Countdown to Food
It always seems like a countdown to something with me.
This time it's my first catering gig. I'm cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the course of 2 days for 20 this weekend. Given that I'm a pastry guy who loves to cook, but is not a savory chef, this is a bit of a stretch for me. Thank goodness that I have exceptional help that was able to step in when Sky got a gig for this weekend.
It's not a stellar menu by any means, but I think folks will be happy. There will be a variety of snacks and finger food Fri afternoon including tapenade and crackers, guacamole, salsa, and chips, fresh fruit, crudite, and homemade chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. Dinner is pasta with choice of marinara or home made pesto, sausages for the carnivores, roasted vegetables, salad, garlic and regular bread, and tiramisu for dessert. More than likely there will be a roasted or baked fruit for those who can't or don't want kilocalorie dessert.
Breakfast will be scrambled eggs with choice of cheese and/or veggies, orange cranberry scones, bacon, soyrizo, cereal, granola, yogurt, fruit, and the like.
Lunch is more of a make your own sandwich. The left over pasta will be made into a cold sesame peanut noodle salad.
Dinner - roasted turkey breasts, green beans, cranberry sauce, sweet potato souffle, rosemary fingerling potatos, salad, dinner rolls (will probably buy them), and a pumpkin financier (yes again, it's a delicious cake not little bankers) with creme anglais (left overs will be churned into vanilla ice cream) the other dessert option will be a fruit sorbet. I just remembered that I have a bunch of passion fruit puree. Yaay!
Then I'm prepping cinnamon rolls for the next morning . . . and on it goes.
After this event, I need to haul ass to mithinx for the annual Oscars party. In past years this has been a food extravaganza, but given the time crunch is going to be a more focused affair. I still have to figure out what the hell I'm making for dessert there given that last year I made mini banana cream pies, chocolate covered strawberries, as well as chocolates.
Because I have not done this before, my lists have lists. I have a production schedule, equipment list, and shopping list sorted both alphabetically and by location where I need to shop. Hmm . . . hints of OCD? Anyway, it seems like a LOT to do and I don't have the benefit of having done it a few hundred times like I have with trial prep.
Well, at least I'll be able to write off some equipment and books this year.
This time it's my first catering gig. I'm cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the course of 2 days for 20 this weekend. Given that I'm a pastry guy who loves to cook, but is not a savory chef, this is a bit of a stretch for me. Thank goodness that I have exceptional help that was able to step in when Sky got a gig for this weekend.
It's not a stellar menu by any means, but I think folks will be happy. There will be a variety of snacks and finger food Fri afternoon including tapenade and crackers, guacamole, salsa, and chips, fresh fruit, crudite, and homemade chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies. Dinner is pasta with choice of marinara or home made pesto, sausages for the carnivores, roasted vegetables, salad, garlic and regular bread, and tiramisu for dessert. More than likely there will be a roasted or baked fruit for those who can't or don't want kilocalorie dessert.
Breakfast will be scrambled eggs with choice of cheese and/or veggies, orange cranberry scones, bacon, soyrizo, cereal, granola, yogurt, fruit, and the like.
Lunch is more of a make your own sandwich. The left over pasta will be made into a cold sesame peanut noodle salad.
Dinner - roasted turkey breasts, green beans, cranberry sauce, sweet potato souffle, rosemary fingerling potatos, salad, dinner rolls (will probably buy them), and a pumpkin financier (yes again, it's a delicious cake not little bankers) with creme anglais (left overs will be churned into vanilla ice cream) the other dessert option will be a fruit sorbet. I just remembered that I have a bunch of passion fruit puree. Yaay!
Then I'm prepping cinnamon rolls for the next morning . . . and on it goes.
After this event, I need to haul ass to mithinx for the annual Oscars party. In past years this has been a food extravaganza, but given the time crunch is going to be a more focused affair. I still have to figure out what the hell I'm making for dessert there given that last year I made mini banana cream pies, chocolate covered strawberries, as well as chocolates.
Because I have not done this before, my lists have lists. I have a production schedule, equipment list, and shopping list sorted both alphabetically and by location where I need to shop. Hmm . . . hints of OCD? Anyway, it seems like a LOT to do and I don't have the benefit of having done it a few hundred times like I have with trial prep.
Well, at least I'll be able to write off some equipment and books this year.