Slamon cubes with soya and lime make for the perfect canapes to ring in the New Year with friends. (Photo courtesy of Petty Elliott)
A New Year’s Eve dinner party is the perfect opportunity to get together with family and friends. The spirit of the holidays will make anyone who hosts a party spoil their guests with a memorable time and of course, a meal to remember.
But hosting any kind of lunch or dinner party at home, especially a New Year’s Eve event, can be a challenging affair. With good time management and a good plan, it is possible.
Forget about a formal or buffet style dinner — you can invite lots of friends and family and impress them with something delicious on the eye and the palette. Give your guests bite-sized fuel to get through the evening and make each mouthful count. I am talking about canapes, a bite to savor and remember.
Here in Jakarta, we can draw on the extra variety of combining foods from everywhere, as the ingredients are generally easy to find. Your only constraint is your imagination. Sushi and sashimi from Japan, Vietnamese spring rolls, Thai fish cake, Manadonese corn cake, Indian samosa, a variety of local sates, tempe and tofu bacem cubes (soya cake cooked with spices and soya sauce). European favorites such as pizza or meatballs, English beef wellington, mini spinach cheese tart, cold meats of different combinations, roasted red pepper with feta cheese olives and many more. For those with a sweet tooth, mini chocolate brownies or cookies, tiny cheesecake, fruit tarts or just simple slices of tropical fruits.
Before you go shopping, please check your cooking ingredients in your refrigerator. You can recycle left over food from your Christmas party. Leftover roasted turkey is perfect for mini gourmet sandwiches and is perfect when served with dabu-dabu , Manadonese tomato salsa, rica-rica , or stir fried with mushrooms or simply served with left over spiced cranberry sauce with cloves and cinnamon and served in a duck spoon or on crackers.
There are a few golden rules to remember. First, canapes should be bite sized and easy to eat; avoid food that will crumble or drip. Allow around 12-15 canapes per guest. Serve the cold canapes first then the hot items and sweets canapes.
All the food preparation is done ahead of the party so you can enjoy the fun like everyone else. But some dishes need to cook just before serving. Domestic staff make very good helpers in the kitchen. Mix it up with great music, lots of fresh flowers and candles. Your family and friends will have a bite to savor and a party to remember.
I have hot canapes such as salmon cubes with sweet soya, garlic and lime, Manadonese corn cake with dabu-dabu. For cold canapes, I have sushi and sashimi which I admit I bought from very reliable Japanese supermarket, crackers with sliced turkey and spiced cranberry sauce; chicken liver parfait with sweet apple, raisin chutney on sliced baguette, roasted paprika with feta cheese, chopped apple with stilton cheese and Flores honey (you can replace the cheese with any soft cheese), mixed chopped roasted vegetables served on baby Romano lettuce leaves and sliced breast chicken with sambal ijo . The recipes I have in my repertoire far exceed the space available.
For this week’s recipe I have salmon cubes with garlic, lime and soya, which require cooking just before serving. Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New 2014.
Salmon cubes with soya and lime
It is easy, fast to cook and delicious. You can replace the salmon with filleted red snapper, barramundi, tofu, tempe or button mushroom. Makes 36 cubes
Ingredients:
300g fillet salmon, cut into 36 cubes; 2-3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed and chopped finely and sautéed until golden brown; 2-3 tablespoons of vegetable oil; 6 tablespoons of sweet soya sauce; 6 tablespoons lime juice; 50ml water; salt and black pepper to taste
Directions:
•Heat a large frying pan.
•Season the salmon with salt and black pepper and 3 tablespoons of lime juice
•Add the oil to the pan and add the salmon cubes. Cook for around 1 minute and turn over and cook for another one minute and add the soya sauce, the rest of lime juice and water.
•Season with salt and black pepper. Check the seasoning. Add salt or lime juice if necessary. Simmer for 1-2 minutes and transfer each of the salmon cubes in duck spoon and serve immediately.
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