Pan-World Cuisine: or, The Garden Made Me Cook It

Not sure what the kind of cooking I do is called--Pan-World Cuisine? Lots of Asian and Indian, but really, all rolled around what's growing in the garden now. The garden TELLS me what to cook. Lately, that's a lot of squash!

Earlier this week, I catered a reception for the Architecture Foundation of Santa Barbara. Small and somewhat swank--with a live band (playing quietly--many neighbors), and a vineyard sponsoring. Here's what I made:

• Indonesian satay chicken skewers with satay dipping sauce
  
  
• Salmon dip with organic carrots and patty-pan squash
  
  
• Italian deli ham-wrapped melon sticks
  
  
• Cheese bread twists
  
  
• Fruit kabobs
  
  
• Watermelon basket loaded with red grapes and decorated with flowers and lemon slices
  
  
• Dark chocolate coconut-rum-laced truffles rolled in unsweetened coconut
  
  
• Shrimp cocktail platters--one with a homemade soy-sesame dip and one with a tomato-based wasabi and smoked paprika dip

I stayed for the first part of the event--just to make sure everyone liked the food. My hubby closed the party down, though, and reported every spare morsel was devoured--all but the watermelon basket itself (contents were eaten). Success! Too bad it was a donation, but I'm not at the pro level.

Pick-up Food for a Small, Casual Foodie Party

Jiggelos

First of all, I'm making gelatin shooters, "jiggelos," that are NOT made using Jell-o brand. (Who uses that stuff anymore? Ick--we are not kids, nor hospital patients. Artificial what goes in there??) Knox unflavored gelatin, and fruit juice and alcohol. The alcohol proportion is one part for three parts of liquid. Add gelatin to the hot liquid, stir to dissolve, and then when the mixture is cool, add the alcohol. Instead of pouring into cups--so Plebian!--pour into a large mold and cut individual shapes out of the collective. I used twice as much unflavored gelatin as in regular gelatine--thus making, "Knox Blox." The resulting jiggelos stand up well for ages, and need no refrigeration. I made Margarita jiggelos, using Grand Marnier, Sauza Tres Generaciones tequila, and homemade limeade (the limes came from a friend's yard). Also, pina colada jiggelos using coconut rum, coconut milk (unsweetened), pineapple juice, and simple syrup. Decorated with unsweetened shreaded coconut. YUM!


Curried Meatballs in Curry Gravy

I'll be mixing ground turkey and beef together, along with ground ginger, and other curry spices (cumin. coriander, turmeric), and eggs, to form the meatballs. Then, I make a white sauce, and add in curry spices. I've made this many times for my family--with this original recipe, I am making a variation of Swedish meatballs with a curry flare, instead of making authentic curry--which I often do, that starts from a roux and has an onion base--to take this dish into comfort food category


Homemade Crab Egg Rolls

The secret to making egg rolls is that anything you stir fry can also go into an egg roll. The difference is, the stir-fry bits must be small. After you make the stir-fry, add some cornstarch to thicken--a loose sauce will spoil the egg roll wrappers. Deep fry in peanut oil until golden. I serve with an apricot ginger dipping sauce (to apricot preserves, add water to thin a bit and grated, fresh ginger root--stir thoroughly).


Greek Tomato-Cucumber Salad
Any salad at a Superbowl party has to be able to stand up--hour after hour--and not wilt. So no lettuce need apply. I'm making a Greek salad of chunks of tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese and Greek salad dressing (olive oil, wine vinegar, Greek oregano, salt, and pepper).


Raspberry Ice Cream