Second Food Tasting - Canapés Catering

We had our second food tasting for our wedding last night with Canapés Catering.  We had been asked to choose the food we wanted to taste prior to arriving.  This was very difficult for us only because there were SO many incredible options.  Case and Point - the hors d'oeuvres list was 19 pages long and that font size was small!


The tasting was held at Thorpewood, which is one of the places we looked at having our wedding.  Unfortunately for us, our wedding size is more than they could accomodate, but I would highly recommend it to anyone having a smaller size wedding.  Absolutely beautiful.  


Hors d'Oeuvres

Seared Sea Scallops with Fresh Bacon and Beurre Blanc - Pan-seared jumbo sea scallops drizzles with beurre blanc and topped with crumbled crisp bacon.

Maryland Crab Cake Canapés on Sweet Corn Muffins with Cajun Rémoulade - Rich Old Bay seasoned lump crab cakes served resting in a miniature sweet cornbread muffin with a leaf of mesclun and a zippy Cajun rémoulade sauce.

Katafi Wrapped Sea Bass  with Tomato Essence - Garlic infused oil marinated sea bass filets wrapped in shredded phyllo, pan-seared until crispy and served with a Tomato Caper Essence Beurre Blanc.

Southwestern Tequila and Lime Jumbo Prawn - Tequila, lime juice, olive oil, brown sugar and cilantro marinated shrimp, pan-seared and served with a barbecue dipping sauce.  

AND

Thai Crab Rolls - Sautéed carrots, bok choy and shiitake mushrooms tossed in a Thai sauce with chives, coriander, cellophane noodles and lump crab rolled in rice paper wrapper. Pan-fried and served with a spicy dipping sauce. 

Fruit Soup Shooters - Peach & Mango….refreshing and beautifully garnished.

Salad & Bread

Salad of Mesclun Greens with a Basil Tarragon Vinaigrette - Fresh seasonal greens displayed with grape tomatoes, dried apricots and cherries finished with goat cheese and tossed with a flavorful herb vinaigrette.

Spring Greens with Blue Cheese, Sweet Pecans and Grilled Pear - Fresh field greens and crisp romaine tossed in Vidalia vinaigrette with candied pecans, sliced grilled pear and crumbled blue cheese.

Fresh Baked, Grilled Olive Loaf

Entrées

 & Sides

Maryland Crab Cakes - Rich lump crab mixture seasoned with Old Bay and formed into cakes then BAKED to a golden brown.  Served with sides of savory rémoulade sauce and cocktail sauce.

Grilled Tenderloin of Beef - Olive oil, garlic, cracked pepper and rosemary rubbed tenderloin of beef seared and roasted to a medium rare served with shiitake demi-glaze and horseradish cream.

Chicken Scaloppini with an Herb Marsala Sauce - Boneless chicken breast dusted lightly with seasoned flour, pan seared and served sliced resting in an herb Marsala sauce. 

Grilled Salmon Filets with a Béarnaise Sauce - Garlic infused grapeseed oil rubbed salmon filets, grilled and served resting in a pool of a rich tarragon shallot béarnaise sauce.

Soft Polenta with Sautéed Mushrooms & Crispy Leeks - Creamy Parmigiano-Reggiano accented polenta served with a sauté of assorted mushrooms.

Our sides in the above entrée pictures were:

Roasted Fresh Asparagus - Fresh asparagus roasted in olive oil seasoned with cracked pepper & salt.

Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts - Sweet butter pan seared seasoned Brussel sprout halves.

Rosemary and Garlic Roasted New Potatoes - Miniature red potatoes quickly seared in olive oil, fresh rosemary and a hint of garlic, finished in the oven with sweet butter, kosher salt and cracked pepper.

Cake

Flavorful moist carrot cake torte layered with a rich cream cheese filling.

White butter cake torte layered with a fresh raspberry mousse, raspberry conserve and shredded coconut. (they forgot the raspberry mousse, but we were too full to mind)

Almond butter cake torte layered with a smooth almond scented buttercream.

Pretty impressive stuff, right?  We had some clear favorites, but all of the food was absolutely delicious.  My mom, Kevin & I split everything in the pictures above and even brought leftovers home to my dad, who couldn't make it.  

I like this part of wedding planning!

Even without any wine, we got a little loopy from all the delicious food.  Kevin proclaimed that he got his first ever "food high".   My mom snapped a picture of us in the midst of our post-meal happiness. 

We had planned to have a third and final tasting next week, but are considering cancelling and going with our clear favorite. :)

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First Tasting for the Wedding

So, about a month ago, Kevin and I picked the venue for our wedding.  It was between a rustic, waterfront inn OR a stone, country inn.  

I love stone.

I love water too.

Did I mention that Oscar can be a part of the wedding here?

photo sources

We went with the Stone Manor Inn and cant wait until next June 2011!

Time to test out some caterers.  The best part, right?  A few weeks ago, I won tickets to a Bridal Show from the Baltimore magazine via twitter.  I ended up meeting Paul, the chef/owner of Dionysus Kitchen, and was impressed.  I loved his passion and approach to food.  I contacted him online when I got home and was talking with him on the phone the next day.  

We decided to set up a tasting and were invited to the his family's home for a 5-course meal.  The goal of this tasting was "not to sell you on a particular menu, but to illustrate our ethic of cooking from scratch using as many locally sourced ingredients as possible."  

We were eating with two other couples and had a great time talking with everyone.  We had numerous things in common and realized how small the world really is.

I will attempt to describe each course with as much detail as we were given, but I would never be able to do it justice.

First course: roasted beets, blue cheese, walnuts, vanilla vinaigrette, fresh chives.

Second course: trumpet shaped pasta (forget the name!), fresh chickpeas, asparagus, parsley, parmigiano-reggiano, truffle oil.

Third course: tilapia croquette, fresh tarragon, savory strawberry sauce, spinach puree.

Fourth course: Pear soaked in wine(?), three types of cheese.

Fifth course: Banana Bread Pudding.

I enjoyed every bite.  A few highlights:

• I tried fresh chickpeas for the first time.  Never knew they were green!
• Wine served with each course, one being a homemade red wine.
• Paul keeps a bag full of all kinds of cheeses in his freezer for making pizzas over the fire. (I want to move in!)
• I pet a chicken in the coup behind their house. 

The menu flexibility appeals to us in a big way because we could incorporate our favorites!  Also, knowing all the effort this caterer puts into reducing waste and using local & organic ingredients is a big positive.

Looking forward to the next tasting and getting all of these big decisions out of the way!

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Real Simple Recipe, Possible Wedding Venue & a Race

Having Monday off for MLK's birthday allowed me to sleep in, walk Oscar twice, run 6 miles, go out to lunch with a friend, grocery shop, and plan a nice dinner.  Great day.  


I was searching around the Real Simple website and found a recipe for Chicken Cacciatore that looked easy and I already had most of the ingredients on hand.  

We served it over leftover Basmati rice and topped with grated Parmesan. The only change I made was to add yellow peppers to the sauce.  

This recipe is definitely a keeper.


Wedding planning has officially begun and we have made two visits to the same venue.  And currently dont have plans to visit any other places.  I guess you could say we really like it.  :)  

(photo credit)

More info to come as we make some of the decisions!  Exciting stuff.


On the running front, I signed up for the George Washington Birthday Marathon 3-person Relay with my Dad and Kevin on Sunday, February 14th. (Valentines Day!)  I am so happy to have a race coming up so that I feel the pressure to train.  I took the middle, 7.3 mile leg, so as long as I keep up the 6 mile runs, I should be fine.  


Enjoy the rest of your Monday evening.

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