FoSaP for April - Who's the fool now?

When I think of April, I think of Fools. That led me to trying to create a FoSaP menu of dishes that I hoped would 'fool' my guests into thinking they were from a restaurant. I was inspired by Todd Wilbur. When I first encountered Todd Wilbur it was in book form with "Top Secret Recipes". In it, not only did he recreate favorite restaurant dishes like McDonald's Big Mac or a Wendy's Frosty but he also offered a bit of history behind the restaurant and the dish itself. Then there were these uber-cool technical drawings showing cross sections and proper assembly instructions.

The hardest part of creating the menu for April was deciding which dishes to choose. Todd now has a dozen or so books, plus there are a bajillion other places to find Copy Cat recipes of our favorite meals. I also had to consider the size of the group (I try to cook for 16 guests regardless of how many people show up) and the prep time. I knew I was going to be busy the entire day before so only had a small window of time Friday night and the rest would have to be done on Sunday.

I settled on:
Outback Steakhouse's Bloomin' Onion
Applebees' Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip with crustini
Kentucky Fried Chicken's Coleslaw
Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay Biscuits
Outback Steakhouse's Coconut Shrimp
Cheesecake Factory's Jambalaya Pasta
Claim Jumper's Mother Lode Chocolate Cake
Hostess Twinkies

I was able to bake the chocolate cakes (4-8" cakes) and the Twinkies on Friday night and was able to put together the dipping sauces and coleslaw after hitting Cash and Carry and Winco at 6:00am on Saturday morning. I cheated on the shrimp. The prepared coconut shrimp at CnC was about $5.75/lb. The best price I could find for 16/20 shrimp anywhere was $6.00/lb and I still would have had to clean, butterfly and batter them. I was all about saving some dough (and some time).

I was disappointed in the Bloomin' Onion...though I did learn a lesson. I prepped the onions on Sunday morning and left them soaking in ice water for about 6 hours, hoping they would 'bloom'. They never did. Subsequently, the batter didn't really get down into the onion and what did wasn't cooked when I pulled them out of the fryer. Result: Epic Fail!

I loved the artichoke and spinach dip and got lots and lots of compliments on that. It was super easy to put together using bottled alfredo sauce, cream cheese, frozen spinach, artichoke hearts and garlic. In fact, most people said they liked it better than Applebees. Result: Great reviews!

While at CnC I thought I would see if they carried shredded cabbage for the slaw. Not only did they carry shredded cabbage, but they had a gigantic bag of chopped cabbage with carrots and red cabbage for $3.15. Are you kidding me? Why would I even consider buying a whole cabbage and then chopping it up for that kind of money? The dressing was milk, buttermilk, sugar, vinegar, mayo, and some lemon juice. It tasted exactly like the stuff you get at KFC! Result: Perfection!

I almost didn't make the biscuits because everyone seemed to be filling up on the artichoke and spinach dip with bread. But I almost had a mutiny when I suggested this. So back into the kitchen I went and mixed Bisquick, cold butter, sharp cheddar cheese, garlic powder and milk. After removing from the oven I brushed the biscuits with a seasoned butter (garlic powder, parsley, onion powder) and served piping hot. I thought the guest were all going to levitate they were so over the moon for them. Result: Better than Red Lobster

I can't take credit for the coconut shrimp but there were plenty of oohs and aahs. Result: Worth the money

It's always a bit of a challenge when making pasta dishes. For some reason the noodles always stick together unless I've made the pasta by hand. This night was no exception. The sauce was chicken thighs, green peppers, red peppers, yellow peppers, onions, and tomatoes with cajun spices. I think the dish might have been more successful if the sauce was served over rice but overall, it was pretty darned tasty. Result: Not quite up to par, but delicious

Next I served the Twinkies. I thought they were good though not a replica of the real thing. The cake was too dense and tasty. And while I felt the filling was disgusting (I'm guessing it was the shortening that was whipped in), everyone else said they thought it was spot on compared to the original. Result: Close but no cigar

Finally, I served the Mother Lode cake. First off, if you've never seen one of these first hand they are amazing. A good 8-10" tall and covered with walnuts. I know some of my group don't do walnuts so instead I used sliced almonds. I'm hoping the neighbors weren't listening because I'm sure they might have thought there was something more than eating going on based on the sounds everyone was making. Result: Ultimate chocolate dessert