Smashing Summer Wedding

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Wedding catering can be one of the most rewarding experiences for folks in the hospitality business: few life experiences bring more people together to celebrate love and joy! The pressures can also be intense! As seasoned as a kitchen and front house staff may be, and completely confident in the ability to deliver fabulous food and service under the most rustic and challenging circumstances – there’s one thing that none of us can control – and that’s THE WEATHER!!

This summer was truly magnificent here in the Hudson Valley (as opposed to last year’s rainy rainy summer). Almost every Saturday provided glorious sun and weather that would bring tears of joy to the eyes of those who have been planning their wedding for many moons. So happily, most of my pictures of our food are bathed in sunlight.

Today’s offerings are from a July wedding which featured a large antipasti station with passed appetizers and shots of our team plating one of our favorite salads: the Medi Salad – our version of Greek salad that’s topped with our crispy feta cheese.

July Wedding at The Sloan’s Country Home

Antipasti Table
White beans, Roasted red peppers, Assorted Mediterranean olives,
Cherry tomatoes and boccacini, Seafood salad, Artichoke hearts, Stuffed grape leaves, Garden radishes, Celery hearts, Fennel,  Sopressata, Salami, Semolina breads, Flatbreads and Foccacias

Passed Appetizers
Black Olive Tapenade and Goat Cheese Bruschettas
Crispy Mushroom Parmesan Risotto Cakes
Eggplant Caponata in Phyllo Cups
Moroccan Spiced Lamb Skewers with Minted Yogurt
Skewered Chicken Satay with spicy coconut peanut sauce

Served Mediterranean Salad, Champagne toast

Wedding Buffet
Grilled Beef Tenderloin, au Poivre Sauce
Soy-Ginger Grilled Tuna Steaks on Asian Slaw
Roasted Potatoes
Mediterranean Vegetable Ravioli with Sicilian Almond Pesto
Chef’s Seasonal Vegetable Medley
Bread and Butter

Vanilla Wedding Cake with chocolate ganache filling
White buttercream frosting
Catskill Mountain organic coffee service

Catering Highlights

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In case you wondered what happened to our frequent blog and Facebook posts – catering season happened!! Wow! We had a fabulous summer season helping make people’s dreams come true with delicious and festive wedding celebrations and parties big and small. In the next few weeks we’ll be sharing some of our favorite photos and recipes from the summer. Today’s post is a slide show from last week’s wedding at Opus 40 in Saugerties: a perfect weather day, behind the scenes watching the chefs make salads, Tartan themed place setting, and grand finale Red Velvet wedding cake.

Mitzie and Ed’s Wedding at Opus 40
September 18, 2010

Stationary Appetizers
Artisinal Cheese Platter
Shrimp Cocktail Platter

Passed Appetizers
Pulled BBQ Pork and Cornmeal Tartlets, jalapeno mayo
Tuna Tartare in Cucumber Boats
Smoked Salmon Canapes on White Wine Biscuits
Moroccan Chicken Salad in Phyllo Cups, red tomato jam

Arugula and Radicchio Salad

Buffet Dinner
Certified Angus Beef Tenderloin, garlic aioli and au poivre sauce
Catskill Mountain Trout with lemon, caper, and chive sauce
Vegetable Wellington
Brown Basmati Rice and Lentil Pilaf
Mashed Potatoes
Chef’s Seasonal Vegetable Medley
Bread and Butter

Red Velvet Wedding Cake
with custard filling, vanilla butter cream frosting
Catskill Mountain organic coffee service

Summer Wedding Season’s Here

We’re blessed to have a wonderful association with one of the premiere wedding venues in the Hudson Valley, The Onteora Mountain House. As the exclusive caterer, one of our greatest pleasures is using as much farm-fresh produce as possible. This week we received an enormous order of fresh salad greens from Jim and Viv at Cody Creek Farm in Saugerties. They brought us a great organic selection of arugula, Boston and red leaf lettuce, and their own mesclun mix. No pre-washed greens here – it took us a few hours to wash and dry them all, and once they were prepped we decided they needed their picture taken. So we set them out next to the little herb and vegetable garden I’ve created in the back of our store. The guests at the wedding today and tomorrow will be dining on freshly picked salad greens – not an every day occurrence for most folks.

We’ve co-hosted some wonderful tasting events at Onteora Mountain House for the couples and families that are getting married there. The big roomy kitchen allows plenty of space for several chefs to prepare and set out all the food from a large selection of different appetizers to a variety of entrees and finally cake samples.

Enjoy some of the photos from our last two tastings and take a deep breath of the sweet mountain air.