[CH] Wedding stuff
Assembly (Assembly1@btinternet.com)
Tue, 16 Nov 1999 14:45:22 +0000
Having had a lovely wedding reception (v. small) just six years ago, I
understand your problem. I don't think many of the guests enjoyed my idea
of food bliss: salsa and bean dip and chips, chicken enchiladas and seafood
burritos with tomatillo sauce. My mother-in-law, at least, thinks I'm nuts.
The best way of sneaking chiles into finger foods is with sate: at our
house-warming this year, folks snapped up the chicken and prawn sates. I
suppose (if you must) you could use the peanut sauce and cucumber dressing
with kebabs of veggies. My mother used to stick the bamboo skewers in a red
cabbage to display them when she had a party, but my husband laughed (oh, so
1970s, don't ya know), so I just rested them on a plate. I use the recipe
out of Nancie Mc Dermott's _Real Thai_, but there's a lot of others out
there that are fine.
For stand-up buffets I would recommend cold salsa and chips and hot bean dip
and chips. Make your own refried beans or used good-quality canned (since I
had to make them here in Britain (commercial British refrieds are
disgusting) I've never gone back to canned), mix it with salsa and cheese,
warm in the microwave and, if possible, stand the dip in a chafing dish or
fondue set over low heat. All this can be done in
advance and warming up food is something you can trust to hired staff (if
you're going posh).
I know you didn't ask for non-spicy food, but another dish that goes down a
treat is/are dolmades. I actually like the cold vegan ones better than the
warm lamb ones. Again these recipes show up constantly: I remember a good
one in Bon Appetit years ago, so if you go to the Gourmet/ Conde
Nast/epicurious site, you can probably find it. These always go fast at my
parties and they're actually better if you make them ahead of time.
For a sit-down buffet, you're right in wanting noodles. For a cold buffet,
Chinese noodles and peanut sauce are right, but I've had problem with making
this come out consistently. For a hot dish, may I suggest the Tortellini
with Smoked Chedder Cheese and Chipotle Pepper Cream which shows up on the
CH web site? It is elegant dinner party food, the tortellini could be
replaced by tagliatelle and more veg., the chipotles can be reduced to suit
the weak while the smoky flavour will satisfy the disappointed meat eaters
(most people assume there's ham in it), and it could be prepared separately
beforehand (sauce, noodles, veg.) and then warmed and assembled by minions
when the time comes.
If you have any trouble, I can give you the recipes. Good luck on the day
and don't get frazzled by the food preparation.
Cheers,
Virginia
PS-CHers off list, esp. Brent. Sorry to have broken off contact some months
ago - family emergency. It's been fun catching up with the list, though.