concert menu suggestions

Mixed grill / charcouterie covers all the bases.

BDL

Matambre

Quote:

Originally Posted by durangojo 

can you be more specific por favor, oh did i mention they were well heeled but cheap?...as most of the rich seem to be....i have worked for so many over the years that by now that i know why they have ALL  the money and we don't..cheapskates most of them.....

joey

It's a type of Argentine charcouterie. It can be served cold like a deli meat, or warm as an entree.

Butterfly a flank steak (I've heard of versions using brisket). Make a farcemeat, garnish it with veggies etc as if you were making a terrine. Spread the farce on the steak. Line the center with hard boiled eggs (under cook them so they don't get green and nasty when the whole thing gets cooked). Roll it up and tie it. You want a bullseye, not a spiral. I suppose the best cooking methods would be low and slow BBQ or sear and braise.

Serve with chimichurri.

Oh, you will also want to weight it while you cool it. Otherwise it will tend to unravel while slicing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by durangojo 

okay, since i can't beat it out of you or bribe you with booze i will have to look it up..better if i had one of yoru 'go to recipes,tried and true..don't need measurements, just ingredient list...thanks!

joey

??? I didn't give you enough to work on?

kinda. it's bigger and got more stuffing.

France? hmm... Poulet Roti would work with the Argentine stuff, while still being french.

German is kinda tough for the Summer. I'd be tempted to let the cold cuts etc do the heavy working. Have a good bread selection. I'd make sure to include some pretzel rolls because you don't see those often. (Take your lean roll dough, give it a lye wash, top with some coarse salt, etc). Currywurst or other grilled sausage?  I kinda want to try some brathering. (It's German fish escabeche. Fish is fried, then marinated.)

Italy has Bracciole,  Germany has Rollmops,  France has Veal Birds and Mini Gallantines which is along same lines as Matanbre only smaller.

US does a Stuffed Flank Steak

Rollmops are pickled herring. Not quite the same thing.

Joey, you're talking about a buffet. How many fooditems would you present in total and/or per country? Do you have a separate starter/main/dessert section?

Does the musicprogram need to match the sequence of starter/main/dessert?

I did a lot of Marengos when I used to cater.  Marengo isn't a roast.  It's a stew which lands somewhere between a saute and braise.  Sort of the Provencal version of chasseur or cacciatore.  I think of it as more fall than summer, even though the battle of Marengo (between France and Austria) was fought in June.  To keep with tradition, you'll have to flute the mushrooms.  Fun.

By the way, who's the Argentinian composer?  Hope it's Gardel.  

BDL

I like Pellaprat's Marengo something fierce.  You absolutely can make it with boned-out thighs.  My copy of Modern French Culinary Art is not available right now, though.  It's buried somewhere in the garage.  I looked for you, but couldn't find it.  Maybe someone else has it.

Rice mos' def, not lentils. 

Flute the mushrooms.

BDL

Joey, a Marengo is quite a simple stew. You can use veal or replace it with chicken or even turkey. As always, you can add any personal touch. There are as many stews as there are cooks.

Veal Marengo

Recipe for about 4 persons; 800 gr vealshoulder cut in pieces/ 1 onion/ 2 handfulls of champignons/ handfull of fresh baby "silver"onion/ 2 tbsp flour/ 200 ml dry white wine/ 1 tin peeled tomatoes/ 4 slices white bread/ cresson(small watercress)/ butter/ oil/ sugar/ laurel/ thyme/ s&p

Note; I always use fresh baby onions. They are also available frozen ànd peeled already; can't imagine peeling these for 75 people!

Season meat with s&p. Sear in hot oil/butter mixture (50/50). Add chopped onion. Add flour stir and let cook for a while to eleminate the flourtaste. Add white wine and tomatoes. Add laurel and thymesprig. Cover pan and let simmer 90 minutes.

Peel baby onions. Sweat in only butter this time, season with s&p, pinch of sugar and a dash of water. Cover and let simmer until done.

Quarter champignons and fry in butter. S&p.

Add onions and champignons to the veal.

Cut breadslices in 4 diagonal pieces and fry in oil to make croutons.

Serve stew on plates with croutons and cresson.

Chicken Marengo

Same procedure, but, leave thyme out, use fresh tarragon instead. Cooking time depending of the use of dark or white meat. Just check.

Be thankful you only have to flute mushrooms (where do you think all those mushroom trimmings the French guys call for come from).  You have to tourne your garnish instead.

Personally, I don't think you can call it a marengo unless you have an egg garnish. Traditionally it's eggs 'poached' in oil. I'm ambivalent on the crayfish.

Marengo is a very specific dish, created by his personal chef (whose name I can't remember), "served for the first time" on the Marengo battlefield to Napoleon to celebrate his victory there earlier in the day.  To keep it Marengo, you have to stay very close to the original -- which includes fluted mushrooms -- otherwise, it's just a lighter, Provencale take on a chasseur.  It's the extra detail and care which make it celebratory.

But that's my take, there's no reason it should be yours.  You and I have very similar cooking styles, but they're certainly not identical.  You're freer and more creative, I'm more technical and academic, and so what?  Also, you typically cater for larger groups than I did.  I have nothing but good things to say about your food, and you already know it.  Is it worth fluting 10 lbs of mushrooms for presentation and authenticity?  Who's to say?  I trust you.  Napoleon isn't even around.

Sausage:  Will you be buying or making your own?  If buying, get whatever's the best you can get locally.  If making and going French, something with quatre epices.  Perhaps Jane Grigson's "Alsatian" sausage.  There are a zillion great German sausages. A good, fresh Bratwurst is always welcome.  

BDL

heh, poached eggs are gross, but blood sausage is cool

Crawfish are freshwater, you get em from streams and rivers. The battle was fought near a river, and crawfish from it where among the items the foragers returned with.

I've had pretty good luck with french style garlic sausage. 5lbs pork butt or ground pork (you want around 25-30% fat), 1.5 oz by weight salt, 3T mince garlic, 1T fresh ground black pepper, 1c cold red wine.

Joey, absolutely do use amontillado in the Marengo and anything that adds to a more creative and personal approach.

Also, I adore blood sausage aka boudin noir (sounds more appetizing doesn't it?). We love that in my country. Goes very well with caramelized apples as you know. However, you need to realize that a lot of people won't eat it, even when they have never tasted such a treat! Anyway, just for fun this fantastic recipe including a video. Easy to make 2 days before the party. Don't know wether it's fit for 75? Maybe for another occasion. Also, it's visually a recipe that will invite people to overcome their aversion towards blood sausage. To be served as a starter or part of a buffet's main dishes! This is NOT a dessert!

Tarte tatin with boudin noir

See the video here http://www.njam.tv/recepten/tarte-tatin-met-zwarte-pens

Translation of the recipe;

5 boudins noir in slices/ 6 Jonagold apples in chunks; use any sweet apple that doesn't fall apart when cooking / 150 gram sugar/ 100 gram butter / 1 sheet puff pastry

Heat the oven to 200°C. Butter a pan with heavy bottom. Add sugar and turn the pan to get it all over the pan surface. Put the apple chunks in as close to each other (they will shrink) as possible and press well. Put on low fire and caramelize the sugar a few minutes. Cover with the boudin noir.

Use the lid of the pan to cut out the puff pastry. Punch some holes in it. Cover the pan with the pastry.

Reduce the ovenheat to 175°C and bake the tarte tatin for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool to roomtemperature. Important; put in the fridge for another 12 hours!

To serve; heat the pan on very low fire so the tatin detaches from the pan and turn upside down on large a plate (see the video!).

Other videos by this chef from both his pork and fish series; http://www.njam.tv/chefs/johan-segers?page=1

The first paragraph on this page says; "Elk experiment ontstaat spontaan. Als je niets forceert, komt de inspiratie vanzelf".

Or, "Each experiment is spontaneous. When you don't force it, inspirations finds itself". That's probably why he became a Michelin star chef. Traditionalists go nowhere.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by durangojo 

.tinman, vas is das currywurst? is it what it sounds like?

The curry in currywurst is from the sauce. It's essentially tomato ketchup plus curry powder.  Bratwurst should be ok for the sausage. Traditionally, it's a fried or grilled pork sausage served cut up without a bun, sometimes garnished with a sprinkle of curry. I eat mine whole on a bun.
 

Currywurst is a popular excuse to drink more beer in Germany.  It's way up on their list of snack foods.  Perhaps, as they say in Germany, "numero uno."

It's true that any sort of blood sausage might be a little challenging for your audience, and probably best avoided for your gig. But apropos of nothing, I had soon dae for lunch.  A lot of people don't realize that soon dae is actually a traditional Luxembourg food, invented by the Brothers Schleck, Andy and Frank. 

Of course you catch a break on fluting the mushrooms.  But just you. Everyone else has to.  Or else.

Congratulations on the knife.

BDL