Catering with St Cloud-The Grill

A few weekends ago, I got to help St. Cloud with catering again.  This time the event was for 3 graduating law students.  Boy, it was the hippest party I've attended as part of catering team and any party.  Everyone was dressed freshly out of a hip magazine party.  There was also reality show sighting too.  Ash Fulk from last season's Top Chef was there.  I played it cool and didn't bother him but of course wanted to ask him all kind of questions.  


My job that day was to grill.  I am a veggie so I don't grill that much and when they asked me if I could do it, I said of course!  Well, I had to figure out quick.  I've grilled mostlt on charcoal but not much from propane gas grill.   Well...let me say, it was an experience.  Eventually I got the hang of it and grilled the Chicken Skewers, and then made the Mini Sliders.  It brought me memories of making hamburgers at Dairy Queen when I was a teenager.


Here is the menu:

• Lemongrass Shrimp Skewers
• Asian Marinated Chicken Skewers with Peanut Sauce
• Rosemary and Shallot Spiced Nuts
• Stuffed Mushrooms with Spinach Fontina, Carmaelized Onion and Pinenuts
• Cruite Platter of Lightly Steamed broccoli, cauliflfower, carrots, asparagus, and red/yellow peppers
• Carmaelized Onion and Grilled Pear and Goat Cheese Bruschetta
• Vietnamese Style Avacado Spring Roll Slice on Crispy Wonton with Wasabi Mayo
• House Smoked Columbia River Stellhead Sekwers with Orange Citronette
• Mini Sliders with Secret Sauce
• Mini Open-faced Beef Tenderloin Sandwiches with Watercress Mayo and Roasted Red Peppers

Sorry I didn't get any pics. The food was beautifully plated and served.  Good news is that John Platt, the owner of St. Cloud gave me the okay to bring camera and take pic, as well as post on this blog so next time I help them, I will get great pics.

May Homeless Cooking

May Homeless Cooking was suppose to be a tribute to Cinco de Mayo.  We were focused on Mexican food but of course, we have to be open to the ingredients that are donated and the specialties of the volunteers.  We made many Mexican dishes, such as our version of Burrito and Enchilada fusion.   These were not quite Burritos and they not were quite Enchilada, but they were "Burritada".

We were very fortunate to have Khadija, a Moroccan lady who used to own her own restaurant join us again this month.  She made these fabulous Cinnamon Rolls from scratch.  They weren't too sweet and she also put in some of her own spices that she brought with her. It was "delish"!

A special shout out to "Chicago Don" who roasted all the veggies to make our wonderful sauce!

"Lost" Dinner Party

Well, for you LOST fans out there...we've been anticipating this for six year now.  The final episode!  Anya and Robert hosted a great dinner and to watch this episode with a few of other LOST fans.  

I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed by the finale.  I won't go into that here, plus I still have a bunch of LOST blogs to read.  However, I have to say, THANK God we had some great food!

Appetizers were pretty amazing!  

Caprese Salad

Salmon Cakes

Roasted Eggplant with Balsamic Reduction

White Bean and Rosemary Spread

Roasted Garlic

This is Chia Hui who made the salad from the veggies from her garden.  She grows amazing organic produce. Last summer, I got lots of lettuce, rhubarb, and colorful carrots from her.

Rest of the dinner and appetizer was made my Anya here.

Dinner was Grilled Marinated Chicken

She made me Grilled Tofu with a Barbeque Sauce from Richard's family recipe.

Side Dishes were...
Israel Couscous Salad

Grilled Asparagus and Carrots

I made the dessert of the Orange Spice Bundt Cake with Orange Sauce again.

We ate so much that night.  LOST event was like six hours or something.  Chia-Hui and Robert brought more snacks of chip, Japanese Mochi and Redbean Cake.  At least great food made up for the so so show.


The LOST fans... Anya, Richard, Robert, Chia-Hui, and me taking the pic.  :)

Dinner Al Fresco

Hamed and Pascale hosted another great dinner at their place.  We got to sit outside in one of the limited nice weather in Seattle.  Samad and I were the lucky ones to eat great food and have great conversations. 

Sitting outside, we started with Margaritas and Fresh Guacamole with corn chips.  What could be better?

Entree was Grilled Halibut with a Garlicky Herb Sauce and Sauteed Baby Carrots.  Isn't it beautiful!

As the French do, we finished the dinner course with a Simple Salad.

I made the dessert of Orange Spice Mini Bundt Cake with a Orange Sauce.  This was first pass so didn't turn out perfect but I've have since made it again and will post a step by step process with recipe.

Lastly, Hamed and Pascales' cute "little" baby Stella.  She wanted to join in on the food and almost knocked over a margarita with her big tail.  I just love al fresco dinners.  Can't wait to do more in the summer.

Catering for Audubon

Tonight I got to put on my white chef jacket and help St. Cloud with their catering for an Seattle Audubon event at Seward Park.  I've not catered in a long time. I think the economy hurt the catering business pretty hard, but seems like things are picking up. St. Cloud is calling me.  

This was a fun event and fairly easy.  Plated dinner for 35 people.  When I help with catering, it's not much cooking.  It's usually assembling appetizers or dinners on site or executing the final touches.  It's usually a lot plating and coordinating.  This one was mainly about plating.  

I don't have pics because my camera is broken right now.  Plus I would need to ask St. Cloud if they are okay with me taking pics and posting.   Here was the menu:
-Grilled Salmon with Smoked Tomato Vinaigrette
-Farro Risotto  (Farro is so good!  It's a hearty wheatberry like grain.)
-Sauteed Greens
-Cookies and Sorbet


More than anything, it was good to see and work with some of the fun people I've not seen in a while.  It's never "work".  It's just fun for me...