Seattle Party Planner

Swordfish, The Other Salmon

03/02/2011 21:02:00

As a Seattle caterer, one of my jobs is to see to it that our clients have new choices all of the time. Some of our clients have gone through our entire menu with either lunches or special events and they rely on me to work with our Chef and suggest menu options.

Recently the price of swordfish has been low enough that we can suggest it as an alternative to salmon. I suggested our Chef and asked him how he would suggest preparing it. The suggestion he made tuned out to be a big winner with our client and these are the kind of things I like to share.

Chef Manolo suggested a grilled swordfish with a tropical salsa. It was simple, light and fantastic. All he did was brush the swordfish steaks with corn oil and season it with salt and pepper before grilling it four minutes on each side. He served it over a lemon leek risotto with asparagus spears.

The real flavor came via the tropical salsa. He used peeled grapefruit, lime, lemon and orange sections with onions, peppers, cilantro and mint sprigs as a garnish. The plate was colorful, it had a summery scent and was full of flavor, but very light. I felt very proud to serve it and will promote it more in our catering business.

The next time you are looking for a super simple alternative to salmon, try swordfish. At $9 to $13 per pound, you can't beat it.

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Power Food Black and Red Bean Chicken Chili

01/20/2011 15:27:00

I love healthy catering clients. I am so glad that we as a company are getting more calls for healthy and energy filled foods. It makes me so happy because I know the health concious client is going to continue to be enthused about what we offer. Today, we made the best and I mean best chicken chili for one our client's lunches tomorrow. When we are catering a client lunch with chicken chili, it is much better to cook and cool for a day or even two days. We do that with our pasta sauces and lentil soups too.

I am not a nutritionist or a vegan or vegetarian. I personally demand a lot from my body in the form of running and I love the energy foods. The Chicken Chili that Manolo made for us today taste great, it isn't overly filling and it is full of beans and lean protein. It is nothing like the chili (which I also love) made with ground beef. There is almost no hint of grease or oil and I know the fat content is super low. I am putting his recipe down below on this blog because I hope you will try it. It is going to carry you through your long distance run or your day of skiing. I am going to use it to get my kids to stop those after school snacks that wind up being empty calories.

Bon appetite

His source for this recipe is Barefoot Contessa and his momma.

Chicken Chili
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Ingredients:
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
4 cups chopped yellow onion (2-3 onions)
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 bell peppers (I used 1 red, 1 orange and 1 yellow)
1 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. oregano
1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, finely diced
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 quart whole peeled tomatoes in puree, not drained
2 pints of black, pinto and kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium-high heat. Sauté the onions 10-15 minutes, or until tender and translucent. Add the garlic to the pot and sauté just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Mix in the chopped bell peppers, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, cayenne, oregano, chipotle, and kosher salt. Cook 5 more minutes. Place the canned tomatoes in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse briefly so the tomatoes are cut to large chunks. Add the tomatoes with the puree to the pot and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the shredded chicken and the beans, and allow to simmer for an hour.

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Pork Entree That is Terrific (Cheap too)

01/19/2011 14:21:00

Here is what we did recently that I thought was really cool because of the way that it worked out. We had an event that was designed to raise money for a local church. Our main involvement is the dinner. We wanted to deliver a great dinner without breaking their bank.

Our very creative chef suggested that we do bone in loin of pork with a blackberry cabernet coulis. I am always nervous about serving loin of pork because it can dry out or cool off on the guest plate and seem very dry. Today's pork went perfectly.

First of all, credit has to be given to Chef Manolo for his delicious Coulis. He used blackberries and Cabernet and it was delicious and visually appealing. It also added a natural sweetness to the loin of pork which gave us great review. I have put the recipe below.

Whenever we do a big event like this, I do a catering trick that tells me what my feedback will be early. I watch the plates that come in when the servers are bussing the tables. I was happy to see that almost no pork came back un-eaten on the plates. That is a big clue for my feedback.

Indeed, the feedback came in very good for taste, appearance and flavor. I am also pleased for the church because they did the event on a very tight budget. When we get good feedback on the food, I know they will be back with us next year so I am very happy.

Blackberry Cabernet Coulis

Ingredients

1 cup cabernet wine
2 1/2 cups blackberries
2 tablespoons shallots
2 tablespoons ginger
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon

Directions:

1 Blender- combine wine and berries until puréed. Rub berry mixture through a fine strainer into a 2-quart pan. Add shallots, ginger, and sugar. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat while stirring . It will reduce to 1 cup. Turn off heat and stir in butter and more sugar to taste.

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Really Healthy Salad

01/18/2011 10:43:00

This is what we are serving today and it is mega good for us and our clients. I am glad to see them moving toward healthier food. It is still delicious and it keep them feeling good about us and food.

Look at these ingredients:

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 tablespoon butter or margarine

- 10 ounces frozen edamame

- shelled, approximately 1 1/2 cups

- 1/2 sweet onion - chopped

- 1 red bell pepper

- chopped

- 15 1/4 ounces (1 cup) corn

- drained or 1 ear of fresh sweet corn cut off the cob

- 1 stalk celery

- diced

- 1 leek - sliced thin

- 1 clove garlic

- chopped

- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano

- chopped

- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper - more or less to taste

- 1 fresh tomato - dicedsalt and pepper to taste

This is a fantastic lunch salad that will last me the whole day and a 6 mile run. At the end of this meal, I won't feel guilty, I will only feel full of energy.

If you would like to know the prep secrets, send me an email at brett@aristacatering.com

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Once Fried Beans

01/15/2011 13:07:00

How can it be that every diet that I look at has fat free refried beans on it. Once fried should be bad enough. Fried once and then fried again must be the equivelent of having your arteries spray coated with fat and colesterol. I am mistified only because you can eat a lot of them and still lose weight and maintain a high energy level.

Here is the truth. The fact is that refried beans are only fried once. The confusion comes in the translation. Frijoles refritos is the term in espanol. It actually translates to "WELL FRIED BEANS" and somehow we have stated it as refried. They are only fried one time.

Eat all of the super high fiber, healthy fat free frijoles refritos that you can. They are great for energy and they are filling. They are a magical fruit.

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Hot Wine

01/14/2011 16:20:00

Write your post here. Okay so I finally tried it and it was fun and interesting. I recommend that you try it too. Its hot wine. Sounds weird I know, but it will be something that I will try among friends on a camping trip looking for a warm up some time. Here is what you do.

You take about 8 oz of Merlot and pour it in a sauce pan on medium to high heat. Add 1/2 tea spoon of sugar and an orange peal about the size of 2 postage stamps. Bring it to a boil. Stir it for a minute and then pour it into a clear coffee cup. Put in a cinnamon stick or two and just savor it. It is great.

It has a very stong nose and it is very mild to drink. YOU CAN'T DRINK TEA EVERYTIME IT GETS COLD!

Give it a try.

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R and R Party Rentals

12/21/2010 20:09:00

This holiday season, I have had a very positive experience working with the people at R & R Party rental for our equipment rentals. I especially appreiate the help that Allison has given my company. Thank you.

Never Run Out of Food at your Catering

12/04/2010 23:24:00

Write your post here.

If you are planning a big party and you have selected a caterer who is talented in the kitchen and someone that knows how to get the food the food there on time and set up perfectly, most of your trouble is over. You have taken care of your quality issues. The next and probably biggest issue that you must account for is your quantities. You really do have to do a lot of planning if you have never counted food for large groups before. One secret is to know how to lay out the food on the buffet.

This is a well known practice in the industry. If you lay out your buffet properly, you will almost never run out of food. The simple rule of thumb is to put the plates first in the line and then place each food item in order of its price and abundance. The idea is that if you put plates followed by the bread, the salad, the starch, the vegetables and then the entree, the guest will have a pretty full plate by the time they reach the entree or expensive food. They will only be able to take a normal portion. If you do the opposite, and place the entree first in line, the guest will have an empty plate and say, "two lobster tails will fit on my plate just fine and that will be a perfect meal." Leaving too much space on the plate before the entree is a catastophy waiting to happen.

Just about everytime I hear of a caterer running out of food, I try to find out what the order of the buffet was. 90% of the time the caterer forgot to line up the buffet from least expensive to most expensive. Those are the fact. The same holds true for a wedding.

If you would like at quote on your wedding catering, please visit our wedding website quote page at:

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If you have an non wedding party and would like a custom quote, visit our main website at:

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How much alcohol should I buy for my party?

12/02/2010 23:59:00

Question: I am on the social committee for work and we are planning an in office happy hour to kick off our holiday party. How do I estimate the alcohol consumption?

Answer: Social hours can be a great way to help strengthen your relationships among your colleagues while relaxing after a long day at work. Our head bartender shared the alcohol break down he uses when helping our clients plan such events. As he put it "happy hours can range from simple wine and beer to full bar receptions with an average consumption of 3-4 drinks per person over a two hour period.”

If planning for 60 colleagues, he recommends the following:

4 cases of your choice of wine- red or white
2 cases of your choice of beer Â– lite or lager
3 liters of vodka
2 liters of gin
1 liter of rum
1 liter of bourbon
1 liter of scotch
Mixers (OJ, sour mix, bloody Mary, grape fruit juice, cranberry juice, etc)
Bar fruit (olives, cherries, lemon, lime, and orange)
Assorted soda beverages and lemonade

Also, you and your management should discuss your policies regarding drinking and driving as well as over consumptions.

Things A Caterer Learns Bartending Your Company Party

12/01/2010 22:34:00

Catering can be entertaining. These are the fun little facts that you learn while tending bar at a Christmas party:

Did You Know?

Left handed people are 20% more likely to sample a forkful of food from the plates of their fellow dining companions than right handed people
Almonds are a member of the peach family
Figs provide more fiber than any other common fruit of vegetable
Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey
The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929; "7" was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. "UP" indicated the direction of the bubbles
The onion is named for the Latin word meaning large pearl
Lemons contain more sugar than strawberries
Half of the world population lives on a staple diet of rice
During a lifetime, the average person eat 35 tons of food
In France, people eat approximately 500 million snails each year.
A portion of water that you drink has already been drunk by someone else maybe several times over

Actually, I came across several fun sites on food facts and felt like sharing some othem on my blog and twitter. I hope you enjoyed them. The site is below.

http://www.funfactz.com/food-and-drink-facts/

Also, if you haven't already planned your new year's party, visit our custom quote page at:

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