Advice for preparation / sauces

Hi Folks,

I am a part time caterer who has been doing events for the last year for friends, family and referrals.

My next event coming up is a birthday for about 40 people. They have asked for Pork Tenderloin and Salmon as well as a couple of sides.

Normally with my pork tenderloin I make a mushroom cream sauce that goes really nice with the grill tenderloin (I grill it on the bbq and then finish in oven).

Now with the salmon I'm not really sure what to do....

Looking for advice for sauces / preperations that will balance each other...

Dave

I would say dill but you already have a creamy sauce. Why not a mango and pineapple salsa (salsa tropical) color is there and goes well with salmon:bounce:

Easy would be to serve it cold poached, cucumber dill sauce or romesco

If it's buffet with both entree options I'd go that route.

Hot, similar to the pork.....sear off on stove then finish in oven. Romesco sauce works or I like pesto with salmon

What about tequila sauce :bounce:... And also you can use mustard sauce, or herb sauce if you like. Seems good for me, anyway what party is it? children's party?

nichole :chef:

What is your idea of a tequila sauce?:bounce:

going back years, fruit salsa, fennel yogurt sauce, sauce verte

I was thinking of a citrus chutney. Orange, lemon, lime, with a little chili and oil roasted for a short while to caramelize everything and then a lemon/basil garnish to add some nice color.

The mango pineapple salsa is great idea also. The colors would be more vibrant and would present well too. Maybe serve it with a young balsamic rosemary drizzle to offset some of the sweetness.

Great! Now I've gone and made myself hungry.

Edit to add:

You could also serve it pepper blackened with fresh cut limes. That would be very simple and delicious. It depends on the client, however. If they don't like spicy, don't blacken.

I've had a green olive lemon chunky garnish on fish recently that was outstanding. the chef would DIE if he read that description.

If he asks, you were describing a rough diced green olive and lemon garnish in layman's terms.:chef:

My mango salsa has diced red pepper and red onion, touch garlic, calantro

I would put fish on white plate over poached lime showing a bit for color, salsa on both sides of plate, not over fish, sprinkle of garlic chives and toasted sunflower seeds:chef:

Great! Now you've gone and made me hungry.:D

That sounds awesome. I wouldn't have thought of the cilantro but, now that I've heard it, it does sound absolutely drool inducing.

Do a Blackened Salmon, you already have a cream sauce for the tenderloin. or even serve it on a small cedar plank.....just don't over cook it, no sauce to cover up mistakes....Bill

blackened does not go over well in this area.....not sure where you are at, but it's important to know your demographics' eating preferences.

If you have one entree cold, you are ahead of the game....especially part time catering newby. Two hot entrees with potential of hot sides.....+ you never mentioned other staff.

Hey Shroomgirl, are we talking about your area or the posters area. And who cares if Blackened doesn't go over well in your area, its not your post.............And what the heck do you know about the demographics of her area... That was a bit rude....Bill

Thanks for the great ideas folks. I'm liking the Mango/Pineapple Salsa idea as well as the Romesco sauce.

The event is a 60th birthday party so the people attending will likely be about +/- 10 years of that age. I don't think Blackened will go over with them... I am located in Toronto, Canada.

I have done a very nice wine poached salmon with a scallion mayonaisse....It would certainly be easier if I could do one cold.

They were talking about either roasted or garlic mashed potatoes although I think a nice rice or couscous will go nicer with this meal.... French green beans with roasted cherry tomatoes is the other side. I figure I can make those in advance and just reheat prior to serving in the oven.....

I figure I'll grill the salmon and the pork and finish both in the oven if they want hot. I figure I would do the salmon on a rack with skin side up and present that way as well...

Hows my plan sound? I'm loving the feedback - Thanks again!

Dave

I will have one assistant with me to help with serving.

Setting aside the pork for the moment, some of your best choices for salmon are a butter lemon sauce of some sort -- perhaps a play on beurre nantais with lemon and capers (been on my brain lately); a horseradish and/or mustard cream with dill; a bechamel based sauce such as a (shrimp) Nantua; and a cool , slightly sweet, creme-fraiche or yogurt based sauce -- again with dill, mustard and/or horseradish.

Like you, I like the salsa ideas too. But, while they contrast with the mushroom-cream sauce for the pork, they don't compliment it. Ask if you really want both on the same plate. Whatever your answer, trust your virtual palate and not mine. I'm not trying to make you into a mini-me, big-you works just fine.

At the end of the day, the best idea is probably to let go of the cream based sauced for the pork and move on to a wine and/or stock based sauce. There's a lot you can do combining one of those with fruit -- Such as a maple/ginger/peach sauce, a port/fig sauce, apple/calvados, etc.

Otherwise you might want to go with fresh lemon for the salmon, and leave it at that.

BDL

PS. If it's possible for you, do think about hot smoking the salmon and/or the pork rather than grilling either or both of them. Huge increase in the level of interest, aroma, and tolerance for reheating.

PPS. (Added on a subsequent edit). I just though of a sauce for the salmon which is exactly right, works cold and hot, and compliments your mushroom/cream with the pork. Ravigote. It's a classic sauce, pre-Escoffier, so there are recipes all over the web. It allows a tremendous amount of freedom in terms of what herbs to use, and how you want to place the lemon/vinegar balance. Just an all around good idea for your particular problem. To give you an idea of what it looks like, it's a sort of French pesto with herbs, anchovies, capers, vinegar, lemon and ... well, it allows for a lot of variations.

Don't use Emeril's Creamy Ravigote though, it's really more of a remoulade than a ravigote, and wouldn't go well on the same plate as the mushroom/cream.

_______________________________

Ex owner/operator Predominantly French catering, ex cook at a couple of good joints

With Pork Tenderloin there is always the option of sauce a l'orange.


1 Large Orange (zest the skin for sauce , keep segments for garnish )
4 fluid oz (100ml) French Red Wine
4 fluid oz (100ml) Fresh Orange Juice
2 fluid oz (50ml) Duck or Chicken Stock or drippings
1 Tablespoon of Honey or Brown Sugar

Bring to a slow boil then simmer...

For the salmon....actually BDL is very right, Beurre Nantais with lemon and capers. These ingredients enhance one another.

Petals

Try adding some good orange marmalade!

Now your talking !!!!!


Petals

Pork dregged in porcini powder, searred then finished in oven with a fruit sauce, I like rosemary cherry or apricot/orange/rosemary with porcini.

ravigote is what my francophile friend makes at this Provencal restaurants.....aka sauce verte.....

2 staff for 40 guests.....someone is tending the bar, putting out aps, cleaning up the front....you are essentially solo in the kitchen....think of that when you are thinking of cooking of two meats with sauces (obviously at least one sauce premade is easier than making both on site), oven space for warming bread/rolls, finishing meats, heating vegetables.....

*I apologize for any rudeness on my part. Blackened would not work here in St. Louis, there are just too many customers that don't eat hot spice. Not that there aren't alot of habanero or spice eaters here, there are just a significant # that don't. If we're serving hot there's also a mild version. Different parts of the country have different eater demographics. That is MY clientel base.
If you are new to catering being aware of your audience is important. Each of us that has been catering for years has a sense of what people like wherever they may live.

I agree a lot depends on ethnics, and what people grew up with.