A Feast in the Making - Part III

The day of the dinner party. I was stressed, nervous and pumped!

But let me just say that my respect for chefs and caterers has tripled! I cooked dinner for 15pax, spent 2 full days in the kitchen and I was utterly exhausted by the end of it. I was so tired I wanted to puke and I couldn't feel my legs. You smell like the kitchen for at least a week, and that's only if you don't cook afterwards; else the smells will just linger around you. Your hands, your hair and just the entire you. And no matter how many showers you take you still smell like garlic, onions and stews. THUMBS UP to those who dedicated their lives to this sport! Yes, cooking is a very complicated sport ... that I still love very much despite of all the muscle pains. I love feeding people.

Anyways, I woke up to a gorgeous sunny morning. Though I woke up to construction workers chit chatting outside my window while they were building the 'pang' with the bamboos. Yes, is unfortunate. The tenants at the building have decided to revamp and renovate, starting with the exterior walls of the building. An 8-month project, which my parents and I totally feel played by our landlord for not letting us know while we signed the lease. Anyways, I will save this story for another time.

I set my alarm for 9:00am. Still lots to do even though I cooked all day the day before. I'd say I've made 50% of the meal - beef stew, duck, soup, parmesan crackers and fillings for my quiches. So I started my day with a big cup of coffee and a good breakfast. I sat down and enjoyed my brekkie because I didn't want to feel burned out in the middle of cooking. I've done that before. My relatives came for dinner (20+) and for whatever reason, I got really fed up cooking and I just stopped. I let my aunt cooked the rest of it that day. I was just so tired and whatever I was making just didn't taste good. I was not going to let this happen again today! I began cooking at 10am.

Having a sharp knife makes your life much easier in the kitchen.

I started assembling my quiches and baking them off since quiches can be served at room temperature or you can quickly pop them back in the oven to reheat just before serving.

I know, is not very pretty.

Here's my basic quiche recipe:

Prepare your pie dough, either get the store bought short crust pastry or make your own Pate Brisee. Blind bake them first in a 220C/425F oven for 5-7mins. Remove the pie weights or whatever you are using to weigh the dough down. Brush with egg wash and continue to bake for about 7minss. Let cool slightly.



Filling:
3 large eggs
175ml heavy cream
2-3 handfuls of grated cheese of your choice - Gruyere, Swiss, Gouda are common in quiches
salt and pepper to taste
Any kind of herbs that match the main ingredients of your quiche
*stir everything together + whatever else you chooses to put into your quiche.

Quiches are like pizzas. Is a very forgiving dish and you can put whatever you want into your quiche (let's you clear out your fridge). Here are some suggestions: asparagus, ham, sun dried tomatoes, olives, artichokes, mushroom, spinach ... and the list goes on and on.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pie crust and bake for 20mins in oven. Turn down the heat to about 180C/375F and bake for another 15-20mins until firm, golden brown and a bit puffy.

Cut up quiches to bite size pieces

A Feast in the Making - Part II

I have finalized my menu for my up coming buffet dinner for this Saturday. I think I've overestimated my ability to cook for a crowd with my original plan - 4 starters, 6 mains, 2 dessert. So I've scaled it down a little but will increase the portion of each dish. Also, this meal is to let my friends taste what I've learned and tasted during my Europe trip.

Most of the below dishes can be made a day in advanced and some can be prepared up to a certain stage and you can assemble it the day of the party. I will provide the recipes once I have some photos.

Now let's talk portion control cause really, when you are serving a crowd, the hardest thing is figuring out how much of each dish do you make - you don't want to be over ambitious and cook a crap load of food with a lot of leftovers; but you don't want to leave your guests only 50% satisfied. Some factors that affect how much food you make for a party: time of day (ex. afternoon tea or dinner), style of your party (ex. cocktail party or baby shower) type of food served (ex. all finger food or 5-course dinner), the people you will be feeding (ex. teenagers with unbelievably high metabolism or ladies who are watching their diets).

My party is going to be: housewarming dinner, buffet style, 15 grown ups - guy girl ratio 50:50.

Now, onto planning the menu and the rest of the game plan. This is usually how I figure out how much food to make. Think of a one-person portion of a 5-course meal at a restaurant. You often will get:

1) On-the-house canapes, say 1-2 pieces. And/or you get a fancy bread basket, filled with gourmet breads which you always can never stop eating.

2) Appetizer (around 6 - 8 bites. why so specific you ask? think about it, you get a tuna tartare with a few toasts on the side. I am pretty sure you can only get max. of 8 bites of that dish. OR if when you order mussels in white wine sauce to share, i really doubt you will eat more than 8 mussels with or without bread to mop up the sauce).

3) Soup (3/4 to 1 of a cup) / Salad (a little more than a handful of salad greens, lightly dressed).

A Feast in the Making

Occasion:
Housewarming (a VERY belated one)

Date:
Saturday, 26 February

Time:
4pm onwards

Place:
My Home

No. of Guests:
15

Mission:
To whip up a buffet dinner that will feed 15 big eaters along with ample amounts of wines, entertainment and be a collected and calm cook & hostess for the evening

Game Plan:
* Four appetizers/snacks + Six mains + 2 side dishes + 2 desserts (tentative)
* Think of dishes that can be made a day ahead and those that freeze well
* Cook things that I have made before - now is not the time to experiment
* Dishes must be filling
* Dietary requirements: No mushrooms, no Chinese parsley & chives, 2 guests don't eat beef and 2 guests don't eat lamb, nothing too fishy

Note to self:
Don't Freak Out

Stay tuned for the menu. Hopefully I will remember to take pictures of the dishes before sending them out the kitchen. With for sure chaos, I can't guarantee anything.