Cocktail Party DeBrief

65 guests, 4 apps, 2 servers, 1 sou-chef, and 1 very happy client! Chicken Vegetable Tapenade, Tenderloin on toast points, Lobster Rolles, and Seasonal Vegetable Ratatouille. What can I say? I'm obsessed with vegetables.

The Chicken was marinated in tequila and lime juice(something you've seen before on these pages), and grilled. The corn was parboiled, then rubbed with butter, lime juice, and chili powder, then grilled. The green tomatoes were raw, as were the red peppers. Finished off with Cilantro and Lime Juice. I had to process a cup or two with Olive Oil to make a paste to bind it together. Then rolled it in a wrap; next time I'm going to do a bite-size dumpling. The slices of roll were messy, and guests turned off after one or two.

The Tenderloin was Cover-Of-Gourmet perfect. I know it's bragging, but it was cooked, but still red; tender and moist and full of that wonderful beef flavor. I finished it off with Wasabi Creme Fraiche. The toast points were unnecessary: next time, we'll do it like Sushi. I forgot to cut off the silver skin, but we cut it off before serving. A little Salt and Pepper and into the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes until the internal temperature reached 130, then out to rest. And rest overnight it did.

The Lady Anita shelled 27 lobsters; a total of 32 pounds, which yielded about 10 pounds of lobster meat. A very little mayo, chopped Green Onions and Chopper Parseley out of my garden and the juice of one Lemon. Split, butter, and toast the 3-inch finger rolls from Henry's add a small piece of Red Lettuce, and about 2 ounces of lobster. Heaven on Toast! Now I know why lobster rolls are $15 and up at anywhere you go.

More vegetables in Filo cups. People love those filo cups warm and fresh out of the oven, filled with whatever. In this case it was a Ratatouille of local vegetables; processed and minced it did not present very well, but with a tiny cube of Mozarella on top, it tasted pretty good and went down in one bite. Maybe I could do this in Cherry Tomatoes, but then, how many cherry tomatoes can one person eat?

Think about putting Chocolate Mousse in a pastry bag, putting a Raspberry in a tiny White Chocolate cup, then filling that cup with Mousse. Imagine biting into that cup of Mousse and finding a suprise Raspberry! That would be a nice end to the evening...

There you have it.