The Caterist Files ~ The Party Chick!

Chicken... we eat a lot of it...so much, in fact, sometimes it becomes a challenge to come up with a chicken dish that's fit to party! There are lots of ways to dress up your chicken; and they'll be fit to strut it out at your next supper club or dinner party! Your guests will love it, and so will you!

Oh, faux pearls not included!

One of my favorite ways to dress up that old, boring hen is to give it a filling! For the most part, it's the breasts that are brought into play when we do a dinner event...so, we're going to give them a bustier of sorts...you know, plumps and fills out, and lends great support to the ordinary breasts...party dressed! Yeah...I got jokes!!! Moving along...

The number of fillings is practically endless! Here, I'll give you some of my favorite Party Chicken ideas, along with some suggested sides and starters!

This Party Chick is our Crab Stuffed Panko Crusted Breast of Chicken. It's stuffed with a delicious crab, cream cheese and fresh herb mixture and topped with seasoned panko breadcrumbs, then baked to a delicious golden goodness! Because the filling is so rich, I like to plate this with a white and wild rice pilaf and a simple vegetable, such as steamed lemon broccoli or green beans with sautéed mushrooms.

This, above, is the Spinach Feta Party Chick! We've got fresh sautéed spinach with shallots and garlic in a cream cheese and feta filling. They're topped with Parmesan seasoned panko breadcrumbs. And, although it's got feta cheese in it, it still goes well with Fettuccine Alfredo and a simple green vegetable...or white and wild rice pilaf, delicious with that, too!

The Sundried Tomato Basil Stuffed Breast of Chicken is topped with Parmesan seasoned bread crumbs. This is delicious with either mashed potatoes or Fettuccine Alfredo with steamed broccoli or asparagus.

This Tex Mex Party Chick is the Rellenos Stuffed Breast of Chicken! It's a delicious blend of cuisines! From Mexico, we take the Chile Relleno, which is a Monterey Jack stuffed fire roasted Anaheim pepper. From the Southern U.S., we take Oven Fried Chicken. Put the Mexico in the South, and go!! We like this with Mexican Rice and a green salad or steamed broccoli.

Sausage Mushroom Stuffed Breast of Chicken is a holiday any day! It's almost like having stuffed mushrooms stuffed chicken breasts! Literally! We serve this one with gravy on the side, and it's delicious with garlic mashed potatoes! A simple side of steamed broccoli, or green beans and carrots makes this a filling and absolutely delicious meal. This one, in particular, is a guy pleaser!

On the lighter side, we've got our not stuffed Party Chicks! Lighter...*snicker, laugh * It's a party!

This is our Parmesan Herb Breaded Breast of Chicken, seen above. It's like the 'little black dress' of the Party Chick world, taking on accessories to make that one special statement!

Dressed to stun, below...Clockwise, from the top:

Chicken Parmesan, with our house marinara and a meltover of mozzarella and parmesan, with pasta

Chicken Breast with Parmesan Chive Sauce, enjoy with pilaf, pasta or mashed potatoes!

Breast of Chicken in Lemon Picatta Cream Sauce, great with mashed potatoes or pasta

Breast of Chicken in Mushroom Sauce, goes with nearly ANY side!

A simple vegetable side rounds out any of these to make a complete Party Chick Entrée!

All of these work particularly well for the served events. After your Meet & Greet hour, we set out your preferred appetizer salad, to be followed by your selected entrée...then, of course, dessert!

But, what if you need a shorter evening out?? Midweek dinner can, sometimes, be a concern, if you and your guests need to get up early the next morning! There's a solution!

Let's address the trend of service on the short buffet, this being a single plate entrée that encompasses the salad, meat and one side, with bread or rolls, of course!!! You still enjoy your Meet & Greet time, and then dine on the buffet. Your dessert course is served, with coffee.

The self service buffet is much more informal than the served three course, and seems to generate more conversation throughout the buffet line! And these particular dinners, featured here, lend themselves to the world traveler idea as far as cuisine options!

Let's wander about!

These delights come from the kitchens of India! On the left is Makhani Butter Chicken, in a deliciously rich buttery curry sauce of light to medium heat. To the right is Chicken Tikka Masala, in a curry spiced tomato based sauce of light to medium heat, as well. I can set out diced serranos, should we like it hotter! Either of these would be accompanied by a mixed greens salad with a champagne vinaigrette. To go with the curry, we set out steamed rice, and green beans with carrots. Accompaniment bowls of raisins, peanuts, scallions, chutney and coconut, as you wish, are set on the buffet. Traditionally, this is served with wedges of Na'an or Pita, but if you want, we can serve Ms. Debra's most famous Kinsloe House Rolls, instead. * wink, wink *

Above, you see two versions of the many, of Arroz con Pollo. It's familiar to most of the locals as a Mexican dish, but every Latin country or island has it's own version. My favorite is my family's Puerto Rican Version, which relies more on the earthy oregano than the verdant cilantro as its signature herb. All are delicious, and I'll make your favorite, whether it's Cuban, Spanish, Portuguese, or other! Ensalate Cesaro (Caesar Salad gone south of the border) would be the salad; and, most definitely, we'd have Ms. Debra's Kinsloe House Rolls. The go-withs can be flexible here, as this is pretty much a done deal by itself. A chafer of Queso Fundido (Mexican fondue) with tortilla chips is a lot of fun if your crowd runs in that direction! Or, we can do the ever so classic Casera Beans (House Beans) or Ranchero Beans.

Pictured here are two of the recipes of Pineapple Chicken! The one on the left is a Hawaiian braised

chicken thighs and/or breast quarters. I like to grill mark mine before the braise for extra flavor. On the right is an Asian Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken with bell pepper and onion. With both of these being Asian inspired, it would be perfectly appropriate and pretty darned cool to start your meal with set out portions of Chinese Egg Drop Soup, yes, from scratch! Chinese is one of my most favorite cuisines! These would be accompanied by fried wonton crisps...oh, my...so good!!! As far as the buffet, enjoy either plain steamed rice or Chinese Fried Rice along with Asian Plum Ribs (cut into singles...these are so FUN!!) If you're really trying to not feel guilty, we can set out some Asian Stir Fry Veggies instead of the ribs...or, we can do it all! Hey, it IS a party, after all!

I love all of these for the more and most economical of the dinner ideas. But, if you want to get fancy, we can dance that way, too! I call in my Cornish Hens!

Cornish Hens can take on any vestige of flavor that you want! They can be Greek, Mexican, Cajun, Island...those little hens can walk a lot!!! And, they can stay home, too...with gravy...yum!

Sweet Amber-Q Sauced Cornish Hens, with a White & Wild Rice Pilaf and Glazed Carrots or Other

Roast Garlic Herb Cornish Hen with Fresh Cherry Wine Sauce...wonderful with a white & wild pilaf!

Roast Cornish Hens with Herb Gravy...a favorite with mashed potatoes, maybe dressing, a cranberry compote...and a nice simple veggie side!

All are delicious, and all are fun!! For the most part, a half hen is sufficient for the supper club event. And it makes a prettier presentation with the half hen.

There are more Party Chick ideas to explore, but these are the Spring/Summer friendly ones!! Try any of these at your next dinner party, and I'm certain you'll be soulfully satisfied!

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