Party Recipes!
To impress your guests is actually not complicated!
Guiltless Gluten Free Buche De Noel
Modified version of Buche de Noel recipe
For the egg white, I substitute confetti sugar with stevia. Use only 1/4 of the sugar amount in the recipe.
For the egg york, I substitute sugar with coconut sugar. Use only 75% of the sugar of the amount in the recipe.
For the coco cream, I substitute heavy cream with coconut cream plus 2 oz of melted butter.
The “snow” is using stevia.
I use organic lemon leaves from my garden for decoration.
Squeeze out the water from the tofu using a white cloth. Put the tofu in a food processor. Add salt, pepper, paprika (for color), mushroom spice, garlic powder, 1/4 cup of chickpea flour, 2 tbsp of oil & tapioca starch. Blend till it thickens. Blend the veggie dogs and shiitake mushroom separately.
Lay the tofu blend first on tofu skin/soy sheet. Add the veggie dog blend on the second layer. Then the shiitake mushroom blend. Roll it to a big roll.
Wrap with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes at 350 F (176 C). Remove the aluminum foil. Baste the tofu turkey with the mustard mix.
Vegetarian Tofu Turkey Pot Roast
Ingredients:
Must use a food processor. This is not an option.
Two packages of organic firm tofu (four pieces total), 5 veggie dogs, 5 shiitake mushrooms (pre-soaked), two big pieces of fresh/soft tofu skin or soy sheet.
For basting, mix mustard, honey, maple syrup, and soy sauce.
Edible Party Holiday Tree!
This holiday food tree is very fun to make with your family and friends.
Tip: Put a lazy susan underneath the round plate so as you are decorating the tree, you can turn it around easily and “slowly” to see the tree from all angle.
What is holding up the food tree beneath the food is actually by two watermelons! One big one on the bottom and a small one on the top. Trim off their top and bottom so they are flat and sturdy. Use a long hard plastic or a long thick stick to hold the two melons together by poking through their centers. Trim off their sides to form a “tree” shape; otherwise, they will look like a snowman instead.
Use toothpicks to hold the food on the melons.
The rest of the ingredients are what you see in the picture with vegetarian sausages. The top are marshmallow (a must for the holiday spirit) and layers of fresh mozzarella cheese. For vegetarians, omit the prawns, smoke salmon, mussels, and fish balls.
This is good for a party of 10 people or more.
“Pixar” Inspired Party Salad
This party salad is totally inspired by the amazing salad bar at the Pixar Campus!
Individual salad bar choices from screen left to right:
Green guavas, organic grapes, marinated artichokes, mix salad (baby spinaches, pomegranates, grapefruits, and persimmons) with salt, pepper, and olive oil, and gluten free brown rice pasta.
Dried cranberries, dried sliced coconuts, shredded carrots with cucumbers, sliced red bell pepper with pineapples, and strawberries.
Quinoa, fried tofu, green beans, green zucchini, and mushrooms.
Not in picture: Cherry tomatoes, grilled eggplants (cut in cubes), cut boiled eggs, edamame, and rotisserie chicken (for the non-vegetarian).
Salad sauce: Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, honey, black pepper and soy sauce.
Holiday Natural Fruit Pudding
Use a food processor to blend watermelon and mango separately. For other colors, try strawberry, pineapple, banana, or kiwi.
In a pot, add 1.5 teaspoons of agar agar powder to 1/2 cup of water. Cook at medium heat. Stir constantly until boil.
Then add two teaspoons of stevia.
Pull in 1.5 cup of the blended watermelon from above to the agar agar mixture. Stir well.
Pull into silicon/ceramic/pyrex cups. Let them cool before putting them in the fridge.
Repeat the same recipe but use blended mango or other colorful fruit.
Ready to serve when they are cold about 30 minutes.
Party Tiny Cup Cheesecakes
This is the same recipe as the Light & Fluffy Cheesecake below. But presentation is everything to impress your guests 🙂.
Instead of baking the cheesecake in the pyrex tray, use the tiny silicon cups. When the cheesecake is cooked and cooled, add a blackberry or raspberry on top as shown in the picture.
Vegetarian Empanadas
Modified version of beef empanadas
Substitute beef with impossible beef or Trader Joe’s vegetarian chorizo.
Diced celery, carrot, frozen peas, corns, garlic, paprika, cumin, and cheddar cheese.
Chu’s Yummy Cioppino
Heat olive oil in a pot at medium heat.
Add 2 tablespoons of crushed garlic, 2 bay leaves, and diced onion.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of cumin and 2 tablespoons of paprika.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper.
Add 1 teaspoon of crushed chili pepper, mushroom spice, salt and pepper.
Add sliced carrot, celeries, and potatoes.
Add one jar of tomato sauce and 2 cups of water.
Simmer till potatoes are beginning to soften. Add diced zucchini.
Skip the following if you are a vegetarian:
Add cubed mahi mahi, halibut, or salmon. Add 1/2 cup of scotch.
Add dungeness crabs, clams, prawns, squids, and mussels. Simmer till the seafoods are all cooked but not overcooked.
Taste the soup. If it does not taste “intense”, add more paprika, cayenne pepper, and crushed chili pepper. Serve with baguette or steam rice.
Chu’s Thanksgiving Turkey
Buy an oven bag beforehand.
Marinade the turkey overnight:
On the night before, make sure the turkey is completely thawed out. Use paper towels (lots of) to dry the turkey inside and outside. This step is very important. We want to remove as much moisture as possible.
In a small pan, add salt, black pepper, and garlic powder. No oil. Cook at low heat and keep stirring until the salt starts to turn golden. The amount of salt and pepper depends on how big is the turkey. The one in this picture is 13 pounds (5.89 kg). I used about 1.5 tablespoons of salt and 0.5 tablespoon of pepper. Let it cool and rub it on the turkey inside and outside. Use a fork to poke into the turkey to allow the salt to penetrate. Wrap the turkey and put it in the fridge overnight.
Stuffings:
On Thanksgiving Day, about 7 hours before your guests show up for dinner, prepare the stuffings. Stir fry with oil, diced onion, celery, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, garlic, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder. Cook for about 5 minutes. Remove the turkey from the fridge and add the stuffings inside the turkey.
Bake:
Preheat the oven to the temperature recommended for the oven bag. Around 350 F (176 C). Get an estimate of cooking time from the oven bag instructions.
Coat inside the oven bag with a tablespoon of cornstarch.
Place the turkey in the oven bag, and poke a few holes on the bag. Tight the bag and place it on a stainless steel tray.
Bake till the turkey is almost cooked (when the bones on the drumsticks begin to separate).
Brush the turkey a few times with soy sauce, honey, and maple syrup. The vegetables cooked inside the turkey will make the turkey moist and juicy!