Jessica's Dinner Party

by jessica yoon

dinner

Dessert First: Green Tea Layer Cake and Ginger Brownies

When it comes to dinner parties, I like to make dessert first.  In general, baking takes more time and careful precision than cooking.  So, before the kitchen becomes loud with banging pots and chopping knives, I like to have dessert completed.  The great thing about cakes is that it can be started a day in advance.  Usually, cake layers taste better the next day because the flavors are given time to rest and settle.  While baking is done the day before, I always frost and assemble my cakes in the morning of the day of the party.  I think frosting always tastes best the day it’s made.

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Update and a Dinner Party

My blogging has been a bit sporadic for the past couple of months.  I’d like to come up with some grand excuse that clearly shows I had absolutely no time to write, but I plead guilty to blog neglect.  I haven’t forgotten about my “duties” (to those two readers I still have left).  There were so many recipes, restaurants, and events that I wanted to write about but never got around to.  The problem was/is that I wait too long to blog.  So, by the time the pictures were uploaded, photoshopped, and ready to be talked about, the moment passed and it just wasn’t fresh anymore.  But, I’m going to make some changes around here, so if you see that you’re visiting JDP a few more times than before that means I’m doing something right.

On to more interesting topics, I catered another party last night!  This was the fifth event I catered for, one of which I briefly wrote about here.  I think my skills are getting a lot better, because this was the least stressful out of all the events.  I also finished a good hour and a half before I had to leave, which gave me enough time to take a little breather.  I think the key to success (coming from my “oh-so-many” experiences) is to prep as much as possible the day before and find dishes that are good at room temperature.  The latter has been the most difficult part to catering a dinner party.  Because I cook offsite and deliver fully prepared dishes, most of the dishes aren’t served hot.  So, in order to insure the best quality and tastes I’ve been doing a lot of test runs and mini tasting parties for friends and family.  The feedback from the tasting and parties has been very helpful.  With every event I find myself getting more confident and possibly (and hopefully) a little bit more successful.

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Browned Tofu In Spicy Soy Sauce

In general, I don’t cook Korean very often.  I have a tendency to be drawn towards rustic Italian dishes or interesting ingredients like quinoa and wheat berry.  These foods feel more exotic to me so many times I skip the Korean and cook up something I’ve never eaten before.  I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but I do think it’s a bit sad that I barely know how to cook what I call my comfort food.


To redeem myself a little bit, there is one Korean dish I know well and have almost mastered.  It is a browned tofu in a spicy soy sauce.  In Korean it’s called tubu chorim, 두부조림, which roughly translates to tofu boiled in sauce.  It’s very easy and fast.  It does require a couple of Asian condiments like soy sauce and sesame oil, but if you don’t have those in your pantry I highly encourage you to get them.  Soy sauce is well known, but sesame oil may not be.  It is a vegetable oil made from sesame seeds that is intensely fragrant and used in many Asian dishes.

 

 

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