Hawaiian-Asian Birthday Party, continued...

We continue our review of the Hawaiian-Asian Birthday Luau from late summer with a look at the savory foods swerved on the buffet. As the theme of the party suggests, the food drew inspiration from Hawai'i, the Philippines, Japan, and China. Together, the delicious foods from these varied cultures created an exciting selection of meats, vegetables, and starches. Taken together, they were a delightfully balanced culinary experience.

We started with handmade Japanese chicken gyoza with a sesame-ginger dipping sauce.

Hand-rolled Filipino Lumpia-- bursting with ground spiced pork and vegetables-- were a guest favorite, quickly disappearing off the buffet as fast as we could replenish the beautiful hand-crafted platter.

A platter of grilled meats and vegetables was both delicious and colorful in appearance. Pictured at the bottom of the platter, grilled Mongolian marinated beef with a Thai red curry and cabernet dipping sauce. Spicy and sweet, this has to be one of our favorite marinade and sauce combinations. Moving clockwise, next to the beef is oven-roasted baby bok choy, followed by grilled chicken, pineapple, and vegetable yakitori. Smokey and sweet, these chicken and fruit skewers were refreshing and satisfying. Last, white miso glazed grilled vegetables completed this overflowing platter!

Toasted coconut sweet sticky rice and Chinese cold sesame noodles provided the perfect foil for the spicy and savory meats and vegetables.

Slow-roasted kalua pork-- a traditional Hawaiian celebratory food-- was our personal favorite of the afternoon. Smokey, salty, and flavorful, this meat was so tender it melted in the mouth. Accompanying the pork were Japanese pickled carrots with shiso, and hibiscus pickled lotus root.

Fresh crudites with Schezuan five-spice powder dip was both colorful, cool, and refreshing.

A colorful and delicious salad of roasted sweet corn, black beans, mango, avocado peppers and cilantro was finished with a tart and refreshing citrus vinaigrette.

All together, we were very pleased with the Luau buffet. The food was accented with Asian and Hawaiian-inspired decorations including fans, flowers, lanterns, Hawaiian quilt squares, and tableware.

Tomorrow, a look at the sweets that followed the savory buffet. Be sure to join us again!

Hawaiian-Asian Fusion Birthday Party

In late summer, we were commissioned to cater a birthday party for a friend and client celebrating her 40th birthday. The theme of the party was to be a Hawaiian-Asian Fusion Luau. We were excited about this challenge, as the season was perfect for fresh tropical fruits. As such, a multi-tiered tropical fruit display became the centerpiece and focal point of the buffet.

Fresh Hawaiian pineapple, baby "apple bananas," fresh lychee and rambutan, mangos, papayas, watermelon, grapes, berries, melons, passion fruit, and fresh coconuts combined to create a beautiful and delicious display. Served with a thick and creamy vanilla and wildflower honey yogurt dip, the fruit display was a favorite with guests!

Fresh orchids and tropical flowers, and carved fruits completed the display, making it as beautiful as it was delicious!

Tomorrow, we will focus on the savory foods on the buffet. Mahalo, and be sure to check back!

the search for the perfect brownie...

Here at orenji catering, we are always looking for new ideas, and new ways to improve on old ideas. Oftentimes, "reinventing" classics is a good way to breathe some life into everyday foods. In this case, we set out to update (and upgrade) the classic chocolate brownie.

To do so, we thought of one of our favorite flavor combinations-- chocolate and caramel... and then we ran to the orenji test kitchens!

We started with a moist, but crumbly bittersweet chocolate brownie, made with brown sugar and olive oil for a bit more depth of flavor.



To the brownie, we swirled in some handmade caramel, buttery and vanilla infused, creating a smooth and creamy contrast to the dense, crumbly brownie. A handful of chopped toasted (and salted) cashews provided further textural crunch and contrast! Prior to baking, we added the pièce de résistance -- French grey salt, a type of sea salt, to accentuate the flavors and awaken another part of the mouth! It was almost like eating a chocolate covered sea salt caramel!



We will keep looking for the perfect brownie, and you can be sure that we'll post about our adventures every time we do! Keep checking back. In the next few days we will begin posting about a recently completed Asian-Hawaiian fusion birthday party. You don't want to miss that!

Colorado chef's degustation: the menu...

During our recent review of our eleven course Colorado chef's degustation, we received requests to reprint our entire menu. The link below will take you to the menu, in it's entirety. Thank you for your interest and continued visits to comparing apples and orenji: the website of orenji.

Colorado Chef's Degustation Menu

Colorado chef's degustation: mignardises...

To finish our Colorado chef's degustation menu, we turned to some old favorites-- mignardises. Mignardises are small bites, generally sweet in nature, that finish a meal. In this case, we wanted to highlight diverse flavors, giving our guests' taste buds one last exciting culinary experience. To that end, we create four bites.

The first was a milk chocolate truffle infused with the pungent Indian spice blend, garam masala. Generally used in savory cooking, this spice blend (containing cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, cloves, nutmeg, caraway) provides deep and rich flavors to the smooth chocolate.

The second mignardise was a hand-crafted Concord grape jelly-- starting with pounds of fresh grapes, the flavor of the delicious, naturally sweet fruit, was condensed and jelled, leaving the consumer with a burst of flavor reminiscent of a summer's day.

Our third tasty post-meal bite was a Belgian bittersweet chocolate molded leaf, infused with Mexican cinnamon, smoked sea salt, and chili pepper. The spicy, salty, smokey flavors melded with the dark bittersweet chocolate to create an exciting flavor combination on the tongue-- perfect with a glass of hearty red wine or port!

And lastly, we finished our meal with an orenji classic-- hand-candied orange peel-- one of our favorites.

Tomorrow, we'll post the menu, for your review. Thanks for checking in, and taking this culinary ride with us as we relived our recently created and prepared Colorado chef's degustation. Cheers!

Colorado chef's degustation: course nine...

Dessert! We finally reach the near-conclusion of our Colorado chef's degustation menu. Again, following our culinary aesthetic, we wanted to highlight locally produced items, and in this case, choose local goat cheese. We fashioned the goat cheese into a deliciously creamy and sweet ice cream, infused with vanilla and sugar. The ice cream was served atop a warm grilled poached peach, the peaches having been poached in sweet white wine and vanilla. (Unfortunately, we were in Colorado just weeks before their local peach crop was ripe, otherwise we would have been able to sample the deliciously sweet local produce). In turn, the grilled peach was served atop a warm and crisp Belgian bittersweet chocolate and toasted hazelnut "crouton," which was caramelized in butter and brown sugar.

Topping this tower of interesting sweets was a toasted hazelnut tuile-- buttery and crisp, providing a textural contrast to the smoothness of the ice cream and lightness of the poached, grilled peach. Finishing the course, providing both deep color and flavor, an aged balsamic syrup reduction infused with cinnamon basil. The herbal quality of the basil, mingled with the sweet acidity of the reduced balsamic vinegar, balanced the overwhelming sweetness of the other components, making this an enjoyable last course of our chef's degustation... well, the last course before mignardises (which we'll talk about tomorrow). See you then!

Colorado chef's degustation: course eight...

Our second composed cheese course featured in the recently prepared Colorado chef's degustation event, featured rich triple cream St. Andre cheese. St. Andre is a mold-ripened semi-soft French cheese made from cow's milk. During the cheese making process, extra heavy cream is added, creating an ultra-concentrated, creamy cheese which is very soft at room temperature. The taste is exquisite-- deep, fatty, and somewhat acidic (yet playfully sweet).

For our composed cheese course, we constructed a Napoleon of St. Andre and puff pastry, warming it gently in the oven until the cheese was deliciously soft. Caramelized Asian pears added a touch of sweetness, with a praline and mustard agrodolce (an Italian sauce using acid to balance sweetness) providing a deep burnt sugar taste and acidic foil to the sweetness of the fruit and the creaminess of the cheese.




Handmade ice cream-- rich with Tahitian vanilla and Australian Murray River pink salt offered a cool, creamy, and somewhat salty complement to the other components on the plate, enhancing each of their tastes. Lastly burnt sugar "glass," infused with the spicy aromatics of African grains of paradise, completed the dish creating both a dramatic appearance and a lingering finish on the palate.

Tomorrow, dessert! Be sure to come back and visit 'comparing apples and orenji...'

Colorado chef's degustion: course seven...

Course seven of our Colorado chef's degustation event was the first of two composed cheese courses. Here at orenji, we feel that plated cheese courses are an important moment in an event, signaling the transition from savory food to sweet food near the conclusion of the meal. Of course, in this case, we still had a few tricks up our sleeves, and three more courses!

This cheese course, the first of two, highlighted white Stilton cheese (technically a "blue cheese," although in this case, the mold is white) from England packed with dried Turkish apricots. Using the cheese as a base, we prepared a savory cheesecake with a rice cracker and seaweed crust-- perfectly marrying the sweetness of the apricots, the richness of the cheese, and the saltiness of the seaweed into a well-balanced bite.




The cheesecake was accompanied by a salad of baby rocket, caramelized pistachios, and toasted sesame with a light sesame vinaigrette. An apricot gastrique finished the dish, providing a much needed hint of acidity to the otherwise rich course. As vibrant and pretty as it was beautiful, this course was the perfect way to begin winding down the evening.

Tomorrow, the second of two composed cheese courses. We'll see you then!

Colorado chef's degustation: course six...

The next course of our recently completed Colorado chef's degustation event-- technically the "entree" course-- focused on local lamb.

We decided to give our lamb course some Asian flair, marinating the locally raised lamb chops in a Mongolian marinade rich with lemongrass, Thai basil, kaffir lime leaf, garlic and ginger. The marinade is just sweet enough that it nicely caramelizes on the grill-- even if the lamb is only grilled for a few minutes (which was the case in this instance). The result is an aromatic, flavorfully spiced, and tender meat which is incomparable in taste!

Served over the lamb, our Thai Cabernet and red curry reduction-- a sauce that begins as two sauces: a classic Cabernet pan reduction married with a Thai red curry sauce which has it's base in coconut milk and fish sauce. Together, these two disparate sauces mingle to create a rich and creamy (but spicy!) blend.

Our lamb was served alongside mashed celeriac, the root of the celery plant, which brought a creamy and earthy flavor to the dish, as well as some Chinese long beans which were braised with Harissa. (Harissa is a North African hot red paste made from smoked or dried chili peppers, tomatoes, garlic, coriander, caraway, and cumin and thinned with olive oil.) The spicy, yet smokey, harissa was the perfect foil for the sweet sauce and earthy celery root, with the braised long beans adding textural crunchy contrast!

Overall, our guests favorite course of the evening, we were all too pleased to highlight the deliciously young and tender locally raised lamb. Tomorrow, the first of two plated cheese courses (which will prepare you for our recently completed 10 course chef's cheese degustation... coming soon!) Be sure to check back!

Colorado chef's degustation: course five...

Course five of our Colorado chef's degustation menu was the 'intermezzo'... or the palate cleanser course. The purpose of serving a tart or acidic sorbet during the course of a heavy meal is to remove the rich tastes of previous courses and awake the taste buds to what is coming up next. We feel as if we accomplished this task well, serving a beautifully composed and colorful course and reviving the taste buds from the many flavors already experienced during the first half of the meal.

The first of our "trio of sorbets" was a rhubarb and kumquat sorbet-- the acidity and astringency of the rhubarb complemented by the sweet kumquat flavors. The second of our sorbets was a combination of ume (or Japanese green plum) and Hawaiian lavender. The tart plums benefited from the soothing infusion of floral lavender, creating a unique taste and flavor. The last of the three sorbets was a wildflower honey and sweet sage sorbet. Again the sweetness of the honey was complemented by herbal undertones.



To serve our sorbets, we poured a hibiscus flower soup tableside, tying the six flavors together with a colorful and deep-flavored base against which to enjoy the sorbets. The soup provided a sweetness which tempered the acidity of the sorbets, cleansing the palate and creating a multitude of flavor combinations for the guests to try.

Up next, see what we did with local lamb chops. Be sure to check back!

Colorado chef's degustation: course four...

The next course in our Colorado chef's degustation menu featured a duet of duck, or "duck squared" as we like to call it. Here, we attempted to pair two preparations of duck into a cohesive dish highlighting the variance in flavor and cooking methodology. We think it was a fairly successful effort.

The first of our duck preparations was a hand-rolled ravioli filled with duck confit and caramelized leeks. Duck confit is a traditional French preparation of duck (hailing from the Gascony region) in which the duck leg is first salt cured, and then poached in it's own fat. The result is a flavorful and very rich piece of meat-- the perfect filling for a ravioli.

The ravioli was paired with our second preparation of duck-- Earl Grey tea smoked duck breast. To prepare this duck, we wok-smoked a seasoned duck breast over loose Early Grey tea leaves. The meat was tender and juicy, and redolent with the spicy high notes of the tea.

Both preparations of meat were served atop a ragout of broad beans, grilled baby artichokes, and earthy fresh morel mushrooms. The dish was finished with a juniper berry pan jus and juniper berry oil, both of which accentuated the sweet tea-scents and richness of the meat.

Striking in both appearance and taste, this course was a favorite of the guests. It would be difficult to pick a favorite preparation of the duck-- the richness of the confit versus the spiciness of the smoked duck! Tomorrow, the palate cleanser... and then on to the "entree" in our Colorado chef's degustation. Be sure to check back.

Colorado chef's degustation: course three...

Our review of the recently imagined and prepared Colorado chef's degustation continues with the "fish course." In this course, we sought to marry the natural sweetness of fish with the earthiness of truffles and freshness of local produce.

This well-balanced course started with a vibrant green "soup" of braised pea shoots, finished with the earthy undertone of white truffle oil. The soup was fresh, slightly acidic, and the perfect complement to the richness of the risotto and fish.

Atop the soup, we placed a "risotto" made from Israeli pearl couscous-- a larger grain with more textural "bite" to it. The risotto was flavored with fresh asparagus, smoky saffron, and herbal tarragon.

Butter poached Chilean sea bass topped the risotto-- the sweetness of the fish shining through the simple preparation. The buttery flesh was perfectly moist and flaky, tastes melding easily with the risotto and soup.

Sauteed black truffles finished the dish, a testament to the belief that 'a little goes a long way...' These truffles tied the dish together, pulling in the white truffle oil from the soup and creating a memorable gustatory experience.

Tomorrow, duck! Be sure to see what we came up with as a follow-up to this, our favorite fish course prepared in recent memory!

Colorado chef's degustation: course two...

Course two of our Colorado chef's degustation was developed with the intention of highlighting simple Japanese flavors, while cleansing the palate and awakening the taste buds to future courses.

To that end, we prepared a deconstructed Japanese "mojito..."

The focal point of the deconstructed course was an icy granita of Hakutsure-Sayuri (はくつるーさゆり) sake, a sweet unfiltered sake reminiscent of cantaloupe melon. The warmth of the sake was complemented by a green aloe "air"-- a light whipped foam which clung to the icy granita, providing both textural and temperature contrast.

A fresh flavored sweet shiso gelée, cubed to resemble ice cubes with a foamy gradient, provided an herbal tone to the dish. Freshly crisped shiso sprinkled with sea salt, and hand-candied young white ginger tempura provided both warmth and texture to the complex dish.

All in all, this "cold" course awoke the palates of our guests, providing both a cleansing bite as well as a conversation starter. It prepared us all for the following course, the fish course. Check back to see what we did with Chilean sea bass!

Colorado chef's degustation: course one...

We continue our review of our recently prepared Colorado chef's degustation menu with a look at course one... a fish course.

Our aim with this course was to highlight the natural sweetness inherent in delicious diver scallops, and then to complement the sweetness with a smokey, earthy foil. In pursuit of that goal, we began this dish with a base of roasted cauliflower puree-- the roasting process adding both a deeper earthy flavor to the vegetable, but also providing a hint of caramelization and resulting sweetness.

The pan sauteed diver scallop was served atop this puree, and surrounded by a warm and tangy caper and white raisin espuma. This warm foam was both acidic from the capers, and sweet from the slow-cooked sun dried white raisins, balancing the earthiness of the cauliflower and the sweetness of the scallop. The airiness of the foam allowed the intensity of flavors, as had this been a traditional sauce or vinaigrette, it would have overwhelmed the delicate scallop.

A floret of caramelized cauliflower and some delicious warm, oven-dried grapes provided a textural contrast, as well as intense bites of flavor.

Tomorrow, course two... the first of two "palate cleansers" in our Colorado chef's degustation. See you then!

Colorado chef's degustation: amuse bouche

Our Colorado chef's degustation meal continued with a plated amuse bouche. Part of our culinary philosophy, here at orenji, is bringing people together to try new and exciting flavor combinations. The duet of amuse bouches is a perfect example of this approach. By creating many small bites of food, we can experiment with a far more varied array of flavors, textures, and cooking preparations... and our guests therefore get to expand their own culinary palates in the process.

The first of the two amuse is one of our most frequent requested items-- a sweet Turkish apricot, poached delicately in a rosemary infused sweet wine, stuffed with gorgonzola cheese and applewood smoked bacon, and broiled until warm. A syrup made from a slow reduction of the poaching liquid completed this rich, but tasty bite.

The second amuse bouche-- also attributed to Thomas Keller-- was his classic"bacon and eggs," but with an orenji twist. A poached quail egg, sauteed gently with a melange of root vegetables, was finished with a smokey, salty white miso broiled prosciutto. The saltiness of the meat contrasted the buttery egg perfectly, leaving the taste buds craving more... but isn't that exactly what the perfect amuse bouche is meant to do?

Tomorrow, we continue our coverage of the Colorado chef's degustation menu with a look at course one... be sure to check back!

Colorado chef's degustation

A little while ago-- in late spring-- we had the opportunity to travel to Boulder, Colorado and prepare a chef's degustation for some dear friends and clients. The challenge in this particular case was to find locally produced ingredients, as is our culinary aesthetic-- fresh cuisine, highlight locally produced seasonal ingredients. In Boulder, we were fortunate enough to locate locally produced fruits and vegetables, cheeses, and lamb. All in all, the quality of ingredients was exceptional!

Our amuse bouche-- that little bite that tickles the taste buds and prepares the for what is to come-- was an homage to Thomas Keller, one of America's greatest chefs. Light and flaky black sesame tuille cornets were filled with salmon tartare tossed in lime oil, and topped with sweet Maui onion creme fraiche.

The saltiness of the tuille was the perfect foil of the acidic fish, and smooth and creamy creme fraiche. This one-bite treat-- paired with a dry champange-- began the meal beautifully, awakening the taste buds of our guests, and gathering them around the table to begin our meal.

In the next few weeks, we will be highlighting each course of our Colorado chef's degustation-- so please be sure to check back!

Gianduja Chocolate Torte

Recently, we were commissioned to create a specialty birthday cake for a customer who appreciates the finer things in life, and shares our European pastry sensibility. We hurried to the orenji kitchens to pull out all the stops and bake something the finest European pastry chef would be proud of. We think we succeeded quite well.

Beginning with the finest Belgian dutch cocoa, we created a dense chocolate and toasted hazelnut genoise, which we soaked with a vanilla and Frangelico syrup.

The dense and flavorful cake was filled with a mousse prepared with the finest Italian gianduja-- a robust hazelnut-infused chocolate-- creating a light, but deep filling.

The entire torte was covered with Belgian bittersweet chocolate ganache, and toasted chocolate hazelnuts for visual and textural contrast.

To finish the torte, a chocolate rose and accompanying leaves were hand-modeled from bittersweet chocolate and brushed with edible gold dust to create a stunning effect.

The cake was greatly appreciated-- both visually and in taste-- and even the rose was devoured!

In the next few weeks we will turn our attention to a multi-course degustation event we were fortunate enough to be commissioned to create in Boulder, Colorado. The menu allowed us to highlight local ingredients, staying true to our culinary aesthetic. We created some exciting new foods, which we are eager to share with you. Be sure to check back!

More Gourmet Cupcakes!

We continue our review of the duet of speciality gourmet cupcakes prepared this spring.

In contrast to the subtle flavors of our vanilla and lavender cupcakes, this cupcake was sweet, dense, and richly flavored.

We began with a classic butter genoise, loaded with toasted and ground hazelnuts. Once cooled, we soaked the genoise with a syrup infused with Frangelico hazelnut liqueur, ensuring the cake would be both moist and delicious.

Topping the genoise was a classic cooked French buttercream, redolent with hand-ground cashew praline dust. The sweet, yet bitter, burnt sugar of the dust made the perfect compliment to the smooth buttercream.

Topped with chunks of cashew praline, these cupcakes were dense and delicious.

Next, we turn our attention to a specialty birthday cake, made in classic Italian style. You don't want to miss this, so we'll see you again soon at 'comparing apples and orenji...'

Gourmet Cupcakes

In today's post, we review the first of two specialty "springtime" cupcakes we were commissioned to create for a dear friend and client.

The first flavor began with a dense poundcake-like yellow cake, richly infused with butter and Tahitian vanilla. Following baking, the cakes were soaked in a simple syrup containing Hawaiian lavender, creating a moist and delicately-flavored floral pastry.







The cakes were then topped with a freshly whipped French buttercream, flavored with freshly zested lemon peel and lavender essence. The acidity of the lemon perfectly complimented the deep floral undertones of the lavender, creating a delicate sensory experience.










Topped with candied violets, these cupcakes were perfect for a summer picnic, high tea, or a lazy afternoon snack.





Tomorrow, the second of our gourmet cupcakes-- very different, but equally as delicious!

Mother's Day Treats, part 4...

We conclude our review of Mother's Day 2008 treats with an orenji signature creation: Milk and Dark Chocolate Orange Slices with Candied Orange Peel.

We begin with the finest Belgian milk and bittersweet chocolates-- smooth and creamy-- into which we fold bits of our hand-candied orange peel.

The peel creates a bitter-sweet, sugary contrast to the smoothness of the chocolate, infusing it with deliciously vibrant, yet subtle, orange flavor.

We also are pleased to offer our hand-candied orange peel by itself-- the perfectly sweet finish to any meal.

Wrapped in our signature orange foil, and packaged in gold boxes with 'orenji' embossed ribbon, these orange slices are the perfect gift for any occasion.

Next we turn our attention to some springtime cupcakes in various flavors. You don't want to miss this!