VV - Iron Chef (Reversed?)

[Lalanae]

Canelek's Iron Chef thread was kinda fun and I know several of you are good at putting your thinking (Chef's) hat on. So, I have a similar question for all of you.

I've been wanting to host dinner for my parents, my sister & BIL but due to all of them having vastly different dietary limitations, I've been putting it off. I really think it will be impossible to cook a meal they all can eat and will like. I have someone who has a lot of allergies, a vegetarian, a very picky eater, and a somewhat picky eater.

So, instead of giving you the ingredients and asking for suggestions, how about I tell you what ingredients CANNOT be used and see if you can come up with some menu items. I'm looking for 3 courses.

Rules:
(1) My sister is a vegetarian, but I am open to a dish where I leave the meat out just for her. Whatever the meat is served with obviously can't be cooked with the meat and I don't want to have 2 skillets/pots/etc going for just that. So it needs to be a dish where the meat is served/mixed in the rest of the dish after cooking or something that is assembled individually.
(2) On the subject of meat, my father does not eat red meat (as he defines it "any mammal") and my mother does not eat fish. She eats shellfish but I don't think my BIL does, so best to leave all seafood out. I guess that only leaves poultry huh? Oh, my mother hates duck too. It's the fat that turns her off.
(3) My father is very allergic to gluten, so absolutely no wheat, barley or rye.
(4) My father is mildly allergic to dairy. It is OK in small proportional amounts, but no cream- or cheese-based dishes.
(5) My BIL is ovo-phobic (afraid of eggs) no lie. Eggs are fine when used small proportional amounts, like as a binder for other ingredients.
(6) My father is allergic to citrus, so recipes cannot include lemon juice or other citrus fruits/juices.
(7) My BIL is not very vegetable friendly, but he's getting better. The more "mainstream" the veggies, the better, but this could also be a good time for my sister to coax him into trying something new (ugh, he's like a child)

As with #1, if the dish is assembled in such a way that it would be convenient to leave out X ingredient for one dish. The only exception to this would be the eggs. The smell of cooked eggs or the site of them makes him ill.

I was really hoping to do something elegant, but if that's not possible I may have to just host them separately.

[Sueven]

Wow, that is pretty challenging.

Every week, my friends and I get together for Sunday Dinner, with someone else hosting each week. We have some, although not all, of those restrictions-- our cooking has to be gluten free, dairy free, and vegetarian. Fortunately, we're all into unconventional vegetables and soy products and so forth, and we usually make enough dishes that some of them can contain meat. Let me see if I can list some that might be appropriate. You can spice all of these however you want, I'm leaving out salt and pepper and all that stuff:

Chicken Curry

Ingredients: Two cans coconut milk, package of chicken thighs, onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes (or whatever other vegetables you want), fresh basil, a good can of curry paste.

For the curry paste, I really really recommend getting to an asian grocer and buying it there. In my experience, the wetter and looser the paste, the better. Most of the crap that I find in non-asian groceries is dry and packed tight and pretty crappy.

Method: Saute the onions and garlic in a dutch oven, in butter (if that's OK for your father) or olive oil (if that's not, or if you feel like being healthier). Toss in the chicken (pre-chopped) and saute it a bit until it browns on the outside. Throw in your coconut milk, and then stir in an appropriate amount of curry paste. Throw in the rest of the vegetables and let it simmer for awhile, until it's appropriately thick. Toss the basil in close to the end. Serve over rice or quinoa.

Whoops, clearly this wouldn't work as the chicken is cooked with the dish. Just cut out the chicken and make it a vegetable curry instead.

Roasted Cauliflower with Mint Pesto:

Ingredients: Cauliflower, fresh mint, golden raisins, nuts of whatever sort you want, oil

Method: Roast the cauliflower. Make a pesto by throwing the mint, raisins, oil and nuts into a blender and blending. Toss the roasted cauliflower with the pesto.

Beet Salad:

Can your father eat goat-based dairy? Maybe this is a stupid question, but our dairy-allergic person can eat goat cheese, just nothing that comes from cows.

Get a bunch of red beets and a bunch of gold beets. Cook them however you prefer to cook beets (I boil). Rub the skins off and slice them into bite-size chunks. Get some grapefruits and some tasty oranges, and cut them into slices. Toss the beets and citrus fruits together and serve them over greens, with goat cheese on the side to be added by those who can eat it. Whip up whatever kind of dressing you want to go with it (I usually do an ultra-simple balsamic vinegar + olive oil + pepper).

Marinated Tofu and Vegetables:

Make the dressing described above. Get some firm tofu and slice it into chunks. Toss it in the dressing and let it marinate for awhile. After marinating, put it in the oven and roast it until it's firmer on the outside but still softish on the inside.

Cook up some vegetables in whatever way you like to cook up vegetables, and toss with the tofu. I've done it with:

Sweet Red Cabbage:

Throw some vegetable broth and some apple cider into a wok, and add a little bit of brown sugar. Throw in a bunch of red cabbage and saute until the cabbage is done and the liquid is mostly gone.

Sesame Greens:

Get some greens (kale, collards, mustards, turnips, whatever) and saute them with sesame oil and garlic. Toss in some soy sauce near the end.

I could probably come up with some more if you're interested, but that's what's on the top of my head right now.

[pyrella]

Plain rice cakes and a left hook. I've found that it's a 50/50 shot that 'I'm allergic' is bitch speak for 'I don't like', usually because they haven't had the food item prepared well before. I hated mushrooms for the longest time because they were always those nasty burnt bits on pizza.

Anyways, a fowl based gluten/dairy safe/non vegetable (er wait there's a vegetarian there...)...damn it

rice cakes again!

Actually - I've found when making meals for mixed vegan/meat eater friends - I'll usually have some meat based finger foods for the carnivores - but main course I'll usually substitute portebello mushrooms for any grilled/pan fried beef application or chicken in a sauce like dish (like sueven's awesome sounding chicken curry). Rice is usually safe for everyone, even for the one gluten averse person that comes by. I've tried gluten free pasta for some dishes (rice and ummm, i forget name of the other type) it just doesn't end up coming out right.

How about those Quorn chicken stuff you linked a while ago - you could probably get pretty creative with that. Should be Gluten safe, vegan safe, non redmeat safe, vegephobe safe.

[Lalanae]

Thanks Sueven. I love the chicken curry idea and the cauliflower sounds really good. My Dad has probably mentioned curry's health benefits to me a dozen times in the last few months (he's obsessed with phytochemical research), and I know the BIL likes Indian food.

Can your father eat goat-based dairy? Maybe this is a stupid question, but our dairy-allergic person can eat goat cheese, just nothing that comes from cows.

Not a stupid question, my sister is like that actually. I'm not sure about my Dad, but it's very possible. He has less of a problem with cheeses than with milk.

I've found that it's a 50/50 shot that 'I'm allergic' is bitch speak for 'I don't like', usually because they haven't had the food item prepared well before.

Yeah, some people will play the allergy card just not to appear picky. My BIL is very picky and it drive me nuts. My sister has been slowly working on him for years.

It's not the case with my Dad though. He really wants to eat the things he's allergic to and the effects are pretty bad when he does. He's pretty passionate about food, so its been hard for him to live without so many things. We rarely ordered pizza growing up because it made my dad whine like a puppy while we ate it or he'd just steal all the pepperoni off the top, lol. It's been easier in the last few years now that gluten-free resources are more readily available.

I like the portobello mushroom suggestion, and like you said there is always gluten-free pasta.

[laneela]

Why not do sushi? I've had sushi parties in the past where everyone builds their own rolls. It's fun, it's inclusive and it's delicious!

[Drolgin Steingrinder]

Quick thoughts:

Gluten free, veggie lasagna. You can sub goat's cheese on the top with no penalty.

Build-your-own softshell tortilla (gluten free, again). Cuts down on actual cooking time (but a lot of prep time) and allows everyone to put in what they want.

Big juicy steaks for everyone except dad and sister. They can have a stalk of celery.

[Canelek]

Big juicy steaks for everyone except dad and sister. They can have a stalk of celery.

werd

[Ashur]

I was going to suggest White Rice, but was afraid Lala would call me a bigot.

[Sueven]

This weekend was my turn to cook dinner, so I've got a few new ideas. I did a vaguely Mexican make-your-own-burritos thing. I ended up with a buffet spread which consisted of something like:

Flour tortillas and lightly fried corn tortillas (for the gluten-free crowd)

Refried beans (rinse two bags of pinto beans, cover them with water, bring to a boil, lower temperature to a light boil, and simmer until they're soft and the skins begin to split. Add a jalapeno or two near the end. Then, saute onions and garlic in olive oil in a big wok or whatever, and dump in the beans, jalapeno, and cooking liquid from your other pot. Stir the mix and mash the beans until the excess liquid cooks off and the beans reach desired consistency. Also, salt.)

Rice

Sauteed Portabellas (slice the caps and saute in sesame oil, adding some soy sauce halfway through, or just cook them however you like them)

Marinated Roast Tofu (as described above)

Carnitas (for the non-vegetarians, pretty sure my carnitas recipe is archived in this forum somewhere)

Garnishes-- lettuce, chopped red onions, salsa (homemade if you want to impress people), cheese, avocado, whatever.

Then you can throw together a side dish or two-- a ceviche (if you don't care much about the vegetarians), tortilla soup, chilaquiles (tortilla chips fried in salsa-- make a salsa verde by boiling tomatillos, jalapenos and garlic until cooked, then throw it in a blender with a bit of cooking liquid and maybe some cilantro and puree it, then pour the salsa into hot oil and cook it for 10-15 minutes, then throw in your tortilla chips (homemade again if you're looking to impress) and cook them in the salsa for a few minutes, garnishing with cheese, cilantro, onions, avocado, fried eggs, etc)

Or something like that. The advantage is that (1) it's all gluten free except for the flour tortillas, (2) the only dairy is cheese and that's just used as a topping, and (3) vegetarians can just not add the pork, picky eaters can just not add the tofu, etc.

[Ashur]

Sueven has the winner I suspect! Not only do you meet all your NO requirements, but you actually have pleasing food.

[Canelek]

I like the Mexican idea. Good stuff! Need to bump the carnitas/salsas thread--there were some great ideas there.

[Bubba Grizz]

Load them all in the van and go to the mall food court and let them pick their own food. Hell you can even pay for it.

[Zamtuk]

That burrito buffet was my first thought. Anytime you have that many restrictions with that many people, buffets like that are the best way to go. That way, if they don't like/can't have something it doesn't ruin it for the rest.

Also fun buffet is some sort of pasta buffet using whole wheat pasta for the gluten free folks. Get about 4-5 different sauces, a few proteins, and plenty of veggies, and everyone should be happy.

[Sueven]

Whole wheat pasta still has gluten; you'd need rice or egg noodles. But it's still doable.

[Sabek]

Whole wheat pasta still has gluten; you'd need rice or egg noodles. But it's still doable.

Generally egg noodles are based on wheat flour and would be off the menu.

For good gluten-free pasta I would look at Glutano brand or Tinkyada.

[Lalanae]

I've done buffet style stuff before with family, but I was wanting to have a sit down dinner, where I serve everyone, you know, garnished plates, multi-course kind of stuff. I could still probably adapt a lot of the buffet ideas and just create dishes that I could "build" in the kitchen.

Thanks!

[Canelek]

Sounds like Dim Sum or Tapas types of food. Kind of self-serve, but it can all be at the table. Sadly, I know no dim sum nor tapas recipes!