I recently had the pleasure of catering for a friend’s baby shower. A very glamorous baby shower at that, mind you. Forty-five people showed up and I was asked to come up with a “stylish” canape and cocktail menu. I love doing this sort of thing. Out of my tiny kitchen I managed to construct 10 courses of yumminess!!! It was a lot of work and it made me realise how intricate this sort of food preparation can be. I only have four pictures because as usual my camera ran out of charge during the event. Plus I was so busy organising the execution of the food that I had no time. Thank you Maria for allowing me to express my creativity. Here are some of the samples. The picture you see here are cucumber cups filled with a Thai Beef salad. I basically cut up Lebanese cucumbers in a few portions and hollowed them out with a nifty new tool similar to a melon baller. I then filled them with a mixture of beef strips that had been stir fried with oyster sauce, garlic, pepper, eschallots and a little red curry paste. I added fresh herbs, such as mint, coriander and thai basil right at the end, along with freshly chopped peanuts.
Here are some samples of crostinis that I made. Crostini are basically mini toasts. I used a sourdough baguette that I sliced up and sprayed the pieces with extra virgin olive oil. I then baked these delicious morsels in a very high oven. At the event I topped them with a variety of options i had pre made. The first one was roast cherry tomato with basil and bocconcini. Previously I had placed the cherry tomatoes in a hot oven along with olive oil and balsamic vinegar until they were soft and had collapsed. (This mixture is quite delicious on its own and is fantastic tossed with pasta.) When I constructed them, I placed an Italian basil leaf on the bottom of the crostini followed by the cherry tomato mixture and then a slice of bocconcini. I then drizzled a high quality extra virgin olive oil over this.
The second crostini were cannellini bean puree with chargrilled zuchinni topped with caramelised onion. The puree was made by whizzing a couple of cans of beans, one or two garlic cloves, extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper in a food processor. I was looking for a thickish consistency so I could spread them on the toasts. (By the way this mixture is absolutely delicious on cold meats or in sandwiches. Another alternative is to thin out the mixture with more vinegar and use that on grilled summer vegetables). The zuchinni were thinly sliced using a mandoline. Cuts not included!!! I then quickly fried them in a hot pan proceeding to smoke the unit out!!! Once they had cooled I had them marinated in extra virgin olive oil, red wine vinegar and roughly chopped garlic. The caramelised onion mixture is so delicious yet so easy to make. Depending on how many people you make this for be wary that onions shrink during cooking. I used a lot that I thinly sliced with my mandoline. I then put this mixture in a pot with a very low heat and just a smidgeon of oil. Its important to just leave it as the onions will release their juices and they will caramelise on their own. Once they started to caramelise naturally I added a few good slugs of Modena balsamic vinegar and a few tablespoons of brown sugar. The balsamic and the sugar give it a nice sweet/sour taste and a little colour.
One of the most popular of my creations that night was this little number. Roast chicken, aioli, pine nut and dill tartlets. Very easy and I cheated all the way. Buy a good quality roast chicken or do it yourself. Shred all the meat off it. Place this in a bowl and to that add some very good quality store bought aioli. I used the Simon Johnson one and without being paid to plug it, its fantastic quality. Continue adding some pine nuts that you toasted earlier and some freshly chopped dill. Squeeze in a lemon add a little salt and a generous amount of pepper. Give the mixture a good thorough work through and scoop into tartlet cases. Again I cheated big time and used the store bought cases from Simon Johnson. Look, If I had the time to stuff around with flour and butters I would probably make them myself. Pastry is a whole different ball game when it comes to cooking. It just wasn’t feasible. Just make sure the ones you purchase are of good quality. Look for crisp, dry, airy shells.
Some of my other menu creations included Indian curried lentil soup served in shot glasses topped with fresh coriander and a lime yogurt. Parmesan, pesto meat balls with an tomato and olive dipping sauce. Mini Thai fish cakes. Chicken san choy bau served in mini endive leaves and mini parmesan and pancetta muffins served with smoked salmon and a lemon creme fraiche. The menu was very well recieved, If I say so myself but it was hard work. Who knows? Maybe a career in catering beckons me.
Pete
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