Sunday, October 08, 2006

The Ladies of the Round Table

On Thursday afternoon I had the pleasure of catering this year's opening event for the lovely "Ladies of the Round Table" of Manitowoc County. To kick off their season entitled "Global Trends", David & I prepared various foodstuffs from all over the world. I also received the opportunity to educate them on dessert trends from 8 different countries of my choosing.

I may vary from my usual blog form to bring you a new & unique post. No, that doesn't mean there won't be pictures.....sheesh! In fact, there will be 5x as many photos as normal! How about that?!!? Ok, let's go! I hope you enjoy the trip. First stop:

"Le Monde"


"Le Quiche"


"Le Yum! Yum!"


For lunch we served a variety of Quiche. They could choose from:
Organic Broccoli & Cheddar
Organic Spinach & Garlic w/ Pepperjack Cheese
Mushroom & Black Olive
Asparagus & Toasted Pine Nut
Cheesy Garlic w/ Caramelized Onions
'Crustless' Quiche w/ Montery Jack & Diced Red Bell Pepper

We plated everything up, with an accompanying Caprice Insalata which is an Italian salad using only fresh organic tomatoes (I chose cherry tomatoes), a bit of fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil & a dollop of black olive paste. The plate was finished with 2 baked Parmesan crisps.



After lunch, I spoke about global food trends, dessert trends & common ingredients found in foreign kitchens. I am not really an 'Oriental jin', I just play one on TV.

"Tres Sex-ay"


We begin our trip around the world with POLAND. Please, sample one of these Polish Sugar Cookies called "Ciasteczka" that David is passing around. They are made with boiled mashed egg yolks, sugar, flour, butter & a hint of vanilla. That's all! Delicate & delicious.


Next we are off to BRAZIL! OH! You MUST try one of these! "Quindin" (pronounced keen-deen) are a rich creamy blend of yolks, sugar & butter with a macaroon-like bottom of coconut & a hint of lemon zest.


Now on to HUNGARY. Here, David is passing "Piskota Fank" for you to sample. It is a Hungarian Doughnut. They are made with an eggy yeast base, then baked, NOT fried, with a dollop of vanilla bean pastry cream in the center.


***Sing Along***
"I felt the raaiins dowwwwwwn in AAAAAFRICAAA....."
So let's stay where it's warm & dry & eat a "Samsa" instead! It's an almond sesame pastry baked in filo dough & glazed with syrup (usually found in Tunisia).


ALL ABOARD! This boat will take us on to THAILAND for some simple yet delicious "Coconut Bananas". Sliced bananas boiled in lightly sweetened coconut milk & chilled. Refreshing!


What? Are you getting tired already?!!? Well then, let's make a pit-stop in TURKEY for some fine, strong coffee & a bite o' delight. Lokum, aka Turkish Delight, a soft confection made with rose water & rolled in powdered sugar. MMMmmm....it is such a ..... *searching for the perfect word* ..... oh ..... such a ..... such a what? *GASP* OH! I've GOT IT!!! It's such a 'Delight'! :-D


Looks like David has the last tray! We must be in SPAIN & those must be "Tortas de Aceite"! A light & crispy cookie flavoured with Spanish cracked anise. Made with extra virgin olive oil. Not just good, but good for you, too!


We finished our presentation & allowed everyone to ask questions. The hottest topic that afternoon centered around Butter. I explained the difference between:
European Style Butter (YAY! The BEST! REAL butter.)
Regular Unsalted Butter (Second best with more water content.)
& finally
European Butter Blend (BLECK! :-P Don't buy it. It's just a little bit of butter mixed with stuff jin won't eat.)

The ladies had NO IDEA that Real European Style Butter can even be found in this area! Enter a HUGE plug for Humpty Dumpty Eggs in Reedsville (Hi Mark & Shelly! :-) cos that's where ALL our butter comes from! I had to repeat the name 3 times, so everyone there could hear me!

When the questions died down, I spoke briefly about Japanese confectionary, also known as "Wagashi". Wagashi is said to 'uniquely reflect it's creators ideas'; it is made by hand with all natural ingredients. Each guest received a 'Wagashi Take Away Box' created exclusively by Me n D.

On the box I printed stickers with the "Kanji" (Japanese system of writing with symbols) for:
LOVE
BEAUTY
&
CONFECTIONARY

Nestled inside each box was another mini trip around the world. A visit to:
Germany for a "Trier Square"
England for a "Currant Scone w/ Lemon Curd"
Italy for "Tiramisu"
France for a "Petit Four"
& a small "Brioche" bun.

Well, what do you say, think I'd make a good traveling companion?

33 Responses to “The Ladies of the Round Table”

Anonymous said...

I got first
Yes.

jin said...

Ok, Ok...so you got firsts...

CAM ON & tell me wot you think!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow.
Wow.
Wow.

I am hungary again. The one I would want to try the most is the Quindin, because I have a thing for lemon.

I noticed you didn't have any food from the wonderful land that mint brownies come from. I guess you were saving them all for me.

Okay, I have to go clean the drool off of my keyboard now.

jin said...

LOL! That's BETTER!!!
:-D

MMmmm...those Quindin...yes, yes, I do believe they are on that border of quite possibly being just as good as sex & chocolate!
*GASP!*

(Course, all 3 together would probably end you up in the hospital with a heart attack!!!)

Anonymous said...

Quindin, Chocolate and Sex! I do not have enough hands for all three at once. However if I did have enough hands I imagine it would be well worth the subsiquent trip to the ER.

jin said...

HAHAHA!!! LMAO!!!
Go real! Look out Lesley!
Wait, maybe I should say:
Lucky Lesley!!!

;-)

Anonymous said...

Well you would have to wait 44 days before you said lucky Lesley.

Fuff said...

Wow. You must have worked really hard. It all looks superb.

Wow, I can see why you haven't had time to post or comment lately. All looks delicious, as usual!

CP

Cherry! said...

All looks pretty good to me!

Anonymous said...

Man I need to remember to no look at your blog BEFORE breakfast. Oh I remember the quiches the whole plate looked so good. And I need to try those desserts.

CCCCppppCCppp said...

jin

Have you ever been to an Indian Vegetatian Sweet Shop? There is a relativly large Indian population nearby and as we are vegetarian...
Your cookies from around the world reminded me we haven't been there for a while.

Unknown said...

Coconut and bananas, alright... but coconutbananas? The Turkish Delight, with the strong coffee? Yeah, you had me at "Hello"! WTF, you are trying to kill me.

Who's the hottie with the cool earrings? Meethinks that dress deserves a nice 'aqua' colored pair ;) Oooh, or a black pair. Oh, yeah! Black it is! LOL!

Those takeaway boxes rock. I mean, they TOTALLY rock. I love the idea of a takeout box for my pieces. Now off to the unscripted side, to view the 'salty' version... ;)

Unknown said...

Hah! I was # 13! Heh! heh! heh!

Blue brings out the fire in your eyes...

Did my thing on the cooking show - it was a hoot. Lots of different dishes on there - a couple deserts, but they didn’t look as good as yours – your deserts that is.

I had a desert in a Chinese market - it was a hollow round pastry with a sweet red-bean filling. Try as I may I can’t find a recipe. Sing out if you come across one.

Everything looked delicious, those are some lucky Grammies, sort of a last supper, eh?

jin said...

real: 43 days now!

fuff: Thank You! Hard work, yes. Made 50x worse from me stressing about the stupid speech! LOL! :-S

cp: Thanks!
Plus, I had a wedding cake on Friday, an Open House on Saturday &
another wedding on Sunday! I was awake & at my shoppe for 23 hours straight on Saturday!
I went to sleep at 5AM this morning (Sunday) & awoke at 4.30PM! D was a sweetie & let me sleep...even though he was STARVING! LMAO!!!

cherry: Thank You!!! :-)

katy: LOL! Maybe I should put up a warning!
I did make an extra quiche for D, me & Brioche & the hostess did offer us lunch @ the presentation, we refused though as I was too nervous to eat!
The desserts were yummy! (Spain, Poland & Africa would ship, the rest I don't think so.)

fairscape: You know, I may have been once...I remember having an Indian meal in Chicago, then stopping in the shop next door to pick up dessert...unfortunately it's when I was still drinking & I can't remember what they even looked like! LOL!

Did you know that mass produced Turkish Delight is made with gelatin?!!? The original utilizes cornstarch, that's what I made mine out of, it was SO delicious! Unfortunately, I highly doubt I'll ever make it again. My wrist is still sore! It required whipping on the stove, by hand, for 35 minutes straight. :-P I guess that's why they use gelatin, it would be faster & cheaper. Yuck. LOL.

jewels: Ahhh...David is always RAVING about Turkish coffee. He's been there several times. He used to stock up on the beans. Have you had it? It lookes like frothed mud I guess. Supposed to be incredible to taste.

LOL...I ALMOST bought another pair of your earrings to go better with the dress. I meant to wear my X's & O's but I forgot them at home. I looked at the ones on display & considered the clear hoops, but then I ended up running late & just put in my green ones!

13 is my FAVE number! Lucky 13 I always say! :-D

phos: OH! Did you get pics of you cooking on that show??? Let me know if it can be viewed anywhere on the internet!!! I'd LOVE to see it! :-)

All chinese breads are called "Pan". The Chinese dessert you speak of is called "Anpan". They are filled with a sweet red bean paste or mashed pineapple. They are AWESOME!!!! You fill the buns before they raise & bake, that's why they look so smoothe. I don't think I have a recipe...look up "Anpan" on the internet, maybe you'll come up with something. If not, let me know & I can see if I can get one for you!

LMAO @ 'last supper'!!! I gotta tell David that one! :-D

Anonymous said...

So George W. Bush is at a state dinner, and he is looking over the menu. He says to Laura, "Hon, I think I'd like a quickie." And she says, "George! What's that matter with you? That's disgusting!" and stomps away from the table in a huff.

George looks at Dick Cheney and says, "What's she mad about?"

And Cheney says, "George, I think they pronounce it 'quiche.'"

Garlic, jack cheese, yummy quiche sounds good. My cheese sandwich for dinner today is sucky.

jin said...

ace: Heeheee! Funny, I didn't know he could read?!!? ;-)

Yummy they were...quiche is actually someting I make for dinner every other week. I'll make two, then we eat them a couple days in a row. lol...woops, did I unintentionally tease you again?!!?
;-)

Anonymous said...

These all look great and your presentation in once again perfect.

I have to say that I'm a little disappointed that there wasn't any Australian desserts. You know, like pavlova or candied wombat.

jin said...

LMAO @ 'candied wombat' (um...you are joking, right?!!?)

I did originally have Australia in my sights, along with too many others. I had to cut the list down as I didn't think I'd have enough time.

Actually, I was also going to include Alaska...until I came upon too many recipes & instructions for cooking 'moose nose'. EWWWWW *jin shudders*

Anonymous said...

Oh my, what did I miss? :)

Yes, Lucky Lesley is very true. Even now, it's true, but even more so in 42 days. w00t!

Just between us girls though, I'm a little concerned about Real and the mint brownies. I have a sneaking suspicion that if I raided his bedroom right now I'd find pictures of them stuffed shoved under his mattress! :) (and yes, they are that good!)

Oh my, my word veri is Dcums! NO COMMENT!!!

Whose better than you? Nobody!

Anonymous said...

Hahaha - yes, I'm joking.

Aussie desserts are kinda boring anyway. The closest thing we've ever come to an original dessert is the humble lamington. Easy to make though.

jin said...

lesley: hahaha...ok...all I have to say about all of that is I'll have to let you know tomorrow if your word veri is clairvoyant or if you're a fraud. ;-)

e v i: *HUGE GRIN*
*jin takes a bow*
Thank You!!!
:-)

rich: I made those years ago. I guess I didn't realize they were Australian! Chocolate cake, rasp jam & coconut, if I remember correctly?

flatlander said...

Wow! Jin outdoes herself yet again!

Those ladies certainly enjoyed a tasty afternoon.

Next year I must remeber to infiltrate this Round Table, being a master of disguise and all.

jin said...

Why, Thank You flatlander!!!
*jin takes a bow*
I have a FAB idea!
Next year, we can disguise you to look like me, then YOU can do the speech!!!
YAY!!!
:-D

Anonymous said...

Oh no, no, no, that's much too fancy.

It's a simple butter cake, cut into cubes, dipped into a chocolate sauce, and then coated in coconut. They're quite vile really. Unless you buy them at a Bakesale, then they're mildly OK.

jin said...

HAHAHA!!! Oh, those do sound a bit, shall we say, plain. Is dessert a popular thing there or not? I mean, in general, like, after dinner, do you have dessert or fruit or not?
Do you have wedding cakes at weddings?

Anonymous said...

Personally, I'm not much of a sweets person unless it's hideously rich. But generally, desserts are very popular here. Because of the heat it's usually ice-cream with some sort of topping. For special occasions my mum would always do chessecakes or golden syrup dumplings and my dad does a pretty mean Pavlova. Me, I'm much more into doing very rich and light mousses.

We definitely have wedding cakes. I can say with no shadow of a doubt that yours would be very popular. They're beautiful creations.

jin said...

MMmmm...ice cream & cheesecakes....MMmmm...lol. I just gave up ice cream. I am lactose intolerant (have ALWAYS been) yet I still ate ice cream. *sigh* It bothers me too much now. Cheesecake too, I lOVE them, but rarely eat them.

My husband would eat mousse EVERY day if I made it for him! LOL Ummm...& ice cream, he does eat ice cream every day. He's thin as a rail, too!

I asked about the wedding cakes because I get international cake magazines & there never seems to be any from Australia & I was just curious.

Anonymous said...

I'm not much into the international cake magazines scene but I can't say I've seen any either. Maybe there's a niche somewhere there...

Mousse is an art form. I couldn't imagine trying to make it every day.

Thanks for the tip on Anpan. I shoudl have some pictures before too long...

jin said...

rich: Actually, I DESPISE making mousse!!! LOL! Just dirties WAY too many dishes! I do have to make a 'white chocolate mousse filling' often. It's a popular filling in my cakes layered with fresh berries. I do like it myself, but, no matter how NICE my husband is to me he doesn't get it more than once a week! lol! :-)

phos: You are welcome! Glad it panned out! *GIGGLES*