Secrets to Stunning Edible Arrangements . . .
After you practice designing your meals and Xperimenting with cooking styles, you are ready for the final step in preparing and serving up a great meal . . .
E. FOOD PRESENTATION – The final element is how you serve up the feast that you have prepared. Food Presentation is the art of making your meals visually appealing. It’s fairly simple to get that “Wow, it looks so mouth watering & delicious!” expression from your guests. Since the objective is to serve up something that will look good, Xperiment with what you think will look stunning as an edible arrangement. If you want to keep it simple, just focus on the plate and what is to be put on it. If you want to pull out all the stops, then go with a theme of your choice and dress up everything, including the dining room. Let’s run through some ideas to move you along . . .
On the simple end of the scale, all you need to do is select a suitable bowl or plate and arrange your food on it, then add something to garnish. The easiest is to place all your food onto serving plates for your guest to help themselves. Select large enough bowls and plates, matching if desired, that can hold the amount of food you have prepared. You can fill a serving bowl with soup and sprinkle some chopped spring onions on top to garnish.
Fish can be served on an oval plate, or one of those fish shaped dishes, and you can arrange some lettuce and round slices of lemon to decorate. For shrimp, try arranging them in a circle on a round plate, and put sauce for dipping right in the center.
You can be more creative when you do individual servings. If you are serving soup, select a regular bowl or a soup dish which is shallower. You may wish to use bowls that have a design or color that matches the soup you have prepared. To be more outstanding, you can use an oven safe bowl or cup, fill it up with your soup, then cover with a sheet of pastry and bake it; you will serve a nicely done cup of soup with a pastry crust cover.
Or how about serving up soup in a bread bowl; just hollow out a ball of bread with a fairly thick crust and fill with thick creamy types of soup. Don’t try this with soups that are not thick and creamy as they will soon soak through and begin to leak. To garnish, you can use vegetables or spices; slice up some mushrooms and float them on top, or grind some black pepper over you soup.
For the main course, you can simply lay out the meat, potatoes and vegetables on different sectors of the plate in a traditional manner; just remember to include ingredients with nice colors and arrange them in your chosen pattern. Try using carrots or tomatoes to add bright orange or red to your dish. Use corn, pasta or potatoes for a dose of yellow. How about tri-color pasta to really mix up the colors?
If you wish to be more adventurous, try stacking your food on the plate; how about starting with a base of chopped lettuce, add some cubes of boiled potatoes mixed with a spoon of butter, garlic salt & pepper, then place your grilled steak on, next comes the fried mushrooms & onions, and to top it off drizzle steak sauce over your mini tower and sprinkle on a pinch of dill. To add even more color, you can even use a squeeze bottle of mustard or tomato sauce and draw some patterns on the plate around your steak tower.
Appetizers and deserts are my favorites as you can really let your imagination go . . . and come up with really delightful creations. Try using a Burgundy wine glass for your shrimp cocktail, then plant a stick of celery with the leafy end up on one side and garnish the lip of the glass with a circular slice of lemon for a lovely presentation of this favorite appetizer. To turn a serving of ice-cream into a visual wonder let’s use a tall Martini glass, add in a scoop each of your two all time favorite flavors, arrange a few slices of kiwi fruit & peach on top, then make a cut half way thru a large strawberry at the correct angle to slide it onto the lip of the glass, top off with some chocolate, coffee or fruit flavored liquor of your choice.
By now, your mind would be flowing with ideas, right? Let’s take you all the way with a theme and dining room décor . . . Imagine that it’s Valentine's Day, and you have planned an intimate dinner for two with the love of your life. You have the house all to yourselves, and you are going all out to make this the best evening ever. Love is in the air as you transform the living and dining areas with pink and red tones, from the curtains to table cloths to heart-shaped cushions. Fresh flowers and scented candles are everywhere; your center piece is a magnificent bouquet of red roses. As the sun sets, the evening begins . . . you light the candles and put on your favorite love songs. The two of you gaze into each other’s eyes and share an extended embrace. Popping the Champagne, both of you whisper the first of many toasts into each other’s ear. Sitting side by side dinner is served . . . from appetizers all the way to desert, every course has been masterfully conceived, designed & prepared by you. With tender loving care, your favorite foods are beautifully decorated and presented. Under your expert touch, every mouthful taste like heaven. You’re on cloud nine and wishing the night will never end!
If you’re a guy and did this for your gal on your first anniversary, you would send her over the moon and she will love you forever. For the ladies, your man would be putty in your hands after an evening like this. Couples, you can re-ignite your passion by doing this together . . . enjoying each others company through the day as you decorate and prepare food for your blissful evening.
Now it’s your turn to go forth and create visual masterpieces to serve your guests; they will surely be astonished at your works of art. If you need more ideas, you can always look at how the chefs at your local restaurants present their dishes, or you can flip thru food magazines, or surf the internet for tons of ideas to get you on your way.
Now that you know the Secrets to Xperimental Cooking, all you need to do is to start cooking; after all, as the saying goes . . . “Practice Makes Perfect”.
