Paella Party!

Tags

Catering, Celebration, Cheese, Cheese Platter, Chef Bryce, Deviled Eggs, Eggs, Event, Event Planning, Fruit, Paella, Party, Private Event, Sangria, Summer

Did you know that Söntés can do private catering events at your own home? If you didn’t, don’t worry—it’s still a pretty well-kept secret. But we’d love to change that! We really enjoy planning private events. Not only do we get the chance to work with our guests personally and help them create a smashing celebration, but we also get to exercise our creative muscles while crafting a truly unique, personal occasion.

Recently, we had the chance to serve up a Paella Party on a Sunday afternoon at the home of one of our guests (who was kind enough to allow us to snap a few pictures). If you subscribe to our newsletter, you may remember that we rolled out these kinds of parties earlier this summer. This guest was interested in having a casual gathering of 20 to 25 people. She wanted them to be able to serve themselves, then mingle and chat in a relaxed setting over the course of the afternoon.

Chef Bryce and Tessa arrived at about 11am to begin preparations for the 1pm gathering. Chef was able to use the house kitchen for some of the prep, and then set up one of our paella pans out on the deck in order to cook the main dish. Meanwhile, Tessa set up the sangria, and worked to arrange the table with the other food, using a mixture of both the restaurant’s dishes and those of the family, as the hostess wished.

The result, as you can see from the photos, was a festive and inviting spread of food! If you’d like to enlist our help with a similar event, head on over to our Catering & Event Planning page to learn a bit more about the possibilities for the event. If you already know what you’re looking for, go head and give us a call at 507.292.1628 or email Karen or Tessa to get started!

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Celebrate Irish Food

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Bacon, Beef, Blood Sausage, Butter, Cabbage, Ceili, Dancing, Eggs, Grass fed, Green Bacon, Irish, Irish Fest, Music, Potatoes, Pudding, Rashers, Soda Bread

On March 16th, celebrate St Patrick’s Day, on the eve of St Patrick’s Day, the traditional way. Not with green beer in a raucous pub, but with friends, neighbors, authentic Irish food, and traditional music and dance. Irish Fest and Söntés are teaming up to offer dinner, music, and a Céilí (pronounced “kay-lee”) Dance. The event will feature music by the Twin Cities Céilí Band; the dance will be called by the talented Máirtín de Cógáin.

A couple of weeks ago, I spoke with Máirtín about traditional Irish fare, the facts of which he was more than happy to share. Here are a few pointers if you’re considering cooking up your own Irish fare this month!

In general, says Máirtín, Irish food is fairly plain. “Plain,” however, is all relative when you think about it. Traditional Irish fare focuses on fresh ingredients and the flavors of those ingredients. Beef, for instance, is from wholly grass-fed cattle, giving it a deeper, meatier flavor. Milk is richer, butter is thicker, vegetables are local. So the upshot is that if you pay attention to the quality of your ingredients, a simple dish can turn into something utterly satisfying.

An easy dish to make at home is Bacon & Cabbage. Just follow these steps of Máirtín’s:

• Find some good green bacon, also known as “hairy bacon.” This is young bacon that has been cured but not smoked, and is usually thick-cut.
• Boil the bacon in water.
• Once you have a good broth, toss in your coarsely chopped green cabbage.
• Boil the cabbage in the water until it starts to wilt a bit, then pull it out.
• Serve the bacon and cabbage with steamed potatoes (still in their jackets) smothered in creamy butter.

The morning after Saint Patrick’s Day, you just might be in need of a traditional Irish breakfast to get you going. If you’re looking to pull one together, here are some pieces to consider:

• Farm fresh eggs—a must!
• Rashers—traditional Irish back bacon, kind of like a cross between American bacon and Canadian bacon
• Baked beans—not the American style, but truly simple beans flavored with nothing more than some tomato sauce
• Black & White Pudding—yes, blood sausage! Made with oats or barley in addition to the other ingredients
• Brown soda bread
• Farm-fresh butter—Máirtín recommends Kerrygold Butter if you can’t get your own farm-fresh spread

Well, those are just a few tips for you from Máirtín! We’d love for you to celebrate with us on Saint Patrick’s Day Eve, though, for warm food and company with lively music. If you’re not much of a dancer, don’t worry! Máirtín will be leading, and he’ll teach everyone the steps. He says, “If you can walk, you can dance!”

Here’s what we’ll be serving for dinner:

• Chef Bryce’s Irish Beef Stew,
• Traditional Irish Soda Bread,
• and the Queen of Puddings!

Tickets to the event are only $20, and include dinner, music, and the Céilí Dance. Proceeds benefit Irish Fest 2012. You can get tickets of your very own by calling Tessa or Kim at 507-292-1628, contacting an Irish Fest board member, or stopping by the Rochester Civic Theater.

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, everyone!

-Amanda

All images courtesy of Sinéad Chick, Irish Fest MN.

Bacon Dinner Success

Tags

Appetizers, Asparagus, Bacon, Beef, Beef Tenderloin, Blue Cheese, Brownie, Eggs, Grissini, Horseradish, Mangalitsa Pig, Oh Bacon!, Pancetta, Potatoes, Romaine, Sorbet, Tomato, Vinaigrette

Many thanks to everyone who participated to make our Baconfest 2012 a success! In spite of the interesting week we had, everything came together splendidly. Here, see for yourself!

Appetizers

Happy Bacon Dinner Diners

Coddled egg with bacon dipped asparagus and bacon infused grissini

Grilled romaine salad with warm bacon vinaigrette, blue cheese crouton and tomato sorbet

Bacon-wrapped beef tenderloin with horseradish milled potatoes and roasted local vegetables with house-cured pancetta

Grieves brownie with maple and pancetta ice cream sandwich

Oh, and last (but not least), let’s not forget the bacon dinner centerpiece! It’s our very own Mangalitsa pig tribute by Jenna Abts:

Mangalitsa Pig Tribute

An Ode to Miso

Tags

Carrot, Daikon, Dashi, Eggs, Miso, Onion, Tofu

Ahhh, miso. Whether gentle or bold, your salty sweet flavor tantalizes my taste buds and satisfies my soul.

Wait, what? What is miso, you say? A hippie health supplement? Well, no, not exactly. That soup served as an appetizer at a Japanese restaurant? Well, yes, but it’s really much more than that. One of those newfangled probiotic trends? Probiotic, yes, but it’s not new at all, and as a trend it’s here to stay.

In fact, it’s an amazing seasoning—and it’s much more tasty and easy to use than you might expect. Really, if you’ve never had it, you should at least give it a shot. Take my word for it, it’s good stuff. If you’re at least curious, then read on! What follows is your miso primer.

Navigating the Spectrum: The Colors of Miso

If you go to buy miso at the store, you may find that you have a few different options (particularly if you’re at a Japanese or Asian food market): white, yellow, red, or black. The lighter shades are more mellow and less salty in general than the darker shades. Miso is, as you may know, a fermented food. Fermented soybeans, to be specific—although there can be additional ingredients like rice, barley, millet, or a number of other grains. The grains are aged with salt and the koji culture anywhere from a few months to well over a year. More or less, you can expect that the longer the aging period, the deeper the depth of flavor.

If you’re a miso beginner, you’ll probably want to start out with white or yellow. If you like it, try the red. After that, sky’s the limit! Search out regional variations or try miso made from different bases. You’ll find that some varieties are light and sweet, some are musky, and some are earthy.

There are plenty of Japanese manufacturers who ship to the U.S., but you’ll find some American made miso as well. I usually read the label and go for a brand without any preservatives, because after all, the fermentation process is really preservative enough. That’s the whole point; why add something else?

More Than Simply Soup

At the moment at Söntés, you can find miso braised turnips served with our Pan Seared Scallops. Salty, sweet, smooth, and rich—what more could you ask for? In truth, you can add miso to almost anything to give it a tangy kick. Use it as a topping on vegetables, or braise fish with it, or pickle things, or make a dressing for a salad or sandwich. There’s even a recipe out there for miso cookies, I kid you not;  I haven’t tried them, but I’d be willing to give it a shot.

That being said, miso soup is really quite good, and completely nourishing. The trick to making it is simple: don’t boil the miso. Throw your other ingredients into the pot first (daikon, carrots, onions, or tofu, for example) and boil them with some water and dashi (fish) stock until they’re cooked through. Turn down the heat and wait until it is no longer boiling, then add your miso and gently strain it into the soup. The Japanese say that if you have a good balance in the soup, the miso will taste like the sea.

Additional tip: I like to poach an egg in the stock if I’m having the soup for breakfast. Highly recommended for a cold winter day.

So, here’s to your health! Enjoy the miso.

-Amanda, Editor in Chief