Housewarming Madness!

This past weekend we decided to have a party. I'm a big fan of housewarmings as they bring different groups of friends together and also serve as the official opening of the doors and welcoming to your friends at your new home. We ended up with about 20 friends in attendance starting from around 7:00pm until right before 4:00am.

There was no official theme but we did have some motivation. Serving some classical "party" food while introducing some dishes to share our cultural background. Some of these dishes are things that probably some of our guests wouldn't have had the chance to try otherwise. They also made for a very eclectic menu which required a lot of shopping, planning, prepping and scheduling.

In this post we'll outline the final menu, our schedule, Murphy's law, recipes and any other interesting facts that might come to mind!

Menu
Appetizers:
A1. Mel's famous (in the South Bay at least!) Pico de Gallo
A2. Guacamole (first time making this)
A3. Edamame

Main dishes:
M1. Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce (Malaysian Style!)

From Housewarming Party

M2. Churrasco con chimichurri (variation on your typical chimichurri)
M3. Cold Sesame Noodles (see previous posts)
M4. Empanadas Argentinas
M5. Piononos
M6. Couscous (thanks to Boris & Fam!)

Desserts:
S1. Oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips and walnuts

From Housewarming Party

S2. Cheesecake (bought it because no one can compete with Zanze's Cheesecake)

From Housewarming Party

S3. Mango Mousse (Sheng Kee bakery always for the win)
S4. Pumpkin Pie (home made by our friend Kathleen)

Drinks:
D1. Passion Fruit Sangria (one more from the Mel's famous list)
D2. Mint Chocolate Martinis (which ended up being more like a whit russian)
D3. Classic Mojito (cannot have a party without a rum drink when you are Puerto Rican!)
D4. Soy Milk with Pearls

From Housewarming Party

From Housewarming Party

Puerto Rican desserts: Tembleque (Coconut Custard)

From Custards

Today I felt like doing something sweet, easy and comforting to brighten up my day since there's been so much work while my friends enjoy a day out. Between work and housework life has been pretty exhausting lately. Luckily this put a smile on my face along with some lounging around with Chef Wok watching animal planet hehe. Without further ado, I give you my tembleque recipe!

Tembleque is almost like a coconut custard but it does not use eggs.

Ingredients:

15oz can of coconut cream - not milk
2 cups of milk - preferably whole milk
1/2 cup of cornstarch
4 tblsp of sugar
a pinch of salt
1 stick of cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
cinnamon powder for decoration

Instructions:

In a mixing bowl combine your milk and coconut cream until they look homogeneous. Pour about 1/2 cup of this mixture into a pot and start adding the cornstarch slowly so it doesn't clump. Once you've added all the cornstarch turn on a burner on medium-high heat and place your pot with this initial mixture over it. Stirring continuously add the rest of the liquids and then proceed to add the sugar and salt. It is very important that you continue to stir otherwise you will end up with a very weird looking ball of goo.

As the mixture heats up and begins to thicken you'll notice it becomes gelatinous, this is the consistency that we want. As it starts to boil you'll notice it separates easily from the sides of the pot. After it starts boiling continue to mix for about 2 minutes. At this point pour your mixture into a mold that has been recently washed with cold water. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top and let it chill it the refrigerator for a minimum of 3 hours. Then enjoy!