| Garnishing Tips |
From "Ask DIY"
episode ADI-508 |
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Worried that the food for your next party will have a boring, lifeless look? Entertaining expert pro-caterer Jeanne Benedict gives some advice and tips for creating that visual flair for your delectable fare with great garnishes.
Dessert Sauces - Consider creating a decorative pattern in your desserts sauces. Start with a creme glaze of melted custard that has been allowed to cool. (Tip: A cheat for this is melted ice cream.) Pour the sauce into a plate and use a spoon to smooth it out evenly.
- Using a bottle with a needle-nose spout and some raspberry puree, create evenly spaced horizontal stripes across the top of the glaze (figure A).
- Next, use a toothpick to create a design by drawing the point of the toothpick slowly across the stripes (figure B).
- Top off this delicious and visually elegant sauce-presentation with a piece of chocolate cake or chocolate cheesecake (figure C).
Garnishing Entrees - To dress up a drab-looking entree, add slivers of citrus fruit -- e.g., lime, lemon or orange slices -- and baby-tomato halves. Top the entree off with a pureed sauce that complements the dish (figure D).
- Finally, add some additional slivers and garnishes atop the sauce (figure E) to finish off the presentation.
- Make certain that the garnishes and sauces are compatible with the entree.
Garnishing Pasta - Consider garnishing a pasta dish by first sprinkling "vegetable confetti" of minced red and yellow peppers.
- Then add star-shaped garnishes, or any shapes you choose, cut out of red and yellow peppers using a small cookie cutter (figure F).
Garnishing Cheese Trays - Decorate a cheese tray by starting with an attractive arrangement of cheese cut into wedges.
- Add cranberries and nuts between the wedges, then decorate the rim of the plate with dried fruits such as apricots (figure G).
Garnishing Pies - Consider creating a stencil to make word-art on the plate or saucer on which you'll be serving individual pie slices (figure H).
- Using the stencil as a guide, sprinkle cinnamon to create word or designs of your choice (figure I).
Garnishing Soups, Chili or Stew - Rather than the old stand-by of crackers, consider serving fried tortilla doodles with your soup, chili or stew. These can be made by cutting out coils or other shapes in soft flour tortillas or won-ton wrappers, then deep frying them quickly so that they draw up to make unusual shapes.
- Use these, along with perhaps an edible cactus leaf (available from health-food stores) to garnish the soup (figure J).
- Add a large tortilla garnish to top off the serving bowl (figure K).
RESOURCES :
Real-Life Entertaining: Great Food and Simple Style for Hectic Lives
Model: 0609601113
Author: Donata Maggipinto
(November 1998)
Fast and Fabulous Hors D'Oeuvres: A Survival Guide for Today's Busy Entertainer
Model: 0020091850
Author: Michele Braden
336 pages
Reissue edition
(December 2, 1992)
Guests Without Grief: Entertaining Made Easy for the Hesitant Host
Model: 0684818841
Author: Paula Jhung
218 pages
(April 1997)
Decorating for Dining and Entertaining: 128 Projects and Ideas
Model: 0865733694
Author: Home Decorating
The Art of the Cocktail Party : The Complete Guide to Sophisticated Entertaining
Model: 0452272351
Author: Leslie Brenner
Entertaining 1-2-3: More Than 300 Recipes for Food and Drink Using Only 3 Ingredients
Model: 0316320153
Author: Rozanne Gold
(1999)
Little Brown and Company (Time Warner, Inc.)
New York, NY 10020
Phone: 212-522-8700
The Taste of Summer: Inspired Recipes for Casual Entertaining
Model: 0811824683
Author: Diane Rossen Worthington
(2000)
Chronicle Publishing Company
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