Christmas Eve Food & Drinks - Thai Style

GoodBridge

I was hoping I might get some advice or ideas here about some food and drinks I'm putting on Christmas eve.

So we've about 20 people coming over to us on Christmas eve day and I was thinking on doing Thai food and cocktails (as well as the usual beer, wine, stout, whiskey, brandy, mulled cider, port etc.) as it's a light, fresh and spicy and I think would make a nice contrast to the heavier traditional fare the following days inevitably bring.

So, I think I'm going to do some platters to start:
- Pad-thai style chicken wings, with a reduced pad thai style sauce (taramind, palm sugar, fish sauce) and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and spring onion
- Sriracha & honey chicken wings finished with lime and corriander
- Chilli Beef Lettuce Wraps (Gordon Ramsay style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzFoThs2Qpw)

I was thinking on doing the Vietnamese summer rolls from cooking club but I think the flavour profile is fairly similar to Chilli Beef Lettuce Wraps and Mrs Goodbridge has requested we do those.

Then I was thinking on having two pots of curry:

- massaman curry with beef shin
- green curry with either chicken or prawn or monkfish (although this depends on whether I can get a hold of some holy basil this weekend)

And I was half thinking on doing a lemongrass chicken dish too (I'll post recipe for this later, it's the Saba restaurant one- so are the curry dishes, I can post those too if anyone's interested)

Does anyone have thoughts or suggestions? Any ideas on good cocktails I could do?

Many thanks

Merkin

Can I come too?

I think the menu looks great. If cooking for that many I'd be inclined to steer clear of fish for the green curry because it's just easier using chicken and us less likely to dry out.

I think maybe a pot of Tom yum gung might be handy if you fancy a prawn dish. It takes no time and is always a crowd pleaser.

I'd do lemongrass and lime majitos with Thai basil. Have a look here for some great ideas as well. Sounds like a lovely party!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/cassandrak9/20-scrumptious-asian-inspired-cocktails-to-ring-in-hdlh#.ffNeRBND5

Mrs Fox

GoodBridge wrote: »

Does anyone have thoughts or suggestions?

I suggest you invite me over!! Sounds fantastic for Christmas eve.

Mojito would go great with your menu. Have the lime-mint-brown sugar-(sparkling)water mix ready by the jug and you can pour in dark/spiced rum and ice when ready to serve.

I'm all for summer rolls *wink wink* but perhaps beef in lettuce wrap is much easier to prepare, since you have a lot going on already for that crowd.

Chicken wings, yum yum. I've never had pad thai wings do i'm intrigued, so if you could just invite me over I'd be able to tell you what I think of it. Ok? PM address please.

Minder

Plum punch

90ml apple juice
60ml vodka
60ml choya plum wine, or kikkoman is another common brand.
15ml pomegranate molasses
3 tsps blackberry jam
3 sprigs Thai basil - leaves picked
Soda water
Bitters

Mix the liquids and jam and pour into a large jug. Add ice and the leaves and add the soda to top it up. Finish with the bitters.


Vietnamese mint

90ml vodka
30ml limoncello
30ml lemon juice
30ml sugar syrup
3 sprigs of mint - leaves picked
1 lemon sliced thinly
Soda water
Lemonade

Mix the liquids and pour into a large jug. Add ice, the lemon slices and mint leaves. Top with half soda, half lemonade and stir to mix.

Minder

Try a fruit platter with chilli and lime sugar or mint sugar for dessert. Mix 1 cup of caster sugar with the zest of two limes and some chopped fresh Thai chillies.

Mix a second cup of caster sugar with the finely chopped leaves from a bunch of mint.

Prepare a platter of fresh fruit - pineapple, watermelon, banana, mango, or any other tropical fruit you can get, add fresh lime cheeks. Serve with the sugars in separate bowls. Everyone helps themselves, sprinkling the sugar over some fruit and adding a squeeze of lime.