smallpleasurescateringblog

Top Catering and Wedding Trends for 2012- Part 1

I thought I’d share some trends for 2012 predicted by catering and event planning professionals before January is over (it’s still the beginning of the year, right?). Some of the trends are tried and true returnees from the past couple of years, while some represent an evolution- after all, trends grow, gaining steam as they travel across the country.  Some are elements we’ve offered for a good while at Small Pleasures, and others we hope to have the opportunity to implement more and more in our party planning this coming year.

BTW, we’ve presented general catering trends and added a few that are specific wedding trends. Obviously, there’s a lot of cross over.

 So here they are:

Catering Trends

Small Plates and Rustic Fare- this is also a trend for weddings, and I say thank God!. While there’s still a need and desire for the plated sit down dinner (we at Small Pleasures have always found that a bit stuffy), the trend towards requests for a 5 or 6 course small plate dinner has clearly arrived. I’ve always preferred this style of dining. It allows for tasting a larger variety of flavor packed bites. And if the food is honest, homey food- all the better. Hint- Southern Cuisine isn’t going away. In fact, Bon Appetit Magazine just dubbed the South “America’s New Food Capital”, and, of course, Mediterranean food which never goes out of style in So Cal.

And in the small plates vein, classic as well as non-traditional flavors, are being served as shots, shooters, spoons, pops, balls and pick ups and other sundry mini-vessels.

Speaking of non-traditional vessels, Mason Jars are showing up everywhere holding everything from salads to creamy and custardy desserts.

Sliders are evolving -they’re no longer burgers, but short ribs, duck confit, ahi tuna, pulled pork and Cuban sandwiches are the go-to’s, and “grilled cheese is the new burger” according to one trade publication.

Mini Grilled Cheese and Shiitake Mushroom Sandwiches

Braised Dishes- comforting slow-cooked braises of lamb shanks, short ribs of beef and duck offer an ease of cooking, as they can be started in a caterer’s prep kitchen and finished on site, and in many ways produce a better end product. They can stand up well to being held in a steamy chafing dish or heating cabinet for longer than food items cooked by other processes. And who doesn’t love a comforting braised dish, which leads us to the next trend.

The trend over the past couple of years towards Comfort Food is still big, but the new trend is they are served in mini versions, and with a twist. Some caterers are serving Mac n’ Cheese with Duck Confit in mini ramekins or stews ( i.e. braised dishes) in individual puff pastry shells.

And Chicken is still a very popular protein choice, but now it’s served with exciting new sauces and spicy salsas and glazes. Think a medley of mushrooms with Dijon mustard, smoky and spicy mango salsas, Port wine tangerine or Thai chile glazes and marinades.

Artisanal Products-we understand this in So Cal. Hand-crafted, small batch cheeses, jams, vinegars, breads, beers- you name it, everyone wants them now.

Interactive Food Stations are big- paella (which we love, and if I do say so myself, make a jammin’ version of) and Mediterranean style fish soups cooked to order.

Check back next time for a look at dessert, beverage and décor trends.

And here are some related posts you may want to check out:

A Lovely Early Springtime Menu to Celebrate a Milestone Birthday

A Tropical Themed Party for a Warm Summer Evening

 Paella and Tapas for a Milestone Birthday

Comfort Food Buffets for the Holidays

Pulled Pork in Southern BBQ Sauce on Sweet Potato Biscuits

Paella

 

Appetizers to Pair with an Artisan American Whiskey and Pulled Pork on Sweet Potato Biscuits

Mini Sweet Potato Biscuits with Pulled Pork in Barbecue Sauce

 

Small Pleasures was hired recently to cater the VIP reception of the HP Lovecraft Film Festival. The bar was to be provided by Bowen Spirits, artisan creator of a new American whiskey. My client asked if we could create hors d’oeuvre that would pair well with the whiskey. Well, I don’t really drink whiskey, but a creative challenge always makes my job more interesting. And besides, I am a Southerner at heart, so...

My thoughts pretty quickly went to corn, sweet potatoes, pork, barbecue- you know, things like that. We ended up adding three passed hors d’oeuvre to the fruit, cheese and bruschetta display- a Jerk Chicken served with Tamarind Chutney, small plates of Grilled Corn Salad with Goat Cheese and Avocados, and Mini Sweet Potato Biscuits with Pulled Pork in Barbecue Sauce. Fortunately for me, I had just received a sample of KC Masterpiece’s Southern Style Barbecue Sauce. I mixed it half and half with KC Masterpiece’s Original Barbecue Sauce, to suit my taste-a combination of sweet and hot. And I used the tried and true All-South Barbecue Spice Rub to season the pork shoulder, which I slow cooked on a big barrel grill. The representatives from Bowen’s loved the menu, and I can safely say, it was a hit, greatly enjoyed by all. Recipe follows:

Break Out the Grill-Barbecue Chicken with All South Spice Rub

 The Labor Day weekend is just beginning, and here in L.A., the sun is just breaking through the clouds to brighten up the day. It won't be long before the grills start rolling out here, where outdoor cooking is a way of life.

All good grillers, of course, have their own special marinades and rubs. I, for several years, have sworn by a dry rub recipe from John Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger’s cookbook The Thrill of the Grill. Dry rubs allows for a crispy crust on the meat-which I love-and doesn’t necessarily require long marinating, although you can leave it on for several hours before cooking if desired. But even rubbed on for just an hour beforehand will do wonders for your grilled chicken or meat (yep- it can be used on poultry, steaks, brisket, ribs, pork butt-just about anything you want to barbecue). And a dry rub won’t leave your meat with the spongy texture that sometimes occurs with long wet marinading. Of course, you can always customize your dry rub, adding more sugar, garlic powder, cumin, or whatever to suit your taste. Beware, though, the sugar tends to burn quickly, so cook your meat over indirect heat, as is proper with barbecuing, anyway.

Ah- and one last thing, I always use a metal chimney, available at most any grocery or drug store this time of year, stuffed with newspapers to start my fire. They’re very inexpensive, last forever, and are so much easier on the environment than lighter fluid. Recipe follows:

 

Summer Jazz Sunday Brunch Menu-Plum Frangipane Tart

 

Plum Frangipane Tart

Okay, this tart isn't just any tart. It's a prize winning tart. Last fall, at a Camp Blogaway reunion day, this tart won first prize competing against all the other great treats brought by some of L.A.'s best recipe food bloggers.

I happen to make frangipane tarts a lot from many different fruits depending on the season, and they're all great, but I especially look forward to the very short late summer window when I can get Italian or French prunes to bake with this luscious almond paste filling. And that's one reason I've included it in this special Summer Jazz Sunday Brunch Menu. That- and because prune plums are grown in Sonoma County. For that matter, so are almonds. Funny story- when I think of almonds, I often look back amusedly to when I was a newly arrived Bay Area college student- straight from Los Angeles. I was invited to visit a former neighbor (Marie Colson- a lovely French lady) of my family's from Los Angeles, who had moved to Sonoma County. As Mrs. Colson drove me through Sonoma, she was pointing out things she thought would be interesting. One of those things was the abundant almond trees. I stared at them as we toured, "but where are the almonds" I asked her. She laughed- "oh, Gigi" -yes, that was my childhood nickname, " you are such a city kid". That's when she educated me to the fact that almonds grow in a hull (okay, I'm no horticulturalist) which to me looked like a little sack, or even a not yet mature peach-right?

Regarless of how they grow, I love almond desserts, and this tart is near the top of the list. I hope you'll give it a try.

Almonds growing in their hulls

Summer Jazz Sunday Brunch Menu-Zucchini and Roasted Red Pepper Frittatta

Zucchini and Roasted Pepper Frittata

 

Frittatas are easy to whip up, and are a  perfect dish for brunch. They are good hot out of the oven, and they are an ideal dish for taking outdoors, as they are great served at room temp, too. The combination of ingredients is limited only by your taste and imagination- any combination of vegetables, sausages, ham and/or cheese works fine.

Since it is the height of summer, I have made frittatas for our outdoor summer jazz brunch using two "essence of summer" veggies- zucchini and red peppers. And since we are working with a Mediterranean picnic them, I've added a tangy chevre style goat cheese, one of my favorite types of cheese.

The result- a tasty treat, indeed. Recipe follows:

Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch Picnic

Great music, excellent wines, fabulous food in a beautiful country setting-there aren’t many better ways to spend a late and lazy summer morning. So when Barbara Blake of Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch asked if I would like to create a Sunday Jazz Brunch menu to enjoy at a Sonoma wine country outing, I jumped at the chance.

Sonoma County is not only a renown wine grape growing region, but also one of the country’s most abundant producers of many agricultural products, so I've created a menu which celebrates that richness with the simple elegance of a classic Mediterranean style picnic menu.

And what wine to drink with your picnic brunch? Rosé wines not only carry the very essence of summer in every sip, but also happen to be just about the best food friendly wines around. So what do we recommend?  Try a great Rosé, like Pedroncelli Winery’s (a Sonoma County winery) Dry Rosé of Zinfandel, or Wente Vineyard’s Pinot Noir Rosé. 

So click through to the next page to view the menu, and check back over the next week, as I update this post with links to some of the recipes for the picnic goodies:

More Summer Grilling Pan Asian Style-Hoisin Marinated Steak Salad with Asian Vegetables

Hoisin Marinated Steak Salad

As  I mentioned in the last post, I recently put together a Father's Day Party grilled menu for a family who loves to vacation in Hawaii. So when Collective Bias offered the opportunity to join in Smart and Final's  #GrillUpYourSummer event by creating a summer grilling recipe using Cattlemen's Finest Beef, I jumped at the chance. An Asian Steak Salad, would be a perfect counterpoint to the Grilled Rock Cod on the menu, I  thought. And who doesn't love a  Ribeye steak on the grill. It's a sure sign of summer in So Cal.

I have to acknowledge that I was inspired in the creation of this salad by Hugh Carpenter's Pacific Flavors: Thai and Chinese Cooking for an American Kitchen , a cookbook I've turned to many times over the 20+ years since I discovered it. Carpenter taught me that hoisin sauce makes for a wonderful marinade that stands up so well to grilled beef, and that there are many wonderful variations one can make into an Asian style salad. I highly recommend a look at his book.

 BTW, this recipe is submitted in the Smart & Final Grill Up Your Summer contest. You may visit http://www.GrillUpYourSummer.com and vote for this recipe, if you like ;-)  By voting and entering your information, you will be entered to win a $50 Smart & Final gift card AND a Weber 220 grill!

This project has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for #collectivebias.

Recipe follows...

Summer Grilling Pan Asian Style-Grilled Rock Cod with Thai Red Curry Sauce

Grilled Rock Cod with Thai Red Curry Sauce

Last summer I was privileged to cater a wedding party for the daughter of my long time friend and brilliant artist Keith. Keith is of Hawaiian ethnicity, so it was a wonderfully fun challenge to build a menu of Pan Asian foods.  So when a client, who happens to love and spend a lot of time in Hawaii, called to say she wanted to throw an outdoor Father’s Day party recently, I was eager to incorporate some of the dishes (along with a great new one I will share next time) from Aaron and Alison’s wedding.

Keith and I informally collaborated on this dish. We were looking for a reasonably priced  fish to serve, as the ever party ready Salmon has risen so much in price recently. Keith suggested Rock Cod, which I knew by another name- Pacific Red Snapper (don’t ask me why these fishes are marketed under multiple names). Keith also made the marinade, which was delicious, and paired so well with a favorite sauce of mine from a chef I have long admired, Roy Yamaguchi of Hawaii, a pioneering chef in Pan Asian cuisine. By the way, I was a very lucky lady, and got to interview Roy recently when he visited the Palm Desert Food and Wine Festival. You can read what Roy had to say at my LA Food Examiner column by cliking on the link above.

I hope you’ll give this wonderful dish a try soon. You don’t have to wait for Father’s Day, or a wedding party. It’ll make a great addition to any summer outdoor gathering.

 

Catdaddy Punches with a Kick-Recipe for Mountain Moonshine Punch

Last fall I was privileged to strike up a relationship with Piedmont Distillers, who  contributed their wonderful spirit, Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine, to serve at the LA Helps LA event, in support of the Gulf Restoration Network, that I organized.

When I went to my local BevMo recently to pick up a bottle I went on about how I loved it to the young clerk (in fact, everyone who tasted Catdaddy at our event loved it), but when he asked me what it was like, I had to answer that I really couldn't tell him. "It's not like anything else I've ever tasted" I responded. And that's the truth.

Catdaddy happens to have a great punch cocktail recipe at their website, which they were happy to allow me to present to you here, with a bit of adaptation. This Mountain Moonshine Punch (originally created by Jim Kearns and entered into competition at Tales of the Cocktail) makes for a great opener to an outdoor summer party (it's especially great with barbecue) so I urge you to get to your local spirit store and pick up a bottle, so you can whip up a pitcher, right away. Recipe follows:

Welcome to Summer Garden Parties!

 

Welcome to Small Pleasures Catering's blog, where we are so pleased to share these summer garden party recipes with you. Time to spruce up your yard or deck, and invite your friends and family over for elegant, yet comfy al fresco dining. I hope you will try some (or even all) of these tasty recipes showcasing summer's bounty and Jarlsberg cheese.

Bon Appetit!

Gisele

small pleasures catering

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Garden Parties- and a Recipe for Salmon Cakes

Something Old, Something New-Jarlsberg Stuffed Shrimp Cakes

Summer Garden Parties- Two Vegetable Frittatas Using Summer's Bounty

More Summer Garden Party Bites-Jarlsberg and Hazelnut Biscuits with Black Forest Ham

More Summer Garden Party-Simple Canapés

 

And a couple of punch recipes to go with the great food (one alcoholic and one for abstainers):

A Bridal Shower Menu of Comfort Food with a Citrus Rose Hibiscus Punch

Catdaddy Punches with a Kick-Recipe for Mountain Moonshine Punch