potluck ideas

Hi,

What kind of food are you planning to make Veg or Non-veg. Main or side dish?

You can cook Peas pulavo, curd rice,pongal, Veg pulav, Spinach Rice etc for main dish- Veg

You can also cook Tandoori Chicken, Chicken 65, Butter chicken etc.. If you are a good Non-veg cook

You can cook Potato fry, Veg Kuruma etc.. as side dish

You can also make desert such as payasam, kesari which is easy to make

Hope you must have got a good idea by now

 

I take either starters or desserts...because those were the first or last items on the menu...so everyone will notice and appreciate me always...

skavi

 

Are you good with baking ?

If you are, you can make a chocolate cake, pudding, pie for dessert.

Or, you can make appetizers like empanada, quiche, wanton wrapper mini quiches ( these are terrific..tasty, easy , dont take any time to make )

If you are Not good with baking, try something different like a chinese dish ( use baby corn , flavoured tofu , chinese cabbage to make a stir fry) , make pasta or panini for a continental/italian flare, stuffed tomatoes/mushroom/bell peppers grilled or baked in oven at 400F.

my 2 cents worth.....dont do the usual rice/curry stuff if you want your stuff to stand out..... do something easy but different. I'd do the chinese fried rice/noodle or a stir fry or the ever favourite ......... tandoori chicken grilled in the oven.


Have fun !

 

Ladies I want to make veg. chili for the potluck this week. Can you pls. share your version of chili recipe.

Thanks

 

Hey ranchu,

Here goes some basic empanada ideas :

Empanada : You will need puff pastry sheet, also called pastry sheet (pillsbury will do, it may come in the form of a roll ). You will find in the refrigerated section of the grocery store ( Safeway, Lucky etc ).


1. Roll out the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface, to prevent sticking.

2. Use a small bowl to cut out small rounds from the pastry sheet.

3. Fill the centre with a filling ( Also sprinkle grated cheese like parmesan over the filling).

4. Wet the edges of the round with water and fold one end over the other so that they stick together ( You can fold them in any shape you like also). Thats the empanada.

5. With a knife , make 2 or 3 small cuts over the filled rounds so that the empanada does not burst during baking .

Optional Step : You can brush the empanadas with beaten egg. That will give it a terrific golden brown color when baking.

6. Line them on a baking sheet and

7. Bake in a 375 F oven for 20 mins or till they are golden on both sides. Turn them so that the other side gets golden too.

Serve with sauce/salsa.

Note : Instead of puff pastry sheet, you can use wanton wrappers or dumpling wrappers. You wont need to roll them out and cut them as they are already sold cut. You get about 50 in a pack , in the asian section of the store. Or in any chinese/japanese market. I have done this with square shaped wanton wrappers, filled and folded into triangles.


Veg Filling :

Saute onions, add minced garlic/ginger , add chopped mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers , olives , shredded carrots,salt , pepper, any sauce . Saute till tender. Cool and fill . Top with cheese. You can use any/all of the above ingredients. You can also use peas, sweet corn, etc.

Or

Fill it with a frozen spinach(defrost before using and squeeze out all the water) and cheese. salt and pepper .


Check out Foodnetwork.tv for more ideas.


Happy Cooking !

 

hey ranchu ,
thanks for starting this thread even i was looking for some ideas ......

cheers
manju