Dinner Party - Part 2

Dinner party went fairly well. The cooking timeline I put together prior to the day of the event REALLY helped; in fact, I don't think I could have gotten everything done in time without it. Left my parents' place at about 7:30am, hit Costco before home, then immediately began preparing around 11:30am. Was just about finished when the first guest arrived at 6pm. Phew!

Overall, the menu was OK...as feared, some of the guests may have gone hungry hungry. I had backups purchased and available, but for whatever reason failed to serve them. Some photos (no pics of the inari or the full spread on the table. Alas. Next time!), followed by recipes:

Cooling the yellow cakes and banana bread.

Possibly the simplest Thai recipe ever.

The makings of Thai namya sauce.

The more-or-less completed namya sauce.

Chocolate ganache for the boston cream pie.

Parchment paper is hella expensive but seriously makes baking & cleanup MUCH easier. Genius moment!

About to assemble the pastry cream with the yellow cakes.

Want to work on making a pastry cream with more structure, to make a thicker cream layer to offset the bitter of the chocolate and sweet/dryness of the cake. Taste was fine.

Waited a little too long to spread the ganache...meh.

Mis-shapen khanom jeen. My dad's going to demonstrate how to make them prettier next weekend.

Tomato caprese w/ baby spinach posing as basil.

Boston Cream Pie: I used the following recipe (but w/ 3oz 72% dark cacao and 1oz semi-sweet nestle chips): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtNpONtWqas.
Tomato caprese: I used 4 vine-ripened tomatoes and store-bought mozzarella with a drizzling of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Didn't have fresh basil so used baby spinach leaves instead.

Thai namya noodles: 2 cans Maesri brand namya curry paste, 1 can solid white tuna in extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 can coconut milk, and a few tbsp of water. Mash the tuna until fairly fine, mix with curry paste, then combine w/ remaining ingredients in a pot over medium heat until it boils. Serve warm over khanom jeen noodles wound into little bundles.

Inari: 1 can inari tofu, approx 3 cups Japanese white rice (I use Nishiki medium-grain). Make sure the rice is warm; it makes the process of stuffing the tofu a lot easier.

Enchiladas: These I've made before -- http://cookingflook.blogspot.com/2011/09/enchiladas.html

Dinner Party

This weekend, M and I will be entertaining a few guests in our apartment for the first time since moving here. Tentative menu:

Starter - Chips & dip
Appetizer - Tomato caprese
Appetizer - Inari
Entree 1 - Thai namya noodles
Entree 2 - Chicken enchiladas
Dessert - Boston cream pie
Dessert - Apple something

You'll notice there's no real cohesiveness to this menu...Italian to Japanese to Thai to Mexican? Unfortunately, I will be out of town the day/night preceding, so the apartment must be turned upside-down and inside-out TODAY, and the meals must be simple, fast, tried and true. However, for the enchiladas, I want to try making my own enchilada sauce. I found this fairly simple recipe, and may give it a whirl...though it may mean sacrificing the most complex item on this menu (Boston cream pie).

Ten-Minute Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons New Mexico or California chili powder (or mix. Best New Mexico chile powder is the 69 cent "Chile New Mexico Molido" in the red, white, and green package by the company "Mexico Spices Corp")
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 cup water (or chicken stock)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (or fresh garlic)
1/4 teaspoon onion salt
Salt to taste
Optional: 1-2 oz dark chocolate

1. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in flour and chili powder, reduce heat to medium, and cook until lightly brown, stirring constantly to prevent burning flour.
2. Gradually stir in tomato sauce, water, cumin, garlic powder, and onion salt into the flour and chili powder until smooth, and continue cooking over medium heat approximately 10 minutes, or until thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt. 
3. Optional: Dip corn tortillas in sauce while still hot. Pour sauce in bottom of baking dish before placing rolled enchiladas. Sauce thickens in the oven.