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We were lucky to have our proposal accepted by Foodbuzz for the January 24, 24, 24 meal event. Our idea was simple–turn the tables on our friends and have them prepare the meal. We had no intentions of shying away from work, but we wanted to get our friends involved. With a table full of various ingredients from all levels of the food pyramid, we gave them complete freedom to choose what would be on the menu. It was their chance to learn how to experiment in the kitchen, which is just how we love to cook.
As our friends walked into the door, they saw a long table full of fresh ingredients–heavy cream, butternut squash, avocados, ground beef, dried cranberries, oyster sauce, panko crumbs, walnuts, soba noodles, quinoa, feta cheese, pasilla chiles, red basil, blood oranges, yellow onions, forella pears, bacon, phyllo dough, ciabatta bread. The selection was varied and extensive. We split our friends into teams corresponding to each course–appetizer, main and dessert–and let them choose their ingredients. We had an original guestlist of eight people for dinner, but unexpected cancellations dropped the final number down to five. The smaller group caused us to revamp the way we split up our teams, but in the end, it worked for the best. As our friends worked, we would serve as a resource, answer questions, assist with any pre-prep and keep their cocktail glasses full.
Cynthia debones chicken thighs for the main course.
They seemed to be slightly overwhelmed by all the choices on the table, but we milled around and described anything that may have been foreign and helped them figure out what ingredients work well together. After about 10 minutes, they chose their ingredients and got to work. They would not be able to consult any recipes, so whatever they created would be their own original speciality. With five people, there was one person working on the appetizer and two people on the main course and dessert, respectively. There were literally too many cooks in the kitchen, but we made the best of it.
Eric chops lady apples for his dessert.
We did not want to tell them how to make their dishes, but there were many questions that we were pleased to answer. Our goal was to show them that there are always different ways to go about a dish, and you don’t need a recipe. Plus, we wanted them to know that lots of fresh ingredients can make all the difference in food. Some of them had never worked with fresh herbs, so they were able to smell them, differentiate between thyme and rosemary, destem the herbs and chop them. We love citrus and zest, so we encouraged them to play around and add fresh lemon and orange flavors to their dishes. There was an array of liqueurs and wines on the table, and they experimented by adding white wine and brandy to their dishes.
Brian carefully fills his wonton wrappers with a mixture of shrimp and edamame.
We ate the appetizer first, which was a fried shrimp, fennel and edamame stuffed wonton with a spicy blood orange sauce from Brian. Our cooking friends took a break from their main dish and dessert to snack on the wontons. They were perfectly fried. After tasting them, Brian said the next time he would leave out the edamame and use a more prominent cheese. Everyone else enjoyed them, and we had a little energy boost to get back to work. Brian’s dish was done, so we had a little more room in the kitchen. A couple of people were surprised at how long it took to do the preparation for the meal, such as deboning chicken, destemming herbs, peeling shrimp, rolling out phyllo dough. We explained how we save time with a lot of pre-prep. We let them know that most fillings can be made the day before, herbs can be stemmed and chopped and meats can be marinated and stuffed before the dinner. There are many ways to cut corners and save time.
Ashley tastes the stuffing for her chicken.
By the time we sat down for the main course prepared by Cynthia and Ashley, it was almost four hours after the party’s start, and people were hungry. We gathered together for toasted ciabatta crostini with mint flecked goat cheese, baked chicken thighs stuffed with mushrooms, capers cranberries and goat cheese and couscous studded with roasted peppers and feta cheese. It was the first time our friend Cynthia had even tasted capers, but she seemed to like them in the chicken. Although the couscous was delicious, Ashley wished there had been something else with a salty flavor such as olives. Otherwise, they were very pleased with the main dish.
Eric and Jose layer butter-brushed phyllo dough over their caramelized apples.
For our last course, Eric and Jose finished off their dessert. Caramelized apples baked in phyllo dough with dark chocolate, fresh whipped cream and homemade caramel. Fancy! There were a couple of changes they would make if they tried this dessert again–more apples, no melted chocolate and a softer caramel. Although the caramel was good, it needed a bit more cream to give it the saucy consistency they would’ve preferred.
We didn’t let our friends use recipes, so we don’t have specific measurements to share, but we can give you a list of ingredients. Perhaps this will be helpful to them as well should they choose to try the dish again at home.
Shrimp and Edamame Wontons with Blood Orange Sauce: shrimp, fennel, cremini mushrooms, cilantro, serrano peppers, grapeseed oil, sesame oil, queso fresco, greek yogurt, blood orange, oyster sauce, rice vinegar, Chinese five spice powder, agave nectar, ginger, yellow bell pepper, garlic powder, citrus olive oil, wonton wrappers
Ciabatta Crostini with Minted Goat Cheese: ciabatta bread, citrus olive oil, goat cheese, mint, parsley
Chicken Stuffed with Mushrooms, Capers and Cranberries: chicken thighs, capers, garlic, rosemary, thyme, yellow onions, cranberries, portobello mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, butter, garlic, goat cheese, sage, salt, pepper
Couscous with Roasted Peppers and Feta: whole wheat couscous, chicken stock, vegetable stock, roasted red and yellow peppers, feta cheese, citrus olive oil, parsley, salt, pepper
Baked Apples in Phyllo Dough with Dark Chocolate, Caramel and Whipped Cream: lady apples, brown sugar, brandy butter, blood orange zest, nutmeg, walnuts, phyllo dough, dark chocolate, heavy cream, sugar
Following the feast, everyone voted on each course based on creativity, taste and presentation, but they were not allowed to vote on their own course. The winner of the evening with an average of 27 points out of a possible 30 was the shrimp and edamame stuffed wontons made by Brian. We didn’t want the others to go home empty handed, so we gave a gift bag to everyone. Good thing the friends were couples, so they would get to share the gifts.
Our friends were great sports about the entire evening. We knew they would have a good time, but we were not sure how everyone would react to cooking the meal themselves. Lucky for us, our friends were open-minded, eager to learn new things and cooperative. We were impressed with the quality and imagination behind each dish. We have to thank them, as well as Foodbuzz, for the opportunity!
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Wow, you have talented friends! What a great idea for a get together! All of the food looks exceptional but I must say, the Shrimp and Edamame Wontons with Blood Orange Sauce made me wish I could reach my hand through the screen and grab one right now!!
what a creative idea! You have great friends, and the food came out really good!
What a fabulous idea for 24,24,24! Love it! How great to get your friends involved too.
What a creative idea! Your friends exhibited a lot of courage and patience to pull this off with style. The food looks delicious.
Congrats on a fab “24″ dinner. Everything, looks fab, right down to the baked apples in phyllo.
Lucky? Don’t you guys almost always get picked?
Looks great and sounds like a lot of fun! I wish my apartment was big enough to do something like that in.
Great job!! It’s nice to see friends helping out in the kitchen. It’s a great way to being people together. I want some of those wontons though.
It looks like a fun party with a lot of delicious food and something new and exciting for your friends. Great job!
Oh yum, what a wonderfully creative idea. What a great way to build community and friendship. It sounds delicious and I can tell it must have been fun.
hey! cool idea you guys that sounds like so much fun-
Congratulations Guys! What a great idea and your friends were really great sports. I love the edamane wontons. I’m going to try that.
Impressive. Love the flavor combo on the crostini,
everything in here looks delish!
What a fun party! Everything you and your friends came up with looks fantastic!
Brilliant idea! It looks like so much fun, and the food looks fantastic!
What a great idea for a party … and a 24,24,24 post. So fun and tasty too. Thanks for sharing it all with us, Duo!
Looks like such a great time! And those wontons are winners with me! – mary
What a fun and creative idea for a 24, 24, 24. Looks like you got some good results. Congrats!
Wow! A very clever 24! Sounds like a lot of fun too. There’s nothing like cooking with your good friends!
LL
Great idea indeed! I love this Foodbuzz 24,24,24 event … an interactive dinner party would be so much fun! I’m a little crazy in the kitchen though and I don’t know if I could keep my nose out of all the cooking
Would love to try this some time!
Very creative…it seems that you all had a lot of fun! Everything looks so yummie
Sounds like a fun party! The stuffed chicken sounds delicious too.
What a fun spin on a dinner party! You have very creative friends– looks like you all came up with some fantastic dishes!
such a cute idea! I have been thinking of turning the tables on some of my friends one night as well – is great that they all did such a nice job
Great idea for a dinner! It reminds me a lot of the collective meals we would do when I lived in Italy. Not so much with the competition angle (which, however, I love) but in the sense that everybody would come together and hang around and cook and talk and laugh for hours on end. Those are the best dinners… Cheers!
Nice job! Next time I attempt one of these I should put my guests to work!
great idea for your 24 post! it’s always nice to have an interactive event with friends. they came up with some great dishes! way to go!
Well what a bunch of foodie friends you turned out to have! Were they intimidated to try and measure up to the Duo? I know I’m still trying to keep up with you guys!
Iron Chef dinner party with friends—what a blast!
—The Shrimp and Edamame Wontons are looking oh -so- good!
It’s kind of like they were on TOP CHEF! What a great dinner party. I think sometimes people don’t know what goes into planning a dinner party to make it go without a hitch!
Great job to your guests!
oh my this is such a great idea for the 24 dinner! the results were wonderful by the way!!! i would love to come over the next time you have this kind of dinner!
I with Cookbookapprentice- wantons and blood orange sauce sounds great!
How fun, I miss cooking with my friends back in Texas. I feel like I am the only one that still cooks at home here in Jersey, or they call me!
Great.. impressive.. food looks yummy.
Awesome concept and I like this. Lately I have been helping my friends with cooking and this maybe the solution I have been looking for. Nicely done!
What a cool idea, and nice they were open to the challenge!
hehe that looks like so much fun!
What a fun idea! I love dinner parties and how cool to host a dinner-making party!!
That is such a great idea! It’s also great that your friends were game. The food looks really tasty.
I am impressed with the creativity of this 24, 24, 24 project, and I admire the impromptu dishes your friends made. You’ve truly brought the kitchen stadium to your home and made it a lot of fun!
such a fun idea!! happy 24 24 24!
A wonderful idea. My sister-in-law was telling me this Christmas she felt so unconfident in the kitchen and that she always had to follow a recipe. I think this is a wonderful way to get your friends to be more confident in the kitchen. Not following a recipe shows people what can be used instead of something else when it happens not be in the pantry. Loving the stuffed chicken ingredients…
Lucky you. I’ll have to submit some day. I would love to be part of this monthly event. Food looks yummy.
How much fun is THAT!!!!! I am sure there are 3 bloggers who would have loved to have filled in for the three absentees
Great evening.
This is such an awesome idea! I would love to do this some time with a dinner party. I recently had an asian potluck with one of the We Are Not Martha girls (Chelsee, who is amazing!) and this could have been a fun twist to that party. You guys looked like you had so much fun. (Steven)
(ps. we twitter back & forth occasionally. my personal twitter is @folkinz and i think you two are great!)
This totally made me laugh out loud. I can see them milling around the table with unease. I think I’m going to have to pull this one on my friends!
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