It's spring, school is almost over for the year, and little parties are popping up all over the place. I've catered four in the last week...an after-the-Big-Event committee debriefing dinner, a store's Customer Appreciation day treats buffet, a volunteer thank you party, and another volunteer thanks-for-your-service brunch. The challenge is for me is to keep a fresh perspective always, to avoid being repetitious, to offer a full menu that will satisfy the palate and meet the needs of everyone. Because I'm known for being able to cook around dietary concerns, lots of my clients are wheat-free or dairy-free or vegetarian or vegan, etc. Here are some highlights:
Above is a platter of oven-toasted polenta points with a sun-dried tomato tapenade. The polenta was cooked in the pot, poured onto a jelly roll pan, and chilled overnight. I then cut it into squares, drizzled it with olive oil, and toasted it in the oven until it developed a nice, brown crunchy bottom and maintained a chewy center. The tomatoes were softened in boiling water, drained, then chiffonaded and macerated in olive oil, garlic, ground chili peppers, salt, and--if I remember correctly--basil. Once the polenta was out of the oven, I plattered and topped it and Voila! a lovely wheat-free, savory appetizer that's just bursting with flavor, fun to eat, and even cheap to make!
Another recent offering was this little platter of shrimp and chicken:
The chicken was marinated overnight in a chili-lime sauce, then oven-roasted. The shrimp was pan- seared in lemon, garlic and parsley, then chilled overnight. For serving, I placed the bowl of shrimp in another bowl of ice to keep it cool, and plopped it right down in the middle of the warm platter of chicken strips tossed with freshly-chopped scallions. As both items were already so full-flavored (I NEVER skimp on spicing and seasoning!), there was no real need for a dipping sauce, making this easy-to-eat party fare.
Next up on the menu: Another round of fruit and veggie platters. A platter of fruit piled to the sky and balanced for colors, flavors, and textures is a sure thing when putting together a quick party menu. It's beautiful, satisfying, and provides a refreshing counterpoint to any grain, meat or cooked veggie dish. The veggie platter is just one more take on what's possible with roasting vegetables. The key, for me, is that each vegetable is differenlty marinated and seasoned before roasting, so that the finished melange is a richly varied ensemble of flavor tones.
This particular platter includes fennel and balsamic vinegar-roasted beets, paprika and olive oil-roasted parsnips, scallions pan-roasted in lemon juice, walnut oil and chili flakes, oven-roasted baby bok choy in ume plum vinegar and sesame oil, mushrooms seared in olive oil, balsamic vinegar and oregano, and topped off with heads of roasted garlic.
One thing I've been experimenting with is my basic gluten-free bread formulations. In a previous post you'll see a giant cinnamon-sugar loaf. For another event, I added a layer of cinnamon-roasted apples in the middle of the loaf. For a savory take on that experiment, I created the tomato-parmesan loaf above. I added parsley, basil, and fresh-ground black pepper to the dough before rising. Meantime, I marinated tomato slices in olive oil, salt, pepper, chili flakes, and fresh parsley. Before baking, I layered the dough with a mid-section of the tomato slices and a generous heap of grated parmesan. About half-way through the baking, I added the top layer of tomatoes, parm, and another drizzle of oil oil. In this picture, it looks like a focaccia, but it is more of a "rustic round."
One of my new favorite dessert offerings is a roasted fruit pizza:
In this instance, I used gluten-free crusts that came frozen from a local specialty bakery. I often make my own, but was interested in saving a little time. To make the pizzas, I started the night before by slicing the peaches and macerating them overnight with the blueberries in brown sugar and cinnamon. I then made the cream base by whipping together cream cheese, raw honey, and cardamom. On the morning of this particular event, I brushed the still-frozen pizza crusts with olive oil and popped them in a hot oven. About halfway through their baking, I took them out, spread the honeyed-cream, and plopped on the fruit. Back in the oven they went until everything was warm and saucy and delicious. (Note: it actually makes a full-flavor difference to put the cardamom in the cream, and the cinnamon in the fruit rather that putting the same spices on everything. This is the key to "flavor-layering...")
Finally, this morning's event was graced by Beth's Too Perfect Gluten-Free Blueberry Crumbcake.
There are not words enough to describe how truly perfect this cake is: crumbly yet moist, sweet and generously laced with fresh blueberries. It is ALWAYS a crowd-pleaser, and is the perfect ending to any meal: breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner. It is heaven with a cup of coffee!
Of course, as a caterer, I'd love to prepare these and other taste-treat sensations for you. But as a committed lover of beautiful, healthy, delicious food, I also want to encourage you to explore your own culinary desires. People often ask me where I learned to cook. Having no formal training whatsoever, I always answer, "In my kitchen." Head to your local food co-op or farmer's market or your own garden. Get your hands on anything that looks really good to you. Start chopping and simmering and seasoning and see what happens! Explore new flavor combinations. Go one step further and unleash the "overtone series" in a sauce (i.e. roast the garlic first before adding to the sauce, or take the time to carmelize the onions...take even just one thing a little further to develop a rounder, fuller flavor!). Most importatnly, trust yourself to make the food you love.
Of course, you can always count on a little help from Green...
--Sheila
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