iPad launch party

All of the photos you see in this post were taken by Joleen, the woman behind the lens at Joleen Willis Photography. As you can see, she is incredible. I’m working on a post dedicated to her talent. I hope you’ll like it. Coming Soon!

As promised, I’d like to gush a little about the party I had the honor of catering a couple of weeks ago. First of all, I need to offer my sincere gratitude to Josh and Sarah for their trust and confidence in me to actually pull this thing off. There were times where I was not so sure, but you guys supported me all the way, and I’m so thankful for that! It was an experience that has caused my passion for food to blossom even more and makes me aware that this desire of mine goes way beyond my home oven. I simply can’t wait to see where it takes me.

This launch party was much more than just celebrating an innovative and revolutionary product, it was in honor of Josh, Sarahs’ husband, who has dedicated much of the last five years of his life to the design of this tablet. If you have played with one, or even been in the presence of an iPad, you can join me in saying that all of his hard work has paid off. It’s an incredible device and I can not wait to get my hot little hands on one of those beauties.

This party had been in the works for a little over four weeks time and was destined to be fabulous from the beginning. Sarah and I planned the menu together, sending recipes and pictures of beautiful food back and forth to each other unceasingly. I’m fairly certain that during the month we had to plan, I spoke with her far more often than my own husband (he is very happy to have me back!). There were constant changes and revisions as we found a new favorite dish every day. The preparation was overwhelming at times, as I learned how to adapt and multiply recipes to fit a large group. I have never been good with math, so I’m happy that I didn’t end up with 100 more of something or worse, far less than we needed.

It was hard to tell how everything was going to turn out the night of the party considering I was making a lot of dishes I had never attempted before. I had the best intentions of making most of the dishes far ahead of time, so that I could figure out what didn’t work, what I could change and what could be improved. As the date of the party rushed closer and closer, I just ran out of time. Maybe if the days leading up to the party had consisted of 36 hours instead of 24 I could have pulled it off, but it just wasn’t going to happen, so we pretty much flew by the seat of our pants. Thankfully, everything turned out far more spectacular than I had even dreamed. All of us prayed a lot up until the very moment we started passing out food, and I’m sure that’s the reason everything came out better than perfect, and even more unfathomable, without stress. Beyond lots and lots of prayer, there are four more reasons why this event turned out to be far less stressful than I thought it could. Anna, Emielle, Jon and Dzung. I was blessed with the most incredible team to help me execute this major undertaking. Without them, I would have never been able to pull this off, it was a complete team effort. Thank you all for the 19 hour days, dirty aprons, calming attitudes and irreplaceable friendship. I owe you, big time.

This ceviche was such a refreshing part of the menu. This was one of the dishes Sarah was really looking forward to. It was cold, tangy and a bit spicy, enveloped by a crisp cucumber cup. It was a perfect dish to start with.

Most people would agree that most of the time, I tend to go a little far when planning for a party. I can’t help but want to make everything from scratch for a few reasons. I’m convinced that homemade food almost always tastes better than anything you can get from a store. There are a few exceptions, but most of the time I find store bought food to be lacking flavor, creativity and not worth the money I have to give away. Homemade food is generally much cheaper, since you start with raw ingredients and take out the middle man. It’s also comforting to know that I can control which raw ingredients I use. I can be sure that the highest quality ingredients are the basis for a dish which automatically gives it the opportunity to be spectacular. All of that is to say, I was not content to serve my appetizers with store bought crackers. I made them, along with those that spent hours helping me. It was totally worth it, and I’ll do it again.

We placed these beautiful, dainty tarts all over the tables for guests to munch on between passed appetizers. One was a goat cheese and tomato tart with asparagus and the other was a pea and pancetta tart. They were all filled with a custard and then baked up for about 20 minutes. The tart shell was wonderfully flaky and the fillings complimented one another quite well. This is the one recipe that I tried ahead of time. I wanted to be sure I could actually make 90 of these little things before I actually needed to. They were a great dinner for the husband and I, paired with a nicely dressed salad. I made them four inch tarts when I tested them, but the ones in the picture are roughly half that.

This red pepper walnut dip was on a moon-shaped piece of jicama, which was a great vegetarian option with a zing. It was beautiful and packed a lot of flavor. It turned out to be a great palate cleanser between passed appetizers.

Above is the custom cocktail that Josh and Sarah concocted, cleverly named the Tablet-ini. It was a delicious blend of Charbay Pom Vodka, Patron Citronge with pomegranate, cranberry and lime juice. The rim was dusted with fine sugar and had a lovely lime on the side to finish it off. My sister, Anna was the bartender and did a fantastic job keeping everyone filled and happy.

We decided that creme brulee would be the perfect way to end the evening and wanted to offer two different flavors for some variety. We did a classic vanilla bean creme brulee and then mixed it up a bit with a chocolate-ancho chili flavor. This one turned out to be awesome, with a slight tingle that hit the roof of your mouth about 10 seconds after each bite. As you can see above, we brought out a massive torch to carmelize the top of the custard, which my husband enjoyed very much. In fact, he was having so much fun, he caught a stack of napkins on fire. It was quite specatucular. Thank you love!

Now, let’s talk about these. These little confections (ipad pops) happened to be the party favor that everyone was lucky enough to take home. Sarah and I dreamt up the idea using a Bakerella template. Sarah really wanted to have something that was representative of the iPad, and when I saw that Bakerella had printed vintage Valentines Day Cards onto cookie pops, I just knew that was what we had to do. Thankfully, Sarah has very talented friends who are incredible with frosting sheets, edible icing and the like. Thank you Walker! Aren’t they the cutest darn things you’ve ever seen?

Ceviche in Cucumber Cups
Emeril Lagasse
serves 12

Ingredients:

• 12 oz very fresh sushi-grade white fleshed ocean fish ( I used a variety of red snapper, sole and cod from my local fish monger)
• 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 3 tablespoons pineapple juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced red onion
• 1 1/2 tablespoons finely diced serrano pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely diced yellow bell pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 tablespoon good quality extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 seedless cucumbers, peeled

Preparation:

Cut the fish into a 1/4 inch dice, making sure to pull out any bones that may still remain. Place in a glass dish with the lime juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, peppers, onions and garlic, tossing to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, cut the cucumber in generous 1 inch slices crosswise. With a small spoon or melon baller, carefully scoop out the flesh of the cucumber keeping the sides and bottom intact. Cover and refrigerate until needed. Can be made up to 1 day ahead.

Add the cilantro, olive oil, and salt to the fish mixture. Fold gently to mix. Spoon into cucumber cups and garnish with cilantro.

Homemade Crackers
From jam it, pickle it, cure it by Karen Solomon
makes 48 hors d’oeuvre crackers

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for the cracker tops
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for the cracker tops
• 1 egg
• 1/3 neutral vegetable oil, like canola or safflower
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup cold water

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl or food processor, mix the 2 cups of flour, baking powder, sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg and vegetable oil. Slowly stir the liquid into the dry ingredients in the bowl, or combine in the processor and pulse, until the dough starts to form a coarse meal. Add the water as needed, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough comes together and you can form it into a single ball.
2. On a lightly floured work surface, cut the dough in half. Shape each piece into a square about 12 inches wide. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly oil 2 baking sheets and dust with flour.
4. Roll out piece of dough, trying to retain its square shape, until it reaches a thickness of 1/8 to 1/4 inch. The desired thickness can vary to your taste; not that the thinner the cracker, the crisper and the more delicate it will be. Lightly prick the dough all over, every half inch or so, with the tines of a fork. Lightly brush the top with water, sprinkle with additional salt, pepper, or other flavorings, then give it 1 or 2 more gentle rolls with a floured rolling pin to press the toppings into the dough.
5. Cut the dough into the desired shape. Carefully transfer the crackers onto prepared baking sheet using a scraper or a spatula. Bake for 8 to 20 minutes, until evenly browned. Check the crackers after 8 minutes; their cooking time will vary by size and thickness.

Savory Summer Tarts
Gourmet, 2009
makes 12 4 inch tarts

Ingredients:

For pastry dough:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 5 to 8 tablespoons ice water

For goat cheese and tomato filling:

• 3 asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 12 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 6 (1/4-inch-thick) rounds soft mild goat cheese (from a small log)
• 3 teaspoons finely chopped chives

For pea, scallion and pancetta filling:

• 4 scallions thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup thawed frozen baby peas
• 6 thin slices pancetta

For custard:

• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 3 whole large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk

Preparation:

Make pastry dough:
Blend together flour, butter, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) just until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle 5 tablespoons ice water evenly over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated. Squeeze a small handful of dough: If dough doesn’t hold together, add more ice water, 1/2 tablespoon at a time, stirring until incorporated. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.

Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather all of dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and form into 2 (5-inch) squares. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, at least 1 hour.

Make tart shells:
Arrange flan rings on 2 parchment-paper-lined baking sheets. Roll out 1 portion of dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 16- by 10-inch rectangle. Cut into 6 rough squares. Gently fit each square into a ring (do not stretch dough). Trim excess dough flush with rim. Lightly prick each shell several times with a fork and chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough and rings. Alternatively, use 12 4 inch fluted tart pans and follow instructions above.

Preheat oven to 375°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.

Line shells with foil (not heavy-duty) and fill with pie weights. Bake until sides are set, about 20 minutes. Carefully remove weights and foil and bake shells until golden-brown all over, 5 to 8 minutes. Cool completely on baking sheets on racks, then remove flan rings.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

Assemble goat cheese and tomato tarts:
Cook asparagus spears in salted boiling water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain and divide among 6 tart shells along with tomatoes, then top with a round of cheese.

Assemble pea, scallion and pancetta tarts:
Cook scallions in oil in cleaned small skillet over medium heat until softened, about 1 minute. Stir in peas and warm through, then divide mixture among remaining 6 tart shells. Add pancetta to skillet and cook, turning once, until just crisp. Reserve pancetta.

Make custard and bake tarts:
Whisk together custard ingredients with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Divide among shells. Sprinkle chives over goat cheese tarts and top pea tarts with pancetta.

Bake tarts on baking sheets until custard is just set, about 20 minutes. Cool slightly.

April 16, 2010. Tags: appetizers, Banko, ceviche, cracker, ipad, ipad pop, tarts. appetizers, stories.