Another exciting week at The Cantering Caterer!  We were on Prudence Sloane’s Food Show - “More Than Simply Food” last week discussing “green” foods.  Green in color and environmental impact too.  We discussed green beer - not the traditional St. Patrick’s Day green but green conscious from Brooklyn Brewery.  They power their facility with wind energy generated from a “wind farm” in upstate New York.  They donate the byproduct of their beer production to farmers to feed their stock.  Really a tremendous business - and GREAT beer too!

This week Christian will be on WFSB 3, Better Connecticut with Scott Haney.  This is our third appearance on the show and we will be discussing ideas for spring parties.  Christian will prepare a few sample hors d’oeuvre and have some interesting cocktail and decor suggestions.  The show is live on Wednesday from 10:ooam-11:00am. 

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LOTS happening at The Cantering Caterer this time of year!  Tomorrow we are meeting with editors at The Knot.com, PartySpot.com, Elegant Bride, and The Bridal Guide.  These interviews will be about new things happening in weddings, green conscious weddings, summer parties, and new trends in catering and event design.  We are really excited!

The Cantering Caterer was just hired to cater and design a fantastic wedding in Easton, CT.  Working out of an acre sized clearing in the woods we will deliver a memorable night to 100 guests under a tent and canopy of trees.  The very next day we will transform a private home into a magical setting based on “Where the Wild Things Are,” for a childrens birthday party.

We were hired today to cater an opening for a French artist at the home gallery of a prominent collector in Greenwich.  We will do a classic French menu, paired with amazing wines, (all white!), and our service staff that day will all be native to France.  This will be an unbelievable event!

Roger Williams University just contracted us to cater their tailgate before and after an away lacrosse game on Saturday.  We will have an exciting barbeque in the cold as we cheer The Hawks to victory!

 Every caterer says “now is the time to start planning your summer party.”  Now, its true!  Now IS the time to schedule your date.  Despite the gloom and doom in the financial papers lately people are booking parties and events more that ever before.  We noticed that over the Christmas school break many people that normally would have been away stayed home and had parties.  Small dinner parties, large cocktail parties…  Now really is the time…

Lastly, we were just contracted to cater a Kentucky Derby Party.  This is the day of the year in the sport of kings!  We are service a traditional Derby menu and we start testing Mint Juleps this week!

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Wedding season is fast approaching and we are seeing lots of new and exciting things things this year.

-Locations - we are seeing lots of non-traditional venues…  Museums, galleries, beaches, private homes.  We have been named exclusive caterer at the Downtowm Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport and this is one of the most amazing places we have ever worked.  2 floors, cabaret style seating, a fantastic stage and light system.  The theatre has some sound capability, and the staff is very friendly and easy to work with.  The price is right and we have recently done 2 weddings and a Bar Mitzvah there - it is definitely worth looking into.

Speaking of lighting, we are seeing more attention being paid to lighting this year.  Candles can create an intimate atmosphere and in some situations can reduce the need for more expensive equipment.  With creative lighting you can make a large space smaller and a smaller space appear larger.  Using ambers and pinks will really make your skin look great in photos too.

 Another fun thing we are noticing is brides with 2 dresses.  The traditional formal wedding gown that gets ditched after the ceremony!  I have seen cocktail dresses, slim gowns, and a really hot red dress recently.

 Rental jewels…  You can rent a pair of Vera Wang designer diamond earings valued at 2600.00 for about $100.00! 

Documentary style wedding videography catches the whole day from begining to end…  It is on the expensive side but will give you a great look at the buildup to that fantastic moment! 

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The movement toward green and environmentally friendly foods is really gaining steam!  People want to know that their foods were raised, harvested, and prepared in an ethical way.  At The Cantering Caterer, we are leading the charge in trying to buy as much local organic produce meats, and other ingredients as possible.  This has many advantages…

-By not trucking foods all over the world we are reducing emissions.

-Buying locally supports your economy - in fact, we are going to hire a driver this spring to pick up our produce and meats from local farms daily.  We can now tell you that the lettuce you are eating at 6:00pm was cut at 4:30am!

-Flavor, freshness, quality!  We can see the products that we serve as they grow!  We visit the farms, talk with the farmers, taste things as they develop…  One local farm is going to grow organic herbs just for us this year.

-Organic and Fresh is healthy!  No preservatives, no growth hormones, no pesticides.

Sustainable food sources are another hot item.  We are buying our fish from sustainable populations only.  As the world gets smaller and access to once exotic ingredients is easier we are able to be less dependant on stocks that have been overfished.  For example, once rare Baramundi from Australia and New Zealand is in our local grocery stores right now…

Next week we will post some ”green decor” tips. 

Some helpful green links:

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MyFox Holiday Video

When it comes to holiday catering and party planning, it’s easier than you think to do it on a budget! Christian was recently featured on Fox TV’s Good Day New York to talk about catering, event planning and design, and some really sharp ideas about entertaining on a budget without sacrificing quality.

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Turducken
Preparing a Turducken for the holiday requires a certain commitment to your dinner, a theatrical flair, and a sense of culinary adventure! A Turducken is a turkey which has been stuffed with a chicken that has been stuffed with a duck. As your guests sit at the table expecting the same old dried out turkey with no flavor they will be in total shock as you slice through this moist, tender, flavorful concoction like a loaf of bread!

Use your favorite stuffing recipe, be sure to use the giblets – that’s where the real flavor is! I used a Grand Marnier and Dried Apricot Stuffing with a little Andouille sausage to give that little extra kick!

Ingredients:
1, 18-19 pound fresh Turkey
1, 7 pound fresh Duck
1, 3-4 pound fresh Chicken
1 recipe, Dried Apricot and Grand Marnier Stuffing (recipe follows)
4 oranges
Buy the birds at your local butcher shop and bat your eyelashes until he agrees to debone them for you! This will save a LOT of time If you must debone the birds yourself get a nice bottle of wine, a good sharp paring knife, and a whole uninterrupted afternoon. You must remove every bit of bone and cartilage from the chicken and the duck. Leave the drumsticks and the wings on the turkey – they are necessary for the appearance of the final product. (Instructions on deboning follow).

To assemble the Turducken:
Lay all three birds skin side (breast) down on a clean flat surface. Starting with the turkey, press firmly into the flesh a coating of about ¾ of an inch of the stuffing. Lay the duck on top of the turkey and stuffing, spread it out repeat the process only this time use about ½ inch of stuffing. Next, lay the chicken on top and put a small mound of stuffing in the center.
Here is the tricky part… Cut 5 pieces of butchers twine into 30” lengths. You want to tie the turkey back together so that it looks like a turkey again. Slide each piece of the cut twine under the turkey. Gently fold the sides of the turkey up and tie it back together. It may take a few tries, or a few extra pieces of twine but that is ok!

Lastly, flip your bird! Turn it over and place in a roasting pan. Squeeze the juice of the oranges over the skin, cover in foil and put it in the oven at 225F. You want to cook it slow and low! You need to cook a Turducken this size for about 8 hours. During the last 2 hours you can uncover it to brown the skin. To make sure it is done stick a meat thermometer into the deepest part of the Turducken. You have to be sure that the internal temperature is 165F. Take the temperature in a couple of places to be safe. I like to serve the Turducken on a nice wooden platter garnished with apricots, currants, berries, whatever is fresh, colorful, and available.

Stand over your creation and cut right through middle with a sharp bread knife! Your guests will be amazed!

For the Dried Apricot and Grand Marnier Stuffing
Ingredients:
1 cup dried apricots; chopped coarsely
1-1/2 cups Grand Marnier Liqueur, enjoy the rest as you stuff the birds!
4 cups homemade poultry broth – make this with the carcasses of the deboned birds
The liver and heart from the turkey
2 cups celery, coarsely chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 pound Andouille Sausage
1 cup Gala apple pieces, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme
16 ounces bread crumbs (day old brioche is fantastic!)
Freshly ground black pepper
Kosher Salt
1 cup slivered Almonds

Instructions:
Place apricots and 1 cup Grand Marnier in a small saucepan. Heat to a boil to plump the apricots. Remove from the heat and set aside. Simmer the turkey liver and heart in just enough water to cover in a small saucepan for 5 minutes; set aside to cool

In a medium saucepan, heat chicken broth to boiling. Add celery and onion. Simmer 10 minutes or until tender.
In a large skillet, cook the sausage. Remove from heat and chop coarsley.
In a large mixing bowl, combine bread crumbs, apricots with liquid, sausage, chopped apple, onion, celery, almonds, and broth. Stir to combine. Add remaining Grand Marnier. Stir well to moisten stuffing. Season with thyme and pepper to taste.

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Party Planning for the Fall!

Chill in the air and harvesting the long season fruits and vegetables inspires people to indulge in what is commonly called, “comfort food”. Food that give you that you warm and full feeling…..quite a bit longer than those summer salads.

Warm spiced cider is my way to kick if off. Simmer with a few cloves, a stick of cinnamon and maybe a few slices of candied ginger some “heat”. Spike it with plum wine, Riesling wine or a touch of dark rum.

Butternut squash is my favorite fall vegetable. I serve it as a soup, soufflé, pancake, muffin or mixed with some potato for firmness and piped out onto the plate. It also makes a nice base for slices of Pork Tenderloin roasted to perfection or seared Duck Breast. Garnish with what else. The number one fall fruit….Apples. Tart granny smith sautéed in butter and flashed with brandy, sweet baking apples and cranberry chutney or a classic British ale infused apple compote.

A tender pot roast is also a great entrée to serve in the fall. Eye of the round or even first cut brisket present well. Lean and just about falling apart. A nice port wine and cranberry glace’ over a medley of root veggies. Roasted carrots, parsnips, onions, turnips and beets. Very pretty plate! As colorful as a drive to Vermont in October.

Potatoes and stuffing are my choices for accompaniments. Chestnuts and sautéed leeks will spark up a stuffing or mashed potatoes. A cleaver trick I love to do is bake them in buttered muffin pans. Lovely little crisp individual servings.

To end an autumn meal one must have apples. A warm apple cheese tart, crunchy topped apple crisp or the classic apple pie (I like mine with walnuts and raisins) with French vanilla ice cream. Finish off with a brandy spiked coffee or glass of Late Harvest Riesling.

Say ahhh, sit back, fold your arms over your belly and watch a good football game. Autumn is a time for comfort food.

Here is a menu that we did last weekend…

To start:Fall Crudités with Fennel and Jicama, Roasted Pepper Dips, Pita Chips

Artisanal Cheeses
5 Selections of classic hard cheeses, Dried Apricots and Cranberries

Butlered
Seared Lamb Loin on Baguette Toast, Fresh Mint Jelly
Spinach and Feta Stuffed Exotic Mushroom
Sweet Potato Chip with Indian Style Diced Eggplant, Tomato, & Cilantro

Soup
Warm and Creamy Potato Leek Soup

Salad
Julienne of Endive, Radicchio, and Orange pepper Citrus Slaw in Bib lettuce Cup with Candied Pecans

Choices:
Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cranberry Ginger Compote

Seared and Roasted Tenderloin, Caramelized Shallots with Balsamic Reduction

Butternut Squash Soufflé

Oven Roasted Baby Beets, Baby Turnips, with sweet Butter glazed Baby Carrots

Carmel Walnut Apple Pie with Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean

Enjoy the harvest bounty, Chef Scott G.

Check out The Food Network - http://www.foodnetwork.com/
Epicurious - http://www.epicurious.com/gourmet/

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Summer Parties and Catering are in Full Swing!!

The Cantering Caterer and The Event Planners have done some fantastic events lately! We catered several amazing weddings last weekend. One was in a remarkable gated estate in Greenwich. We met with the bride and groom in our Westport office last February, did a tasting, proposal, wrote up the contract. They decided that they were going to go with another company strictly based on price… We forgot about it, filled the calendar.

No worries… Well, last Thursday, 8 days before their wedding, they called us again to say that the caterer that they hired would not be able to do the event as they envisioned. Could we do it? Of course!

We quickly sent over the original proposal – Scott spent several hours on the phone with the bride on Sunday morning tweaking the menu. We staffed the wedding, ordered the food, delivered a great day! The tent covered part of the driveway, trees, gardens, was lighted beautifully, and the whole event had an amazing happy glow!

We also did a pool party to celebrate the opening of a new pool house at a Fairfield home. We did an unbelievable grilled fruit with cheese station. We paired lots of local cheeses with fresh grilled fruit. Grilled ruby red grapes with Roquefort cheese, grilled mango and papaya with brie… We also did one of my favorites, a Foie Gras Club Sandwich! If ever there were the perfect sandwich!

Very busy week ahead… A beautiful reception at a home in Fairfield, a backyard barbeque in Bridgewater, a picnic on Compo Beach, and a storybook wedding at one of the most amazing waterfront homes in the world! Exciting!

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Summer cocktails and foods.

It is HOT outside! We are in the midst of a busy wedding and corporate catering season. Lots of outdoor and pool parties, we are doing event design for a major conference in the city for a non-profit from Mexico, and a wedding for a television star from a very popular show, a few things on the beach this week. It is very exciting!

Time to relax in the backyard with a cool summer cocktail and take advantage of the great foods and preparations only available in the summer. Our catering and event staff certainly has opinions about their favorite summer foods and drinks. From all over Connecticut, New York, and beyond these people know food! Here are some of our favorites…

Jamie has eclectic taste! She runs our catering and events office but when she has down time she likes Pomegranate Mohitos, Red Bull and Ketel One, and Wheat beer with an Orange Slice. To eat she prefers things on the grill - her favorite? Grilled Eggplant with a sprinkle of Kosher salt. She also LOVES anything on a raw bar! Oysters, Clams, Shrimp, Crab Legs… Oh, and she is from Philadelphia and is a bit of a cheese steak snob but tried one of Fairfield County’s best and just may be a convert!

Our senior event planner Becky prefers Grey Goose with FRESH squeezed Grapefruit juice - has to be fresh squeezed! Summer White Peach Sangria - Really cold Amber Beer in a FROZEN mug - a nice chilled oaky, crisp chardonnay - preferably with a touch of peach. She absolutely loves our chefs Marinated Salmon with teriyaki, fresh oranges, brown sugar. Becky eats lots of salads and is really into fresh raw foods. We are easing her into baby lamb chops as we speak!

Chris likes a good Cabernet, no matter the weather. On a hot day a Grey Goose with Pellegrino, and a splash of Grapefruit hits the spot. Around Derby time ( a huge day in the catering and events calendar) nothing beats a Blantain’s Kentucky Bourbon with a splash of water.
He likes foods that are as visually pleasing as they are tasty, things that have surprises. Anything fresh, raw, or grilled that explodes with flavor and color! Grill a piece of mango and let the sugar caramelize, the grill marks look fantastic! Eat it with a nice chevre, glass of prosecco - doesn’t get much better! Another favorite is fresh radish, cream butter, and fresh baked baguette, wow!
Ridge prefers Bombay Sapphire and Tonic, fresh lime - lots of it. He really eats most anything, but again fresh and grilled rule the day for him… Oh yeah, coffee, no matter the time, season, or moon phase…

Erica, an event planner and from Connecticut, likes fresh Maine Lobster with drawn butter, Roquefort grapes, and watermelon, tomato and cucumber salad. Fresh across the board! Seems she has broken her Campbell’s soup addiction… To drink, she likes anything that is funky, fruity, and frozen. Crisp white wines too…

Keith likes dark beers, good red wine and Arby’s! He is also a Spanish food fanatic and makes some great summer risottos.

Marlene likes grilled burgers with onions and capers, any cut of beef fresh from the grill and summer salads with lots of fruit. She likes nice white wines and fresh iced tea.

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Wow! What a week. It is busy! The phone is ringing as people shake off the winter doldrums. Now is a great time to think ahead to spring, summer, and fall entertaining. Outdoor parties and ethnocentric events and menus are the hot items this year.

We are planning an amazing wedding at the Smack-Mellon Gallery in Brooklyn directly across from the Brooklyn Bridge Park. The venue is amazing, an event planners dream. It used to house huge boilers that powered the surrounding blocks. Now, it has been gutted but its industrial feel remains. The floors, simply polished original cement, shine and catch your eye when you enter. The 35’ ceilings offer a real opportunity to create intimate décor – you can hang things, drape, dream… The bride and groom are really excited about the possibilities, and so are we.

Also booked this week is a fantastic wedding on the beach in Westport. A gated estate, no expense has been spared in creating this paradise. We will be using lots of blue hydrangea and elegant linens to create depth and texture on the tables. Guests will dine on the great lawn and dock while enjoying jazz from a world famous quartet – I am really excited about this one.

Lots going on… Please call us anytime!

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