Roaring 20's Soirée

Last Saturday, I catered a 1920's themed birthday party. Celebrations in that decade included finger foods, such as deviled eggs, canapes and shrimp cocktail. My menu took a slightly modern approach, complimenting bite-sized foods from that decade, with savory nibbles from present day.

Here was the menu:

Taking a page from F. Scott Fitzgerald's, Great Gatsby, I served Shaved Ham with Maple Butter and Cornbread Tartine. Simply delicious!

SHAVED HAM WITH MAPLE BUTTER AND CORNBREAD TARTINE (40-1/2" slices)

(adapted from Kitchy Kitchen's recipe)

A tartine is an open-faced sandwich. Serve this buffet style, allowing your guests to do the work.

Cornbread

2 sticks butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups finely ground cornmeal

1 1/2 cups coarsely ground cornmeal

2 cups flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons salt

3 cups whole millk

2-11" x 2 1/2" loaf pans

ONE: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

TWO: In a mixer, cream butter with sugar. Add eggs one a time, until fully blended.

THREE: Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Blend the two cornmeals together in another bowl.

FOUR: Add one third of the flour, one third of the cornmeal and 1 cup of milk to the mixer. Mix on low until combined.

FIVE. Continue to do the same until you have added all of your ingredients.

SIX: Grease and flour the loaf pan, to ensure the bread will come out with ease.

SEVEN: Divide the batter between the two loaf pans and bake for 50 minutes. Test with a skewer.

EIGHT: Run a knife around the inside of the pan.

NINE: When completely cool, flip the loaf pan over on another pan or plate.

TEN: For best cutting results, wrap in saran wrap and freeze. Slice when almost completely frozen, and as thick as you desire

MAPLE BUTTER

2 sticks butter, room temperature

1/2 cup maple syrup

ONE: Whip the butter in a mixer and slowly add the maple syrup.

TWO: Taste for sweetness, and add more syrup if desired.

THREE: Pour into a small bowl and level the top (so the presentation is nice).

FOUR: If you are using at a later time, cover with saran wrap and refrigerate,. The maple butter can stay in the fridge for up to a week. Take out several hours before you plan to use the butter, to allow for it to get to room temperature.

SHAVED HAM

We used a spiral cut ham, and shaved the slices into smaller pieces. Prosciutto or Serano Ham would also be lovely accompaniments to this dish.

(Sorry, I wasn't able to take a photo of this dish. I served it on a silver tiered tray, which was both functional and quite stunning.)

When designing a menu, I always consider texture, color and flavor of the foods served. Blood Orange Crisps have a deep ruby hue, the perfect crispness, and are a slightly unexpected pairing with cheeses and charcuterie.

BLOOD ORANGE CRISPS

8-10 blood oranges (standard oranges would work just fine here)

1/3 cup sugar

ONE: Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

TWO: Line several baking sheets with aluminum foil and a wire baking rack.

THREE: Thinly sliced the oranges and place in a bowl with the sugar. Shake the bowl with the oranges and sugar, allowing the slices to get slightly covered by the sugar.

FOUR: Place slices on the baking racks, making sure each slice has its own space.

FIVE: Bake for about 3 hours, or until the slices become crisp.

SIX: Store in an airtight container for no longer than a day.

Note: I baked these two days before the event. As it does in Seattle, it rained for those two days, which caused the crisps to become slightly limp. I sprinkled some additional sugar on the oranges, and re-crisped the slices at 225 degrees for another 30-45 minutes.