OK, follow me as I document the creative process for a customized reception menu.
To start with, the client will contact our catering specialist providing information regarding their expectations, budget, dates, time and number of attendees expected.
Joe, our Catering Manager, asked me to come up with some ideas for a V.I.P. reception that will include beer & wine service, hot-cold hors d’ oeuvre selections, as well as a featured dessert.
Usually I’ll sit thinking of possible combinations/food pairings; Food ideas I haven’t tried out (unexplored territory!…..ahhh the unknown. The possibilities just waiting to be uncovered).
I’m thinking to myself, “what about something along the lines of an entree-like item and shrink it into tiny bite-size packages and what about it’s presentation?


Here are some of the ideas I imagined:

• Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bites
• Chicken Satay Quesadillas with Peanut Sauce
• Artichoke and Asiago Poppers
• Carmelized Peach and Brie Quesadillas with Honey
• Watermelon Sushi
• Avocado Toasts with Black Bean Hummus and Roasted Tomatoes
• Crab Salad and Mango Cucumber
• Smoked Salmon Shooter with Creamy Mustard Dill Sauce
• Mini Chicken Caesar Taco
• Curry Chicken Salad with Apple and Peanuts
• Blue Cheese Mousse Stuffed Date
• Cilantro & Pineapple Shrimp on a Stick
• Ruben Pinwheel
• Spinach and Artichoke Bite
• Mini Baked Brie & Raspberry in Phyllo
• Brazilian Steak ‘n Skewer with Chimmichurri Sauce
• Spanish Paella Chiquito with Shrimp, Chorizo and Spicy Tomato Lobster Dipping Sauce
• Jamaican Beef Empanada with Lime Cilantro Sauce
• Smokehouse Chicken & Peach Skewer
• Buffalo Chicken Egg Roll

The following day, we narrowed down the selections to the following acceptable menu with the client’s consent.

• Smoked Salmon Shooter with Creamy Mustard Dill Sauce
• Mini Chicken Caesar Taco’s in a Homemade Parmesan Shell on a Bamboo Boat
• Ruben Pinwheel Display
• Spinach and Artichoke Bites
• Brazilian Steak’n Skewer with Chimmichurri Sauce
• Spanish Paella Chiquito with Shrimp, Chorizo and Spicy Tomato Lobster Dipping Sauce
• Petite Chocolate Spring Tulip cup with Homemade Raspberry Mousse

The next step in the process is to come up with the components and how they will fit the bill. Sometimes I just jot down what an item will consist of on paper. Other times I’ll go and extend not only what will be the ingredients to compose the appetizer, but the look we envisioned. So, some artful thoughts are drawn out as sketches to help myself remember what I was thinking. But also to help other team members understand what the particular item will consist of and look like. Here is what I came up with for this event.

Smoked Salmon Shooter with Creamy Mustard Dill Sauce



Mini Chicken Caesar Taco’s in a Homemade Parmesan Shell on a Bamboo Boat



Spanish Paella Chiquito with Shrimp, Chorizo and Spicy Tomato Lobster Dipping Sauce



Petite Chocolate Spring Tulip cup with Homemade Raspberry Mousse



Just ordered some raw ingredients to make these work……there not in-house yet, still waiting. In the meantime, we experimented with one idea while some down time was available. Our Sous Chef Lorenzo played around with the Chicken Caesar Taco ingredients to see what was what. Here is an image(s) of the “Mini Chicken Caesar Taco’s in a Homemade Parmesan Shell on a Bamboo Boat”

Looks great and tastes phenomenal!!
Nice Job Lorenzo. Just as I imagined it.


Beginning of the week, we rolled back into work on the Spanish Paella Chiquito Burrito with Shrimp, Chorizo and Spicy Tomato-Lobster Essence. Our first task was to make a filling for the mini burrito. The idea is to work on a short grain rice dish with many of the paella elements, cut small enough to still fit in with the filling. Here we incorporated shredded roasted chicken, cooked chorizo sausage, grilled large prawns and sundried tomatoes. Starting with sauteeing onions and garlic, white wine reduction, added the rice in with just a bit of olive oil. Added lobster stock with saffron and red pepper flake to the rice while cooking method similiar to preparing rissoto. Added a bit of shredded cheese…..Asiago and monterey jack. Finished with added peas while rice mixture cooled. We wanted a tight mixture. One that would form well and hold its shape, taking on all those flavors from a paella dish.


While that was working, we used some of the prepared lobster stock, added white wine, tomato paste and a hint of red pepper flake for kicks. Once this simmered, we finished with heavy whipping cream, lemon zest and fresh chopped tarragon. Our essence was a show stopper. A great sauce as an accompaniment to most fish or seafood dishes. But for our purposes, will be used as a shooter for dipping the mini burrito as a warm serviced mini dish.


On to the presentation, and getting an idea how all this will work as a mini appetizer plate. The idea will be to display all these appetizers on glass panels and keep at room temperature. As the guests begin to arrive, we will add the warm burrito last second, so they retain some of the their heat. As it comes together here in the test kitchen phase, this is what we are looking for more or less. Minus the micro greens, which will be brought in on a later date, we substituted shredded lettuce as a place holder. Looks great! Again another piece of magic.

We may look at bringing out the color of the sauce a bit more to make it pop. Perhaps some beet juice to intensify the sauce’s color. We’ll see? Also, looking at it, perhaps I’m gonna take cream cheese, which is currently as is holding the mini burrito on the plate and coloring/flavoring with saffron, for a nice yellow color, and again to add contrast to make everything pop visually.


The morning of the reception, our team had a brief overview and reviewed our kitchen tests. We broke down to our individual groups of cold and hot food prep. Each team assigned began their misen place and set the ball in motion. Getting closer to the afternoon, we began assembling the final appetizers. The photos follow on how everything came together for the final presentation. To all our team, GREAT JOB! ……and very nice presentation.





Mini Chicken Caesar Taco’s in a Homemade Parmesan Shell on a Bamboo Boat






Spanish Paella Chiquito with Shrimp, Chorizo and Spicy Tomato Lobster Dipping Sauce

Smoked Salmon Shooter with Creamy Mustard Dill Sauce






Ruben Pinwheel Display

Here we changed out to a Display of Petite Chocolate Spring Tulip Cups. We prepared three types:
Passionfruit-Mango Mousse, Mint-Oreo Mousse and Raspberry Mousse.


Really nice here as we took advantage of the three colored striped chocolate tulip cups. This definitely made the table pop.

Categories: Receptions