Recipe: Making Foods on a Stick
I dropped by Studio 10 to offer some fun and easy summer entertaining tips by making four different foods on a stick. They are colorful, great conversation pieces and best of all no plates and silverware to wash.
| Foods on a Stick |
- 1 pack of bamboo skewers
- 12 cherry tomatoes
- 12 bite-sized pieces of mozzarella
- 12 basil leaves
- 1 bottle spray dressing like Balsamic Vinaigrette
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into bit-sized pieces
- cup Buffalo wing sauce
- cup Buffalo wing flavored corn or potato chips, crushed
- cup honey
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- cup peanut butter
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- Chinese five spice to taste
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- Salad on a Stick
- Impale a cherry tomato with a skewer.
- Fold a basil leaf in half and add to the stick.
- Then add a bite of mozzarella.
- Spritz with dressing.
- Harlem Sauce
- Combine honey and chili flakes.
- Heat in a microwave for no more than 10 seconds.
- Thai Peanut Sauce
- Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil and Five Spice and set aside.
- Chicken on a Stick
- In a pan over medium-high heat cook the chicken bites until done.
- Impale each bite on a skewer.
- Dunk each bit in one of three sauces.
- For Buffalo bites sprinkle crushed chips on top.
- For Thai chicken bites sprinkle sesame seeds on top.
Instead of spritzing with vinaigrette you could drizzle extra virgin olive oil.
A Guide to Exceptional Table Settings
Valentine’s Day is just a few weeks away so I thought I would help you set the mood by helping you set the table.
It might surprise you to learn just how much of what we taste is influenced by the other senses. To prove the point, there is a fad currently emerging called “dark dining.” There are two different approaches to dark dining but both involve the customers being blind for the entirety of the meal. DD enthusiasts claim that food tastes differently when you eliminate one of the senses. For the record the two different approaches to dark are that some restaurants have servers donning commando-style night-vision goggles while the other employees only vision-impaired servers.
The importance of what we see towards what we taste is essential. This is why chefs are so maniacal about their plate presentations. One example that comes to mind is Chef Charles Mereday formerly of the Battle House Hotel in Mobile, AL and a classmate of Tyler Florence at Johnson & Wales University. A few years ago I did a profile on Mereday for ‘Zalea Magazine. My editor told me that when they photographed one of Chef Charles’ entrees for the article that the photographer took the liberty of rearranging the items on the dish. The chef politely removed the plate and cooked the dish again asking that the picture reflect the way the dish is served.
For the home cook an easy way to set the stage visually is to set the table creatively. One great teacher of how to set a table is Food Network star Sandra Lee. Though many have been critical of the food on the show (Lee admits to using 70% pre-made foods), none can argue that the TV star sets a beautiful table, or what she calls tablescapes.
Lee’s talent for tablescapes has started a whole genre of DYI books devoted to setting the table. Ironically she is the only person who has not published a book on the subject:
Of course treating your dining room table like a Broadway set is not the only way to set the mood. A simple yet elegantly set table can pop by simply putting a little effort into folding your napkins. I have compiled some videos that will walk you through the process.
