40 delicious things??????

August 27, 2010 5:58 AM

Calling ALL FOODIES, FOODISTS, GOURMETS and GOURMANDS: I am looking to have a special 40th birthday party with the theme "40 Delicious Things". What do I serve???

40 items of note would be consumed, either in combination or by
themselves, and wine or beer paring would be included in the count.
There will be 20-30 guests.

There could be 40 individual items, or 40 foods arranged in
combinations to make them even better than they would be on their own. I am looking for really delicious things that I have never heard of with an idea of how to serve them.

Specific names of products and recipes would be helpful. Basically 10 or so awesome TAPAS, using the finest ingredients.

(example of a combination would be (fig+cheese+honey=3 things or asparagus+cheese+ham=3 or bacon wrapped date=2)

I would prefer a minimum of preparation and no cooking if possible. I would also like to have most of the prep done before the party so everything is arranged and good to go when people get there.

I would like the tour of tastes to be enough food to satisfy people as
a meal but not too much to make them sick or overly full.

It should be impressive and interesting without being inaccessible to
people who do not think of food beyond "this is delicious."

C'mon you foodies, help a sister out with your ideas!!!!

posted by marlys27 to Food & Drink (26 answers total)

Bacon wrapped scallops with a honey mustard faux tarter sauce.

Wrap scallops and bake at 375 until they are done...timing is everything

Faux tarter sauce:

1 cup mayo
sweet or dill relish, ( to taste)
couple of spoonfuls of honey mustard
posted by lobstah at 6:08 AM on August 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

- Jamon iberico bellota + Manchego + thin slivers of crusty semolina bread.

- Dates stuffed with Marcona almonds, wrapped in dry-cured bacon, baked (on a wire rack atop a cookie sheet) 'til the bacon is crispy.

- "Bok shots": individual leaves of baby bok choy inserted into shot glasses, topped off with a splash each of chicken broth, sriracha hot sauce and toasted sesame oil and microwaved for a minute or two. SURPRISINGLY delicious.

- Spears of good Costa Rican pineapple sprinkled with brown sugar and rum and broiled for a few minutes.
posted by julthumbscrew at 6:14 AM on August 27, 2010 [4 favorites]

I forgot a splash of lemon juice for the faux tarter sauce recipe . Obviously, you can omit the honey mustard for a regular tarter sauce, or omit the relish, and it's a wonderful sauce for almost any white fish.
posted by lobstah at 6:14 AM on August 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Make your own Siu Mai. These are always a hit when we have parties, and are usually the first to disappear. Surprisingly easy to make, but a bit time consuming to fill all of the wrappers.

You will need:
-A package of round wonton wrappers (go to the local Asian market)
-1/2 pound ground pork
-1/2 pound raw shrimp, finely chopped
-1 tbl soy sauce
-1 tsp grated ginger
-1 tsp sesame oil
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp ground pepper
-1 egg, beaten

Mix together everything except the wrappers and egg in a bowl. Brush a wrapper with the egg wash. Put about a teaspoon of the filling in the center of the wrapper.

The easiest way to form the dumpling is to join the tip of your index finger with the tip of your thumb (make an "OK" sign with your hand), put the loaded wrapper on top of the circle you just made with your fingers, and gently push it through the circle. The wrapper should come up the sides of the filling but leave the top exposed.

Steam the dumplings for about 12-15 minutes.

I typically make a dipping sauce out of equal parts soy sauce and rice vinegar, with some thinly sliced scallions thrown in. You can make the dumplings a day-ish ahead of time and leave them in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook them.
posted by backseatpilot at 6:16 AM on August 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

I would reference The Flavor Bible , and assemble 40 "tasting stations" featuring core flavors with various complimentary tastes. For example, if one station is rhubarb, I would open a jar of my mom's rhubarb compote, a vector (like a cracker or bread) and let the guests choose which complimentary flavor they wished to experiment/garnish with- sprigs of thyme, fennel, brown sugar, (as many from the flavor bible lists I could find). Another example would be serving a dark chocolate ganache in tiny cups with garnishes of salt, chile, basil oil etc etc.

The book has a section for each ingredient of suggested flavor affinities:

Ginger+carrot+celery+garlic
Ginger+chilli peppers+garlic
Ginger+chocolate+cream+rum
Ginger+cider vinegar+sugar
Ginger+cilantro+garlic+scallions
Ginger+cream+honey
Ginger+lemon+mint
Ginger+lemon+pepper+salt+sugar

See what you've got laying about... This is also a great excuse to clean out all the mishmosh of wierd things in the cupboard and start anew (hooray birthday presents!)

... sounds like a great party- , good luck and happy birthday!
posted by iiniisfree at 6:21 AM on August 27, 2010 [5 favorites]

More information needed- food allergies, dislikes, likes. Not just of the person with the birthday, but of all the guests, unless the birthday guy is the only one that matters.
posted by TheBones at 6:32 AM on August 27, 2010

My suggestion, since you are looking for a minimum of preparation, would be to have it catered. If you don't want it catered, then do a big cheese plate with a bunch of fruit and some toast points/crackers.

Personally, I'd go all out and do some crazy stuff. If you want crazy stuff ideas, PM me and I'll come up with my idea of passed app heaven.
posted by TheBones at 6:35 AM on August 27, 2010

This is going to be a lot of labor, especially if you have a wide array of food styles and ingredients.

That said, look up some Tapas recipes.

Also chicken mole is super easy if you buy the mole sauce (which needs to blended with water). You heat the sauce in a deep pan and drop parboiled chicken in it. Toss a little in a corn tortilla, and bam!

Also, try crockpot recipes like swedish meatballs, or brunswick stew.
posted by jander03 at 6:50 AM on August 27, 2010

Jarlsberg.
posted by flabdablet at 6:51 AM on August 27, 2010

Fancy Ants On A Log:

celery
a mild soft blue cheese (or any creamy cheese you like!)
toasted pistachios (or any nut you like!)

easy to make, easy to eat, supercute on a plate, nostaligia galore, which is nice for a 40th bday party! :)
posted by crawfo at 6:59 AM on August 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

brush melted dark chocolate onto one side of a potato chips then drizzle with sea salt and fennel.

caramel fudge, but instead of butter, use smoked bone marrow.

(definitely not original recipes, had both at NOMA - and OMG were they amazing !!!!)
posted by alchemist at 7:02 AM on August 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

This doesn't fit with the tapas theme, but if you're looking for main courses how about Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic? There are tons of variations on this, but they all seem to stick to 40 as the requisite number of garlic cloves. America's Test Kitchen also has a nice version.
posted by motherly corn at 7:18 AM on August 27, 2010

Chicken with 40 cloves of garlic
posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:22 AM on August 27, 2010

Make some pate a choux dough and you can make puffs, cheese balls, profiteroles and more. So easy. So good.
posted by slogger at 7:24 AM on August 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Two cookbooks that are great resources for things like this may be Jose Andres' Made in Spain companion book and Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc at Home. Both may be available at your local public library.
posted by Hurst at 7:28 AM on August 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Prosciutto wrapped around melon balls. Prosciutto with shaved parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil.
posted by stp123 at 7:28 AM on August 27, 2010

Ooh, here's an idea. How about having one food represent each year of your life? That way, you could take shortcuts by buying some things like cupcakes, Cheetos, etc. that you loved as a kid, and then progress into some of the more highfalutin' stuff to represent your time as an adult. That would reduce the amount of prep you'd need.

Also, check out Trader Joe's. They have all sorts of delicious and semi-unusual stuff that could work by itself or with minimal prep. I especially like things like the mochi ice cream, which is a pretty foodie kind of thing.
posted by Madamina at 7:28 AM on August 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

Prosciutto and goat cheese roulades are delicious. I discovered them while looking for something "meaty" to match my other half's wonderful bruschetta. Basically, you mix mild goat cheese, minced parsley, and minced garlic, then roll them in very thinly sliced prosciutto (sushi-style) and sprinkle with olive oil, lemon juice, and pepper. 15 minutes, tops.
posted by sonic meat machine at 7:37 AM on August 27, 2010

half a slice of prosciutto wrapped around a blanched asparagus spear
posted by freshwater at 7:43 AM on August 27, 2010

mushroom pate!

pull the stumps off of about 1# of mushrooms, slice the tops and sauté them with oil, and tamari. When almost finished, add a generous splash of sherry vinegar. Cook until most of the liquid is gone.

In a food processor, process the mushrooms, walnuts, olive oil nutritional yeast, pepper, salt and garlic - all to taste. The end result should be a dip, so do not go overboard with the oil.

Serve with a beautiful baguette.

Mushrooms+walnuts+baguette = 3 delicious things

If i could live off this stuff, i would.
posted by wocka wocka wocka at 7:52 AM on August 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

Easy Lobster Appetizer
Easy Prosciutto Appetizer
Easy Radish Appetizer
posted by leigh1 at 9:13 AM on August 27, 2010

With regards to bacon wrapped scallops (which are awesome), bacon wrapped oysters are pretty dang awesome too. I recommend thick cut country bacon. If you don't have a good local supply, Burgers' Smokehouse is my regular supplier of bacon and consequently, I can look forward to their porknography¹ (aka, catalog). Their pepper bacon on its own is also a delicious thing.

If the event is soon(ish), then you should definitely serve FRESH (home or local farm-grown) beefsteak tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and red wine vinegar, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and fresh basil chiffonade. This is about a 5 minute prep.

One restaurant I went to like to put this out as an appetizer: baguette slices with a dessert plate with a small pool of extra virgin olive oil with a small pool of balsamic vinegar, along with a couple of roasted cloves of garlic.

¹If anyone asks, I coined this term.
posted by plinth at 10:28 AM on August 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

I suppose you will already have far too many contenders in which one item is bread, so perhaps you could revise my favorite crostini. Maybe you could have a big platter of toasted/grilled bread brushed with olive oil, and then a number of options of 2-3 "thing" items to pile on top?

For this one, then: good fresh ricotta, some not-too-dark honey, and plenty of fresh thyme. The combination is SO GOOD. You will need access to a ricotta better than the Sargento or whatever you find next to the sour cream in a supermarket dairy case, though. Look for something "hand-dipped" from a decent cheese counter or a specialty cheese shop. It's worth the trouble. I wish I had some right now.
posted by redfoxtail at 10:58 AM on August 27, 2010

Vacherin Mont D'Or, nice and ripe, with some good bread. I served this at my wedding party and it was all the guests talked about.
posted by Tholian at 2:04 PM on August 27, 2010

Clearly, a cheese plate is called for. Luckily (going by your profile) the Summit Cheese Shop is not far. Go, ask for cheese recommendations, and what to serve with them. Make sure a good, flavorful stilton is on that list and pair it with some really nice honey. Mmmm! You could also get some take out from food. and cut into smaller bits for serving. They also sell a selection of Jeni's ice cream by the pint, which would help for dessert. I recommend the pear prosecco sorbet if they have it by the pint.

So, for instance...

cheese plate with 5 cheeses, 5 accompaniments (nuts, fruit, honey, savory jam, sweet jam), and 5 "platforms" (crackers, bread) = 15
salt tasting (Whole Foods does gourmet salts, get 3 choices, some dark chocolate, olive oil, and cubes of bread) = 6
stuff from food. reconfigured as tapas size (mini crab cake sliders, duck quesadillas) = 8 at least
A white wine, a red wine, some port, a stout, an IPA, 2 non-alcoholic choices = 7
Pound cake with Nutella, Jeni's (1 ice cream, 1 sorbet) = 4

Sounds like an awesome party idea! Have fun!
posted by booksherpa at 2:54 PM on August 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

David Thompson's Saeng Wa of Grilled Prawns salad gets my vote for the best salad ever. It's an innovative take on a traditional Thai pleea salad. The flavors and aromas just run riot in your mouth.

The version in the link is scaled down, and doesn't have amounts for the cilantro and mint, but I tend to use a small handful of each. It also omits the finely shredded kaffir lime leaves, minced lemongrass and shredded ginger that were in his early published versions of the recipe. All three are worth including. If you can't get fresh kaffir lime juice, use passionfruit pulp (it's about the fragrance, and passionfruit has some great floral notes and excellent durability of scent).

Also, I often upsize it (and tone down the fairly intense flavors) by using a lot more prawns/shrimp, and by adding a shredded head of lettuce. Or serve individual portions of it in iceberg lettuce cups.
posted by Ahab at 1:52 AM on August 28, 2010