbone.
GIADA: Okay.
The whole flavor of the drink just kind of pops.
Right. It's just like adding citrus to anything.
It just makes your mouth be able -- your taste buds --
to really taste what it is,
kind of bring out more of the flavor so it's not just flat.
Yeah. So it's not one note. It rounds it out a little bit.
So, here we go. So this is the Scotch bonnet marmalade.
And it gets kind of a nice viscosity from the marmalade.
The pectin in it and the sugar in it
gives it kind of a velvety texture, which I love.
I was gonna top these
with a little slice of the Scotch bonnet,
but I feel like that might be dangerous
getting it so close to our mouths.
Will you guys be careful?
You're fine.
Everybody can kind of...
Yeah. Julie always says
that those peppers will just plump your lips up...
...naturally.
GEORGIA: Yeah, go for it.
Be careful, you guys. I'm gonna top all of these.
Does everybody want a Scotch bonnet? Is everybody cool with it?
You guys -- you ladies are fun. I love it.
All right, so, cheers, ladies.
Cheers, you guys.
Marmalade cocktail.
Our spicy marmalade cocktail. Okay.
Bottoms up.
See, I like that.
WHITNEY: Kick to it.
Yep. Oh, it sure does.
It's not overly spicy, right?
Ooh, I like it -- citrusy and mmm.
JULIE: We might need some snacks to go with it.
I think we need to eat some food with this, though,
or else we're all gonna, like, fall over.
Come, come, come.
That's Julie's job.
Here. Whitney, go for it.
Whitney's going first.
ALIE: I would usually have the French toast after I've been drinking,
but I like that it's preventative, yes.
I want to taste this syrup. What is it -- bourbon syrup?
Mm-hmm.
I'm not putting my cocktail down. I really like it.
I've never seen olives with cantaloupe.
I drizzled some -- I know, right?
I know, but, again, it's that sweet and salty.
Beautiful.
For what it's worth.
See, if you put the honey on the olives, it's kind of cool.
I mean, I just kind of like it.
Delicious. Amazing.
Did you get some bourbon maple syrup, or did you just cheat and not have any?
I did, but I'm gonna have to douse some more on.
Here, I'll help you.
Oh, thank you.
Yeah, I know, 'cause we've all just dipped.
It's great. It's really oaky,
and it's got that nice sort of, like, sweet smokiness to it.
GIADA: No, but I think there's a lot more you can do
with this kind of stuff than just have it in cocktails.
So good.
This is the cutest, tiniest thing I've ever seen in my life.
It's really good.
I really like two-biters.
They're so tiny. They're just little bites.
Tiny bites.
I could eat a lot of those.
I know. These are really good.
I know. I've completely forgotten about my cocktail.
I'm just, like, shoveling these in.
Well, it's a good idea when you're drinking
to eat a little something, too.
I love the salmon surprise.
It's just like, "I didn't even realize you were here
until I bit into you."
[ Laughter ]