Wedding Catering with St. Cloud

Today I got to help St. Cloud with catering a wedding in Queen Anne.  It was mainly passed appetizers.  It was super fun!

Here is what was on the menu....

Curried Brie Pecan Cracker with Mascarpone & Grilled Apple

Rustic Galettes with Tomatoes, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil

Vietnamese Style Avocado Spring Roll slice on Crispy Wonton with Wasabi Mayo

Garlic and Lemon Shrimp Skewers with Roasted Red Pepper Aioli

-Sorry didn't get a pic of this, but if you look at the below, Brad is holding a plate of it.  :)

Hoppin John Masala Cakes with Giner Mayo

Tequila Marinated Hanger Steak Slice on Ficelle with Chile-Cilantro Molida Sauce

Phyllo Cups with Mexican Recado Chicken, Chipotle Custard, and Avocado Crema

Stuffed Mushrooms with Spinach, Fontina, Bacon, and Pinenuts (before they went into the oven)

Grilled Shitake Mushroom, Snow Pea, Red Pepper, Skewers with Soy Glaze

They did chocolate cupcakes rather than a traditional wedding cake.  It was a fun atmosphere so fit right in.

It is always a pleasure to work with St. Cloud.  It's not like working at all but seeing some of my favorite people.

Here is the kitchen staff.  John Platt the owner, me, and Hamed.

This is Shannon who is the bartendar.  He is also owns a gardening co.

The servers...one of the funniest people I know...Brad

Hamed again, and Sally

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.

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...

What a cooking day!

What a day it was....I started with June homeless cooking in the morning then worked for St. Cloud for catering a bar mitvah.

Homeless Cooking

Made a great marinade for Salmon and we grilled.  The other was a apple lemon cake.

At St. Cloud, it was back breaking work but loved every minute of it. It's been a long time since I've catered with St. Cloud almost 6 months, am so glad to be back, had a lot of fun.  I started with cutting fruit for the chocolate fountain, assembled the smoked trout on toasted brioche, then made these mini caprese sandwiches wiht heirloom tomatoes, then plated this aisan broth soup with crab and black cod.  

Forgot to take my camera so don't have any pic.  I do the same thing next week so will have more content and pics!