Celebrate with Small Plates

While you are witnessing a number of restaurants serving “small plates” as an option for a meal, you should know that it has been a growing trend for some time in the catering industry. I actually prefer to go out and enjoy a 5-course meal of small plates! I also enjoy them perfectly paired with a beverage—either a glass of wine, champagne, sake, cognac, beer, or spirit—served in a small glass. It seems to me that each perfectly paired beverage with the small plate is designed to POP in your mouth the most delicious taste with each different course. Yum!!

So, this holiday season it will not surprise you to know that it is all about taste, being small, and being comforting. Mini savory or sweet cupcakes or lollipop cakes… Mini meatballs in different sauces… Mini mac and cheese bites… Mini meatloaf bites… Mini savory and sweet tartlets… Mini tasting spoons… Mini soup sippers… Mini sweet and savory pies… the list goes on and on. This means we can taste a little bit everything and not feel guilty!

Pies are the new cupcake craze. Did you know that there are mini pies in almost every culture?

• The British have Cornish Pasty which is a steak and vegetable mini hand pie
• Latin Cultures have the Empanada with beef, chicken or chorizo
• Australia has meat pies, Jamaica has meat pies, Finland has meat pies, Asia has meat pies, Louisiana has meat pies, Nigeria has meat pies, Morocco has meat pies… then there is sambousek, burek, tourtiere, treacle, samosas, and banoffee!
• New England has chicken pot pie, lobster pie, fish pie, mini whoopee pies, mini apple pies, key lime pies, etc.

We could go on and on!

In this spirit, why not consider a mini pie holiday party? Here are two to get you started:

Beef Empanada

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (plus a little more for kneading)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 3 tablespoons lard

Preparation:

1. In a bowl, beat the water, eggs and vinegar together. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the 3 cups of flour and salt.

3. Cut the lard into the flour mix with a pastry blender or two butter knives. Make a well in the center of the flour mix and pour the liquid ingredients from the first bowl into the center.

4. Mix the wet and dry ingredients with a fork until it becomes stiff.

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it just until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth.

6. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Use immediately. You can also freeze the dough at this point for future use.

Servings: Makes approximately 10 six-inch empanadas.

Picadillo Filling:

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 ½ teaspoon cumin
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 medium white onion (chopped fine)
• 1 small green pepper (chopped)
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 3/4 cup tomato sauce
• 2 small potatoes (peeled and diced)
• 8 to 10 green olives (pitted)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup of cilantro
• Olive oil for sautéing

Preparation:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper.

2. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil. Sauté the onions, green pepper, and garlic until soft.

3. Add the ground beef mixture, beef stock, and tomato sauce. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes.

4. Add the diced potato. Cover and cook another 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are done.

5. Remove the cover. Add the olives and cook uncovered 15 minutes or until the liquid is fully evaporated, but the meat is still moist.

Method:

Roll dough 5 to 6” circles. Place filling in1/2 and fold over into a half circle. Crimp all the way around with a fork and bake or fry until golden.

Basically, this dough can be used for any filling at all. Try spinach and feta, lamb and Moroccan spices and chickpeas, or pork, jalapeño, cumin, and chili powder.

Suggestion: Pair with a mini mojito!

Mini Quick Whoopie Pie

1 Box Chocolate Cake mix

Follow the directions on the chocolate cake mix and then add 1 cup or more of all-purpose flour to stiffen the dough. Use a mini ice cream scoop and scoop onto parchment covered sheet pans. Bake 350 degrees until done…approximately 15 minutes. Cool completely and scoop a mini scoop of buttercream onto one side and “sandwich” with another side. Easy Peasy!

Suggestion: Pair with a late harvest Zinfandel!

I challenge you to make several different mini pies and a couple of beverages to make your festive and fun!

Some other suggestions: have an interactive party by making it a contest. This is GREAT for corporate team building as well!

Gingerbread House Making Contest

Cookie Decorating Contest

When all else fails and you really want to dazzle the crowd consider what is REALLY HOT… BACON! Make it a…

Bacon BAR!! Bake bacon with all kinds of flavors and just set out on a buffet table and watch them disappear. Peppered bacon, candied bacon, chocolate dipped bacon, and my personal favorite: bacon brittle!

Happy holiday planning!

TD Bank Beach 2 Beacon Road Races 2013

The wine has been delivered, the linens are prepared, and all the food pick-ups, drop-offs, and cooking stations are planned out and accounted for. Last week was the first full week of preparations for the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race scheduled for August 5th. We were extremely excited to be a part of the festivities again this year and meet and serve all the amazing volunteers and runners affiliated with this magnificent event.

Saturday morning was the day of the race. We provided all the amazing athletes with water, oranges, small breakfast foods, and other refreshments. Keeping the runners hydrated and nourished before the event is something we take very seriously. There is such a buzz in the air on race day! It always makes interacting with the runners and volunteers and spectators such a treat!

The wonderful volunteers and other VIPs that devote countless hours of hard work to making sure this event goes well will be having a special event the night after the race. This VIP event will be a good old-fashioned Maine lobster bake, which we catered.  This event is always a blast for everyone involved!

The TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10K Road Race has become a huge event that we love taking part in. A huge thank you to all the volunteers, community members, sponsors and leaders who make race day so special every year.

Fresh Cherry BBQ Sauce from Taste of the Nation 2013

We have the honor of being the exclusive caterer at the 2013 Taste of the Nation VIP Reception at Wolfe’s Neck Farm in Freeport.  The event benefits a number of different charities including The Good Shepherd Food Bank, Opportunity Alliance, Cultivating Community, as well as Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry Campaign.

One of the dishes that we are serving is a Seared Duck Breast with a Fresh Cherry Barbeque Sauce.  This sauce would go great with any poultry – serve it at your next summer barbeque or let us come prepare it for you!

Fresh Cherry BBQ Sauce

1 Yellow Onion, chopped fine
2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
1 can Cherry Juice Concentrate
1 cup Red Wine Vinegar
3 Chipotle Peppers, stems removed
4 packages of Dried Sour Cherries
8 cloves of Garlic, chopped fine
1 tablespoon Paprika
2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 cup Sour Cherry Preserves
1 jar Roasted Red Peppers, with liquid
2 tablespoons Rye or Bourbon Whiskey
2 tablespoons Sugar
Salt

Directions
In a heavy saucepan, sauté onion in oil until caramelized.  Add cherry juice, vinegar, chipotle peppers, half of the dried sour cherries, garlic, paprika, and roasted red peppers.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until chipotle peppers are completely softened, at least 30 minutes.  Remove from heat and let cool.

In a food processor, puree the mixture together with the remaining half of the dried sour cherries, the tomato paste, roasted red peppers, and cherry preserves until smooth.  Push puree through a mesh strainer into a saucepan.  Add sugar and salt to taste.  Add whiskey and return to stove to bring back to a boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer for another 20 minutes or so.  If needed, add additional sugar/salt.

Leaving Las Vegas 2013

Every year Chuck and I go to Las Vegas for the Annual Catersourse Convention. As we leave Vegas this year I look back at the wonderful opportunity to learn so much and just what we have just experienced. I also recall the wonderful hotel we stayed in and the awesome food that we ate.

We continue to rave about The Cosmopolitan Hotel. It is truly a pleasure to stay there. This year we were upgraded to a suite on the 52nd floor with a wrap around balcony and a gorgeous view of the famous fountain at The Bellagio. Katie and Eric stopped by and Katie asked me if I was a Kardashian!!

Here are the restaurants we ate at with some comments:

• The Wicked Spoon in The Cosmopolitan: they have the BEST buffet ever for brunch (award winning) and dinner.
• Comme Ca at The Cosmopolitan: The best burger in Vegas that I have had so far!
• Estiatorio Milos at The Cosmopolitan: Absolutely outstanding Greek seafood restaurant.
• Jaleo at The Cosmopolitan: GREAT Spanish Tapas Bar
• BLT at The Mirage: Awesome Fried Pickles with a Paprika and Chili Aioli
• Pomplemousse: This 40 plus year old French restaurant is like going straight back into the 70’s. French cuisine at its best.
• The Steakhouse at Circus Circus: Another long-term restaurant with a great steak primed in their own meat locker.

Cirque de Solei “O” was the absolute best theatre show I have ever seen. I was mesmerized from beginning to the end. These young people are amazing. The stage was actually a pool with the flooring moving and changing according to the scene at the time. So, they were walking on water at one point to diving into the pool from 60 feet in the air at another point!

Onto the convention…some 7000 chefs and caterers and event planners from all over the world attended this convention.

I learned that country chic and New York chic are still popular but with glitz and glam accents. Color is big, and big is big! I learned that Bride’s like package deals and various choices. I learned that some things that have been popular are:

• Pairing an app with a particular wine, tequila, scotch etc…
• Very elaborate décor and tablescaping
• Interactive stations are gaining in popularity and are also becoming very elaborate
• Late-night snacks continue to be popular
• Flashy, elaborate bars are popular
• Signature anything to make our bride’s wedding reception unique
• Soup and soup sippers continue to be popular
• Spheres hanging everywhere

Most of all I learned that I still LOVE what I do and I am good at it -with an AWESOME husband and partner and an AWESOME staff.

I look forward to going back to Vegas to do some more learning next year…and eating too!

Check out the pictures I took of the convention and our hotel!

Reflections of 2010

I am sitting in my recliner next to our Christmas tree and in front of a great fire as I write this blog. It is blizarding out there and I am thankful for the roaring fire.

Since it is nearing the end of 2010 I think it is a good time to look back at this year and say I have a lot of things to be thankful for.

We celebrated our 10th year at our cafe and catering business. It is hard honest work. Not only are we chef’s but professional schleppers. Yes that is a industry technical word! Kathleen Kelly of Kathleen Kelly Photographers spent and recorded a day in the life a caterer with me last winter. It was a solid 14 hour standard day in my life as a caterer. I think she was amazed at how hands on I am in the business and with what stamina I have.

It is good to love what you do and I really do. It is the rush of a good job done at the end of every event. The comments and hugs feed my soul. I am truly living my dream as I explained to Annette Fazio during her interview of me last spring on her radio show “Resilience is Brilliance”. I am really lucky to have Chuck share the same dream.

Chuck and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary and are looking forward to our 27th in March 2011. Even though we live and work together 24/7 we still somehow end the day reflecting and laughing over cocktails and dinner. Some days are easier than others. Just ask our staff!

Speaking of staff, we have the BEST in the world. Although we have a few new staff members many have been with us more than 8 years! Everyone of our members really care about CVC Catering Group. They are true professionals in every way. I am grateful for them and I try to tell them that every chance I get.

I am grateful for returning customers and new customers as well. We added United Way of Greater Portland to our customer list and catered their Grand Finale “Back to the Future” at the awesome Ocean Gateway. We also added Cabelas as a new customer for a cocktail party for 1225 people!

I love customizing anything and this year The Maine Historical Society allowed me to create a signature drink honoring Henry Wadsforth Longfellow that I call the o’Henry! Emeril Lagasse had an idea when I spoke with him and Chuck and I expanded upon it! It was a great hit at their Holiday Celebration a few weeks ago.

We had the pleasure of working with Steve Dimillo and his very talented Chef Melissa Bouchard at Nonesuch Golf Club for a fundraiser and donating our services. It is great to work with other chefs. We had a great time and it was a big success.

I am thankful for my family and friends as well. I am looking forward to 2011 with a great deal of enthusiasm and all of the new experiences and challenges to come. Look out 2011 because here I come!