Party food - easy, healthy, tasty!

Alternative party food!

 Last nite's NY Eve 2012 Party MENU @Kafe Muzium (National Textile Museum, KL)

• SALAD
• 3 types of salad leaves from Jusco 1U - crispy lettuce, butterhead, frill iceberg (RM2.99 per bunch, can last for a week if u wash, drain & keep in tight container)
• red cabbage (shredred/sliced), raisins, can of drained pineapple, blanched broccoli
• 1 pkt Japanese dressing, first round, then 1 pkt  Balsamic dressing & last round - EVOO & a squeeze of orange : we just keep re-filling it but changed the dressing each time.. It blended well.. all oil based, not creamy. Even had some the next morning for breakfast. Keeps well.
• FRUIT SALAD (Latifah's recipe) - mango, honey melon, grapes in yoghurt
• BREAD - French village (RM3.90) / Alpine grain (RM3.80) from La Boheme, Jusco 1U - preferably lightly toasted with 3 toppings (can top with salad too):  
• Garlic butter - finely chopped garlic, chillie flakes, AgroMas Mushroom powder, real butter
• Dried prawn sambal (mom's recipe) - onion, garlic, chilli paste, dried prawns, asam jawa
• Seafood mayo (Ayam brand) ... went on the wild side & used a few processed items to speed things up ;)
• ROASTED CHICKEN in lemon - from the cafe's chef
• CHILLI CON CARNE - minced beef with red broad beans (from the cafe)
• TUNA SPINACH BAKE (from my recipe collection)
• CAKE - Carrot cake with cream cheese topping, Oats & Prune layer cake (8 eggs!)
• LIGHT FRUIT PUNCH
• FRUITS - langsat, pulasan, mangosteen
• GREEN TEA

For way too long, Malaysians have this standard menu of too oily fried meehoon  & too rich chicken curry for parties. Sorry, but Oh so boring!  (not to mention - Unhealthy). And a separate menu for kids - fried chicken & nuggets, french fries and sausages - food i won't even feed my dog!  No wonder so many obese kids amongst obese parents :(

Here's my tried & tested suggestions (i wont say 'recipe' because its a no brainer, just throw it together) for any party.

It's simple, just understand the concept behind it & remember :

• ACTUAL food (organic is optional), ie. food from nature's plants NOT the man's processing plants
• APPEALING to the eyes - it is said, we eat from our eyes, long before we put it into our mouth. Colours (natural sources). I once saw a rainbow layer cake that is soo intense with artificial colouring, layer by layer of red syrup colour, deep blue, bright green...Another version was subtler (tinge of colour only- very pastel) yet it was classier & more appetising to me. Salads must have a combination of colours ,besides the green leaves - add cherrie tomatoes, dark / red grapes, yellow capsicum, cubed canned pineapple, blanched brocoli & nuts for texture, purple shredded cabbage.
• EASY to prepare, just cut & keep in tight containers. Guests can DIY and entertain themselves and share food stories.
• VEGGIES. Of course there r those those die-hard 'i dont eat veggie' types but it's just becos their childhood experience with veg was negative. Entice them with attractive dishes, and when he sees others enjoying, he will try. I myself is a non-veggie eater. Why? Dad is a meat man & i hate those old-style taugeh with long roots that tickle my throat. So i actually spend time pulling out taugeh strands from my cha koay teaw! (Now, thank god for short, rootless Ipoh taugeh, i started eating it again, even love it in certain dishes - its ALL about presentation, marketing). At a fashion show, i add somw japanese cucumber & carrot sticks to the menu, and hey..it all disappeared..even the fried popiah was still left over.. Sign of changing attitudes to food which we must continue to ENCOURAGE!
• RAW, BLANCHED, STEAMED - Raw salad leaves should be as dry as possible , after washing. How? Shake out as much excess water. place in a container and add lid loosely, leaving a small gap. Then overturn & start shaking. You's be surprise how much water is still there. Them close lid tightly & put in the fridge to refresh & stay fresh. Blanching - timing is important & amt of water. Add a little salt to the water to raise the boiling point. Too much water drains away the nutrients. Water should be boiling before u throw in the veg. Once it turn colour, switch off fire & drain. Add a little cold water to stop cooking, if necessary. Slice thinner if u want a quick steam. All must be of equal thickness.
• CARBOHYDRATES, STARCHES, OILS - in moderation is fine. Be creative, innovative! Boiled potatoes  mixed with yoghurt instead of cream. Serve sweet potatoes instead of ordinary potatoes. Sweet potatoes r sweeter & have lower GI, so will feel fuller for longer, as compared to potatoes. The different colours - purple, orange, light yellow would add appeal. Steam, instead of boil in their skin to retain more of their goodness. Pasta should be served with a touch of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and chlli flakes (chillie padi) & garlic for that more Malaysian flavour, also known as 'olio' in Italian . No creamy alfredo or boring bolognaise. I sometimes add some light soy sauce (see yau) and black pepper & EVOO, and a little lime / orange juice freshly squeezed!
• FUN should be the order of the day in parties! Less hassle, more time for hosting..

Recipe (adapted from The Malaysian Weekly Oct 2000 issue)

TUNA SPINACH BAKE

1/2 cm slice of a block of real butter, not margarine that are processed & mostly made of hydrogenated oil, a no no!
1 large onion, chopped coarsely
2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
300 gm (2 bunches) baby spinach leaves - pluck leaves & break stems into half length (of course remove roots!)
425 gm (1 can)  flaked tuna in brine ..oops I used only 1 can that's 185g . OK, wah.. Just less fishy! Remember to press out the juice or else it will be too soggy

180ml evaporated milk  -  but i used HL Low fat milk 200ml small carton.. too much? so i added 1 more egg
3 eggs + 1 egg (too offset too much milk),  lightly beaten
90 g grated cheddar cheese   - i used sliced black pepper Bega cheese... not so good an idea as u will see afterwards..
30 gm dry breadcrumbs
Sprinkle of pepper to taste. No need salt due to brine in tuna flakes. Flakes r cheaper but chunks (more expensive sometimes) can do also, just mash them up

1. On very slower heat, heat butter in a pan (preferably with heat bottom to control heat or else butter will burn) and lightly fry onions & garlic. Or u could add butter, onion & garlic, then turn on the heat slowly to fry. Then add spinach. Looks alot but when it wilts and cooks, it'll be a fraction of the amount.Cook about a min, stirring to ensure all r cooked.
2. Scoop out into two small pie pans or but all in a large pie dish (glass would be nice for presentation to encourage people to try.
3. Sprinkle the drained tuna. I mistakenly added just a little tuna (1 can separated into 2 pans). I mixed the milk into the beaten eggs, stir & pouring into the two pans. 
4. Because i'm baking on at a time, i added the cheese slices (tore and spread it on top) 3 slices per pan. Then sprinkle the breadcrumbs 15gm or more. 
5. Then bake in a hot oven 180 degrees middle tray (small oven). If bigger oven put on the top tray. The idea was not only to cook the mixture but salso to brown the top crust. Keep checking. I tried different levels in the oven. Dangerous to keep tranferring the disk - hot cheese burns!
6. Made another mistake! Breadcrumbs didnt brown, instead burned slightly. So what went wrong?  Aiyah.. too smart. Should not have used sliced cheese.  Was supposed to mix the grated cheese with dry breadcrumbs and then sprinkle over the mixture. When it is hot, the oil in the cheese will 'fry' the breadcrumbs, so get a golden brown crust.  So, damage control? Half way through the cooking, i chopped the sliced cheese as best i can & open the oven door to sprinkle on the top!
7. Bake for 40 mins or until it browns slightly. Remove to cool
8. For 2nd pan, tried chopping the extra cheese & mix with dry breadcrumbs and again sprinkle on the 2nd dish. Put in the oven & turn the dial for another 40min a& crossed my fingers.

As i was late for my dinner party, i took a quick shower while the 2nd dish was baking. Came out just in time to stop the oven before it burned the crust.

Lessons learned :

• Dont adapt recipe too much
• Read the weight measurement closely
• When baking add preparation time, mixing time & baking time to determine delivery time. And if u need to bake twice, add another baking time.all this  + travel time and traffic jams OR ELSE if u will be fashionable late like me & MAKE EVERYONE WORRIED esp. when your phone doesnt work properly (my fault again).. Murphy's Law!

But i was glad, everyone enjoyed the food judging by the food all disappearing! But luckily enough till countdown!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013, EVERYONE!!! 

MAKE IT AWESOME :)