Christmas Party Season is in full swing!

 

Well the true test of a catering menu is in what returns to the kitchen
to be dumped in the can! So how did the duck and pheasant do! Nothing
back at all. This was the weirdest thing I have ever had happen. I was
out speaking with the clients as explaining dishes. First, everyone
wanted to know about the Trout! Which is why we worked so hard to tweak
the recipe until it was special. Word will start to spread about the
trout through the winter. Next question was everyone trying to guess the
sweet undertone in my Hunters Harvest Pheasant Vegetable Soup. I did the
stock the day before, Al veggied it up for me, I was finishing it and it
still did not taste special to me, just a good soup. I was standing in
front of it thinking about how to make it special with a gallon of apple
cider in hand and I thought "what the he11." Dumped it in, reduced down
a lot and served it. Came out nice and freaked them out when I told them
it was apple cider in the stock.



Then watching the clients while the mains went out, men horsed it all
down so I figure "ok this is going to be a good menu for a long time."
The weird part started when I sent FOH out to bus in prep for dessert.
They come back in asking for foil? I'm asking, what the #*&^^%$ do you
need foil for in the FOH? All the ladies are all asking to wrap the
remaining half to carry it home. "Ok here is a full roll of foil, help
them out." I have never had everyone carry out the part they could not
eat at a company Christmas Dinner! So I think they liked it.



Word about the crew, so cool to work with a crew that is great. Al and
Mike busting prep on everything all day. Zane doing his thing and trying
to EC people who can not be ECd. With multiple caterings everyday from
Tuesday through next Sunday the freaking walk-in looks like hell. But it
smells like profit!!!!!!



So tomorrow the pressure comes back-on as the Colorado Wine Board is my
client for the evenings meal. These are the people we pulled the stops
out for several years ago, it was when we decided to go upscale on
catering and leave the utility catering to our competitors. The Wine
Board still talk about that first night when some company called The
Cowboy and The Rose Catering, did dinner, they all figured Bar-B-Q, but
we revealed to the world "Seven Courses and Smooth Jazz (TM)" with the
C&R production of The Tuscan Kitchen "a restaurant without walls" and a
full 7 course meal based around Colorado wines paired with each course
and three mains, Fish, White Protein and red protein, in this case
Colorado Lamb Racks with Cabernet Sauvignon. We are required to top that
first dinner in every subsequent dinner we do for them. And so far we
have done that, this Friday night will be the 16th time we have
performed the magic for them. The will probably never know how reaching
for the brass ring with them one night changed our business forever. We
went from utility caterer to the caterer that met with "Andrea Immer" to
learn wine, the guys the went to see "Steve Jenkins" for cheese
training, the guys that cooked for the Cakebread Cellars, the guys that
would cook anything, anywhere for your party.



So what to do for this Friday, I am electing to go on the edge by going
back to the basic, I am going to layout a surf and turf for their dining
pleasure! Complete with Jazz I think it will floor them how good such a
simple age old menu can really be! I am even plating on plain bone white
China for the evening. Every course.... hope I am correct on this but I
think it will work.



About it from here, talk at you tomorrow evening I will be prepping all
day for the evenings caterings and of course finishing the evening
presenting Surf and Turf to the group that made us start it all.



Chef Bob Ballantyne

 The Cowboy and The Rose Catering

 Grand Junction, Colorado, USA