Stylish Entertaining Archives - Page 41 of 66

Summer’s Chilled Soup ☆ STAR ☆

Chilled Marcona Almond & Poblano Chile Soup with Sherry
Crab Salad Pillar with Avocado
Diced Watermelon, Feta and Mint
Borage Blossom Garnish

The 5 Star Makeover Cooking Group hosted by Natasha the 5 Star Foodie & Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks! is an outstanding monthly event for sharing ideas and creating gourmet makeovers of selected classic dishes or flavor combinations. June’s summery theme is CHILLED SOUPS.

The chilled almond & chile soup has been a favorite here for over a decade – a STAR of a cold soup that’s hot, smoky, and nutty. If fact, I entered it in a contest at the Los Angeles County Fair years ago, and it won second place. I’ve updated the soup recipe, now using sweet Spanish Marcona almonds and dry Spanish sherry. The basic soup can be simply garnished with bay shrimp or a drizzle of Mexican crema and a few cilantro leaves. Or for entertaining, go all out and build the crab pillar, your guests will be delighted.

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Meyer Lemon Arancini, Flower Confetti, Parmesan

Cocktail Hour @ Ciao Fiore!
Meyer Lemon Arancini, Flower Petal Confetti, Parmesan

It’s cocktail hour at Ciao Fiore! Meyer Lemon Risotto left over from the previous night’s service is formed into balls, coated with panko bread crumbs, and fried in canola oil. We need to watch our food costs so here we transform the day-old risotto into a delightful bar appetizer. Finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and a sprinkling of flower petal confetti make the presentation pop!

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Welcome to Ciao Fiore!

Che piacere vederti! How nice it is to see you!
Benvenuto Amici! Welcome Friends!

Welcome to the Grand Opening of Ciao Fiore! An enchanting outdoor ristorante on the Mediterranean Coast featuring alfresco dining in an ambrosial garden. Chefs Norma from Platanos, Mangoes & Me!, Debi from Table Talk, and Lori Lynn from Taste With The Eyes are collaborating and cooking together in a virtual Italian cucina to create a captivating five-star four-course meal enhanced with edible flowers and herbs dal giardino.

ANTIPASTI TAVOLA
Ricotta Fresca, Arugula Flowers
Roasted Vegetables
Italian Sausages and Prosciutto
Assorted Breads and Focaccia
Giardiniera – Pickled Vegetables and Olives
Mixed Greens with Nasturtium Flowers

RISOTTO
Meyer Lemon & Pink Rose Petal Risotto

PRIMO
Pan-Seared Branzino with Cucumber Salmoriglio
Over a Wild Arugula Salad with Cannellini Beans & Feta
Garnished with Borage Blossoms

DOLCE
Lavender & Mascarpone Panna Cotta with Strawberry Caviar
Chocolate Arancini and Pistachio Creme Anglaise
Garnished with Micro Flowers

(please click on the menu heading for complete recipes of all the menu items)

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The Kaleidoscopic Appetizer Course

all-color appetizer course
bánh mì canapés

toasted french bread, sriracha aioli, cinnamon meatloaf,
pickled pink radish, cucumber, pickled carrot, cilantro
green jalapeño, diced red jalapeño, yellow marigold petals

kaleidoscopic appetizer — Silent Auction Donation by Taste With The Eyes

Donation to the Rolling Hills Country Day School Parents’ Club Social:

A seven course seasonal gourmet dinner catered in your home
Each course incorporates unique ingredients for a one-of-a-kind menu
Invite members of your circle of friends to enjoy dinner along with members of the school’s administration and faculty for a total of 16 people

Meant to kick off our recent Fundraiser Dinner with a riot of color (menu here), these wild-spicy-vibrant bánh mì canapés left no doubt that the evening’s menu would be all about intense flavor and hue, captivating the eye as well as the palate.

The appetizer course, which we plated on a couple large trays for guests to help themselves, was a kaleidoscope of color. Then, when the guests were seated for dinner, each individual course was conceptualized as a single-colored dish. Purple, green, yellow, pink, black, orange. How different from the previous post, the monochromatic black course!

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For Your Next Party: The Black Course

the black course:
negra modelo beer braised beef short rib with chile de arbol
wrapped in a grape leaf with oaxacan black mole sauce
black mission figs, shiitake mushrooms
crispy grape leaf chip, sesame ash, black sesame seed, cacao nibs

Of the seven courses we served at our fundraiser dinner, the black course is my creative favorite. I looked to Mexican cuisine experts – Chefs Rick Bayless, Patricia Quintana, and Javier Plascencia for inspiration. I learned about making sesame ash while Guest-Chef-for-the-Day at Moto Restaurant in Chicago last January and had been wanting to try Chef Homaro Cantu’s modernist technique in a dish ever since. What appears to be ash is black sesame seed oil converted into a powder. It serves visual interest as well as a flavor complement to the sesame seed in the mole.

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