The final menu:
Avocado Caprese
Deviled Eggs with tarragon or dill
Watermelon Salad with cilantro and crispy pancetta
Chilled Cucumber Soup with mint almond pesto
Lemon Tarragon Baguette with course sea salt
Ok, time to toot my own horn a little.
The catering at the Big Green Theatre Fundraiser went really well. Amazingly well. I was amazed.
I had been incredibly nervous during the week leading up to the fundraiser. I had never catered for 75 people before, I was afraid I'd make too little food, I was afraid I'd make too much food, I was afraid the avocados wouldn't be ripe enough, or too ripe, I was afraid I had created a menu that forced me to do everything very last minute.
That last fear turned out to be a little credible. The 48 hours right before the fundraiser were insane. Hauling home 30 pounds of vegetables on the subway by myself during rush hour almost put me over the edge. The discovery that an emersion blender would not work on over a gallon of cucumber mint soup was very disappointing. And the eggs, oohhhh the eggs. Damn those eggs. Those eggs did not want to be peeled. It took me 3 hours to peel 3 dozen eggs. Damn those eggs.
The morning of the fundraiser, Noel left early to help set up the theatre. I sat at the kitchen table, staring into space, sipping away at a pot of coffee. I was thinking through the rest of the menu that I needed to finish in the next 3 hours. I didn't have a garnish for the cucumber soup. I was going to use chive blossoms, but no one at the farmers market had them in stock that week. I had lots of leftover mint, so I decided to make a quick pesto to garnish, with the mint, some of the smaller basil leaves that weren't going in the avocado caprese, toasted almonds, and garlic. I chopped through the layers of herbs, garlic, and almonds on a cutting board rather than running everything through the food processor. This method is a little more time consuming, but I think it yields a more textured and rustic pesto. Then I stirred through a spritz of fresh lemon juice and some olive oil, until everything stuck together nicely. I felt a little crazy for adding work for myself at that point, but I was very pleased with the result.
Another last minute project was making a dressing for the watermelon. Again, I'm not sure what possessed me to do this, but I'm very glad I did. I had rendered out a lot of fat from the pancetta as I was crisping it in the frying pan. I decided to use the fat in a dressing with some aged balsamic vinegar and maple syrup. Only a small drizzle went over each piece of the salad, but it added a great subtle and rich and tangy and sweet something, and it made the watermelon look even more juicy and delicious.
One of the great things about catering for the Bushwick Starr is that they have a small kitchen in the theatre. Roberta's Pizza had donated 8 baguettes to the fundraiser, and I was able to heat them in the oven during the fundraiser. They came out of the oven steaming fresh and slightly sweet from the lemon tarragon butter on the inside, and with a crispy crust, sprinkled with course sea salt.
I was also able to replenish the buffet table with freshly made plates of food, rather than having to pre-make everything. I sliced and assembled the Avocado Caprese as they were needed. Everything was as fresh as possible, and to my immense satisfaction, people really appreciated the effort. Many people commented on how unique and fresh the food was, and I overheard one woman say that it was much more like having a personal chef than a caterer. Wow.
So, it was an immense amount of work, but incredibly gratifying, and I hope to tell more tales of catering very soon.
P.S. To those to came to the fundraiser, I hope you had a lovely time, and thank you so much for all the kind words. I'm so glad you enjoyed my food.
