DIY Network

Tapas Party: Recipes and Extra Tips (Web Exclusive) From "Weekend Entertaining" episode WKE-203

This party is rated 3 on a scale of to 5, with 5 being the most difficult, and is geared toward the skills of a frequent entertainer.

Hourly Breakdown

Total Prep Time -- 12 hours
Set Up -- 1 hour

Haitian Chicken Marinade

Haitian Chicken Marinade (Web Exclusive)

Haitian cuisine has roots in the culinary traditions of the many nations from which its people emerged: West African nations, Indigenous nations, France, Spain and the United Kingdom, with heavy French/Creole influences.

Standard ingredients include mango, coconut, sweet potato, rice and beans, rum, nutmeg, cloves, parsley, thyme, bay leaf and ginger grow abundantly, cashews, bananas, lime, okra, pumpkin, tomato, conch, lamb, pork and chicken.

Ingredients:

Ten 6 to 8 oz. chicken breasts per person, or approximately 2 oz. of chicken per skewer
Juice of 1 lemon or lime to rub on chicken
1/4 cup lime juice
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup chopped parsley
6 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Red bell pepper
Mango

Preparation:

Rub each piece of chicken with lemon (or lime) and rinse well with hot water to clean.

In a large bowl, combine lime juice, orange juice, oil, garlic, onion, parsley and thyme. Add chicken, and marinate for at least an hour, ideally 3 to 4 hours.

Cut mango into thick wedges, skewering diagonally, and cut red pepper into squares. Cube the chicken and used as the base of the skewer, then add the red pepper and then the mango.

When the chicken is almost cooked, baste with Sauce Ti-Malice just before serving.

Serves: 30 skewers.

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Sauce Ti-Malice (Web Exclusive)

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 habanera pepper, more or less depending on how hot you like it
1 lrg. white onion, chopped fine
1 clove garlic, crushed and minced
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/4 cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1 tsp. salt
3 Tbs. "pikliz" vinegar (vinegar from pickled habaneras)
Juice of 1 lime

Preparation:

Heat oil on medium heat. Saute onion, garlic, shallots and both peppers and cook for about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste, salt, vinegar, and lime, cook for another 3 or so minutes. Add 1 cup of water and cook for about 15 minutes more. Let cool before serving.

Jambalaya Gumbo Skewers

Jambalaya Gumbo Skewers (Web Exclusive)

Ingredients:

20-35 medium-sized shrimp (peeled and deveined)
Smoked andouille sausage (enough for 30 one-inch coins)
30 cherry tomatoes
30 whole pieces of okra, small to medium
Olive oil

Ingredients for Shrimp Marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chopped white onion
4 chopped garlic cloves
2 Tbs. Cajun spice

Preparation:

Okra is really great grilled, but it takes a little longer to cook than the other items. Skewer the okra and baste in olive oil, and precook for about 3 minutes per side. The idea is to have a little char on them when they are finished cooking. Let them cool.

Make the skewers in the following order, and grill until shrimp is done, approximately 3 minutes on each side:

• Sausage (skewer through the round, piercing each side of the casing)
  
• Okra (skewer on an angle on this one for best results)
  
• Shrimp (push skewer through the length of the shrimp)

You can marinate the shrimp for about an hour by mixing all the marinade ingredients really well. Toss the shrimp a couple of times while it is marinating.

Note: You may be just as pleased if you baste the whole thing in a mixture of Cajun spice and melted butter while it is cooking.

Serve these skewers with a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce or Tabasco.

Tofu, Eggplant and Zucchini Skewers

Tofu, Eggplant and Zucchini Skewers (Web Exclusive)

Ingredients:

Extra firm tofu (not the "silken" kind), cut into 3/4"- to 1"-inch slices
Eggplant
Zucchini
1-1/2 cups soy sauce
2 Tbs. chopped garlic

Preparation:

Note: If you get the 14 oz. package, cut in 4 slices across. Each of those slices will yield 6 cubes of tofu. For 30 skewers, with 1 piece of tofu each, you will need 2 packages. As far as the eggplant and zucchini go, you need enough to make 30 cubes of each.

Cut the eggplant into 1" cubes. Use the skinniest zucchini you can -- it needs to be cut into rounds and skewered through both skin sides to serve as the anchor for the other 2. If you can't find skinny zucchini, cut it into 1"-inch x 1/2" to 3/4" cubes. If that doesn't work, it is a great idea to serve this on a bed of tabbouleh.

Make the skewers and lay them flat on a sheet pan.

Take 1-1/2 cups of soy sauce, plus 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic, and pour over your skewers. Marinate for 15-30 minutes (not over 30 or it will be too salty), turning to cover all sides. Another option is to marinate your tofu cubes overnight. Just cover them with cold water and add about a quarter cup of soy sauce and a peeled crushed garlic clove. Lay them in a single layer on a paper towel, and pat to dry a bit before skewering. When grilling the full skewer, baste with garlic and soy (undiluted).

Grill the skewers about 5 minutes on both sides. The eggplant is the key -- when it is done they are fine to serve.

Serves: 30 skewers

	Figure A
	Figure B

Extra Tips:

• The set up for the party didn't take long at all. Foods were set up on a bar and in the center of a cocktail table. The Seascape Candleholders were placed on the cocktail table and some on the mantle. The lanterns were placed on the smaller tables.

• Visit a gourmet market for more ideas for foods you can serve. To save time, you can fix a plate of different olives. If time is a factor, be creative in coming up with other Tapas foods to serve your guests.

  Expert Tip: Lightly oil your skewers before you load them up for cooking. That way, when you are ready to eat, the food will slide right off the skewer.

• For the vegetarian guest, you can prepare the Tofu, Eggplant and Zucchini Skewers and pair them with some tabbouleh from a gourmet market. (Tabbouleh is a Lebanese salad made of softened bulgur tossed with vegetables and seasoned with lemon and mint.)

• The colorful salt from the candle project can be used for the skewers. Pour the colored sand into large and wide enough containers so that when you stick the skewers in the sand, they will not topple over. Standing the skewers makes it easy for the guests to grab the food (figure A).

• Skewers are good to serve at a Tapas Party because they can be assembled earlier and then grilled right before the guests arrive.

• When you don't have all the furniture you need for party, your local rental store can help out. For a party a few cocktail table and chairs were rented; also a few small tables (figure B) that were placed around the room.

  Expert Tip: When you are having a casual buffet in your backyard or home, all you really need to do is have seating for a third or half of your guests. You don't want any empty tables because it will make it appear like your room is not lively and exciting.

RESOURCES :

Sophisticated Entertaining: Spirited Food for Grown-Up Parties
1557883459
Jeanne Benedict
(October, 2000)
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
HP Books

Whole Foods Market
Website: www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Hillcrest Party Rentals
3507 Motor Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
Phone: 310-837-9009
Website: www.hillcrestparty.com

The Sophisticated Cookie: Baking with Spirits: The World's Best Cookies Made with Alcoholic Beverages
1557882940
Jeanne Benedict
(September, 1998)
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
HP Books

Celebrations: A Joyous Guide to the Holidays from Past to Present
1557883734
Jim McCann and Jeanne Benedict
(November, 2001)
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
HP Books

Cesar: Recipes from a Tapas Bar
1580084834
Olivier Said and James Mellgren
(September, 2003)
To order this title from Amazon, click here.
Ten Speed Press

GUESTS :

Harry Schwartz
Culinary Expert
PO Box 1320
Yarmouth, ME 04096
Phone: 207-846-8881
E-mail: chefharry@chefharry.com
Website: www.chefharry.com

Cheryl Evanoff
Vice President, Regal Rents
6612 Shenandoah
Los Angeles, CA 90056
Phone: 310-529-0312
E-mail: Cheryl@regalrents.com