Wedding Menu, Revealed!
After lots of recipe-gathering and food-combination-discussing (and input from some of you), the bride and groom and I have narrowed the menu down to what is a more or less final version!
Appetizers:
I can see the menu cards now...
[Insert noise of record scratching to a halt]...except this isn't really that kind of wedding.
So, the overall vibe is a sort of casual, farmer's market, Mexican theme. Yum?!
Although it's true that the enchiladas may be messy, we're hoping to get by with only using one plate for the sides and entree and relying on napkins for the hand-held appetizers and desserts.
Now, it's just a matter of finding all the necessary ingredients (where to get 60 tomatillos in April?! I'm placing my hopes on Mercado Marimar), figuring out what can be made ahead, how to divide up the tasks of cooking beans, chopping vegetables, making sauces, etc. among the friends I hope to recruit for an Anna Birthday /Wedding Food Prep Party on the Friday before the wedding. Madison folks: stay tuned for an invitation!
I'll be back with a food safety primer and some beginning thoughts on supplies on Monday.
Happy weekend!
Appetizers:
- Deviled eggs
- Portable caprese (mozzarella, tomato, basil on a toothpick, with oil, salt & pepper)
- Bruschetta—some with tomato/basil, some with white bean
- Farmer’s market green salad
- Roasted asparagus--hopefully available at the farmer's market the morning of the wedding
- Mexican Rice with Cilantro Dressing
- Corn and Black Bean Salad
- (or, if I get nervous about the number of dishes and decide to consolidate beans and rice into one: Mexican Bean and Rice Salad)
- Rick Bayless's Enchiladas with Swiss Chard, Onion and Monterey Jack in a Tomatillo Salsa! (with one vegan tray with refried beans instead of cheese)
I can see the menu cards now...
[Insert noise of record scratching to a halt]...except this isn't really that kind of wedding.
So, the overall vibe is a sort of casual, farmer's market, Mexican theme. Yum?!
Although it's true that the enchiladas may be messy, we're hoping to get by with only using one plate for the sides and entree and relying on napkins for the hand-held appetizers and desserts.
Now, it's just a matter of finding all the necessary ingredients (where to get 60 tomatillos in April?! I'm placing my hopes on Mercado Marimar), figuring out what can be made ahead, how to divide up the tasks of cooking beans, chopping vegetables, making sauces, etc. among the friends I hope to recruit for an Anna Birthday /Wedding Food Prep Party on the Friday before the wedding. Madison folks: stay tuned for an invitation!
I'll be back with a food safety primer and some beginning thoughts on supplies on Monday.
Happy weekend!
That looks amazing. I'm definitely not ready to do anything on that scale yet. Good stuff. - Alex
ReplyDeleteWanna come make some chocolate-covered fruit for the wedding?!
ReplyDeleteI had the portable caprese at a dinner a few months ago. It was incredibly easy and impressive. Who'd'a'thunk? The version I had was drizzled in aged balsamic, which was nice.
ReplyDeleteMan, our menu looks rad, even with curlicues. Any sense of how nervous and rice-bean-combining you're getting? I ask not to be a bother to our wonderful caterer, but because we keep discovering guests with cilantro problems, the accursed creatures. So if you go that way, would the Mexican Bean and Rice Salad work cilantroless? Rock, rock on!
ReplyDeleteMy nerves are calm! Separate cilantro-less bean and cilantro-full rice salads are in the works. But the rice could still be made cilantro-less, if, it turns out, that would be preferable? I think we could retain the rad-ness, even if the menu is without a speck of the accursed green herb. As Groomy McGroomerson and Bridey McBriderson wish...
ReplyDeleteExcellent that your nerves remain calm! Here's a naive question: would it be possible to keep just a bowl of rice cilantro-free? We Mcxersons have done the numbers, and it's only a few people, like 3, but they're important people. If not, we'll think hard on the choice.
ReplyDeleteNot naive at all! We can definitely keep one bowl cilantro-free! It won't be as delicious, but it will be super-easy, since the cilantro is all in the dressing which is just poured on after the rice is cooked. So, we'll have one bowl of plain rice (well, not plain--with oil, onion, garlic, chili, veggie broth, and salt) and the rest with cilantro dressing. Easy peasy.
ReplyDeletePoifect. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt with this,absolutely a perfect wedding menu. Keep posting!
ReplyDeletezonia