Fundraiser fun

The other day, I judged a small fundraising event hosted at the local Aloha United Way offices. The employees carry out this effort once a year and it's one any company, big or small, can manage: participants cook their favorite plate lunch-style dishes, set them up in a conference room and sell plate lunches to their colleagues.

At AUW headquarters on Vineyard Street, Sonia Castillo scored a triple score: first place in pupu and dessert and "Top Chef" overall winner title. She's an administrative assistant in their labor division and, though she's modest about it, she can sure cook.

She found these beautiful and delicious little sweet morsels in an ad from McCormick spices. I was impressed by how such a simple dessert could look so elegant. If you're doing a special party, try these:

Chocolate Tarts with Peppermint Creme
2 packages (15 shells each) frozen mini phyllo shells (if you can't find phyllo, use puff pastry or regular pastry mini-tarts)
1/3 cup plus 3/4 cup heavy cream, divided
4 ounces bittersweet or semi-sweet baking chocolate, cut into chunks (you can use the newer high-end 60 percent plus butterfat dark chocolate)
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (if you don't like peppermint, use raspberry, almond, orange or other extract)

Bake shells, unfilled, as directed. Cool completely. (Cooling steps are important in this recipe, don't try to hurry.)
Microwave 1/3 cup of the the cream and chocolate in a microwaveable bowl on high for 1 minute, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 minutes or until chocolate starts to thicken. Spoon a heaping teaspoon of this quick "ganache" (chocolate filling) into each tart shell cool completely.
Beat cream cheese and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a large bowl until smooth. In another bowl, beat remaining cream, remaining sugar and the extract, using an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Add half of this mixture to the cream cheese mixture; stir until well-blended. Gently stir in remaining whipped cream
Spoon or pipe 1 tablespoon of the peppermint creme into each tart and garnish with chocolate shavings, if desired. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Makes 30 tarts.

NOTE: Adding cream cheese to whipping cream and whipping it in stabilizes the whipped cream. If you add a couple of ounces of softened cream cheese to a cup or cup and a half of whipping cream and whip it, you can cover it and keep it in the fridge for hours without it deflating or separating. I also liked the way this easy ganache is made in the microwave. Ganache is usually a much trickier recipe.

Sonia's overall winner was a pupu that your beer-drinking, blue-tarp-in-the-carport buddies will whack in one bite. Make plenny! It's just poke on top a fried won ton — but spicy, crispy, creamy, all the elements of a great pupu. This original had a sweet drizzle sauce but Sonia didn't like it, so added Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (what did we do before that came along?). I can't wait until my brother's next party.

Spicy Tuna with Sriracha Sauce

1 package won ton, each cut in half diagonally to form triangles — or leave whole)
1 pound prepared spicy tuna or any other kind of poke; the one chopped smaller
1/2 cup sliced green onions
Cooking oil for deep frying
For the drizzle sauce:
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
3 teaspoons Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (not the chunky one)
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoon rice vinegar (she likes Mitsukan brand)

In a deep, heavy pot or deep fat fryer or wok, heat cooking oil to 325-350 degrees and fry won ton chips until golden and crips. Drain on paper towels and cool.
In a bowl, combine spicy tuna or other poke. In a bowl, combine mayonnaise, hot chili sauce, sugar and rice vinegar. Set aside.
Just before serving, arrange the won ton chips on a platter. Spread a little spicy tuna mixture on each chip; sprinkle with green onion. Drizzle with sauce.

HOW TO DO YOUR OWN COMPANY FUNDRAISER BUFFET

AUW'S idea has many advantages: it promotes camaraderie, folks get to taste each other's cooking, the price (in this case, $7 for an all-you-can-eat plate) is comparable with plate lunches elsewhere (or even a little less) and some money is earned for the charity of your choice. And it's fun, a little break in the workday.
The money's not much but it's something in these difficult times that isn't too hard on anyone's pocketbook. You would have had to buy lunch anyway, right?
At AUW, they had more than 30 dishes in four categories: salads, pupu, entrees and desserts and they were about evenly divided. (This is important for a proper plate lunch composition so you need to sign people up in advance and get them to commit to the type of dish they're bringing.)
Here are some tips on how to conduct such an event:
1. Get management to buy the paper goods: napkins, utensils, paper plates (be eco-friendly and buy biodegradable paper or cardboard instead of styrofoam) and a roll of paper towels. It's also great to have a few luau-style setups — those big tin trays with sterno cans below to keep food hot. Management can also provide the prizes. AUW had the cutest little plaques with toy kitchen implements on them. Another option might be a month's access to a great parking space. A first prize that would really attract participants would be a day off or a gift certificate to a nice restaurant! (You might be able to score such a prize for free or a reduced price if you asked the chef to be a judge!)
2. Bring in some outside judges, a panel of three is sufficient. (I'm easy, and someone generally knows a chef, a cooking teacher or one of the local TV or radio hosts who'd be willing to stop by for an hour to get stuffed.)
3. Plan the judging part carefully. Have serving volunteers on hand to get the food to the judges quickly. Be aware that judges want only small tasting portions as they'll have lots to consume. Pushy me, I kind of took over when I realized we judges would have to taste 30 dishes and suggested we divide the work up into two stages: We'd each taste three or four dishes in a category, name two semi-finalists, then all taste the semi-finalists and name a winner in each category plus the overall "Top Chef." I was bursting just tasting that many dishes. (I admit, we all tried all the desserts and there were about 10 of those!).
4. Stick to a schedule so the eaters don't have to wait in too long a line: For example, judge from 11-11:45, 11:45, doors open, winners announced, eating begins. Have a cashier and change ready at a table outside the room so the line can move smoothly.
5. If you're cooking, choose an item that tastes just as good lukewarm as it does hot or cold. Or, if you're doing a soup or stew, bring or borrow a crockpot, which can be left on low all morning.
6. Choose an item that can readily be portioned out into smaller pieces; you can also give the big eaters two portions. If you do an item that is rather large and can't readily be cut up, you'll quickly run out.
7. If you want to make sure you've got enough for everyone, require customers to sign up in advance and maybe even pay and buy scrip for the meal. Then you'll know just how many portions the cooks should prepare.
AUW charged $7 a plate and made about $400 — not a huge amount, but enough to help a family buy groceries for a week, or pay for a few doctor's visits for an uninsured person.