Mom & Anita's Birthday


 Linda    08 Dec : 01:51
 None    Menu

Asian Style Dinner

I recently catered a combined birthday party for my Mom and Sister-in-law, Anita. Here’s the menu I told my Mom: Shrimp Pork chops Rice and some veggies An asian theme? Here’s what I prepared and presented [almost all recipes are from: America's Test Kitchen, others are noted] Chinese Noodles with assorted sauces Grilled Shrimp with Charmoula Sauce Baby Spinach Salad with citrus & beans Pan glazed Pork Chops, with Asian flavors Shitake Fried Rice Pan-Roasted Broccoli Now, I know this sounds complicated, but bare in mind that most of the work is in the chopping and measuring – most of which I had done ahead, and I carried all kinds of zipper bags and jars with me to the event. The entire meal was ready in less than 60 minutes! I’m not totally manic! I had one of my brothers working the grill while I worked the stovetop. Because we were expecting 12 adults and 4 kids, I also had a brined, butterflied chicken for the fussier ones. That went on the grill first. To keep people munching [and out of the kitchen] I bought Chinese noodles, duck sauce, a mild chili/garlic sauce, and made a scallion/soy based dipping sauce. While I was pan-roasting broccoli [saved the final steaming for just before serving], Jeff started cooking the sauce for the grilled shrimp. Once most of the family had arrived, he started the shrimp, and I seared [a bunch of] pork chops. Grilled Shrimp in Charmoula sauce was a big hit as an appetizer (I DIDN'T EVEN GET ANY!!!) I cooked the glaze for the pork chops and then finished cooking them (the pork chops) in it, assembled the shitake-fried rice, and served the salad [for details, check our recipes, under Veggies], then did the final steaming of the broccoli. Because I was using the fried rice as a side dish, I didn’t use all of the “protein items” included in the original recipe by ATK. Eggs, of course, and a little bit of left-over pork tenderloin…. But I let the mushrooms take center stage. The biggest problem was stovetop space [and the fact that EVERYONE seemed to want to hang out in the kitchen!] If I had it to do over again… Cooking pork chops in three different pans on three different burners meant three different temperatures and varied consistencies on the glaze. I should have used a roasting pan over two of the burners for one large cooking space [less clean up, too!] I pan-roasted the broccoli because I didn’t want the added heat from the oven, but in hindsight that might have been the better way. And for SURE, I would have gotten a couple pieces of shrimp!!!


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