I’ve dabbled here and there in catering before, and certainly have thrown more than my own fair share of parties, but finally the gauntlet had been thrown down–I was officially hired (paid!) to feed 40 people. I was surprised by how calm I remained. After all, though I was going to be in my element preparing dishes that I love, I would have to deliver food that would appeal to many different tastes. And lots of it. But I was pretty sure I was up to the challenge.
There were many details to be worked out and a few challenges along the way: first of all, the menu. I wanted to choose dishes that would best reflect my own repertoire and strengths. There would need to be a balance of proteins (meat, fish and cheese), vegetables, hot and cold, crunchy and creamy, savory and sweet. Easy, you say? Not so much.
I started building the menu by picking a few of my bestsellers: Prosciutto-Wrapped Dates, Pomegranate-Cumin Glazed Lamb Kebabs, Zucchini Potato Latkes with Smoked Trout & Red Pepper Jelly. Meat, fish, cheese, vegetables, crunchy, creamy, savory, sweet–these provided most of the elements I was looking for, but not enough. I wanted to tweak the stuffing of the dates: maybe use manchego instead of my usual goat cheese. The kebabs needed a dip to round out the dish. What else could add balance to the menu?
Saw an interesting recipe for crab melts on little brioche button-sized rolls, that had been slathered with truffle butter–yum! I could easily prepare the crab salad the day before and just assemble them on site. Those little rolls, it turned out, were almost my downfall–though I followed up on my order with the bakery multiple times, the wrong size rolls were delivered on the day of the party! If I served them as is, guests would have been chomping on a mini sandwich rather than a mini bite–too much for an hors d’oeuvres. The solution? Cut them to the proper size using a round cookie cutter–a bit of work, but I achieved the end result I’d hoped for!
I’d been perfecting my chouchouka for about a year; chouchouka is a Moroccan condiment that’s made with lots of tomatoes, roasted peppers, garlic and spices that are cooked down for hours. I wanted to incorporate that into an appetizer–the host of the party is Moroccan. Maybe on a crostini, but it needed more elements to make it appealing. I settled on a garlic-rubbed crostini layered with the smoky, spicy tomato-pepper blend, a slice of grilled eggplant, and grated Parmesan to be broiled to melty goodness on top: a spin on eggplant Parmesan.
These hors d’oeuvres were all going to be passed, but I wanted there to be stationary food as well. Something people could easily pick up and nibble while holding their drinks. Crudites, maybe, but they had to be a bit unusual, and with an interesting dip. Found some beautiful rainbow carrots, which I served with fennel wedges, haricots vert, endive and gorgeous dark burgundy leaves of treviso. This, paired with a luscious dip of rosemary-infused goat cheese, served dual purpose: something cold and something available at all times for munching.
How about a deviled egg, a quail egg? The quail eggs turned out to be a lovely idea, but not for deviling–they’re just too tiny! Even peeling them was a challenge. I decided instead to boil and peel them, roll them in a bit of olive oil, sea salt, and an interesting Middle Eastern seasoning blend called za’atar. These ended up being a huge hit–the spice and sea salt added a lovely crunch to the soft and creamy eggs.
So, now that I had developed the menu, the next step was to work out the game plan. To be continued…