Entertaining Boston Style: Spring Entertaining with buffets and tablesettings

As I’m preparing for a busy spring catering season, I’m visualizing what my buffets, stations and tablesettings will look like. For many, this is overwhelming to think about and I get that. So, this post is all about giving you some visuals to reference when you’re planning your next party. It’s all about varying heights and textures which both excite the eye.
I also wanted to give you a few easy and fun recipes that I’ve been using for my own fun fêtes the last few weekends with much success. I won’t print the ones I tested on my friends that didn’t work out!
For me, decor and presentation is AS important as the food. If the table doesn’t draw you in, you’re doing something wrong. Usually what makes a table uninviting is lack of interest: everything is on one level, no color, no texture, no greenery. Contrary to what you might think, it is fairly inexpensive to decorate a WOW table.
In this first pic, the food plays center stage. All the whole veggies are saved of course to use for cooking and they really make a statement, right? Add in a few Southwestern hankerchiefs, baskets and raffia and you have an absolutely gorgeous display. Use cardboard boxes underneath your cloth for height. Carve out some butternut squash for your dips and POW:

Crudite and Cheese Display Codman Farm Lincoln

Here is a more formal display for a similar cheese and crudité display:

Fundraiser in Weston

With graduations coming up, some of you may be hosting a brunch. Here is a gorgeous display we did for an omelette station. All the items used to decorate this table came from my house. Yes, granted I collect a lot of odd things, but I would not be surprised if you all have similar objects scattered around your house… garage, attic, basement. Be creative and just try pairing odd items together and see how they look.

Omelette Station at Temple Shir Tikva

If you plan on having a few tables for your guests, REMEMBER, they don’t have to match… AT ALL.
Here are a couple of pics from a casual wedding we did at the Stow Inn. We used a mix of vintage cloths with burlap and each table had a different tablescape.

Stow Inn Strawberry Linen

Burlap Table

Here is a fun dessert display we did with an old French wooden farm basket. We propped it on a box and filled it to overflowing with giant farm fresh strawberries, and paired it with a Chantilly cream and brown sugar. Delightful!!

Dessert Table

This pic was one of my favorite parties ever. It was a South African themed bar mitzvah! I got to use much of my own furniture and decor items to decorate. I love to collect unusual items from all over the world. Many of them found their place on the guest tables. Here is one of the buffet tables from that day. Monstera leaves, burlap, a small Indonesian table holding exotic fruits and flora. It was a magnificent party!

-Piri Piri Shrimp Lettuce Cups with Green Papaya Salad
-Flatbread with Dukka Spice & Moroccan Eggplant Salad
-Lentil Cakes with Tzatziki
-Little Bobotie Lamb Pies with South African Blatjang Chutney
-Sweet Potato Fries in Bamboo Cones served with Harissa Katsup
-Cumin & Coriander Grilled Chicken on Sugar Cane Sticks with Pickled Red Peppers

South African Lounge Area

And the bar table, decorated with tall vases filled with kumquats, baby bananas and bamboo branches.

Bar

Next up, a college graduation. We plucked a few ideas from the graduate. High school and college memories, favorite music icons, college colors and we created a magnificent display that brought all these ideas to the table without making it look cheesy.

College Graduation

Just remember, whether it’s a simple passsing tray of hors d’oeuvres:

Pesto Crostini with fresh mozzarella and roasted tomato

Or a MiddleEastern Display:

Stuffed Grape Leaves, Roasted Eggplant, Mouhammara dip, Baba Ghanouj, Hummus, Tzatziki dip, spicy pita chips, Marinated Feta, Artichokes, Olives

Pull those ideas out of your head and make your next party special!

Now onto the food. The same idea goes for food… multiple flavors, textures are key here. Think spicy, cool, hot, savory, sweet, salty, crunchy, creamy. Varying flavors and textures that excite the palate. This weekend, I brined some country pork ribs (salty, warm and sweet) and threw them on the grill; paired them with a spicy Pineapple Salsa (spicy, sweet, cool). I made a 3-bean salad (crunchy, sweet, salty) and a roasted cumin corn salad (spicy, crunchy). For apps, I served a warm bean dip (warm, smooth, cheesy) with a roasted chile salsa (cool, crunchy, spicy, complex) and chips. Dessert was homemade chocolate chip cookies (warm, crunchy) with ice cream (cool, smooth, creamy). It was a wild success because I planned ahead. When I put a menu together, this is how I think… I taste the recipes in my mind, all along remembering the various flavors and textures to make sure they will create fireworks in the mouth!

Molasses Brined Pork Chops

Brine:
2 quarts water
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/2 cup molasses
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
1 bunch fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 pork chops (with bone)

Instructions
Make brine: Combine ingredients in a large non-reactive pan. Stir until
salt and molasses are dissolved. Add chops to brine and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours.
Preheat a grill to medium. Grill chops medium to med. rare. Serve with pineapple salsa.

Brined Country Pork Chops

Pineapple Salsa

1 small can pineapple chunks- diced
small handful chopped cilantro
3 T. chopped red onion
1 bird chile chopped fine
½ lime- juice of
salt and pepper

Mix ingredients and let sit for at least 15 minutes or overnight.

Three Bean Salad- adapted from Verrill Farms in Concord, MA

Barely steamed cut grean beans- 1.5 cups
Kidney beans- 1 can rinsed and drained
Chick peas- 1 can rinsed and drained
¾ cup Red onion chopped
½ cup chopped Parsley
S&P
½ c. Raspberry vinaigrette

Roasted Corn Salad

1 large bag frozen white shoepeg corn
1 T. or more to taste of cumin
2 T. vegetable oil or peanut oil

1 jalopeno- chopped fine
½ red bell pepper diced
½ c. chopped cilantro
½ c. red onion
½ lime- juice from
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Heat large pan on med. high. Add oil. Heat. Add corn and sauté while turning for 1 minute. Add cumin. Continue to sauté until corn starts to turn a nice golden brown.

Cool in fridge.
Add remaining ingredients and toss to combine. Let flavors meld and serve.

Enjoy!

Chinatown Boston

Since I moved to Boston, back in the early 1980′s, I’ve always been fascinated by our Chinatown. Immersed in history and filled with pungent smells, Chinatown always transports me to another place. Whenever life in the suburbs gets a little too Wonder bread, I go here, armed with lists of exotic spices, vegetables and meats and fish. When I started my catering business in the early 90′s, I would take my then, 5 year old little girl, now 20. At the mere site of the people here, her eyes became larger than silver dollars. So different, so exotic. It was like we had just entered Hong Kong. We would tromp down each aisle of Super 88 picking up Kadoya Sesame Oil, Yamasa low sodium Soy Sauce, Kikkoman Aji-Mirin, Marukan Seasoned Rice Vinegar, Viet Huong Fish Sauce, Srirachaa Hot Chili Sauce, rice noodles, rice wrappers, dumplings and shao mai, sushi rice. And then, the produce- oyster mushrooms, lemongrass, a million varieties of bok choy, bean threads, ginger… I could go on and on.
But on the Tuesday before New Years, my real dream came true. A few months ago, I met a wonderful Chinese woman by the name of Carol Cheung at an Asian food market in Acton. I heard her speaking English to someone and I approached her to ask about some different brands of curry pastes. It was obvious she knew her brands and I immediately befriended her. We must have talked for an hour in this little market. She teaches Mandarin Chinese in the Westborough school system. Very admirable I must say! We’ve stayed in touch and promised one another that we would meet for dim sum in Chinatown after the holidays. We met at Hei La Moon Restaurant, (88 Beach St., 617-338-8813) the most respected dim sum restaurant in Boston. They are open daily from 8:30AM until 11:00PM. I’d been there many times before but always as an outsider.

This time was different. Carol knew about every potsticker and bun served to us. Each ingredient, which ones were better than others. She would speak Cantonese to the servers and out would come steamer baskets of shrimp hargow, BBQ pork bun, pork shiu mai, steamed sparerib, sticky rice in lotus leaf, spring egg rolls.

As I was stuffing my face with these tasty morsels, she started explaining to my daughter and her boyfriend about why Chinese people are not fat. I stopped chewing and she went on to explain that the Chinese enjoy their food; chewing slowly, eating with chopsticks. They live in the moment, enjoying their family time together. At Hei La Moon that day, I watched families savoring ever so slowly each steamer basket that arrived at their table and suddenly I slowed down and really began to understand what Carol meant. I watched my daughter’s exchanges with her boyfriend David. I noticed my little one, Jackie and her friend Nina pointing at the different foods passing by them (I told them both before entering the restaurant that they were not allowed to use the words “yucch, or eww”). It was happening right before me- Life… It was a very meaningful moment for me. Just spending time with loved ones and new interesting friends.

After finishing our dim sum, Carol had promised me that she would give me a tour of her favorite places for live chickens, roasted duck, pastries, and her favorite restaurants. My daughter Nikki and her friend David went off to Newbury St. for some sight seeing, while Jackie and her friend, Nina Olsen joined me on a true adventure. It had to be minus 20 with the windchill factor, but we followed her dutifully to each market, each restaurant like soldiers. First we hit all her favorite bakeries. Each bakery had similar items but each was better at one thing or another. One bakery, on 62 Harrison Ave. had no name. Just a coffee sign on the outside. They had the best, what the locals call, paper wrapped cupcake. Best described as a very light, chiffon style cake literally looking like a huge ice cream cone. I brought some home and served them with a chocolate fondue. Exquisite! One of the best things I’ve ever tasted and I’ve tasted way too much food in my life. Another favorite bakery of Carol’s was the Crown Royal Bakery on 23 Edinboro St.; 617-338-8889. They had some lovely egg custards. Carol went ahead and bought me a huge box of her favorite desserts from this bakery, some including savory fillings. I liked the egg custards very much, but the other pastries seemed a little too exotic for me. I was a bit mad at myself for not liking them. I wanted to love everything I tasted. Still worth stopping in again the next time I’m down there!
Carol’s favorite restaurants in Chinatown include Peach Farm on 4 Tyler St.; 617-482-3332 and China Pearl on 9 Tyler St.; 617-426-4338. We stopped in each one as she spoke to the owners in Cantonese. We witnessed the delivery of fresh, still live boxes of gorgeous shrimp.
Carol has two favorite live poultry shops. One is Eastern Live Poultry Corp. on 48 Beach Street, Boston, MA 02111 phone: 617-547-9191 The second poultry shop is called Ming Kee Poultry on 54 Kneeland Street, Boston, MA 02111 phone: 617-482-3618 According to Carol, “You can certainly taste the difference between live chicken, better fed than the one coming from the supermarket. Bell and Evans can’t match the flavor or taste of real chicken from Chinatown.” I believe her. She says that they come from Connecticut and are all free range. She asks lots of questions, striking up conversations with the shopkeepers. Carol has a very exacting sense about everything she does, so I am excited to have found such a wonderful friend to help me around Chinatown.
Next on her favorites list was roasted duck. Her favorite place for this is the China Pearl Best Cafe on 11 Tyler St., 617-426-2341. I ordered the Peking duck, but they also had Crispy Roasted Duck, 5 spice duck and the menu changes on an almost daily basis. After ordering the duck, they pluck one down from the roasting hangars, place it on a huge round chopping block and with a giant cleaver, they chop the duck up into almost bite-size pieces. My mouth was already watering but I refused a sample. They packed up the duck with some amazing hoisin sauce, nothing like what I buy and thought were pretty authentic hoisin sauces. We ran over to C-Mart at 109 Lincoln St.; 617-426-8888; to complete the shopping for dinner that night. Scallions, cucumbers and Mandarin pancakes (in the frozen section).

Two places we missed due to the falling temperatures that day were her favorite noodle/fortune cookie factory called Ho Toy Noodle Company on 73-79 Essex St., 617-426-0247 and a place called Wings Kitchen on 23 Hudson St.; 617-338-2218. The noodle company is a wholesale business that supplies all the top restaurants and supermarkets with freshly made noodles and fortune cookies. A 5 lb., high quality noodle here is only $4.25. And the fortune cookies, which I find are always stale in Chinese restaurants are as fresh and crispy as can be.
The Wings Kitchen specializes in excellent squab, chicken and lobsters. Carol says this is her favorite for chicken. And it looks like that will be included in our next adventure to Chinatown along with a visit to a place that makes the best Vietnamese spring rolls. I’m salivating already!
If any of you readers live in the Boston area and are interested in joining me and Carol on our next jaunt to Chinatown, please let me know in the comments section. I would also love to know if this piece was helpful or even useful to any of you.
Thanks always for reading!!

What to Cook- Quick Cocktail Party Fare

 

polenta triangles with wild mushrooms

 

By Susan Lane of Susan A. Lane Events

September always motivates me to get back into the kitchen. Summer time beckons us outside the house mainly to the grill. It’s too hot to cook in the kitchen. But with the cooler nights upon us, I am drawn to some cooler weather fare. I thought I would focus on cocktail party fare since many of you will most likely start entertaining again since the kids are back in school and some holidays are right around the corner.

My mantra for cocktail parties is K.I.S.S. – “Keep it simple stupid!”.

Make one amazing thing and surround it with simple, easily composed items. Serve some red or white wine and a couple of different beers to suit your crowd. Aligash (a beer from Maine) is a fabulous Belgian white beer that I have become a huge fan of.

Also, at Trader Joe’s, there’s a fabulous Proseco (label is just a huge letter “P”) for $7 or $8 a bottle. Serve with a touch of Elderflower liqueur. Yummy!

Try One Of These Amazing Things:

Crab & Brie Quesadilla

(yields 12)

24- 2” diameter rounds of flour tortillas

8 oz  double cream brie

1 lemon worth of lemon zest

1 tsp chives

1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

8 oz fresh lump crab meat

3 tbsp softened unsalted butter

Small container of sour cream

1 avocado, cut into small wedges (squeeze lemon juice over wedges & keep covered to prevent from browning).

 

Smear ¼ oz. brie on each tortilla round.  Toss crab, lemon zest, chives and black pepper together.  Place ¼ oz. of crab mix onto 12 of the tortilla rounds and top with remaining tortilla rounds (like sandwiches).   

Melt 1 tbsp. butter in sauté pan and fry tortilla sandwiches (in batches of 4) on both sides till golden brown.  Set each batch aside on paper towel till done frying all of them. 

Garnish with dollop of sour cream and small wedge of avocado.

Serve warm

 

Pan-fried Corn Cakes with Smoked Salmon and Crème Fraîche

Roasted Corn Cakes

3 cups (about 12 ears) fresh corn kernels- just shucked

1/2 cup sour cream

1 egg

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp. salt

1/2 t. white pepper

1/2 T. baking powder

1/2 T. sugar

1.5 Tbsp. chives or parsley

Vegetable oil

Small side smoked salmon

Mix together corn kernels, sour cream and eggs. Add dry ingredients to mixture- flour, s & p, baking powder, and sugar. Mix in chives. Heat non-stick pan over med-hi heat. Gently pour in just enough oil to cover bottom of pan. Pour batter in pastry bag with no tip. Pipe batter into pan in 1/2 dollar size portions. Fry until golden brown. Flip over. Do same to second side. Remove from pan. Put small dollop of crème fraîche on corn cake. Follow with small piece of smoked salmon.

Crème Fraîche

¾ c. sour cream

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 T. Salt

1/2 T. pepper

1/8 c. heavy cream

Optional ingredients- freshly chopped dill; finely chopped shallots

Mix together all ingredients in bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temp for minimum of 2 hours. Can leave out overnite if room is not to warm. Chill.

Crispy Polenta Triangles with Sautéed Wild Mushrooms, Truffle Oil, and Asiago Cheese

Mushroom mixture

1 ounce dried wild mushrooms (porcini, shiitake)- soaked in hot water for 30 minutes. Strain thru cheese cloth and reserve liquid for recipe. Slice mushrooms.

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

pinch red pepper flakes

1 T. fresh sage, chopped or 1 t. dried

olive oil

1 12 oz. box white mushrooms,(Chanterelles if you can afford them) cleaned with dry towel and sliced thin

1 cup drained, chopped canned tomatoes-imported whole

1/2 c. red wine

2 T. chopped parsley

salt and pepper

¼ lb – 1/2 lb. Asiago cheese- grated

Truffle oil- optional

Cook onion in 1-2 T. olive oil till tender. Stir in re-hydrated mushrooms, garlic, red pepper flakes and sage. Add fresh mushrooms. Turn up heat to medium high. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender.  Stir in tomato, wine, some reserved mushroom liquid, parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce to simmer-10-15 minutes or until sauce is thickened.

Polenta Triangles

2 c. corn meal

7 c. water

1 T. salt

Turn broiler on.

Line large baking dish with saran wrap.

 

Add salt to pan of boiling water.  Slowly stir in corn meal.  Cook, stirring to avoid lumping, about 30 minutes or when it begins to pull away from sides of pan. Be careful not to overcook. Pour into baking dish. Cover with more saran wrap. Refrigerate.

Turn polenta out onto cutting board and slice into triangles.

Arrange slices in one layer on a lightly oiled shallow baking pan and brush slices with additional oil.

Broil polenta about 3 inches from heat until edges are golden, about 5 minutes. Turn polenta over and broil until edges are golden, about 3 minutes more.

Top triangles with grated Asiago cheese and broil briefly. Then top the polenta with  about 1 T. mushroom mixture. Broil briefly to warm mushrooms and finish with a drizzle of truffle oil (optional). Garnish platter with sprigs of fresh sage.

Try some of these Simple, Easily Composed Items:

Potato Chips served with a bowl of sour cream or crème frâiche and a bowl on ice of inexpensive whitefish caviar or smoked salmon or BOTH!

Goat Cheese topped with Pink Peppercorns, crushed garlic, EVOO, fresh ground pepper and kosher salt; served with Rice Crackers

Tiny Soup Sips- buy some favorite soup and place in tiny clear votives and serve!

Shrimp Cocktail from Captain Marden’s in Wellesley

Antipasti with store bought olives, roasted red peppers, goat cheese, tiny bocconcini, slices of soppressata, baguette slices.

Bacon wrapped Dates- put under broiler and wow!

Pecorino, Honey and Arugula Crostini

Cut a baguette into 1/2-inch slices. Drizzle each slice with honey, top with a slice of pecorino romano, and drizzle with more honey. Put under the broiler for a couple of minutes, until cheese starts to brown. Arrange on a serving dish and top with fresh arugula.

Wasabi Peas

Edamame with Kosher salt

Spicy Tuna Maki from a favorite Sushi restaurant

Serrano Ham over fresh Melon Slices