Post MF - a success! (update) | Maslow Forgot about Beer ™

« MF prep part trois - Groceries, a Requiem

Filed Under (Gastronomy) by Sean on January 26th, 2008 at 2:29 pm

Here is the update you’ve been waiting for complete with pictures from the party. I believe it was an overall success! Much food and good company to be had, and another thanks to Reggie, our gracious hostess with the mostess!!

We had a couple missing in action, but I won’t name any names (Keith, Jen).

Here are some takeaways from this feast:

a 55 gallon drum of guacamole would not be enough - a huge bowl was devoured within minutes
ditto on sweet potato chips
make a list of what you’re supposed to take with you when catering an event such as this, and check it three times; we forgot a myriad of ingredients: 5 avocados (see above), quart of cream, eggs, two huge heads of romaine, and probably a couple of things I’m still forgetting
when empanada dough made from ripe plantains requires the empanadas to be soft (from roasting about 45 minutes at 350 F), they really need to be soft; I rushed and added cream (fat) to the mixture to make it doughy, which does not work if you’re going to be frying them! We’ll be doing this one again soon.
taking the fryer is a good idea! If you run out of things to fry, you can start frying up shoes, severed fingers, whatever for wholesome party fun!
’tis best to take the time and bring implements to make a proper fry station, i.e., dry-wet-dry dipping for things like chiles rellenos. using shallow bowls and your fingers makes for splotchy batter coverage
definitely no drinking whilst you’re preparing the feast, especially in the days leading up; we wouldn’t have gotten half the dishes done if we had been
tune in BeatBlender on SomaFM and crank it as loud as it will go while cooking!!! Loud deep house music creates the best energy in the kitchen ever. Perhaps we can start powering cars on house music?

My personal favorites:

the roasted tomatillo serrano salsa rocks! Tangy, zesty, spicy with a hint of sweetness. This is a distinctive green color.
the roasted tomatillo chipotle salsa - tangy and spicy with a touch of sweet. This one is mahogany colored (uses dried chipotles not ones in adobo).
enchilada suiza - made this a gillion times and it’s always a fave, esp for such a simple dish
guacamole always a fave - my shortcut on this one is to make the fresh chopped tomato jalapeño salsa as a stand-alone dish, add several tablespoons of the salsa to mash fresh avocados with a fork, chop up several cloves of garlic and mince with coarse salt, throw it all together and voilá!
simply made, freshly fried corn chips with any salsa

Finally here are some pics from the party! Click on an image to zoom in and get a full description.