Spilled Milk In Your Kitchen

When in Bangkok…

One of the Spilled Milk Catering team recently traveled to Bangkok, Thailand on some business (that would be James) and had the opportunity to dine at The Blue Elephant, one of the most amazing Thai restaurants at which James has eaten.  The setting was beautiful: an old colonial house with creaky rafters and teak floors, priceless Thai antiques and art, and amazing tropical plants and flowers scattered everywhere. 

The service was impeccable, and the drinks were refreshing and beautiful: James had a one-of-a-kind vodka that had been infused with sweet chili- spicy and cool.  But the food was over the top.  What did James have?  Here’s an abbreviated list:

• Crispy pastry stuffed with minced organic prawn, Pu Dam Talay crab meat, flavoured with Blue Elephant green curry paste.
• Grilled and marinated Ubon Ratchathanee buffalo fillets accompanied by homemade peanut sauce, and cucumber sauce.
• A mélange of winged beans and Nakorn Chaisri pomelo, organic prawns and tamarind sauce sprinkled with roasted grated coconut and peanuts.
• A salad of Enoki mushroom, bean vermicelli, organic prawn and seafood with a spicy lime juice dressing
• A soup of “black chicken” and organic galangal, served in a fresh young coconut.
• Phuket specialty crab curry served with rice noodle.
• A spicy salad of crispy duck breast, with a hint of mint leaves and organic young galangal, accompanied by spring roll sticky rice.
• Marinated chicken thigh wrapped in organic pandanus leaves and herbs, accompanied by ginger sesame sauce.
• A lamb curry of dried spices in coconut milk, Thai sweet Potatoes, roasted peanuts and cashew nuts.
• Stir-fried rice noodles with fresh prawns, ground peanuts, bean sprouts and tamarind dressing.
• Stir fried Thai asparagus with fresh perfumed mushrooms in garlic sauce.
• Spicy and sour sea bass soup with roasted organic herbs.
• A rich red curry of Kho Khun Phon Yang Kham, Charlolais-Simmental beef, in coconut milk, flavoured with sweet basil.
• Grilled medium rare marinated duck breast topped with sauce made of golden sweet tamarind from Petchaboon Province, accompanied by fried shallots and crispy kale.
• Crispy gourd tips and flowers and mushrooms stir-fried in a low fat soya bean oil and aromatic sauce.

Even better, the place has a COOKING SCHOOL so that you can learn how to cook some of these delicious, exotic dishes.  All in all, an amazing meal in a beautiful place in an exotic city.  So the next time you find yourself in Bangkok, Spilled Milk Catering strongly suggests The Blue Elephant.

- Amit, Raj and James

A Good Week for Blog Shout-Outs

Seems that Spilled Milk Catering is having a good week in “blog shout-outs,” i.e., appearing on other people’s blogs.  We hosted a tasting last week for Lauren DeSantis (she of “Capital Cooking with Lauren DeSantis” fame) and her crew and it looks like we did a good job!  Not only did we serve up some good Lamb Lollipops and Samosas with Tamarind Sauce, apparently we’re also a lot of fun!  Check out Lauren’s review of Spilled Milk Catering here.

In addition to Lauren’s review of Spilled Milk Catering, we received an awesome mention over on Emily’s Blog.  Emily Clack, an amazing photographer, was on hand when we served the Capital Cooking crew, and she was able to snap some beautiful shots of our food, including some nice-looking frames of Spilled Milk’s Tortilla Espanola with Garlic Aioli and the Spicy Tuna Wonton Cones.  Check out Spilled Milk’s work as seen through Emily’s lens here.

All in all, not a bad week for Spilled Milk Catering!  (pat on back)

- Amit, Raj and James

Speaking of Cocktail Parties…

…check out Spilled Milk Catering’s latest cocktail party hit: Roasted Shrimp served with a shot of spicy Bloody Mary and some refreshing celery to add some crunch and a hit of “cool.” 

We’ve served these at a couple of our most recent events and people have found them to be a blast. 

The best way to eat them (from what we’ve seen)?  Pop the shrimp in your mouth and then shoot back the Bloody Mary as a chaser.  Yum.  So here’s to Spilled Milk Catering’s latest passed bite hit…shots on us!

- Amit, Raj and James

The Foods Spilled Milk Catering Craves at Cocktail Parties

Cocktail parties.  Who doesn’t like cocktail parties?  Drinks all around, interesting people to talk to, fun music to listen to, and the best part, bite-sized foods that soak up some of that alcohol and make for even more interesting conversation.  Spilled Milk Catering has been invited to its fair share of cocktail parties and has certainly catered many a Washington, DC cocktail party (in fact, we get asked most often to cater cocktail parties), and we have come up with a list of the top foods that we crave and love to eat at cocktail parties.  Here goes:

• Any kind of prepared chicken wing, whether doused in hot sauce or “deviled” and fried the way we do it at Spilled Milk Catering;
• Bruschetta and/or crostini and the assorted toppings that can come with it (we’re obviously partial to Spilled Milk Catering’s version of garlic-rubbed bruschetta and crostini and the thyme-marinated mushrooms and basil tomatoes we serve with them);
• Assorted cheeses, especially ones that you don’t eat every day, like Manchego, or a tangy Gouda, or a runny and stinky blue cheese;
• Spilled Milk Catering’s Almonds Roasted in Chili Oil (‘nuff said);
• Sliders, both beef and turkey/chicken (Spilled Milk Catering once had to make 250 of these for an event; the client and their guests loved them when we paired them with some fun sauces and a  “toppings bar” we provided);
• Any flatbread or mini-pizza, especially if hand-tossed with interesting ingredients like bufala mozzarella, prosciutto, broccoli rabe, and/or roasted garlic;
• Spilled Milk Catering’s famous Spanish chicken-and-ham croquettes with Dijon sauce (no joke, our clients always ask us to make these and who can’t love them?  Deep-fried, bite-sized, hot, savory, slightly sweet, and delicious);
• Cucumber cups with a cool and refreshing topping, such as a salmon cream or a yogurt sauce;
• Marinated lamb lollipops (again, we’re partial to Spilled Milk Catering’s Indian-Spice Marinated Lamb Lollipops, and so are our clients….all of them); and
• Dates stuffed with goat cheese and wrapped in bacon (Spilled Milk Catering makes a killer version of this sweet-and-savory passed bite). 

Yum.  Just listing all these foods has our stomachs growling,  Take a look at our Menu (http://www.spilledmilkcatering.com/catering-menus/passed-bites) to see the cocktail-size foods that Spilled Milk Catering can and does prepare and compare it to this list….you’ll see some overlap and it may inspire you to come up with your own cocktail party ideas or work with Spilled Milk Catering to come up with your next cocktail party. 

- Amit, Raj and James

Spilled Milk Catering Tells You How to Cut an Onion Properly

One of the most common questions heard in the culinary world is “how do I cut an onion properly?”  Spilled Milk Catering has heard its fair share of this question many times, whether at cooking classes and demonstrations we are providing to a client or when preparing foods in client’s kitchen.  And while there are probably 800 “official” ways to cut an onion “properly” that are listed on the Web, Spilled Milk Catering likes to follow a certain method that we now share with you:

1. With a knife, cut the stem end of an onion almost off but leave a little bit to grab on to in order to start peeling the outer skin. Peel all the outside skin off.
2. Place the onion on the cut end with the root end facing up.  Slice the onion in half the long way but leave the root attached because it will help keep the onion together while slicing.
3. Take one half of the onion and lay it down flat on the cutting surface.  Make multiple cuts the long way from top to bottom but not through the root at the end.  The more cuts you make, the finer the dice will be.
4. Turn the onion 90 degrees and make multiple cuts across the onion being sure to keep your fingers curled under so you don’t cut them.  Again, the more cuts you make, the finer the dice will be, but make sure to not cut through the root.
5. Lay the onion back to the original position you had when you first began cutting it and with your knife, begin making cuts down the onion, perpendicular to the long cuts you made to the onion when you first began chopping.  This will create the diced onion.
6. Continue making cuts until you have the necessary amount of diced onion you need.  Discard the root. 

Voila!  Uniform diced onion ready to cook or serve.  And now you can boast to your friends that Spilled Milk Catering taught you the professional way to cut an onion.

-Amit, Raj and James

Spilled Milk Catering and the Bachelorette Party

Last year, Spilled Milk Catering was contracted by a group of young ladies throwing a Bachelorette party for their close friend in a gorgeous Rehoboth Beach cottage.  The ladies wanted Spilled Milk Catering to prepare a bunch of passed bites and cocktail-size foods as well as demonstrate some of the recipes in the large kitchen in the beach house.  So Spilled Milk Catering worked out a great catering menu with the group and dutifully packed up its ingredients and cooking equipment and made the trek to the beach.

The food turned out great.  We arrived early enough that we could prepare almost all the food at kitchen and get it ready for the cooking demonstration.  At an agreed-upon hour, we then gathered the ladies in front of the kitchen (there was a great counter next to the stove where we could easily show the ladies how we prepared the foods and cooked them) and began the “Spilled Milk Catering Cooking Hour.”  We went through four recipes and demonstrated how to prepare each item, how to cook it and how to serve it.  At the same time, we fed the ladies the already-prepared foods and answered any and all questions they had.  The whole demonstration was interactive and very fun, and we found ourselves laughing along with the ladies.  We also got the VIP Guest of Honor (aka the Bride-to-Be) involved and had her join us in the kitchen to get her hands messy and prepare some of the foods with us.

Here’s what made this particular Spilled Milk Catering event special.  First, the hostesses made sure that the cooking demonstration and serving of the food maintained the weekend’s theme: the Bachelorette party.  The ladies had a fun apron made for the bride-to-be that had her future last name embroidered on it after the word “Mrs.”  We also selected and prepared recipes and dishes that would have some meaning for the bride-to-be: a Spanish recipe symbolizing the time the bride-to-be studied in Spain and met her future husband, a German recipe symbolic of the soon-to-be married couple’s trip to Germany and Austria.  The “personal” recipes made the event that much more fun and with each dish, the ladies regaled one another and us with memories and fun stories.  Second, the ladies paired each course we prepared and served with a different wine: a red for the meat course we prepared, a sparkling white for the appetizer course.  Each course was paired perfectly and the ladies really enjoyed sampling the wine and discussing how it accentuated the Spilled Milk Catering menu we prepared.  Finally, the whole evening was very interactive.  As noted, we got the bride-to-be involved in the cooking and we threw out fun cooking facts and questions to the ladies to keep them involved.  They asked us tons of questions on cooking and we showed them some cooking basics (for example, how to cut an onion) as well as provided them with some fun ideas for parties they could throw on their own with the recipes we prepared.  All in all, it made for a great personalized evening and we had a great time ensuring that the ladies and the guest-of-honor had fun and enjoyed the food we prepared and demonstrated.  Check out our Press page to see what the ladies had to say! 

- Amti, Raj and James

Another Season, Another Reason … For Graduatin’!

Summer is coming and along with the longer days and hotter temperatures comes graduation season and with it, graduation parties.  Whether celebrations for high school graduations, college or post-college graduations or any other academic milestones, these parties herald the beginning of the summer … and for the graduates, the beginning of a new chapter in their lives.  So what are some of the elements that make for a good graduation party?  Spilled Milk Catering outlines a few of its thoughts on the matter below:

1. Finger Foods and Passed Bites.  For daytime graduation parties, we recommend a buffet or passed service of smaller, finger-size foods that guests can easily munch on while holding a drink and conversing with other partygoers.  Why smaller bites?  For one, graduations in the summer tend to occur in hotter weather, and whether outside or indoors, the hotter temperatures discourage heavy eating.  Passed bites are lighter, easier for guests to handle and enable a party host to show off a range of delicious flavors and tastes.
2. Signature Drink.  Graduations are signature events so why not include a signature drink (or two) on the bar menu for the party?  A drink that incorporates elements of the graduate’s tastes and likes, or even the graduate’s favorite drink can serve the role of a “signature drink” nicely.  Guests will think it’s a neat element of the party and the celebratory graduate will feel special (isn’t that the point?).  Remember, depending on the age of the graduate and partygoers, the signature drink need not be alcoholic; there are plenty of alcoholic drinks out there that can be made non-alcoholic.  A good mixologist or bartender would easily know how to do this.
3. Personal Elements.  Sure, the baby pictures and the snapshots of the graduate in their “awkward youth” days may be too embarrassing for some, but a personal element to the party that reflects the graduate will make the party the more special.  The diploma framed and on display on an easel at the party, the graduation photo as a centerpiece at each table, a speech and/or toast from someone special and meaningful in the graduate’s life, even a mix of songs played throughout the party that are some of the graduate’s favorites or reflect different periods of their life – any of these will make the graduate and his or her guests feel special and encourage a more intimate and meaningful gathering.

So there you have it.  Some thoughts by Spilled Milk Catering on what makes a good graduation party stand apart from others.  Of course, we would be remiss if we didn’t add that Spilled Milk Catering stands ready to help its clients prepare and deliver a standout party that honors the graduate and delivers a smile to the partygoers.

So with the coming summer, raise your glasses (and your graduation caps) to this year’s newest graduates!  And celebrate them in style!

Amit, James and Raj

SMC’s Paris Recommendation: La Cuisine Paris

One good deed deserves another.  Our great friends over at La Cuisine Paris (http://www.lacuisineparis.com), based in (duh) Paris, France, have put Spilled Milk Catering on their website and have recommended our services, and in the spirit of “fraternite,” we would like to extend a similar recommendation to this fantastic cooking school.  Having met the team behind La Cuisine Paris this past summer, we can personally attest that the school would be the perfect addition to any trip you make to Paris, and is a chic, unique way to sample the (culinary) pleasures of the City of Lights AND bring that back with you when you return home.  Our favorite La Cuisine Paris feature: French Market cooking classes every Friday morning that provide a tour of one of the oldest markets in Paris, the Marché Raspail, and where a chef teaches you how to pick the best products and build a superb luncheon menu using the finest and freshest market products.  Bon appetit!

Four Easy Recipes to Make Without Power

Winter storms got you down?  The recent flurry of blizzards and snow storms that have pelted the Washington DC area have included power outages and blackouts.  So what to do about food when you have no power and no access to the grocery store?  Here are four recipes that are easy to make using ingredients already available in your pantry and that do not require the use of any electrical appliances:

1.The Roman. When in Rome…do as the Romans do, and create an “aperitivi platter” of sliced meats and crunch vegetables to snack on as you watch DVDs during the snowstorm or read by the firelight.  Take breadsticks and wrap the ends with prosciutto or thinly-sliced salami.  Spear a piece of mozzarella or Pecorino cheese on the end of the breadstick.  Drizzle lightly with olive and toss some crushed black pepper on top of everything.  Line on a platter and surround the breadsticks with canned artichoke hearts (drained), cubes of cheese, broccoli florets, baby carrots, and roasted red peppers.  In a separate small bowl, mix 1 cup of mayonnaise with 1 teaspoon of olive oil, 2-3 garlic cloves (crushed and pounded into a paste), salt, pepper, and a touch of Dijon mustard; serve this make-shift aioli with the breadsticks and raw vegetables.

2. The Catch-All. A salad in the winter?  Why not?  Greens are always good for you and this salad, which requires no cooking, can be an excellent side dish or stand-alone meal.  Mix salad greens in a large bowl with any ingredients that you may have available in your refrigerator or pantry, including, but not limited to: cubed or thinly-sliced deli meats including roast turkey, salami, prosciutto, and/or ham; sliced tomatoes; canned corn (drained); canned artichoke hearts (drained); thinly-sliced red onion; chopped deli cheeses including mozzarella; sliced avocado; olives.  Toss all the ingredients together and top with a quick dressing made of 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, black pepper, salt, crushed red pepper, and a small toss of red wine vinegar.  Serve with some crusty bread.

3.The Tropical. Want a snack that reminds you of warmer climes?  Take some crackers (preferably bite-sized) and line them up on a platter.  In a bowl, mix 1 cup of sour cream with 1 avocado (sliced and mashed into a pulp) along with salt, pepper, a squirt of lime juice, and some chopped cilantro.  In a separate bowl, mix together canned corn (drained), diced tomatoes, diced mango or pineapple (if you have any), cilantro, and some salt and pepper.  Place a spoonful of the avocado sour cream on each cracker and top with the impromptu salsa you just created.  Serve with some fruit juice or (if you’re feeling ambitious) a mixed fruit cocktail.

4.The Elvis. Elvis Presley reportedly loved fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches.  Here’s an updated non-fried take on his favorite.  Take 4 pieces of sliced bread (white will do, but wheat is better).  Smear a light coating of peanut butter onto each slice of bread.  Drizzle some honey on the peanut butter.  Quarter each slice of peanut butter-covered bread, and top each quarter with some thinly-sliced bananas.  Top with some crumbled vanilla wafer cookies and serve as a snack.

ENJOY!

Amit, James, and Raj