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Some Fun Ideas For All of Us - cjs - 10-18-2007 My friend, June Jacobs, sent me a review by a friend of hers this a.m. and oh my, the ideas from one particular restaurant - she writes for the New Jersey Life magazine and the restaurant that really caught my eye was "Culinariane" in Montclair. The chef/owner's food is just right up my alley and some of her ideas would really be fun to play with - here goes: "Our first hint of such qualities came with the evening’s amuse-bouche, a puff-pastry round topped with fig purée, pickled red onion, and goat cheese." ----- We began and ended our meal in earnest with food “martinis.” I have encountered crab salads in martini glasses elsewhere, but Ariane Duarte’s version ranks among the best, with creamy mango guacamole playing up the crab’s innate sweetness. Equally bright and light was the dessert: "lemon meringue pie in a martini glass. It is even better than the traditional version, in my opinion, because it’s not weighed down by a crust. " ------ There was a mention of a couple other combinations that sound very good also, but the above dishes are just calling out to me... Re: Some Fun Ideas For All of Us - Harborwitch - 10-18-2007 Yum! Something fun to play with! Re: Some Fun Ideas For All of Us - Roxanne 21 - 10-18-2007 Would love to experiment with these!!! FUNNNN indeed--- Very similar to the presentations at Tapinos in Scottsdale, AZ. Too many interesting dishes with very different combinations----YUMMM!!! New experiments??? I'm willing---if I can find the ingredients---GEESH!!! You guys are really killing me!!! Re: Some Fun Ideas For All of Us - luvnit - 10-18-2007 Oooh Martini Food... I love it! Gotta have some pics... or this Mashed Potato Martini Another Mashed Potato Martini Or this little number Or maybe this seafood dish??? Somebody slap me!!!! Re: Some Fun Ideas For All of Us - esgunn - 10-18-2007 So, how would you do that pie? Make the lemon pie fillingon the stove as usual, and top with the meringue and use a torch to brown it? Would that be enough cooking for the filling and the meringue? Re: Some Fun Ideas For All of Us - labradors - 10-18-2007 Of course, for just a touch more authenticity, using something with a sauce containing vermouth, then garnishing with an olive would be nice. Re: Some Fun Ideas For All of Us - Mare749 - 10-18-2007 "There was a mention of a couple other combinations that sound very good also, but the above dishes are just calling out to me..." And please let us know when you have mastered them! I'm curious about the pie also. How do you cook the meringue, separately on parchment? That could be tricky..... Maryann Re: Some Fun Ideas For All of Us - cjs - 10-19-2007 Cooking meringue separately in rounds is what I initially thot of doing, have to play with this next week. Customers realy liked the martini dishes a few years ago. I'm surprised some folks are still doing them. Re: Some Fun Ideas For All of Us - pjcooks - 10-19-2007 I'm going to play around with the lemon meringue, that sounds really neat for a birthday party coming up. Thanks for the idea, Jean! We just did a seafood martini a while back, I think it looked very similar to your picture, Laura. (Never did see the finished product, Chef assembled on site) (which is where I wasn't) PJ Re: Some Fun Ideas For All of Us - labradors - 10-19-2007 To make something that could be sold with a minimum of cost and fuss, I won't be using Martini glasses - just clear, plastic, disposable cups. First I'll make a custard, but substituting coconut milk for the regular milk. Then that will be part of alternate layers of custard, guava jam and pineapple jam, then popped into the freezer to make frozen-custard parfaits. Were I to make this to serve directly, though, the Martini glass would make for a nice presentation - perhaps with a blueberry or strawberry on a toothpick to mimic the usual olive.