We had some dear friends over Friday night to watch the Game of Thrones premiere (I successfully avoided spoilers all week!).  I made a taco casserole based around this recipe from Buns in my Oven.

I sprayed a 9x13" Pyrex dish with cooking spray and layered the bottom and sides with flour tortillas.  I browned a pound each of ground beef and ground turkey and added two packets of taco seasoning and some water per the package directions.  In a big mixing bowl, I combined a can of condensed nacho cheese soup, an 8 oz block of fat-free cream cheese, two cans of drained Rotel tomatoes, and the ground beef/turkey mixture.  I layered about half of this mixture on top of the tortillas and topped with a can of drained and rinsed black beans.  I sprinkled some shredded Mexican blend cheese on top of the beans before repeating the layers one more time.

Our guests brought Mexican rice and a corn salsa to serve on the side, and I offered shredded lettuce, chopped cilantro, shredded cheese, and salsa to serve.  

For dessert I had every intention of making a peach crisp with some fresh peaches I got from a farm stand nearby.  However, I had an overabundance of flour tortillas I didn't use on our dinner, so I figured there had to be a recipe out there for some sort of dessert enchilada dish.  I was right - Just a Pinch to the rescue!  Since I had fresh peaches, I sliced them and added a bit of bourbon, sugar, cinnamon, and fresh nutmeg and tossed them together in a bowl.  I sprayed a 9x13" Pyrex casserole dish with cooking spray and put peach-filled tortillas in seam-side down.  I did follow the recipe when it came to the butter/sugar/water mixture but it turned out a bit soupy for my liking.  I'm not sure it could have done with less, though, because the sauce did soak into the tortillas really well and make for a nice consistency, there was just a lot of soupiness left in the pan after serving them.  I'm sure they were amazing on their own, but they were definitely better with some caramel praline frozen yogurt!

Both were amazing, as is evidenced by there being no evidence of the final product.  What's one of your favorite go-to recipes to feed a crowd?

One of the first meals we prepared together for my dad's birthday a few years ago was beef wellington, and it has secured a spot in our "special occasion" repertoire.  We've tried a few different recipes, but this year we used the Ultimate Beef Wellington recipe from Serious Eats (sans foie gras).  We bought a beef tenderloin from our local meat market and had them trim it and tie it with twine. 

Jason seasoned it with salt and pepper....

and seared it in our cast iron skillet.

We worked on the mushroom duxelles....

...and coated the beef in a horseradish/dijon mustard mixture.

We had a little excess puff pastry when the final layer went on, so I made some cute little goat cheese tarts as an appetizer, and they were promptly gobbled up without photographic evidence. 😋

The end product turned out perfectly - Mom and I preferred the more well-done outer cuts while Jason and Dad liked the rarer middle cuts....

This recipe is such a nice presentation for a special occasion, and a great way to show someone how much they mean to you!  While it seems super-complicated, it's not too bad - it just takes a little bit of planning ahead!

Instead of cassis, though, I used a combination of creme de cacao liqueur and one of my favorite chocolate complements, Bluegrass Sundown.

It's a thick, syrupy concoction made of concentrated coffee, bourbon, and sugar.  I also basted the cake with the two liqueurs before pouring on the ganache (thank goodness for ganache and its ability to cover up flaws!).

It turned out so rich, but so good!

For the main course, I made individual bacon-wrapped meatloaves from Self-Proclaimed Foodie (I doubled the recipe in case anyone wanted seconds, and I'm so glad I did...we've enjoyed the leftovers all weekend!)  They were so easy but made for an impressive presentation - it was so cute that everyone got to grab their own!  I also tried my hand at hasselback butternut squash (it wasn't 100% successful but not bad...I will definitely try it again!) and made a favorite go-to side, a quinoa and kale salad with a homemade roasted garlic vinaigrette.