Exotic Foods on the Table

A saying rightly goes, "The road to the heart is through the stomach". Yes, the best way to please your guests is to make them awe-struck by your flattering and exotic servings of not only healthy gourmet recipes but also by the way you present the dishes on the platter. It would not hurt if you do "pliage de napkin" right?

When it comes to playing host to a handful of the chosen and specially invited guests, there can be no better way to impress them than to prepare a delicious, nice-smelling and never-seen-before combination of exotic and simply superb items that are prepared with a personal touch! You can prepare food at home or order from a reputed restaurant that is well-known for its unique quality and sophisticated presentation of dishes. Make sure you are able to mirror the tastes of your guests in the items prepared.

A few points to note here are:

I. Study the menu

Ensure that there are dishes that will perfectly match the composition of the group invited. If there are kids expected to attend your party, then allocate a certain space for their likes and include items like ice creams and rich, creamy desserts.

II. Check with the restaurant if they offer fusion items

Instead of sticking on the old-fashioned items, you can include dishes that are innovative in taste and appearance. For example, you can order a menu that has the goodness of Oriental and Mediterranean tastes. This is just a clue about how to mingle different styles of cooking. You can create any number of combinations you want by using your creativity.

III. In case you are organizing a lunch or dinner party, you can reserve tables in advance in the restaurant itself so that guests are treated well through hot and steaming dishes served straight from the BBQ.

IV. Generally, buffet-type of lunch or dinner parties are very popular among both the hosts and the guests because of the unlimited servings they can avail.

V. In the event of just a small get-together you plan to organize during a weekend, you can consider choosing any kind of combos that is offered. Usually, a drink is offered free of cost as a complimentary gift for bulk orders.

VI. You can also customize your menu by ordering a dish that is not offered in the normal course. Their expert chefs will be only too happy to fulfill your wishes earnestly.

On the whole, you can immensely please your guests by treating their taste buds to some fine dining experience in one of the best restaurants in your locality.

There are many reputed restaurants in almost every major town today that offers you a wide range of dishes to choose from. For example, there are exotic Oriental items included in the menu along with some traditional yet lip-smacking British food like grill chicken and omelets.

Great Turkey Salad

Leftover turkey can be made into a scrumptious salad sandwich. Added with almonds and raisins and mixed with mayonnaise, mustard, cider vinegar, red onion, a bit of sugar, salt and pepper, you have a tasty, healthy gourmet recipe and a lip smacking salad dish that can be served on top of a bed of lettuce. With this easy and elegant recipe any day can be a holiday.

You may serve gourmet turkey sandwiches on rye buns, a uniquely French treat the French baguettes or whole wheat bread paired with a lovely Rosé, a pink wine with a fruity flavor with hints of wild strawberry, cherry, and watermelon if you are feeling extra festive. Actually, this combination will also make an idyllic and memorable picnic lunch. Serve this turkey sandwich with a hearty bowl of soup and a glass of Viognier, a dry white wine with hints of apricot and peach for a light and uncomplicated gourmet dinner. You may use to top it over round crackers and serve it as elegant appetizers for a lovely dinner party. Or you can also make small cocktail sandwiches with this recipe, As hors d’oeuvres, they will pair remarkably well with a nice fruity just perfect Riesling, not to dry, not to sweet. Or why not try it with a beautiful bottle of Pinot Noir, a bold red wine with cherry, red berry and truffle flavors.

Turkey salad with almonds and raisins will make an exotic dip for chips and served with soda or ice cold beer for an informal get-together. This recipe can be made ahead and stored for two or three days. Actually, it even gets better overnight and is best eaten the day after because the turkey absorbs all the flavors and the spices meld together to create a tantalizing sensation in the palate. Many people find turkey a bit dry but in this recipe they will find the turkey moist and juicy and no one will be able to resist biting into this mouthwatering dish.

Ingredients

3/4 cup salad dressing or mayonnaise

1/4 cup Dijon-style mustard

1 tbsp. granulated sugar

2 tbsp. cider vinegar

1/2 cup gold raisins

1/4 cup celery, diced

1/4 cup red onion, diced

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup toasted almonds, slivered

3 cups cooked turkey breast meat, diced

1. Mix in the mayo or salad dressing in a bowl, Dijon mustard, sugar, vinegar, raisins, celery, and onions. Blend well until the sugar dissolves and all the ingredients are well incorporated.

2. Stir in the turkey and also the almonds. Chill.

3. If desired, garnish with some additional almonds, and serve.

Delicious Burnt Milk

Burnt milk is Mexican-style fudge. It is known as “leche quemada,” which is the Spanish translation of “burnt milk.” Actually the milk is not burnt but heated on low temperature with sugar for more than half an hour or until it turns a nice golden brown color. To avoid the bottom from burning the mixture needs to be stirred constantly. This sweet treat can be enjoyed alone. Or like fudge, it is used to flavor other desserts and sweets. This simple dessert recipe also uses baking soda and cinnamon stick to give it texture and a subtle and aromatic spice aside from milk and sugar.

Perfect for ending heavy meals or spicy main courses this burnt milk recipe makes a rich yet light dessert. There are number of different ways to serve this light desert. The mixture can be placed in molds to take on any kind of shape like making jelly while it is still warm. A thin glaze forms on the surface of the burnt milk and encases the creamy interior once it is chilled. You can place the cooked mixture in tint bowls, glasses, or sheets or you can also cut them into tiny squares when they have chilled and hardened a bit. With chopped nuts some like to sprinkle burnt milk before they set for crunch, texture and flavor.

Making them into candies is another way to enjoy this delicious dessert. Simply roll the burnt milk into balls. When they are cool enough to handle coat them with chopped nuts, cocoa powder or coconut flakes. Then wrap them in colored plastic candy wrappers and place them in a pretty box. You can give them away as a gift to friends or family on special occasions. Served with some tea or coffee burnt milk candies make a delightful snack. For the holidays such as during Christmas or the New Year’s they also are perfect to serve or give away as gift as they are very easy and quick to make.

Ingredients

4 cup milk

2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cinnamon stick

1. Mix 3 cups of milk and sugar in a saucepan, and allow it to cook over a low heat. Keep stirring often to avoid burning. Let it cook until golden brown.

2. Stir together soda, cinnamon stick and 1 cup milk in a separate saucepan. Allow it to boil. Remove the cinnamon stick once done.

3. While stirring continuously pour this milk to the above reduced milk mixture.

4. Place over a low heat when all the milk is incorporated. Until the mixture is thick, cook very slowly.

5. Cool slightly then pour into a glass serving bowl. Chill.

Frothy Bananas

To make a sumptuous treat you don’t need to bake a pie or your favorite gourmet dessert. This recipe for banana froth you can make in less than 10 minutes. For those who are not familiar with baking or cooking this is the perfect simple dessert recipe since it does not require any cooking at all. It only needs to be assembled as it is simple and very easy to prepare. It has the same texture and sensation as pudding and tastes wonderful. Banana froth makes a wonderful presentation served neatly on pudding dishes. For an elegant and refreshing touch garnish it with mint leaves.

To make banana froth you only need three simple ingredients: whipped cream, white sugar, and large bananas. Most of these ingredients can be found in every kitchen pantry. You can easily make banana froth for them if you need to whip up something really fast for dessert or unexpected guests are coming over. After a full meal this makes a light and refreshing treat. It is easy to digest and finish and also helps cleans the palate.

For those busy weekdays banana froth is the perfect treat when you have no time to make a full-blown dessert but crave for something special. When there is no cake or pastry available to indulge on you can try this out anytime of the day or week. To treat yourself to a splendid tasting dessert dish you don’t need expensive ingredients.

To make this recipe use large sweet bananas. You can also use the small or baby bananas. But you will have to double the amount used to make the same amount as in this recipe. If you have fresh cream, before combining it with the bananas whip it first using an electric beater until it is nice and frothy.

Ingredients

3 large bananas, peeled and mashed

1 cup whipped cream

5 tablespoons white sugar

1. Stir together the sugar and the bananas in a bowl, to form a puree.

2. Then add the whipped cream and stir gently.

3. Pour spoonful into pudding dishes. Serve at room temperature.

Sour Dough Types

Sourdough has always been one of the most popular styles of bread. With its strong, distinctive flavor and the ability to mesh well with a wide variety of sandwiches, soups, and other foods, it's not hard to see why it is the bread-of-choice for many. Most stores and bakeries offer traditional loaves or rolls, but there is a whole variety of different styles of sourdough bread, making it even more suitable to a wide range of dishes and uses. Here are five of the most popular types of sourdough bread you may or may not have tried yet:

Traditional Sourdough Bread

While traditional sourdough bread can be found just about anywhere, a great sourdough bread is not nearly as an easy gourmet recipe to find, or make. Making your own authentic sourdough starter and allowing adequate time for proofing and shaping can be a painstaking process, but they are necessary to experience the best taste and consistency with the piquancy and open crumb that good sourdough is known for.

Sourdough Round Rolls

These small rolls are great for buttering up or dipping in a soup. While not big enough for sandwiches, they will make a decent bun for sliders because of their size and the crusty consistency of their exterior. They also complement any delicious dinner spread as a tart dinner roll.

Sourdough Stubby Bread

Unlike the round rolls, Sourdough Stubby bread has a thin crust, and both the inside and outside consistency is relatively light. This style of sourdough bread is good for either sandwiches or to make a delicious garlic bread with. With a broad body and extremely thin exterior that won't overpower the taste of ingredients, sourdough stubby makes a great surface to build the perfect sandwich on.

Sourdough Baguettes

This thin loaf is often made free-form, with minimal shaping utensils, and yet its iconic look is familiar to nearly everyone. It is probably most famous as being used for submarine sandwiches, and boasts a crisp outer crust and chewy center. While it may not be as hefty as the Stubby Bread, the sourdough Baguette cannot be overlooked when you're trying to decide how to make your sandwich.

Sourdough Turf Rolls

Turf Rolls are large, circular boules, a completely different shape than any of the other types we have covered so far. The shape and sturdiness of this type of bread is perfect for making edible soup bowls, or to slice up into wedges and serve as part of a snack platter. These Turf Rolls are a popular choice among restaurants because of the novelty use of edible dishes, which also allows less cleaning up after!

Great Stir Fry

The art of stir frying is one of the oldest ways of cooking, now considered an art due to its simple gourmet recipe method of combining protein and vegetables to yield that succulent, delightful and fantastic flavor complete with aromatics and fragrance. Its combination of colors can be achieved through choices of vegetables that can greatly improve its presentation.

Through the years, this ancient Oriental cooking technique has become very popular globally due to the success in Oriental Cuisines throughout the world. People have learned to love Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese and Thai cooking, all utilizing the stir fry technique. Common to these countries are specially prepared sauces that can now be bought in Oriental stores that add flavor and aroma to the dishes. To capture the taste of stir frying, we may have soy sauce, fish sauce, hoisin sauces, oyster sauce, sesame oil, chili oil for heat and many more.

Here is an all time favorite recipe for stir fry that you can easily prepare at home to surprise your family on an ordinary weekday night. THE SQUID STIR FRY RECIPE is a simple recipe that can easily be learned and done in your home kitchen. Let us start cooking then.

INGREDIENTS:

250 grams of squid or calamari, already cleaned 

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil (preferred olive oil)

2 to 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped finely

1 centimeters of gingerroot, peeled and cut into matchsticks

1/2 to 1 long red chilli, chopped

1/2 loofa gourd, peeled and halved lengthways, then sliced diagonally into 3 millimeters

Without the gourd, you can use 1 cucumber, peeled and quartered lengthways then sliced them diagonal into 3 millimeters

2 tablespoons of fermented black beans already washed and drained and then chopped them roughly (don’t use the sauce)

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon shaoxing rice wine

1/4 tablespoon sesame oil

1/4 teaspoon sugar 

1 to 2 teaspoon corn flour plus 1 tablespoon cold water, mixed them until smooth and corn flour is dissolved into a slurry (Note: Use this mixture only if the sauce is not thick enough)

6 to 7 spring onions, use only the green part and cut them into 4 centimeters long batons

THE PROCEDURE:

To prepare the squid Asian style, lay the squid or the calamari tube flat in a chopping board. Slide the knife into the tube and slice down one side. Open the tube so it sits flat open, with the inside facing up. Then very carefully score your knife to make diagonal slits into the flesh about three millimeters apart. Then repeat the procedure on a perpendicular angle so you can create a lattice or web like effect. Then cut the squid into approximately four centimeter squares. Set them aside for stir frying.

Starting the stir frying, heat a wok or a large skillet on medium high heat over your American stove. Add the vegetable oil and wait till it starts to smoke. Then you can saute the garlic and the ginger until they turn golden brown. Add the chilli and the squid to the wok and stir fry the squid pieces and watch them curl up. 

Then add the loofa gourd or the continental cucumber, the black beans, the soy sauce, the shaoxing rice wine, the oyster sauce, the sesame oil the sugar and the spring onions. Stir and toss them to combine for another 20 to 30 seconds until the loofa gourd is tender.

Add more spring onions and toss very briefly to mix them. Serve them immediately while they are hot. Best with white cooked rice.

Fudgy Milk Chocolate

Milk chocolate fudge is a quick and easy dessert recipe. You simply mix together and pour in a batter and let cool. This treat need not be baked. You just have to slice them into squares and serve them or give them away during potluck, birthdays or special occasions. To serve with coffee or tea to guests this delicious treat is perfect. You need white chocolate chips, butter, walnuts, vanilla extract, and sweetened condensed milk to make a simple milk chocolate fudge.

When melting the chocolate in the saucepan you have to be careful as it may turn grainy or burn. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or bain-marie to be sure. You can improvise if you don’t have these kitchen gadgets. Melt the chocolate in a saucepan over another saucepan of simmering water, but make sure that the bottom of the saucepan where the chocolate is does not touch the simmering water. Otherwise, you can safely melt the chocolate over very low heat using a heavy bottomed saucepan as long as you watch over it and constantly stir it gently to avoid clumping. But too much stirring will also cause your simple dessert recipe texture to become uneven so do so gently.

A good fudge is smooth and silky. It should not be grainy or crystallized. Since white chocolate chips are typically already sweetened this recipe does not use sugar. Once all the chocolate has melted, it should be a smooth and thick chocolate liquid and should have no visible crystals.

When making milk chocolate fudge timing is crucial. Be sure to measure out all the ingredients before starting the mixture so that you can work in a constant pace. Chop the nuts and grease the pan with butter. The nuts should be added last and gently fold it in the mixture until it is evenly distributed throughout.

Ingredients

200gms white chocolate chips

½ cup butter

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

150ml sweetened condensed milk,

1. In a saucepan melt the chocolate over medium low heat. Keep stirring often.

2. Turn off the heat once the chocolate is melted. Keep aside.

3. Add condensed milk, butter and vanilla to the melted chocolate. Stir well.

4. Blend until butter is mixed with the chocolate. Then fold in the chopped nuts.

5. In a greased pan pour this mixture and allow it to cool. Cut into equal shapes. Serve.