Anfitrion's Best Secret: Make-Ahead Feast

The Gluten-free Chicano Cooks and Entertains
Anfitrión At the Ready

Michael Sedano, The Gluten-free Chicano

This is that time of year when people behold autumn leaves hanging loosely from bare ruined choirs, when winter and holiday time approach. Celebration time.

The Gluten-free Chicano enjoys entertaining gente and especially serving delicious gluten-free food without complicating the preparation. Inevitably, los guests will bring breads and birongas for themselves and I make sure when I lay out the tables to keep ingredients and serving spoons well separated. Cross-contamination is danger number one of party foods.

One holiday party, the only safe food for me was a bowl of candied pecans. A friendly guest inquired how I liked her nuts—she’d made them—and I enthused without a risqué remark, noting the nuts being stuck in hard clumps. The woman picks up a pretzel stick and smashes it into the candied pecans to separate them and walks away triumphantly. I stare glumly at bits of wheat pretzel embedded in the only gluten-free food at the holiday party.

When you host a pachanga, safe eating at a party is assured. One secret to enjoying a holiday party is planning easy-to-fix-ahead good food, lots of it, and a suitable choice of main comida, like carne asada and pollo; call it a barbeque! 

In fact, that’s what we did when The Gluten-free Chicano recently hosted a housewarming party. The weather held, so we did the entire thing outside next to the grill, Califas style. (The Gluten-free Chicano has friends who barbequed outdoors on a Minnesota winter holiday, Californians to the core!)

Keep It Simple Menu for a Mostly Made-Ahead Celebratory Pachanga

Cheese and salami plate
Pickles
Caprese salad
Charcoal grilled marinated beef and chicken strips
Champagne and Jamaica

Two sharp cheddars and a spicy salami

Cheese and salami plate is finger food but provide napkins and small plates. The larger the guest list the more variety you want; hard and soft cheeses, add fresh fruit, cajeta de membrillo, additional sausages, slivers of carne seca. 

For the Gluten-free Chicano’s recent housewarming Pachanga, we went minimalist with White and Yellow well-aged Cheddars, and a hot salami sausage.

One jar of pickled vegetables for a small gathering is more than enough

Hot garden mix pickled vegetables offer tasty crunchiness that accents the sharp cheese and salami.

Caprese salad with lots of ssliced garlic and yerba buena instead of basil 

Caprese Salad offers elegance and beauty to the table. You can make it four hours ahead and set aside, hasta at room temperature. You need plates and forks for this wonderful salad. An effective serving utensil is essential, wide and flat not spoon.

Fresh mozzarella balls, drain 
best tomatoes possible, slice thick
fresh mint or fresh basil leaves, lots
fresh garlic thinly sliced, 3 or 4 cloves
lime or lemon juice
balsamic vinegar
good olive oil
coarse salt / kosher / sea salt
Romaine lettuce leaves

This salad is easy and fast. Lay lettuce leaves across a flat serving plate. Slice everything, arrange on plate. Sprinkle all over with juice of half a lime or lemon, a scant capful of balsamic vinegar, a TBS of your best olive oil. Sprinkle with coarse salt crystals. Cover and set aside.

BBQ and Beverages

If you don’t have a favorite carne asada or chicken marinade, leave a comment to add urgency to future cooking column plans. La Bloga-Tuesday’s current cooking focus is cold weather caldos and guisados. Soups are winter victuals, perfect for familia and small gatherings. Today’s preparations fed under a dozen and could easily upscale to feed dozens of more.

Jamaica is wondrously easy. Put a handful of dried flowers in a quart of water. Cover and set in sunshine for two hours. Drain, sweeten to taste, chill.

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Gluten-free Provecho, gente!