Day 20

So today we are being used for slave labor. We will be doing a catering on Saturday and today we prepped all day. We made appetizers and main courses for a beer pairing for 100 people. We made four apps: smoked salmon canapes, turkey meatballs in cream sauce, bacon wrapped dates, and grilled zucchini stuffed with herbed goat cheese. Nothing amazing. Good though. The salmon was sliced bread spread with lemon butter (butter, lemon zest, lemon juice) and topped with smoked salmon. On top of the salmon I piped a small rosette of sour cream and topped that with a small piece of lime segment (lime with no membrane). Finely chopped chives finished it off. The lemon butter and lime were great compliments. I love the lemon butter. The meatballs were just that. We baked them to cook them and then topped them with the cream sauce at serving time. The zucchini was grilled in thin long slices and then spread with a mixture of goat cheese, cream cheese, and herbs (I think chives and parsley but not sure). Once rolled up it was secured with a toothpick. Same idea for the bacon wrapped dates. Really salty and really sweet were nice. Even though I don't usually like dates.
Main dishes started with paella. It was seafood and chicken with saffron, rice, and clam juice for extra seafoodyness. It was okay. Not amazing. The next course was a bed of sauteed cabbage with caraway seeds with potato salad and grilled bratwurst. It was good but my classmate overcooked the sausage and it was a little dry. The last course was braised shortribs. They marinated in red wine overnight and then braised in the oven for a few hours. Sauce gets strained and reduced and poured back over them for serving. They were plated over some roast potatoes and carrots. The cuts of meat were so fatty, though. I didn't like the quality of the beef. I want to make them with natural meat and see the difference. So that was my uneventful day of prep for someone else's party. I'm glad its overwith.