CATIE ENTRY 2014
BEST PICNIC
“VEUVE CLICQUOT
POLO CLASSIC”
INTRODUCTION
Beautiful horses trotting their talent on the Polo field, big floppy hats, couture ladies
and gents dressed to impress, hand crafted picnic baskets overflowing with tasty
treats, champagne flowing like water… an afternoon so luxurious you feel like
royalty! The Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, a 5 time sold out public event, which
attracts celebrities looking for a glamorous day of fun, and this year a new challenge.
Opening up the once invite only VIP side, to now a reachable experience where the
public can purchase tables at a hefty ticket price to enjoy the same VIP status. Our
Goal and Challenge… creating a Luxurious Picnic Basket filled with lots of
appetizing treats and providing a 5 Star Hospitality plan that would match up to the
expectations and value of the pricey tickets sold. All while holding the Vueve
Clicquot Brand at the height of this experience!
Concept, Goals & Objectives
As we know in catering, half of the client experience when it comes to the menu is all about the
presentation and vessel for which the food is contained. And so started the challenge to find a picnic
basket the was just the right size, finding the right inventory of 250+ baskets, color, weight, and most of
all price. Being that this was a consumer marketing event, the end goal for our client was to make
money, and still put on the façade of giving and spending lavish dollars on such a luxury brand.
Once the right basket was signed off on to hold the food, party swag and still be a nice keepsake for
guests, the menu preparation began. We contemplated the questions… “what would you eat on a picnic,
and still have a twist of excitement”, “things that are somewhat easy to eat” and most of all “what will
KEEP Perishable and at the right temperature in a picnic basket” and “ how will we produce the
quantity in the time and still look like we spent hours on the final touches” The questions simple, but in
our labor of love always a task of outdoing ourselves and finding the right mix of creating that memorable experience.
The Picnic Basket itself had to hold a meal for 4 guests, as the tables were sold in parties of 4. We broke
each basket into 4 main entrée boxes, with side appetizers and desserts to share to allow enough space for
everything to fit.
Each Basket contained a full menu, along with each box
within labeled individually for items “TO SHARE” or for
the individual enjoyment. Also inclusive was Verterra
products of branded ribbon wrapped utensils and 7”
plates, along with mini pies, chips and tartlets wrapped in
clear cellophane tied with branded ribbon. Once the
baskets were packed, we added fun swag to the bags that
the client provided… ie: 4 champagne flutes, waiter towels,
fans, sunglasses and umbrellas. The guests were allowed
to take the entire basket of goodies home with them
including the basket.
Creativity of Menu & Presentation
Creating a menu to excite our audience at this level can be a touchy situation, especially with a large
percentage being vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, not to mention the other zillion allergies and health
conscious minded guests we were tailoring to. And so light and tasty became the theme… but we still
needed it to be hearty enough to fill their bellies after many glasses of champagne over a 5 hour
period in the warm sun.
Some favorites and signature dishes made the cut….
Challenges, Obstacles & Menu Production
The WATER Challenge
With such a large scale event totaling over 5,000 people including the public side, recycling and
eco consciousness are always a concern to the client. To eliminate a large source of plastic coming
from bottled water, we devised a plan to incorporate glass water bottles with stoppers that could
be continuously refilled at our pre-set water stations by service staff. This eliminated the need
for over-ordering quantity, reduced overall cost and even a keepsake they could take home.
The DISTRIBUTION Challenge
A large part of what we deal with onsite consisted of the health department being entirely pro-active
because of such a large publicly held event. The challenges arise when communicating to a
“concession-minded” official while they’re used to overseeing pre-packaged and handled foods that
are being sold for consumer consumption. It’s a bit trickier, when an event is being catered so we
came up with the idea of pre-packaging everything back at our kitchen working through the night.
We then transported all meals to event site in two refrigeration trucks early in the morning. We split
the inventory of baskets into the two different trucks, which went to the two different prep kitchen on
opposite ends of the field. Once ready to serve, wait staff let the guests know we suggested letting the
baskets temper for a few minutes before they dig in. Of course, a big part of the menu planning
consisted of items that would temper, hold up well and still taste impeccable even if a little chilled.
The SERVICE Challenge
Servicing 800+ VIP simultaneously in any situation can be difficult, but add on a layer of high
expectations, a new service plan and lots of client interaction, (including their own insecurities)
can add on a whole new level of stress. After countless hours of pre-planning, client meetings,
and prepping our staff, we were ready for the challenge.
At the beginning of our staff meeting, we
began with… Today you work for “Vueve
Clicquot” you are selling a brand and an
image of the highest luxury! Have fun with
the guests, interact, spread knowledge, and
most importantly be attentive to every
single person you come across.
We ran the floor as you would a restaurant
situations. Guests arrive at valet and are
first welcomed by the VIP Hosts, who
would escort them to their table for four ( a ticket they had bought online). Like a restaurant
situation, we came across glitches in the system where tables had been oversold and even sold
twice to two different parties. With the event rental team on standby , we were able to erect
tables and chairs on the fly to sit the parties and keep rotating tables to ensure no guest felt
forgotten.
To add a layer, there is the “List” of celebrities getting escorted
in with no pre-purchased tickets, so we created a section that
would allow them to sit and be served endless champagne, and
we put together individual picnic baskets that would blend in,
and not mess with the larger basket inventory. The idea was to
make this section blend in with the rest of the VIP table/ticket
holders and not draw attention to the special treatment.
Once the table was seated, the floor was broken into table
sections of roughly 7-8 tables each and assigned a runner/bar
back (who handled all the champagne and spirits) and a waiter
that tended to the picnic baskets, water, and overall hospitality
to the table. The system ran like a well oiled machine. At half time,
chocolate covered pretzel rods were served along with flavored popcorn to entice the guests and
always keep the element of surprise at the surface.
RECIPIES
CRANBERRY QUINOA SALAD
Makes: 20 cups (makes 20 to go boxes)
5 cups raw + 13 cups cooked quinoa
6 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1½ cup tomatoes diced medium, ½ inch diced
1½ cup cucumber, ½ inch diced
1cup red onion, ¼ inch diced
1 cup cranberries, cut in half or chopped a little
¼ cup picked cilantro, julienne
¼ cup picked mint, julienne
1¼ cups dressing
salt and pepper to taste
In a hot pan toast the quinoa by stirring slowly until golden brown.
Add the chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil and turned down to a simmer and cover.
Cook for 15 minutes or until is cooked.
Place on a tray and toss with a little dressing and leave to cool.
When chill, mix quinoa with the rest of the ingredients add a little more dressing and check seasonings and serve.
HONEY LIME DRESSING
Makes: 1¼ cups.
1 Tbl. Dijon mustard
1 Tbl. Honey
3 Tbls. Lime juice
1 tsp. mince garlic
1 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
Put the mustard, honey, garlic, lime juice, salt and pepper in food processor.
With the machine running slowly add olive oil.
Check the seasoning, serve.
TOMATO CHEVRE TARTLETS
Makes: 1 Tartlet
Short crust
1 Tbl . goat cheese
1 Tbl. caramelized onions
1½ black olives cut into quarters
Tomatoes – cherry, currant or baby heirloom
Olive oil
thyme chopped
salt and pepper
Mix short crust together with water and roll and cut out tartlet 3”.
Mold and freezer the tartlet. When cooled precook them.
When tartlet is cooled fill with about 1 tablespoon of onions for each tartlet.
Then sprinkle with goat cheese.
Cut tomato in half and cover with tomatoes.
Brush with a little olive oil
Sprinkle with olives and thyme and salt and pepper.
Cook in the oven for about 10 minutes.
Send to party and warm just before serving.
ONIONS, CARMELIZED
Makes: 1 quart
Cook approx. 3 hours.
1 x 5# bag sliced onions
1 cup white sugar
1 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup water
¼ # butter
Salt & Pepper to taste
In a heavy pot, cook everything covered over medium heat till onions are very soft.
Uncover and cook over medium high heat until soft brown and no liquids remain.
Stir constantly at the end so the onions don’t burn.
Cool.
Light pulse in Cuisinart to puree lightly.
FRIED BUTTERMILK CHICKEN
Makes: 24 pieces
Brine
24 cups water
½ cup coarse kosher salt
½ cup plus 1 Tbl. honey
6 bay leaves
15 unpeeled garlic cloves, smashed
3 Tbl. whole black peppercorns
2 large fresh rosemary sprigs
¼ bunch thyme sprigs
½ bunches fresh Italian parsley
2 Tbl. finely grated lemon peel
¾ cup fresh lemon juice
3 3½# chicken
Bring all ingredients except chicken to boil in large pot.
Boil 1 minute, stirring to dissolve salt.
Cool completely.
Chill brine until cold, about 2 hours.
Frying
6 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbl. garlic powder
1 Tbl. onion powder
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
6 cups buttermilk
12 cups peanut oil
Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Mix the first 6 ingredients and 4 tsp. coarse salt in a large bowl.
Place the buttermilk in another large bowl.
Dip each chicken piece in flour mixture to coat: shake off excess. Dip pieces in buttermilk, coating completely, them dip
into flour mixture again, coating thickly (do not shake off excess)
Place chicken on prepared sheets.
Let stand for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature to dry.
Pour peanut oil into heavy large pot.
Attach deep-fry thermometer to side of pot and heat oil over medium- high heat to 320F to 330F.
Working in batches of 4 pieces at a time, add leg and thigh pieces to oil
(use splatter screen to protect your self from hot oil).
Adjust heat as needed to maintain temperature.
Fry until cooked through and skin is deep golden brown, turning once with wooden spoon
(to prevent crust from breaking), about 13 minutes.
Using wooden spoon, transfer chicken to paper towels to drain.
Sprinkle with coarse salt
Add breast pieces to oil and fry until cooked through and skin is deep golden brown, turn once about 7 minutes
Transfer chicken to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with coarse salt
BEEF WATERCRESS STILTON WRAP WITH ONION AND MUSHROOMS
Makes: one beef roll cut in half
3 oz or ¾ cup beef top sirloin or beef tenderloin
3 Tbl. sauté mushrooms
2 Tbl. caramelized onion 1½# raw or 2½ cups cooked
2 Tbl stilton crumbles 1 qt
3 Tbl. plus 1 tsp. champagne dressing
Watercress ⅓ cup watercress tossed in 1 tsp of dressing
Salt and pepper to sprinkle
Flatbread one square rolled up just one time around
Sear cook and slice beef which ever beef you want.
Lay the flat bread down and brush with 2 Tbl. of dressing .
Lay down 3 oz of beef evenly across the bread
Sprinkle 3 Tbl. of sauté mushroom and 2 Tbl. caramelized onions on top.
Then sprinkle 2 Tbl stilton crumbs on top.
Toss watercress with a little salad dress and lay on top.
Roll up the flatbread to the bread just touches. And roll up in wax paper, folding in both ends of the flatbread. And taping
TARO SMOKED CORIANDER CHIPS
PLANTAIN WASABI CHIPS
Makes:
taro 4 chips per bag
plantain 6 chips per bag
liquid shortening
smoked liquid
whole coriander seed
wasabi powder
salt and pepper
clear plastic bag with white stripes
fancy paper clip
Preheat fryer to 325ºF.
Peel both taro and plantain and slice very thin on a slicer or mandoline.
Toss together in a bowl, the smoke liquid and whole coriander seeds. Lay on a tray and toast in the oven at 350 F for 10
minutes.
When toasted set aside and cool.
When cooled ground in the seed grinder. Place in a bowl and mix with salt and pepper.
Place the taro into the fryer, stirring frequently until it becomes golden brown. Take out and place on tray with paper
towels to drain and sprinkle with coriander grounds with salt and pepper.
In a bowl mix wasabi powder with salt and pepper. Place the plantain in the fryer and stir until evenly golden brown.
Take out and place on a tray with paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with wasabi dust and salt and pepper mix.
PECAN PIE OR TARTS
Pies :regular oven 325ºF degrees 55 minutes 300ºF degrees 30 minutes
Tartlets: convection oven 275ºF degrees check 30 minutes
Filling: (makes 5 cups filling, makes 100 small tartlets)
3 cups light corn syrup
7 eggs
1 ½ cups brown sugar (½#)
2 Tbl.. (1 oz.) melted butter
1) Whisk together the ingredients from above in a bowl.
21oz 5 Cups Pecan pieces for 100 tartlets pate sucree for tartlet shells
Pecan Pie 12 inch:
3 ½ cups shortcrust
add 1 Tbl. sugar and pinch of salt
⅓ cup water
Roll the dough medium thick. Prebake crust blind.
2 ½ cups pecan pieces
3 cups filling
14 pecan halves for top decoration
3 inch tarts:
Assembling Pies:
Mix syrup filling with chopped nuts. For large pies-pour filling and chopped nuts into a prebaked shortcrust shell.
Wet the pecan halves with a little syrup. Arrange pecan halves around the outside edge of the pie and 5 halves in a
flower shape in the middle of the pie. Bake in a regular oven at 350 degrees for 55 minutes, turn down the oven to
300 degrees and bake for 30 more minutes. Loosen pies while warm. Let cool in pans.
Assembling Tartlets:
Mix syrup and chopped nuts together. Stirring as you spoon, spoon out approx. 1 TBL. nuts and syrup into unbaked
pate sucree tartlet shells. Add a little more syrup if necessary. Bake in convection oven for 30 minutes. Remove,
check bottoms to see if they are done. Take out of pans while warm or they will stick.