Easter Chick Cupcakes
Me with the 10 Lb Loin
My Living Room Transformed to a Dining Room
Name tags on the stem onf the wine glass and a gravy boat
Octapus Cooking...
A Gluten Free Easter
So here I am in NYC, getting ready for my 12-person Dinner party “Début”, this is something I have been groomed for since I was a small child and I was extremely ready willing and able to pull this off. The one obstacle was the fact that everything had to be Gluten Free and taste so good that no one would know they were eating rice pasta or rice bread stuffing, It was a challenge I accepted fully and completely. I decided to go with a more formal menu and really challenge myself to do multiple courses and get everything on the table at the appropriate temperature with a perfect presentation and a smile on my face. I invited some of my best friends and theatre buddies, my friend Adam who is the owner of an Italian restaurant here in Manhattan (which I love because I can bring in my Pasta and he will make me Gluten Free Italian food whenever I want) and of course my roommate Liz. It was a great mix of people and I was very excited but then soon realized that I had my work cut out for me. Here is the menu I served:
Appetizers
Boupie (octopus salad)
Cheese & Olive plate
Smoked Salmon
Salmon Mouse
Caviar
Amuse Bouche
Mushroom and shallot reduction
Wrapped in a rice paper purse
Floating in a Pink Cream sauce
(Served on a Chinese Spoon)
Salad
Candied Pecan Gorgonzola Salad
With a homemade Raspberry Vinaigrette
Pasta
Pancetta Seared Scallop with a
Carbonara Sauce over rice linguine
Entrée
Soy, Maple, and Roasted Garlic
marinated Pork Loin with
Baby Portabella Mushrooms
and a thick homemade Gravy
Starch
Rice Bread Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Vegetable
Asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto
Glazed Carrots
Broccoli
Desert
GF “Chicks” Cupcakes with
A Homemade Butter Cream Frosting
Fresh Fruit and Cheese Plate
The cooking began on Friday night with the marinating of the 10 lb pork loin. On Saturday I was up around 10ish prepping and cooking away, my friend Stephanie came by around 12 and helped me cook, clean and prep my apartment for a large dinner party…we stopped working at 1:39AM the next day. It was all worth it, the next morning I woke up and the table was all set, most of the food was already made and just needed to be heated or cooked in the oven, it was off to a very successful start. My guest arrived to a home cooked smell wafting down the hall way and everyone was dressed in their Sunday Best!
When it came time for the meal, I said the blessing which was kind of weird for me because that is something the matriarch of the family does, but it was my apartment and my duty to say the blessing…I got choked up when I was thanking god for all his blessings and taking care of my mother, but other than that I did fine. We ate. People were complementing me left and right which was a great feeling but my favorite comment of all time was when Adam, the restaurant owner stopped eating his scallops and linguine carbonara, turned to me and said,” This is better than mine! I think this is the best I have even had, how do you make it…I want your recipe…it’s just perfect” apparently Adam NEVER compares his food to anyone’s, especially in a negative light, I was humbled and really excited. We then as a group decided that we needed to take a break after eating the Amuse Bouche, Salad, and Scallop Carbonara. 35 minutes later we all came back to the table to enjoy the main entrée. The whole meal was a huge success and I am so thankful everything went over smoothly and in a timely fashion…Oh ya and by the way, people were amazed that NOTHING in the meal contained: wheat, rye, oats, barley, or gluten of any sort, it was kind of amazing. It just goes to show you that a gluten free lifestyle can be a tasty one if you just try a little. Here are some of the Gluten Free recipes of the meal that were such a hit:
Amuse Bouche Recipe
Mushroom Purse in a Pink Sauce Filling
2 Tbsp Butter
½ cup Baby Bella’s –Diced
4 cloves of Roasted Garlic
1 Tbsp White Wine
1 tsp dried Thyme leaves
How to
In a skillet over medium heat, sauté Bella’s, garlic, wine, and butter until liquid is cooked off. Take off stove top and add thyme leaves.
Pink Sauce
1 Tbsp Butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Shallot- Minced
1Tbsp White Wine
½ cup Heavy Cream
1 tsp Tomato Paste
How to
In a small saucepan heat garlic, shallots, in butter until tender, not brown. Whisk in Wine, cream and tomato paste, S&P and cook until thickened.
Platting
12 Chinese Spoons: place a tablespoon of sauce in the spoon, place the mushroom purse on top of the sauce and garnish with a piece of flat leaf parsley
Raspberry Vinaigrette Recipe
1/2 c. raspberry vinegar1/4 tsp. each salt & pepper4 tsp. sugar2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (2 tsp.)2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce1 tbsp. Dijon style mustard
How To
Whisk together and serve, keeps very well in the fridge. Another awesome point is that there is no OIL so it is also lower in fat as well, and tastes So Good!
Stuffing
2 loaves of bread-broken into bite sized pieces
1 ½ sticks of butter-room temp
2 lg. Onions- diced
6 Stalks of Celery- diced
½ cup of Parsley- chopped
¼ tsp salt
Pepper to taste
3 eggs- lightly beaten
Bell (Poultry) Seasoning – about 1 Tsp. Per 16 slices of bread
Chicken broth if needed
How to
So here I am in NYC, getting ready for my 12-person Dinner party “Début”, this is something I have been groomed for since I was a small child and I was extremely ready willing and able to pull this off. The one obstacle was the fact that everything had to be Gluten Free and taste so good that no one would know they were eating rice pasta or rice bread stuffing, It was a challenge I accepted fully and completely. I decided to go with a more formal menu and really challenge myself to do multiple courses and get everything on the table at the appropriate temperature with a perfect presentation and a smile on my face. I invited some of my best friends and theatre buddies, my friend Adam who is the owner of an Italian restaurant here in Manhattan (which I love because I can bring in my Pasta and he will make me Gluten Free Italian food whenever I want) and of course my roommate Liz. It was a great mix of people and I was very excited but then soon realized that I had my work cut out for me. Here is the menu I served:
Appetizers
Boupie (octopus salad)
Cheese & Olive plate
Smoked Salmon
Salmon Mouse
Caviar
Amuse Bouche
Mushroom and shallot reduction
Wrapped in a rice paper purse
Floating in a Pink Cream sauce
(Served on a Chinese Spoon)
Salad
Candied Pecan Gorgonzola Salad
With a homemade Raspberry Vinaigrette
Pasta
Pancetta Seared Scallop with a
Carbonara Sauce over rice linguine
Entrée
Soy, Maple, and Roasted Garlic
marinated Pork Loin with
Baby Portabella Mushrooms
and a thick homemade Gravy
Starch
Rice Bread Stuffing
Mashed Potatoes
Vegetable
Asparagus wrapped in Prosciutto
Glazed Carrots
Broccoli
Desert
GF “Chicks” Cupcakes with
A Homemade Butter Cream Frosting
Fresh Fruit and Cheese Plate
The cooking began on Friday night with the marinating of the 10 lb pork loin. On Saturday I was up around 10ish prepping and cooking away, my friend Stephanie came by around 12 and helped me cook, clean and prep my apartment for a large dinner party…we stopped working at 1:39AM the next day. It was all worth it, the next morning I woke up and the table was all set, most of the food was already made and just needed to be heated or cooked in the oven, it was off to a very successful start. My guest arrived to a home cooked smell wafting down the hall way and everyone was dressed in their Sunday Best!
When it came time for the meal, I said the blessing which was kind of weird for me because that is something the matriarch of the family does, but it was my apartment and my duty to say the blessing…I got choked up when I was thanking god for all his blessings and taking care of my mother, but other than that I did fine. We ate. People were complementing me left and right which was a great feeling but my favorite comment of all time was when Adam, the restaurant owner stopped eating his scallops and linguine carbonara, turned to me and said,” This is better than mine! I think this is the best I have even had, how do you make it…I want your recipe…it’s just perfect” apparently Adam NEVER compares his food to anyone’s, especially in a negative light, I was humbled and really excited. We then as a group decided that we needed to take a break after eating the Amuse Bouche, Salad, and Scallop Carbonara. 35 minutes later we all came back to the table to enjoy the main entrée. The whole meal was a huge success and I am so thankful everything went over smoothly and in a timely fashion…Oh ya and by the way, people were amazed that NOTHING in the meal contained: wheat, rye, oats, barley, or gluten of any sort, it was kind of amazing. It just goes to show you that a gluten free lifestyle can be a tasty one if you just try a little. Here are some of the Gluten Free recipes of the meal that were such a hit:
Amuse Bouche Recipe
Mushroom Purse in a Pink Sauce Filling
2 Tbsp Butter
½ cup Baby Bella’s –Diced
4 cloves of Roasted Garlic
1 Tbsp White Wine
1 tsp dried Thyme leaves
How to
In a skillet over medium heat, sauté Bella’s, garlic, wine, and butter until liquid is cooked off. Take off stove top and add thyme leaves.
Pink Sauce
1 Tbsp Butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Shallot- Minced
1Tbsp White Wine
½ cup Heavy Cream
1 tsp Tomato Paste
How to
In a small saucepan heat garlic, shallots, in butter until tender, not brown. Whisk in Wine, cream and tomato paste, S&P and cook until thickened.
Platting
12 Chinese Spoons: place a tablespoon of sauce in the spoon, place the mushroom purse on top of the sauce and garnish with a piece of flat leaf parsley
Raspberry Vinaigrette Recipe
1/2 c. raspberry vinegar1/4 tsp. each salt & pepper4 tsp. sugar2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (2 tsp.)2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce1 tbsp. Dijon style mustard
How To
Whisk together and serve, keeps very well in the fridge. Another awesome point is that there is no OIL so it is also lower in fat as well, and tastes So Good!
Stuffing
2 loaves of bread-broken into bite sized pieces
1 ½ sticks of butter-room temp
2 lg. Onions- diced
6 Stalks of Celery- diced
½ cup of Parsley- chopped
¼ tsp salt
Pepper to taste
3 eggs- lightly beaten
Bell (Poultry) Seasoning – about 1 Tsp. Per 16 slices of bread
Chicken broth if needed
How to
Sauté onions and celery in the butter until they are soft, take off the heat and let it cool a little. Mix together the S&P. poultry seasoning, parsley, and bread until well mixed. In a separate bowl, mix in chicken broth and eggs and mix well, add to bread mixture along with the celery and onion mixture until well blended. Cook at 350 degrees for an hour and a half to two hours, uncovered. Cook until golden brown on top.
