A Simple Appetizer
Summer is all about outdoor entertaining; and here's a few tips how I create the best outdoor party Hamptons Style! Wishing you a great season of entertaining from George Hirsch Lifestyle!
- First and foremost consider buffet style to take the pressure off serving courses, therefore allowing more time to enjoy your guests. Buffets can be a fun way to entertain and also span the levels of formality from casual to a very upscale celebration. The best parties’ most memorable outcomes have resulted from a more casual entertaining atmosphere, making buffet style entertaining my favorite way to organize a get-together.
- Tableware is essential to a successful party. Whether using disposables or traditional glassware, as a rule of thumb, have plenty of glasses, at least 3 times guest count without any being washed. Roll-Ups: Set up forks, spoons and knives rolled up into napkins. Make extra. Plate-Up according to your menu: Always provide one plate for hot prepared foods and another for cold dishes. Got umbrellas, canopies or a cabana? Provide shade for the bar & buffet food serving table and shade for guests.
- Cool beverages with an ice bath, ice mixed with water. It chills wine, beer and all container beverages faster than just ice. The ice maker is your friend: You’ll need about 1 pound or more of ice per person for drinks and chilling soft drinks, wine and beer.
- Include in your party plan the option of preparing some foods from home and buying some prepared foods from a local restaurant or specialty food market, which can alleviate party menu pressure for the busy home cook. The menu should include a complementary mix of meat, poultry, seafood, vegetable and salads for wide audience appeal. Themed menus are straightforward to get inspired by—simple done well, is my motto. Grill as much in advance of the party, so the grill chef gets to have some fun and enjoy the guests.
- Set up the bar one hour before guests arrive and close a couple of hours before guests leave. Time to close the bar is the perfect cue to put out desserts and coffee. Serve cookies and brownies. Make extra batches to send home with guests as a sweet token of your party.
What’s on the Menu? Your menu should include a mix of items for a wide audience appeal. A popular and relatively easy summer item on the grill is Kebabs.
Click for For King of Kebabs Recipe
Warm Hummus Is an Ideal Dip to serve with Kebabs along with olive oil, grilled lemons, chopped olives and chopped fresh mint, Tzatziki or chopped cukes, garlic, olive oil, Greek yogurt and dill.
Pâte à Choux
Maybe because it has a French name, or maybe it's because it has a two step process, (first cooked on the stove top, then in the oven) but many cooks avoid this recipe. Make it once and you will be a convert. Cream puff pastry is versatile, and whether it is baked for cream puffs or eclairs, it freezes well. Since they defrost in minutes they can be stuffed with ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce fairly easily prepared for impromptu gatherings + special occasions.
Pâte à Choux (Cream Puff Pastry)
Recipe by Chef George Hirsch | from KNOW YOUR FIRE Cookbook, 1997 by George Hirsch with Marie Bianco
1 cup of water
4 Tablespoons vegetable oil
3 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
Combine the water, vegetable oil, butter, milk and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add the flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth. Cook the mixture over low heat until it dries slightly and leaves the sides of the pan, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each one is fully absorbed before adding the next one.
Cover a baking sheet, preferably one without sides, with parchment paper.
Place the paste in a pastry bag with a round tip with a 1/2 inch opening. To make cream puffs, hold the pastry bag at a 45 degree angle touching a paper lined pan. Squeeze the bag. Continue forming the puffs 1 to 2 inches apart. To make eclairs, squeeze the bag as you pull it toward you, making 3 inch long fingers.
Place the choux in the oven, and after 5 minutes, lower the temperature to 375 degrees F. Depending on size, they will require 10 to 15 minutes total cooking time. NOTE: If the oven door is opened before they're almost finished baking, they will collapse, so don;t peek until 10 minutes have passed. To test for doneness, tap one on the bottom. It should sound hollow. Remove and cool on a rack.
How to fill cream puffs:
Wait until the puffs are cool and cut off the top third with a sharp knife. Fill the hollow bottom with a savory such as chicken or crab meat salad or sweet such as pastry cream or ice cream Replace the top and serve. If the filling is a sweet one, dust the cream puffs with confectioners' sugar or pour chocolate sauce over the top.
Tool of the Trade
GH Signature All purpose Offset Knife. Chop, slice, dice and mince; same knife. The same knife I use on air. The same knife I use at home. shop
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