Gastro/Danse Event: Big ideas, tiny budget

[Jenise]

Some friends of mine are putting on an event. It's been dubbed "Gastro-Danse/Habitation-Artistique". Gabe is a guy with a degree in Modern Dance who minored in math and who, by day, is a wine distributor rep. His wife Melissa is an art therapist. Together they and a few like-minded friends are putting on this event in their home. Live performances will be interspersed with food intermissions, and guests will be able to help themselves to wine for a "donation".

I've been recruited for the 'gastro' part. Limitation #1: my workspace will be a tiny, apartment-sized kitchen, more like kitchenette really, in a 100 year old home. No special amenities. Limitation #2: I have a budget of only about $200 and need to feed 25-30 guests. Ergo, 'what' is as big a dilemma as 'how'. GULP.

For the last week I've been racking my brain for ideas, and didn't even have a starting point until watching last week's Top Chef Masters I saw Traci les Jardines make a brilliant beef stroganoff appetizer involving a nest of noodles formed and baked off lightly in a cupcake tin and topped with beef tartare. A brilliant party food idea, I thought, those noodle nests. Cheap and do-ahead, too. And then my thinking went beef > beet > beat. 'Beat' Stroganoff! Little noodle nests filled with a cumin-scented cold beet salad. Cheap, do-ahead, easy, and clever/enticing on a printed program.

Four more ideas like that one and I'm home free.

This morning while driving to town, I got to thinking of dance names that had some potential: The Jerk (as in Jerk Chicken), and The Twist (donut). Things like Wasabi/Watusi, Waltz/Schmaltz, Tango Mango and a few other fairly useless ideas came and went too. Tango Mango has some possibilities: like a quesadilla filled with a tangy white cheese, fresh mango slices, fresh jalapeno and cilantro. Mangos aren't cheap, but if the other ingredients are cheap enough, it could be doable. And what about famous dancers? 'Ginger' Rogers. Gene (green) Bean Kelly. Martha Graham Crackers.... I dunno. Dance terms? Toast On Points?

HELP! All ideas welcome.

Jenise
Thinking slightly laterally - what of food that might 'dance' on the tastebuds. Something with vibrant flavours?

I mentioned a local pub variant on Eton Mess a while ago, that included mango and passion-fruit instead of the usual raspberries. It had real zip/zest to it. It's also potentially an antidote to the fear that you must make food that looks 'artistic' as well. It can also be made in advance.

How about individual ravioli prepared a day in advance - it's quite a challenge to make that much pasta by hand, but perhaps offering the economy of scale that makes 25-30 guests not much more of a challenge than 5-8. The ingredients can be cheap enough (depending on what's in the stuffing). It should be quick to heat & plate (with an appropriate sauce). It can also address the fear that cooking for that many, the food might not be filling.

On the theme of beetroot, we had a lovely beetrot salad recently with a couple of mandarins cooked with the beetroot (albeit I'm not sure adding the mandarins at this stage worked), then mixed with some mandarin juice and mustard. Amazing how the mustard filled the dish out - seemingly filling a gap in the flavour profile.

What about a huge layered salad, with 10-12 ingredients? OK it risks somebody not liking something in there, but it could look pretty grand in the right container. Maybe a pair (one with meat or seafood in and one without) could give the chance to have real fun with the colours.

Best of luck with this - you do like your challenges

regards

Ian

[Jenise]

Ian, ravioli is a great idea, though possibly too labor-intensive for me to hand-make (I have back issues that make repetition motion where both hands are busy in front of me injurious). If I had help, though...Rhythmic Ravioli? Ravioli Rumba? Adagio for Raviolo? Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Torte Torte Tortellini?

Which gives me another idea. Crepes are great do-aheads and can fill a plate without over-serving--the fillings could and should be very modest portions. Ham, swiss cheese and sauteed mushrooms with herbs would be easy. Could get 15ish on each of two trays, so one oven-full feeds the room. A ratatouille-like filling would also be excellent and easy. But what to name it. Wish I were more clever at puns.

I just found an online dance glossary, and here are some other words I came up with:

tempo
Bolero
Merengue
Jazz
Bob Fosse
syncopation
Samba
Foxtrot
Quickstep
Polka
Jive (Jivin' Jambalaya?)
Arabesque (good adjective for something with middle eastern flavors)
Salsa

Mango Tango makes me think of a lassi-style drink. But how to give it an Argentian flair?

Salsa and Merengue write their own jokes, eh?

Hmm... the Lindy Hop is a beer-based snack... the Martha Graham is served on a cracker... I suppose anything round can be Polka Dots... anything with a swirl can be a pirouette....

That is a lot of pressure, doing the food and having to come up with the catchy phrases and names of food. Oh my...whatever happened to the days when folks just got together to eat, chat, dance?

[Jenise]

That is a lot of pressure, doing the food and having to come up with the catchy phrases and names of food. Oh my...whatever happened to the days when folks just got together to eat, chat, dance?

Oh, I think these are the good new days when an energetic, talented young couple put on a show in their own home! I'm excited to be part of it, or at least I would be more so if I had more free time and no back problems.

Here is a link to something I've made - Simple Clams Florentine. Quite simple, inexpensive, and can be made up a day ahead of time, refrigerated and re-heated. Perhaps you could do a variation of sorts: http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?t=4624

[Jenise]

Here is a link to something I've made - Simple Clams Florentine. Quite simple, inexpensive, and can be made up a day ahead of time, refrigerated and re-heated. Perhaps you could do a variation of sorts: http://www.wineloverspage.com/forum/village/viewtopic.php?t=4624

I remember reading your recipe for this a long time ago and longing to make a version of it myself (can't: Bob is allergic to clams and it's not a dish to make for one alone). So I appreciate that an elegant dish and great party food but actually in these parts and with my budget, sadly it wouldn't be inexpensive enough (basically all the dishes I do need to cost about $1 a head).

Deviled eggs- do an array of deviled eggs. Here mediums are almost always under $1 a dz and many times large ones are as well. Do three or 4 kinds 2 dz each.

You are a brave person Jenise. My advice would be try to keep it simple, and not let yourself get sucked into doing overly complicated things or, if you're like me, you will be overwhelmed. There is nothing wrong with a really good slice of pear smeared with a good blue cheese, for example, or some other variation on fruit, and cheese and maybe an interesting seasoning like powdered chiles. Second, think about Pate à Choux, which as you know can be sweet or savory and is a fun and impressive presentation. One batch could yield both cheese puffs and cream puffs or eclairs. There is also prepared puff pastry to work with, which both tastes and looks good and also offers a lot of options for sweet and savory. How about some kind of lettuce wrap? We've been loving the fresh sorrel we've been getting at the farmers' market these days (where has it been all my life??) Maybe you could wrap a spicy beef mix in something like that. Last, I'd do a chocolate mousse in some form or other, like a tart or tartlettes. It's easy to make, in advance if you want, and it's ALWAYS a crowd pleaser. Good luck. We expect a full report.

I've been racking my brain for something that would go with "Saturday Night Fever" or "Travolta" but have come up with nothing. Best I've been able to do is Gregory Hines 57 Sauce on something or other and that's pretty pathetic.

I'll warn you, though, that I'm still working on this....

[Jenise]

Deviled eggs- do an array of deviled eggs. Here mediums are almost always under $1 a dz and many times large ones are as well. Do three or 4 kinds 2 dz each.

Eggs are never that cheap here but you're right, they're cheap enough. I do like the idea! But coming up with the foods themselves don't flummox me so much as tying the food to a witty, playful name/angle in the manner of Thomas Keller or Bubble & Squeak, except dance related.

Mike--Saturday Night Fever! Fun. Saturday Night Cleaver, Saturday Light Fever, hmmm...there IS an idea in there.

More words: ballroom, Degas, 'light on its feet', 'two left feet' (chicken legs?), Fred and Ginger, tutu, Swan Lake....

That is a lot of pressure, doing the food and having to come up with the catchy phrases and names of food. Oh my...whatever happened to the days when folks just got together to eat, chat, dance?

Oh, I think these are the good new days when an energetic, talented young couple put on a show in their own home! I'm excited to be part of it, or at least I would be more so if I had more free time and no back problems.

I think the key word here is energetic! Yes, when I had all the energy I did it too. One party I loved was my "back to school" party, we parents celebrated our freedom again. All our guests were asked to attend in dressy attire. I served a very special dinner, Gene did the drinks, we had a marvelous time. We also did crab feeds. Gene's dad would bring over a huge haul of fresh crab right off his boat. He and grandma would assist us in entertaining all our employees. It was a beer drinking good time, eating crab, and laughing at those who had never picked crab. Now I am happy to have six over.

[Jenise]

Another idea: "top hat and tails". Never mind that the performances are going to be modern dance oriented, top hats a la Fred Astaire are an essential feature of dance dress and I think the name has a lot of potential. I don't know if I could afford to do a stuffed mushroom, but I sure like the idea of using stuffed mushrooms nested on, say, sprouts, to fill out that idea.

Also, I have been asked to consider working modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan into a dish. Duncan Donuts has a ring, no? But what could I do for a donut? Or, dough Nuts? I am so weak on sweets!

[Jenise]

DISASTER: I misunderstood about my budget. It's $200--for BOTH nights, not each of the two.

So how many things can I make out of ramen noodles?

This would be much easier with a better budget.....have you thought about soliciting in kind donations for free advertising ??
My husband does this all the time for the high school chess club fund raisers...food at wholesale if not actual discounts in turn for a poster indicating support.
There might be specialty shops that want to support the arts by featuring their products.
On that budget, Ramen might be too expensive !!!

Dancing with the stars.....different sized star shaped bread cut outs with some buerre composee, olive paste, piemento cheese or other spread...lots of possibilities varying the bread and spread but cheap white bread flattened with a rolling pin makes easy cutting.
You can make a lot of mini fillo cups with a package of fillo and fill them with ??? a little bit of minced mushroom with onions here can go a long way
Mini spring rolls filled with rice noodles, veg and lots of cilantro
Fingerling potatoes with a sliced bottom so they stand vertically topped with olive tapenade [ I do this with caviar and serve them on a platter so it ends up looking like a forest ]
Mini meringues with plum jam....sugar plum fairies

Sugar Plum Fairy... perhaps there's a dish that could borrow this name?

Another thought - you're the nominated foodie chef. One message you might want to get across is "What's the food in season?". Is the dance stuff going to focus on a food angle? Probably not, so why not put the focus on something, cheap, tasty & in season locally (making it cheaper and tastier!). Work back from that/those ingredients to the dish.

Ah - I'd not read Christina's post - she's already even come up with a really good idea for the SPF dish.

[Jenise]

Well, "Isadora Duncan's Donut" is absolutely on the list. We have no idea what that will be, but once he heard the name the organizer (who is also the choreographer) DEMANDS that be on the program, so it's a go.

So is "Top Hats and Tails". Probably a ramen noodle salad with a single mushroom garnish. Also, the aforementioned The Beat Stroganoff.
He also likes the Mango Tango quesadillas, because there won't be a single person there including him who has ever had a mango quesadilla, but I don't know if he's definite on that yet.

So that's three for-sures and a maybe.

Love the potato and olive tapenade idea, Christine--I need an amuse bouche of sorts people can help themselves to on arrival, and that would be PERFECT. What will I call those? Nutcracker Sweets? Can't afford fingerlings, but Red Bliss by the large bag at Costco would be doable.

Here's a name idea without a food to go with it: Scarves and Tutus. Maybe some of you know that Isadora who famously danced with scarves also died when a scarf she was wearing got caught up somehow in the undercarriage of the convertible she was driving. I like the idea of using torn bits of greens and lasagna sheets for the scarves. Don't know what could represent the tutu.

Something involving pork shoulder would be great. I haven't used meat anywhere else and PS is $2.48 a pound.

Ian, I so appreciate where you're coming from on the seasonal suggestion, only problem is that right now in the Pacific Northwest, the only seasonal item is asparagus and it's running $4 a pound most places because it's all coming up from Mexico still--the local from the Eastern side of our state isn't out yet. Or, it wasn't last weekend. Very slow year.

Something involving pork shoulder would be great. I haven't used meat anywhere else and PS is $2.48 a pound.

Gotta be Pork Rilletes. Basically you cook the shoulder to death and pull it apart with forks. Put it in a bowl and people spread it on crackers. Google up a recipe. You need some fat and spices in there, one version uses 5 spice powder which would make it taste Chinese. I think I prefer a more French version. The French eat this stuff all the time.

Call it "Porc Plié"

DISASTER: I misunderstood about my budget. It's $200--for BOTH nights, not each of the two.

So how many things can I make out of ramen noodles?

Sounds like you need to do the "Mashed Potatoes" to me...

Scarves = very thinly shaved carrots ...mandoline or vegetable peeler....ends knife fringed [ dipped in ice water to shape akimbo ]. Tutus = sprigs of dill [ my Asian grocer sells large bags of very fresh dill for $1.00. A long, wide band of iced carrot wrapped/draped around some dill sprigs on a base of ??

[Jenise]

Something involving pork shoulder would be great. I haven't used meat anywhere else and PS is $2.48 a pound.

Gotta be Pork Rilletes. Basically you cook the shoulder to death and pull it apart with forks. Put it in a bowl and people spread it on crackers. Google up a recipe. You need some fat and spices in there, one version uses 5 spice powder which would make it taste Chinese. I think I prefer a more French version. The French eat this stuff all the time.

Call it "Porc Plié"

I've made a lot of rillettes in my time, and love this idea! I had been locked into thinking of a hot dish where the pork would be served over polenta, say, but rillettes is by far the better idea since it's perfect for room temperature service. This is especially important since today I learned, if I didn't already mention it, that the kitchen will also be the dancer's changing room. The more I can move to the front porch and stay out of there altogether, the happier I'll be. And, come to think of it, the smells of food even merely reheated would be distracting.

For the potato and olive dish: Olive Releve'.

Mini Pavlovas would be great, but probably out of budget.

Sounds like a fun event!