Housewarming Party

It has been a month since we moved to a new place. And we probably had the most people yesterday for a housewarming party. A group of 12 for lunch and a group of 16 for dinner in one day. I knew I wouldn't be able to cook the amount of food needed for one dish on a stove. Since it is late summer, although it was rainy and stormy two days ago, we could still serve something that was not supposed to be hot. Even though I crossed the idea of using a stove out of the option, we had an oven available for cooking ahead and reheating. I brainstormed for many dishes and thought about what would make a good combination (I wanted a variety in flavour and texture) and finally these are what we came up with.

Menu

Caprese Salad Skewer, Celery Salad, Greek Pasta Salad, 

Hasselback Potatoes and Yams, Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Caprese Salad Skewers
Ingredients: cherry tomatoes, mini mozzarella, basil leaves (grown at home), balsamic glaze
Make a skewer with toothpicks. Basil can fall out if it's on either end when you are presenting them lying down like that, so basil should go in the middle. I placed them on the cake stand and drizzled balsamic glaze on top, making sure it covers every skewer. You can make the skewer ahead of time.

Celery Salad

Ingredients: celery, purple cabbage, lettuce, carrot, green onion, shrimp, cranberries

Dressing: mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, olive oil

Greek Pasta Salad

Ingredients: bow-tie pasta, tomatoes, cucumber, broccoli, onion, olives, sun-dried tomato

Dressing: red pepper flakes, greek feta dressing, salt

Swedish Hasselback Potatoes and Yams

Ingredients: potatoes, yams, salt, pepper, vegetable oil, butter, paprika powder (optional: basil flakes)

Glaze: soy sauce, sugar, hot pepper paste (gochujang, 고추장), yoridang (요리당)

As you can see in the ingredient list, this is a Korean version of Hasselback Potatoes and Yams. I wanted it to be spicy and sweet at the same time so after baking in the oven for about 30 min. at 350 with salt and pepper,  I first glazed with soy sauce mixture (soy sauce, a bit of water and sugar), bake again for about 15 min., then finally glaze them with gochujang mixture (gochujang, soy sauce, sugar) just before the last reheating stage. Remove from the oven and coat one last time with yoridang and serve!

Roasted Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients: pork tenderloin, peaches, ginger and garlic sauce, paprika powder