Canapés & curry for Rachel & Joe’s New Years Eve wedding 2011/12 Bexley

It sounds wrong, but the catering worked so well for newlyweds Rachel & Joe who opted to a red & black themed wedding in Bexley – We were asked to come up with a suitable menu to match the theme.

This was not as easy as it sounds, if you ignore squid ink & black olives, black is not normally
associated with great food, red however, is prefectly workable with a bit of imagination.

Of the canapés the first was a deep red with: mini bagels, which were topped with red wine poached pear, crumbled Roquefort & walnuts (v). This is a canapé variation of a starter: the
classic red wine poach Kentish pear infused with some cinnamon & some extra
sugar, normally served with chicory and a strong Blue cheese.

The next one was something fishy & well slightly off theme with pink with splashes of red. We used Rustic & nutty German Pumpernickel bread topped with Scottish salmon gravlax, with rocket, cherry tomato& creamed horseradish, using creamed horseradish works well with salmon: mix crème friâshe & horseradish together at about 50 50 mix or to your taste

Back to full red again with Medium rare roast beef with béarnaise sauce, the roasted red pepper supplying the extra red colour with cress, we haughtily called this en croute, however our croute was a pastry star shaped cup to add a bit of extra style.

Pink again with Skewered King prawns in dill herb breadcrumbs, a party favourite, fat delicious king prawns in a herby crispy breadcrumb on a skewer. 

The red amongst this next juicy little canapé was the finely sliced red chilli. We made
up a nutty mix of shallots, peanut butter, soy sauce, brown sugar, red chillies
& fresh coriander to top the pineapple chunks; these are widely known as Pineapple
galloping horses (v)

Finally for the last canapé we opted for flavour over the theme, with the very tasty Asparagus
& hollandaise sauce crostini (V) Ah well, there is only so much red pepper,
cherry tomato, & red chilli you can use.

To be served a few hours after the canapés, the next option was the main course,
at this time of year, it’s a bit cold, people are getting bored with turkey
& so Rachel & Joe had decided to go for the curry. To begin with we
thought of the fiery Red Thai Chicken curry, it was the obvious choice. However
for 100 people we discussed that hot curries might not to everyone's taste, whilst
mild ones made well will always work. With the theme once again forfeited over
taste we decided to go for the delicious Green Thai chicken curry, made up with
fresh ginger for heat, added garlic, lots of fresh coriander, spring onions and
creamy coconut milk for the base sauce, added vegetables with fine beans, baby
sweetcorn & peppers to the pan fried chicken breast for a great fresh
tasting curry, served with fuffy basmati rice.

For the veggies we did a Aubergine & mushroom massala for 10 people, this curry
works well for veggies as it has great texture without meat substitutes. All of
the above was served with a selection of Naan breads and china bowls of: Chopped
chillies, Jalapeno, Desiccated coconut, & Sultanas which allowed people to
pimp their curries with extra flavour hotter or milder dependant on taste.

Great combinations with imagination (not too many compromises on theme) and flair,
the finished menu looked like this

Chilled canapés:

Asparagus &
hollandaise sauce crostini (V)

Pumpernickel with
gravlax rocket cherry tomato & creamed horseradish

Skewered King prawns in
dill herb breadcrumbs

Mini bagels topped with
red wine poached pear, Roquefort & walnuts (v)

Pineapple galloping
horses (v)

Medium rare roast beef
with béarnaise roasted red pepper & cress en croute

2 waitresses serving by walking around  

Green Thia chicken curry

Aubergine & mushroom
massala (10 person veggie option)

Wild rice

Selection of Naan breads

China bowls of:

Chopped chillies

Jalapeno

Desiccated coconut

Sultanas