Thanks everyone for the recipes. After I got my first dish together, I ran out of time. Unfortuntely, I didn't get a chance to make anything else by hand but I'm looking forward to trying those recipes over the coming weeks.
Since I ran out of time, I served pulled pork with Thai BBQ sauce wrapped in lettuce bundles. I bought some spring rolls, cut them in half and fanned them out on a tray. And had a big thing of fortune cookies (that had surprisingly good phrases inside). Then the rest of the folks filled in beautifully with thier dishes.
It turns out, the pork was one of the highlights of the night. I brined 10 lbs of pork butt in 1 gallon of water with 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup Kosher salt. It brined for about 12 hours, then I rubbed it with a 50/50 blend of taco seasoning and brown sugar. Baked at 250 for several hours.
Once the pork was done, I shredded it, then mixed in most of the pan juices and some Thai BBQ sauce (recipe from the Gale's site). I served extra sauce on the side and a heaping plate of lettuce leaves (can't remember what kind), cilantro, and red onion. YUM!
Another dish that was really great...one of my friends did a dessert based on Vietnamese Coffee. They made a chocolate-espresso tart (not very sweet at all) served with an ice cream made of sweetened condensed milk. It was such a great idea and the tart filling was so smooth and delicious. The recipe is from Chocolatier Magazine (see link).
Feedback from the party was really good. People enjoyed being creative and getting into the theme. They brought sakes to try, Japanese and Thai beers, a mix of different salads, etc.
Ooh...and thanks for the decorating ideas. I decorated with red linens and plates and had gold flowers throughout the room. And I bought some fun Asian-inspired serving dishes.
I'd definitely do this theme again.
http://www.chocolate.com/recipes/chocolate-and-vietnamese-coffee-tart-condensed-milk-ice-cream.html
Since I ran out of time, I served pulled pork with Thai BBQ sauce wrapped in lettuce bundles. I bought some spring rolls, cut them in half and fanned them out on a tray. And had a big thing of fortune cookies (that had surprisingly good phrases inside). Then the rest of the folks filled in beautifully with thier dishes.
It turns out, the pork was one of the highlights of the night. I brined 10 lbs of pork butt in 1 gallon of water with 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup Kosher salt. It brined for about 12 hours, then I rubbed it with a 50/50 blend of taco seasoning and brown sugar. Baked at 250 for several hours.
Once the pork was done, I shredded it, then mixed in most of the pan juices and some Thai BBQ sauce (recipe from the Gale's site). I served extra sauce on the side and a heaping plate of lettuce leaves (can't remember what kind), cilantro, and red onion. YUM!
Another dish that was really great...one of my friends did a dessert based on Vietnamese Coffee. They made a chocolate-espresso tart (not very sweet at all) served with an ice cream made of sweetened condensed milk. It was such a great idea and the tart filling was so smooth and delicious. The recipe is from Chocolatier Magazine (see link).
Feedback from the party was really good. People enjoyed being creative and getting into the theme. They brought sakes to try, Japanese and Thai beers, a mix of different salads, etc.
Ooh...and thanks for the decorating ideas. I decorated with red linens and plates and had gold flowers throughout the room. And I bought some fun Asian-inspired serving dishes.
I'd definitely do this theme again.
http://www.chocolate.com/recipes/chocolate-and-vietnamese-coffee-tart-condensed-milk-ice-cream.html