foodie staff party (part 2)

You may or may not remember, last year we invited Satoshi's staff over for dinner. This year, Satoshi changed departments and now has 30 people in his section rather than the 12 people he had last year.

So, as a thank you for all their hard work, we invited 10 people each over 2 Sundays and a Saturday. Luckily, it is Obon season (the season to visit your ancestor's graves), so many people couldn't make it, so instead of 10 people each over 3 days, the amount decreased to about 6 people each over the 3 days.

Here's our menu:
Kamaboko Dip with Crackers
Spicy Soybeans
Bulgogi
Beer steamed clams with garlic bread
Spicy Poke

And for dessert: Macadamia nut shortbread with Ginger-Pineapple Sorbet
This was the first time for me to make these two and boy, was I glad I did. The shortbread was easy to put together and came out really flaky and buttery. As for the sorbet, you don't need an ice cream maker (which I don't have anyway) just mix well and let the freezer do the rest of the work.

Macadamia Nut Cookies from Wisteria Delights
1 cup butter (226.7g)
2/3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2.5 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1.5 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Cream butter and sugar.
Stir in vanilla.
Mix in flour, salt and nuts.
Shape into 2 rolls and chill for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350F (180C).
Cut into 1/4 inch slices.
Bake on ungreased sheets for 12-15 minutes.

NOTES: I had to bake mine for about 25 minutes total since they didn't get very brown after 15 minutes.

Ginger Pineapple Sorbet adapted from Sam Choy's Sampler
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup pineapple juice (118 ml)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon or orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
1 pint cream (473 ml)

Mix ingredients. Place in freezer until partially frozen, then put in a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon.
Return to freezer until frozen.

NOTES: After grating a 1-inch sized piece of ginger, I only had 1/2 a tablespoon, so I chopped up some candied ginger to make up the other 1/2 tablespoon. I also put everything into a ziploc container and mixed it up. I put the container into the freezer and waited 20 minutes, then mixed everything again and put it back to freeze. This sorbet was more like ice cream rather than the sorbet that I was used to, the pineapple flavor was strong, so the bits of candied ginger helped add another texture.

I think everyone had a nice time, oh, and there were no leftovers.

Have a great week.