Well, I did it! I successfully made it through my first catering event this past weekend and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. No one threw up (that I know of), no one spit out the food in front of me, and I haven't received any phone calls asking "what was in that" (and not in a good way). So, overall, success!
You may be asking, hmm, I didn't know she catered. Well, I didn't know I did either! My good friend Laura, one of the first people I met after moving to Atlanta (we both taught swimming at the Ashford Dunwoody YMCA 12 years ago), asked me to help her out with her Holiday party. She knows I like to experiment and I've been talking to her about how I would love to open a bakery one day. She normally just gets a Honey Baked Ham or food trays (nothing wrong with that) for her parties and thought this would be fun. Easy for her and fun for me...so I thought.
Well, it was a bit stressful to say the least, but a great learning experience. It's one thing when you are cooking at your house, but hard when you need to figure out logistics in someone else's kitchen. And then there is the dilemna of figuring out how much food to make. What do you serve 38 adults and 25 kids? And when I say kids, I mean soccer playing 10 year olds who probably eat more than I do! I did what any good project manager does, I created a spreadsheet and consulted my mom. :-)
Luckily work was slow last week, so I was able to spread out everything over the week. I created a menu, consulted the Sam's Club, Kroger and Publix sales for the week and went shopping. I researched catering websites to figure out how much food to make per person, the last thing I wanted to have happen was someone going hungry. Especially at a 6 pm party!
So, I began cooking. Did you know that:
After 4 days of cooking and planning, I packed the car and was off!
I arrived at Laura's house 2 hours early, used her grill to cook the meats and we set up the food around the house. Antipasto and veggies in the kitchen, hot stuff in the dining room, desserts in the hall. Everyone loved it! They kept saying how they liked that the food was spread out around the house. That it was nice to have a variety of fresh foods, and protein, that so many parties it's just carbs. And the chicken was a huge hit, I was afraid it would dry out sitting in the warmer all night, but nope, people commented on how moist it was.
This was like a big experiment for me. A test to see if I could do it and most of all to see if people would actually enjoy what I cook. I learned quite a few things in the process:
My favorite dish of the night? The Crostini with Grilled Pork and Apple Chutney. I blended a couple of recipes together and it turned out delicious. The pork can be eaten by itself also and the chutney used with anything. If you don't want to use pork, you could try chicken or just the chutney itself with a nice cheese (like Manchego). Let me know if you try it out and enjoy!
Crostini with Grilled Pork and Apple Chutney
Crostini: Cut baguette into 1/4'' slices, spray with cooking spray and cook for 7-10 minutes at 400, until lightly browned. Cool and put in airtight container. Can be made 48 hours before.
Pork: Mix together a paste of crushed garlic, cinnamon, ground coriander, nutmeg, black pepper, salt and olive oil. Rub the tenderloin with the paste and wrap in plastic wrap. Let marinate in fridge overnight (the longer the better). When ready, grill for about 20 minutes, depending on size. Let sit before cutting into thin slices.
For Chutney:
Bring 2 cups juice to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 teaspoons tea leaves, and steep for 2 minutes. Strain juice mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard leaves. Set juice tea aside. Heat butter and 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-low heat. Add onion; cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Stir in apple; cook 5 minutes. Add reserved juice mixture, raisins, and next 8 ingredients (through ground cloves). Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium. Cook 30 minutes or until apple is tender and mixture is thick. (Note: I doubled the recipe and let it simmer for a few hours until it was thick enough).
To assemble: Place piece of pork on crostini and top with a generous spoonful of warm chutney.
Yum!!
You may be asking, hmm, I didn't know she catered. Well, I didn't know I did either! My good friend Laura, one of the first people I met after moving to Atlanta (we both taught swimming at the Ashford Dunwoody YMCA 12 years ago), asked me to help her out with her Holiday party. She knows I like to experiment and I've been talking to her about how I would love to open a bakery one day. She normally just gets a Honey Baked Ham or food trays (nothing wrong with that) for her parties and thought this would be fun. Easy for her and fun for me...so I thought.
Well, it was a bit stressful to say the least, but a great learning experience. It's one thing when you are cooking at your house, but hard when you need to figure out logistics in someone else's kitchen. And then there is the dilemna of figuring out how much food to make. What do you serve 38 adults and 25 kids? And when I say kids, I mean soccer playing 10 year olds who probably eat more than I do! I did what any good project manager does, I created a spreadsheet and consulted my mom. :-)
Luckily work was slow last week, so I was able to spread out everything over the week. I created a menu, consulted the Sam's Club, Kroger and Publix sales for the week and went shopping. I researched catering websites to figure out how much food to make per person, the last thing I wanted to have happen was someone going hungry. Especially at a 6 pm party!
So, I began cooking. Did you know that:
- 10 lbs of potatoes makes 210 mini latkes
- 5.5 lbs of ground beef makes 165 mini meatballs
- 6.5 lbs of chicken tenders makes 66 chicken satay sticks
- 2 pork tenderloins make at least 80 crostini bites
- grape jelly and heinz chili sauce actually make a nice meatball sauce?
After 4 days of cooking and planning, I packed the car and was off!
I arrived at Laura's house 2 hours early, used her grill to cook the meats and we set up the food around the house. Antipasto and veggies in the kitchen, hot stuff in the dining room, desserts in the hall. Everyone loved it! They kept saying how they liked that the food was spread out around the house. That it was nice to have a variety of fresh foods, and protein, that so many parties it's just carbs. And the chicken was a huge hit, I was afraid it would dry out sitting in the warmer all night, but nope, people commented on how moist it was.
This was like a big experiment for me. A test to see if I could do it and most of all to see if people would actually enjoy what I cook. I learned quite a few things in the process:
- to keep it simple, yet with bold fun flavors
- that it's hard when you are spending someone else's money!
- to figure out logistics and serving arrangements BEFORE you get there
- that not everyone's gas grill cooks like yours
- that adults like to eat frozen pigs in a blanket and mini taquitos too, not just kids
- frozen cranberry juice cubes makes for great ice cubes in a pitcher of prosecco
- and to make sure you label the pitcher with the "adult" drink in it (he was 10 and it was only a small glass)
My favorite dish of the night? The Crostini with Grilled Pork and Apple Chutney. I blended a couple of recipes together and it turned out delicious. The pork can be eaten by itself also and the chutney used with anything. If you don't want to use pork, you could try chicken or just the chutney itself with a nice cheese (like Manchego). Let me know if you try it out and enjoy!
Crostini with Grilled Pork and Apple Chutney
Crostini: Cut baguette into 1/4'' slices, spray with cooking spray and cook for 7-10 minutes at 400, until lightly browned. Cool and put in airtight container. Can be made 48 hours before.
Pork: Mix together a paste of crushed garlic, cinnamon, ground coriander, nutmeg, black pepper, salt and olive oil. Rub the tenderloin with the paste and wrap in plastic wrap. Let marinate in fridge overnight (the longer the better). When ready, grill for about 20 minutes, depending on size. Let sit before cutting into thin slices.
For Chutney:
- 2 cups unsweetened apple juice
- 2 teaspoons black tea leaves (such as Darjeeling or Assam)
- 1 teaspoon butter
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups diced onion
- 4 cups diced peeled Rome apple (about 3 large)
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Dash of ground cloves
Bring 2 cups juice to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 teaspoons tea leaves, and steep for 2 minutes. Strain juice mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard leaves. Set juice tea aside. Heat butter and 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-low heat. Add onion; cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Stir in apple; cook 5 minutes. Add reserved juice mixture, raisins, and next 8 ingredients (through ground cloves). Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium. Cook 30 minutes or until apple is tender and mixture is thick. (Note: I doubled the recipe and let it simmer for a few hours until it was thick enough).
To assemble: Place piece of pork on crostini and top with a generous spoonful of warm chutney.
Yum!!
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