Here are five tips to avoid some of the problems I ran into during this wine pairing party. Noting disastrous, but lessons learned. It helps me process where I need to focus and what to be wary of for next time.
Avoid My Rice Fiasco
Sometimes, its the unexpected little things that can create drama. And, to be honest, some of the drama was my own. I can accept that. What is most important is that I learned from it.
So what’s the deal with rice? I had a garlic eggplant dish that was served over sushi rice. Made little patty forms out of a round mold, but it was a little large and used way more rice than I realized.
I scraped just enough rice to plate each guest and I thought, “well that was close, but dish accomplished.” Wrong.
Right after I served everyone, a couple people came up asking for just plain rice. I didn’t quite understand why at the time. I found out some had certain allergies to eggplant or other dietary issues.
The sad fact was, I was out of rice and did not have time to make more. Some folks were openly annoyed with my response of “no, I don’t have any more.” Maybe it was my tone. Like I said, I will own some of the drama.
Honestly, its hard to be prepared for every possible nuance of food intolerance, avoidance, allergy, or plain dislike. For a paid for event at a private house with a specifically curated menu, it is reasonable to ask if they have any special dietary restrictions.
I request this every time now, but few really express there food avoidance in advance. Because I have a lot of repeat guests, I keep a mental list and make sure I have option or extra plain stuff.
But, let’s call this Wine Pairing Party Tip #1: make extra rice (or whatever base starch you are using). It’s usually not expensive and in the long run, less stressful to just have more rice.
Also to note, Wine Pairing Party Tip #2: have a rule that guests don’t get to come into the kitchen to distract the cook (unless you know them and like them). That hard with an open kitchen. This helps me stay focused and not accidently have a sharp tone in response to a demand. And I do pause to talk to guests when I have a moment.
Less Mess with a Solid Test
People often ask if I would do those timed cooking contest…no. I like to meticulously plan and not have my food disasters televised. This example reinforces my stance.
Silly me, I was expecting everything on top of the polenta pizzas to just stay there. Get melty, yes, but stay on stop of the polenta slices. Alas, that is not what happened.
As the pizza’s were cooking, all the toppings started sliding every which way, especially into the pan. The sauce and the balsamic glaze combined into a dark red molten mess that luckily I drained off without severely burning myself. And I went back and fixed them as best I could.
Wine Pairing Party Tip #3: TEST IT! Even experience cooks have bad run ins with new dishes that seem simple enough. Avoid this potential party pitfall. Test it out exactly as you will execute for the party. I had done some preliminary tests, but not this exact topping combination.
Future forward: less sauce, less cheese, and don’t add the prosciutto or balsamic glaze until after they come out of the oven. (In case you are curious, the recipe has been updated to care for my mistake: Polenta Pizza with Prosciutto).
Stabilize Me, I’m Melting
Because it was still March and cool in the evening, folks kept closing the only door to the outside that was airing me out. I had dual ovens blazing all night and stove top searing going on. There was one vent over a stove, but it’s clanky, sputtering fan could not take on the amount of heat I was producing.
By dessert time, it was sauna-rific in the kitchen! I had made pretty little chocolate ladders with edible gold stars that were to stick straight up from the chocolate mousse. That’s what is was supposed to do. But fate would not be so kind.
I used a stupid short cut of regular whip cream out of a can (for shame!). When I was plating the deserts and shoving in the ladders in the whip cream, at first it was lovely. But before I was halfway done, the whip cream was melting into white puddles, the ladders were going sideways and becoming a little melty themselves. Nooooo!
A quick last minute fix ensued. First, I opened wide the balcony doors for a blessed breeze. Next, I shoved the ladders deep into the mousse so they looked more like a chocolate step stool. Finally, I quickly reapplied whip cream right as people were gathering. Nothing like a boiling, stress-y, panicky serving of the final dish.
Three words I will never ignore again and Wine Pairing Party Tip #4: stabilized whip cream. Either add powdered sugar or a foam stabilizer, do it and have no regrets.
Positives of Plating
The critiques weren’t too much, really. There is a difference between preferences and actual criticism that focuses on where the dish could improve. Other than the rice issue, I was probably more critical of the dishes than the guests.
This time my yellow curry that went with the shrimp was too spicy for some. But I didn’t make it, I bought it. Trader Joe’s Thai Curry Sauce, one of my favorites. It’s delicious and I wouldn’t change a thing. Okay I would. I would have spicier sauces be more to the side to dip into and not right on the food.
Its surprising no one complained about the pizza (to my face, anyways). While I did recover from the awful mess, the dish was underwhelming at the time. I have much improved it.
No complaints on the corned beef. It was pretty much the star dish of the night. In fact, there were several requests for more and I did make plenty. Not everyone finished off the desserts – but I think that was more a reflection of “so full…too much food.”
Many people were complimentary of the plating and I got a lot of positive feedback on that front. The visual appeal of the food has a strong influence on the tasting experience. It was absolutely worth the effort. Wine Pairing Party Tip #5: good plating improves the experience.