Grits are the new Mashed Potatoes (you heard it here first)

There's something comforting about mashed potatoes. They go well with mom's meatloaf and they're the perfect vessel to hold gravy during Thanksgiving dinner, but are we starting to get tired of the old standby? Although I love them, the culinary world needs an alternative to a dish that is offered at damn near every restaurant and catered dinner. Fortunately we're beginning to see a new trend surface: Grits.

Yes, you heard it, grits. The breakfast staple of the South is taking over on menus across the country as the side dish du jour. One of my most memorable experiences with grits was during the first dinner on my honeymoon, where my wife and I dined at the The Olde Pink House in Savannah, Georgia. After a long wait at the bar and a couple of appetizers, I had an unbelievable entree consisting of seared tuna with mascarpone grits. From that moment on, I decided that grits would soon replace mashed potatoes as my favorite side dish.

In the Tampa Bay catering world, we're doing our best at Good Food Catering Company to get the word out about grits as a great side dish. Mascarpone grits go perfectly with Pan Roasted Lamb Chops and a Creole Mustard - Cabernet Reduction. And white cheddar cheese grits are a perfect base of our Southern Grits Bar, an interactive chef-attended station that allows your guests to top their "grits martini" with their choice of traditional shrimp and sausage or hickory smoked pulled pork with our secret BBQ sauce. And last, creamy Charleston grits are a fantastic accompaniment for our slow Braised Beef Short Ribs in a Red Wine Reduction.

So why am I writing about grits as a party planning tip? Here are three reasons: (1) They're rather easy to make, (2) even yankees love them and (3) they're an affordable side dish that can work great will grilled meats, seafood and even work as a vegetarian option. Hopefully I've convinced you to try grits for your next dinner party or even a small family dinner. Here are some tips about making great grits.

- Buy good quality grits. Although Quaker Quick Grits are acceptable and can be make well, do your best to find quality grits at your upscale grocery store. They take a little longer to cook, but the quality is worth the wait. Whatever you do, avoid using "Instant Grits."

- Cook your grits with flavorful liquid. Sure, water will work, but the grits soak up any flavor from the cooking liquid, so use a combination of stock (chicken, vegetable or seafood), whole milk, cream and water.

- Season your cooking liquid first. This is a very important step, since the grits are actually absorbing the flavor that is in the liquid, you will get the most flavor INTO the grits by seasoning the liquid first. It's a lot tougher to add seasoning after they've cooked. Make sure you add your butter and salt before adding the grits.

- Cheese is a natural addition to grits, but add it near the end of the cooking process. Want to get adventurous? Instead of the usual cheddar cheese, try mascarpone or asiago for something different.

Enjoy!

-Kevin
Owner / Chef
Good Food Catering Company
Tampa, FL
813.731.0819
Tampa Catering, Tampa Wedding Catering, Event Caterer

Jambalaya - The Perfect Party Dish

As the owner of a Tampa Bay Catering company, I regularly cook for large groups of people when they celebrate special occasions or host parties. So when my friends host parties or we get together, I am often called on to help out with the cooking and planning. My friend Pat turned 40 last week and this past weekend, we celebrated with an all day party, complete with swimming sun, eating and drinking. The menu included grilled Buffalo chicken wings, chicken and pork cooked in La Caja China, Rochester style Garbage Plates and a keg of Shipyard Export. One of Pat's requests was that I cook my nearly famous Cajun jambalaya.

Cooking for a large group is easy when you have the right tools. My recipe has been perfected over the years but one key ingredient that makes it great is a large 4 gallon cast iron pot that cooks evenly and perfectly. A large batch of jambalaya can feed 20-30 people, it holds well and with a little practice, is a fairly easy dish to cook. If you're looking to entertain, jambalaya is a fantastic way to feed a crowd.

If you don't own a large cast iron pot with its own propane burner, then don't fret. Go to Wal-Mart and pick up a small 4 or 5 quart Lodge cast iron Dutch oven and you'll be set. Need a recipe? I'll share mine with you below. Keep in mind that this is a work in progress and can change without notice. This is a Cajun style jambalaya, most popular in South Louisiana.

-Kevin

Cajun Jambalaya
courtesy of Kevin Lacassin

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound smoked SAUSAGE, cut into cubes
• 1 pound boneless, skinless CHICKEN THIGHS
• 3 cups white RICE
• 2 slices BACON, chopped
• 2 medium yellow ONIONS, diced
• ½ green BELL PEPPER, diced
• 3 stalks CELERY, diced
• 4 green ONIONS, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet
• 1 teaspoon each of SALT, BLACK PEPPER, CAYENNE, OREGANO and THYME
• 4 ½ cups CHICKEN STOCK (if homemade isn’t available, use Kitchen Basics)
• Cast iron DUTCH OVEN

METHOD

1. Heat a large (5 ¼ quart or larger) cast iron Dutch oven and fry the bacon pieces to render the grease, remove and drain on paper towels.

2. Brown the chicken in the bacon grease, remove and when cool, cut into strips.

3. Brown the sausage for several minutes, then add the trinity of onion, celery and green pepper and cook until vegetables are soft, about 10 or 15 minutes on low heat.

4. Add the chicken stock, bacon, chicken, Kitchen Bouquet, seasonings. Bring up to a boil, add rice, then stir all together.

5. Reduce heat to a simmer (low) and cover. Set a kitchen timer and do not touch the lid for 20 minutes! You will need to cook until the rice is soft and all liquid is absorbed.

6. Lift the lid and confirm that rice is almost completely cooked and all liquid has been absorbed, then add the chopped green onion. Fold in the onions to the mixture, turn off the burner and replace the lid and let it sit for another 10 minutes.


Looking for a caterer for your Tampa wedding, corporate event or party? Good Food Catering Company will take care of you. Check us out!

Summer Menus - Hot Weather and Cool Food

Just last week Good Food Catering Company was commissioned (pun intended) to cater a 50 guest cocktail party for the Coast Guard Foundation, held at the Coast Guard Base on the water in St. Petersburg. Since the temperatures outside were hovering in the low 100's, we created a great summery spread of cold and room temperature foods that helped our guests beat the heat, sip on some cold cocktails and enjoy the Good Food.

In addition to the great food, we dressed up the decor with some crisp white linens, yellow daisies, clear glass blocks and patches of wheatgrass. Thank you to our friends in catering for the decor ideas and inspiration - CuisinEtc and Charlotte Berwind Fine Foods, both in New York, as well as Carte Wheels Caterers in Texas.

Also a big thank you to uDream Events for event services, rentals, beverages and bartending; as well as Erin Nutini for the great photography!

Having a summertime event and need Tampa Catering or Tampa Wedding Catering? Give us a call and we'll help you cool off with great food.

Enjoy!

Menu


Passed Signature Appetizer Bites

Seared Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna
served on crispy wonton triangles with mango-wasabi cream

California Sushi Rolls


Stationary “Cool Foods” Display

Caprese Salad on a Skewer
mozzarella, grape tomato and basil, with balsamic vinaigrette dipping sauce

Chorizo Skewers
Niman Ranch organic chorizo with manchego cheese and roasted red pepper

“Make Your Own” Bruscetta
Crostini with choices of olive tapenade and traditional tomatoes and basil

Watermelon Gazpacho Soup Shooters
Refreshing chilled summer soup of watermelon, tomato and cucumber, served in a shot glass

Lemon and Rosemary Chicken Skewers

Vertical Vegetable Crudité
Not your boring veggie platter! Served with a cool yogurt sauce for dipping

Unique Wedding Menu Ideas

We get calls daily from brides and grooms who have a vision of something "different" for their wedding reception. They've likely looked elsewhere in the area for great Tampa Wedding Catering and found that most of the companies in town had similar, basic and outdated menus.

Gone are the days when a wedding reception meant a formal sit down dinner composed of dried out chicken and boring roast beef. If you're planning an upcoming wedding and you're seeking something different for your Tampa catering options, then Good Food Catering Company is here for you.

Brides and Grooms these days have accepted the reality that a wedding reception can be a fun and unique gathering of family and friends to celebrate the unity of two people in marriage. It doesn't have to be stuffy or even formal, but rather relaxed and interesting.

We've got a fun wedding booked for later this year who chose to go with a unique menu and format that would be fun and interesting for everyone. With roots in New Orleans and an Italian heritage, the bride asked that the menu reflect both, while also be diverse enough to please all of the invited guests. The reception will be cocktail party style, with seating for everyone, but will allow guests to graze the food stations at their pace and dine leisurely while catching up with old friends and making new ones.

Menu

Passed Signature Appetizer Bites

Fried Mac-N-Cheese Lollipops

Comfort food meets class!

Sesame Crusted Seared Yellowfin Tuna

with Mango wasabi cream, served on crispy wonton triangles

Hickory Smoked Pulled Pork Sliders

with carmelized Vidalia onions and our secret BBQ sauce

Thai Sweet Chili Shrimp

jumbo shrimp with a sweet and spicy Thai chili sauce, served on an Asian spoon

*********

Taste of Italy

Tuscan Chicken

A heart-warming dish of a 5 ounce Italian seasoned pan seared chicken breast, smothered in tomatoes white wine, basil, fresh spinach and mozzarella cheese, served over…

Warm Cannellini Bean Salad

with roasted red peppers

**********

Flavor of The Gulf Coast

Cajun Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

the real deal, made by a Ragin’ Cajun the right way, in a cast iron pot, elegantly served from a large copper paella pan

Shrimp Roban

plump shrimp sautéed in a rich, spicy cream sauce, tossed with shell pasta and chopped green onion

*********

From the Garden

Butternut Squash Soup Martini

Served warm in a mini martini glass

Penne Pasta Primavera

Fresh winter vegetables in roasted red pepper cream

Summertime and Tampa Catering

It's summertime in the Tampa Bay region and it's heating up quick. So it is up to your Tampa catering company to help cool things off and beat the heat. At Good Food Catering Company, we do that with our impressive array of cold appetizers.

On a hot summer day, there's nothing better for your guests than an ice cold drink or glass of white wine, along with some elegant and light appetizers. While some Tampa catering companies may buy their appetizers pre-prepared or from the freezer section, ours are made fresh using local purveyors for meats, vegetables and seafood. And it shows.

Here are some of our more popular appetizers that will help you cool off this summer.

Bloody Mary Shrimp Shooters
a Creole boiled jumbo shrimp served in a shot glass with virgin spicy bloody mary mix



Thai Sweet Chili Shrimp
jumbo Florida pink shrimp with a sweet and spicy Thai chili sauce, served on an Asian spoon



Seared Ahi Tuna
with wasabi-mango sauce, served on crispy wonton triangles



Caprese on a Skewer
mozzarella, grape tomato and basil, with balsamic vinaigrette dipping sauce



Ceviche
ceviche served in mini martini glasses

As always, we're here to provide superior culinary experiences for you and your guests in the Tampa Bay region. Check out our website at www.GoodFoodTampa.com or feel free to give us a call at 813.731.0819.

Hey, we're over here!

Didn't mean to lose you in the mix, but we did want to let you know that you can follow all of the great Tampa Catering news and photos on Good Food Catering Company's website blog, found at www.GoodFoodTampa.com/blog. We'll still update the blogger blog from time to time, but the best place to find it all is on our website or even on our Facebook page. Today, you can check out our new article, titled "7 Things to Consider Before Hiring a Wedding Caterer."

Meanwhile, don't forget to check out the cool things going on in the Denver Catering scene with our friends at Saucey's Catering; a couple new posts with some great photos are now up. As professionals, many great caterers from around the nation work together to keep up with current trends and to help each other in the catering world. In the Tampa Bay Catering market, we have access to ideas and techniques from around the country, including those from our friends at Saucey's.

See you soon, Enjoy!

Wedding dates booking fast!

If you are planning for an October or November wedding this year in the Tampa Bay region, you may want to book your caterer soon! Fortunately for Good Food Catering Company, business has been great and is only looking better for the remainder of the year. Since we're a "boutique" caterer, we choose to only cater one event at a time, so your wedding will get the utmost attention to detail and be our sole priority for the day. For this reason, we sometimes have to turn down business. Please don't let us turn down your business!

Exciting News! New Location!

You probably already know that Good Food Catering Company is busy providing unique food and great experiences for weddings, corporate events and socials in the Tampa Bay region. And with 100% certainty, I know that you've tasted our food at a location near you, like a wedding venue, private residence, community clubhouse or even an airport hangar (that story coming soon). But now you'll be able to stop in soon to taste our food in our new home.

Last month, Good Food Catering Company moved into a new kitchen space in South Tampa, located at 2013 W. Platt St., near the SOHO district. With this move comes a plethora of new possibilities and opportunities to meet us, including a monthly open house and tasting, beginning in April.

The date for our first tasting has not been set yet, but stay tuned for more details. Although the space is small, it is the perfect opportunity to see what goes on "behind the scenes" in our kitchen and the new catering ideas we can utilize that will make your event unique and memorable.

Shrimp & Andouille Pasta... Almost Famous!

Yesterday I had the pleasure to visit with Staci Mandikas of Unique Event Design and learn about how she utilizes both classic and cutting edge designs to make every event and wedding "unique." I had originally met her at the Davis Island Garden Club bridal show a couple of weeks ago and wanted to spend some time getting to know more about her and the services she offers for for her clients in the Tampa Bay region. In the process of checking out her website, I stumbled upon the fact the she hails from New Orleans, which gave us a few fun things to talk about. It also gave me the opportunity to introduce her to my signature dish, Shrimp and Andouille Pasta.

When my wife and I began dating, I probably originally won her over through my cooking and my use of cream sauces, good seafood and of course, sausage. When I was developing some dishes, I combined the three and ended up with one of my signature dishes. It became so popular that it was being requested by many of my friends for every dinner party I threw. And believe it or not, the media came calling.

Many of you know that I moved here as a result of Hurricane Katrina. But you may not know that for many years, I wrote a blog about New Orleans food and culture. It wasn't long after moving to Tampa that I was featured in a story for the New York Times and later the St. Pete Times. A couple of months later I was contacted by a talent agency in New York City and was asked to submit some cooking videos for use on Yahoo Food. I had nothing to lose, so I sent them two videos - one about the New Orleans Style Bloody Mary and the other one? You guessed it, Shrimp and Andouille Pasta.

Real Food Viewer Video! @ Yahoo! Video

The video never made me famous, but I had a lot of fun making it. I can't bring myself to watch the video, but for posterity, it is still found online even today. Fortunately you're still able to see it and can pretty easily re-create my signature dish. And if you are hiring us to cater your next Tampa Bay event or wedding, we'll be happy to serve it for you and your guests. (The only difference is that in our catering operation we use penne pasta instead of the linguine that I would use at home.) You can check out the video above and feel free to email me for a copy of the recipe for our soon-to-be famous Shrimp and Andouille Pasta. Enjoy!

-Kevin