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Hors' dervs plating ideas

post #1 of 6
5/29/09 at 11:08am
Thread Starter 
Ok so i have 2 parties coming up this weekend. I need some artistic help with my garnish for my passed trays of food. I have steak skewers , crab cakes, baby 2 stuffed potatoes , risotto cakes, stuffed mushrooms, . The usual crap. But kale and red cabbage aren't going to do it for me or my boss. So Does anyone have any ideas? It would be greatly appreciated.
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post #2 of 6
5/29/09 at 11:23am
Radish roses
apple swans
lemon crowns
turnip roses
miniature gardens(flowers cut from asst, veges.
all the dips in acorn squash cups or grapefruit baskets
hard cooked egg penguins and on and on there are 100s
CHEFED
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post #3 of 6
5/30/09 at 10:04am
My advice. Stay far far far away from anything with the words rose, swan, crowns and baskets They are so oldschool and corny. The chefs that are still using those are probably sprinkling parsley around the rim of the plate as well. Delete kale and red cabbage from your mind as well=)

Try sauces from a squeeze bottle. Or another popular garnish would be mirco greens.

Example:

Make a tray of crab cakes, top each one with a tiny bit of salsa, drizzle aioli on top. Cut some very thin lemon and lime wedges(very thin). scatter them around for color and you should have a very simple but very appealing platter, if not add tiny bits of colorful mirco greens to each piece.

IMO garnish should be simple and relevant to the dish. Good luck, and just say no when someone says " A Squash Swan would look awesome in that bowl of soup"
Go with mirco greens, check out some of the best restaurant websites, or top online food photo's....they are all using mirco greens.
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post #4 of 6
5/30/09 at 4:22pm

Ditto

Besides lookin simple yet classy, these garnishe are far easier to create n more impoetantly easier to dispense. Besides it keeps the focus on the food - just make sure it tastes real good, is served at the appropriate temperaure with simple drizzle of herbed oil / whatever, a sprig of a dill n probably a touch of paprika ...
tell us what u think ....
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post #5 of 6
5/30/09 at 5:51pm
It also pays to know the crowd you are serving, what "wows them" in Porterville,CA (anything other than protein at 6 o'clock, starch at 2 o'clock, veggie at 10 o'clock, is "upscale") is probably is "ho hum" in San Francisco.

Know your competition!
Chef,
Specialties: MasterCook/RecipeFox; Culinary logistics; Personal Chef; Small restaurant owner; Caterer
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post #6 of 6
5/31/09 at 8:25pm
passed hodos are normally catering realm......different shaped platters made out of various materials are interesting, just make sure they are light enough to carry. Copper, wicker, silver, brass, baskets.....look for things that are interesting....international shops are great places to pick up serving platters.

steak skewers, butcher block looking platter, thick skewers make sure to space them instead of piling them on the platter. Garlic scapes are in season they add interest....



, crab cakes.....remoulade or cocktail or whatever sauce (make sure it's thick enough not to make a mess)....fried capers, or jumbo caper cross slice..... lemonslices ringing the passing platter.....or remoulade with diced chives on top

, baby 2 stuffed potatoes have them sitting on a bed of rock salt

, risotto cakes....what kind? garnish should reflect whatevers in them...or top with red pepper or a parmesan curl or ?

, stuffed mushrooms, I use morel figures (very realistic) on passing platters....

Shop farmer's markets, specialty markets, ethnic markets for unusual decorative fruit/veg/greens....
our veitnamese springrolls are on a parchment lined round rattan platter with a couple of baby verigated eggplants and a stem of lemon verbena.

It's important not to crowd platters, space is important. Also being able to hold a drink and take a hodo without making a mess....if you are passing that means they don't have plates, so it should be finger food.
cooking with all your senses.....
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