Tapas - Dinner Party

I am finally back. It’s been pretty busy at Camp A Cupcake or Two. Travelling, moving offices and work in general kind of took over my life for a while there.

I did a post on my blog last year, about a class that I did at Kei’s Kitchen. Kei and her daughter Masako do a range of Japanese cooking classes from Kaiseki to everyday Japanese food. I learnt how to make some fantastic dishes in the class, but I also met some new friends.

Tony from my class decided to host a dinner party. We had to plan this early as one of our classmates actually lives in Japan with his wife and daughter. Thats Tony below, proudly wearing his Junior MasterChef Apron and Chef Hat :)

We decided to do a Tapas theme. Trinh brought along some marinated quail and beef tongue. Both were cooked on the BBQ at the last minute. The quail was delicious and sweet and the tongue was so full of flavour. This was actually the first time I had tongue prepared this way.  

Thanks to Bianca from PEPR, I was able to bring along some Chorizo from Manolete. The Chorizo has a very subtle flavour and best grilled in thick slices or in a Paella. You can purchase the Chorizo from Harris Farm, Quattro Formaggi or Encasa Restaurant.

I also brought along some Sangria. So dangerously GOOD..

My cousins Queenie made some Garlic Prawns which were quickly marinated in some smoked paprika. The prawns were so sweet and succulent and the paprika added a real bite to this simple dish.

Diana made some Marinated Baby Octopus that she marinated over 3 days. It was packed with flavour and the pieces of baby octopus melted in your mouth. This was served on a bed of Salad and some eaten accompanied by some freshly baked sour dough.

Justin prepared a very simple dish that showcased the flavours of Heirloom Tomatoes. He simply put them on a bed of rock salt and baked them in the oven. The rock salt drew the sweetness of the tomatoes out and made it such a pleasant dish to eat.

Our host Tony made some Stuffed Chicken Wings. He deboned the wings and filled them with some Vietnamese sausage. He put the in the oven after coating them with some chilli oil. This was the perfect fusion of Asian and Spanish flavours. 

The dinner party was loads of fun. So many stories shared and lots of alcohol makes for an extremely happy bunch of people. I am a big believer in the saying "Food Brings People Together". It has certainly brought this small group together. 

I would like to say a big Thank You to Tony and his wife Jasmine for hosting...

Below is the recipe for Diana's Marinated Baby Octopus. It is a really simple dish to make. The process takes a few days but is well worth it.

Marinated Baby Octopus 


Ingredients


1 kilo baby octopus
Handful of parsley finely chopped
Half a bulb of garlic crushed
1 tablespoon vegeta (stock powder)
1/2 teaspoon of cracked black pepper
200 grams of green olives
1 cup of good olive oil
1 cup balsamic vinegar

To Serve
A mixture of salad leaves


Method

1. Boil the octopus until it is cooked. It normally takes about 20 minutes. Cut the cooked octopus into halves.
2. Add all the other ingredients together and stir until combined. Put the octopus into an airtight container and store it in the fridge for 3 days. Stir the mixture, once a day.
3 After the 3rd day, serve the marinated baby octopus on a bed of salad greens.

Enjoy....