Fusion Dinner Party

What do you do when you have friends from all over the world and as a welcoming host you want to please everyone but offend no one? In the last nine years I've lived in 4 different countries and travelled to about 25 other countries picking up food ideas and friends along the way.

Entertaining and cooking are my passions so anytime there's an opportunity for me to show off my cooking skills it's great. My husband has colleagues from all over the world and sometimes he wants to invite them for dinner and I take the opportunity to really impress them. Most of my recipes are tried and tested but I don't really have measurements or quantities and anyone who makes the following dishes should prepare them according to their wishes and their particular circumstances.

So what does a menu contain that pleases your guests who may be from several different countries including America, India, Vietnam, Indonesia and maybe Muslim, Hindu, vegetarian or vegan or simply happy to be invited. Of course if you have Muslim guests then you would have Halal meat and if you have Hindu guests then you don't serve red meat. If your guests include vegans then it's important to cook the completely vegetarian food first and keep it seperate from the food that you prepare with meat or fish.
Here is a sample of fusion food I might make for my guests when tastes and dietary requirements are varied for a lunch or dinner party. I will pick a few of the items and share the recipes.

Menu for Fusion Dinner Party

Vegetarian Noodle Salad
Corn Tortilla chicken lasagna
Beetroot and apple salad
Lentil and vegetable curry
Salmon with home made green curry sauce.
Cod and potato fish cakes.
Asparagus quiche
Pulao rice

Recipes

Asian vegetable and noodle salad. 

Asian noodle and vegetable salad

1 8oz Package of noodles cooked and cooled.
1 cup of peas
10 cherry tomatoes quartered
3 sprigs of green onions chopped.
1 bunch of cilantro(fresh coriander)chopped
4oz cooked green peas
4 oz of cooked green beans chopped small
3 Green & red chills diced
Lettuce leaves for decorating
fried tofu cut into small pieces

Dressing
Juice of one lemon
1 tbs of soy sauce
1 tbsp of chili oil
1tbsp of sesame oil
1tbs fish sauce(optional)
1tsp brown sugar
2 tsp salt
Mix all the dressing ingredients together.
Place all the above ingredients  in a bowl and add the dressing ingredients in the bowl and combine tossing all together so dressing is mixed in with the vegetables and noodles.
Arrange the lettuce on a serving platter and put the salad on the lettuce leaves as pictured above.

Cod Fish Cakes

8 oz cooked  cod or 1 8oz tin of tuna drained

1 large bunch cilantro chopped fine

1small onion chopped

6 medium sized new potatoes boiled and mashed

1 large jalapeño chili chopped

Cod fish cakes

salt and pepper to taste.

1 egg beaten and put in a bowl. 

Method

Mix all the above in a mixing bowl except the beaten egg

Put in 2 tablespoons of oil in a shallow frying pan.

Make the fish and potato mixture  into medium sized balls and flatten

dip in the egg and fry on high then turned down to medium.

Fry each patty till golden and turn

Put on a kitchen paper and then serving dish.

Beet and Apple Salad

Beet and Apple salad

Cut the apples and beet roots into cubes
cut the cucumber in to small pieces
Tarragon chopped fine
green onions chopped small
 Make dressing with lemon juice tarragon and mustard mix together. 
Serve in a bowl.

The salmon was baked with a green curry paste which I made with green chillis, lime juice, cilantro, onions and lemon grass,salt and pepper to taste, blended in a food processor and poured over the salmon with some olive oil and baked till the salmon is cooked through.

The corn and chicken lasagna is made with corn tortillas instead of the normal pasta lasagna.

DESSERT

Key Lime pie

Apple tart 

Trifle

Bakewell tart.

An assortment of pies and quiche

Recipes

 Bakewell tart

Preheat the oven to 325*F

Buy a ready made vegetable oil pie shell 

Bake the pie shell for about 10 minutes and take it out of the oven and let it cool. 

FILLING

Rasberry or any favourite flavor jam.

Put 2 tablespoons of jam in the pie shell, spread it in the bottom and set aside.

1 and 1/2 sticks of butter ( room temperature)

3/4 cup of sugar

3 eggs(room temperature)

6oz of ground almonds

2oz of self raising flour

zest of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons flaked almonds

Cream the butter and sugar together till pale colored in a glass mixing bowl

Beat the eggs and add gradually to the sugar and butter till mixed

Add the lemon zest

Add the ground almonds to the mixture and mix till creamy 

Fold in the self raising flour and carefully mix till completely mixed 

Pour the  wet mixture in to the pastrycase

Sprinkle extra almonds on top of the cake mixture

Put into the pre heated oven and bake on the top shelf for about 40 minutes till a tooth pick comes out clean from the middle of the cake.

Open Faced Fruit tart.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Ready made pastry thawed and placed in a baking dish.

2 cups Frozen berries 
4oz sugar
Pull some of the pastry over the fruit but keep some peaking out.
Bake for about 40 minutes till fruit is bubbling.

This is a sample menu of what I might serve to a mixture of guests with varying tastes and varying dietary requirements. Next time you throw a dinner party you may try this or a variation on these ideas.