Fun Playing With Food Fit For a Queen, For the Last Time

Last weekend was the 25th, and final, Queen's Croquet. A party that began at my friend's house as a games night, which then got out of hand, the Croquet morphed from that backyard through three hotels over those 25 years. I was fortunate to be in charge of the food for the last 10 annual parties. From a mini kitchen, to no kitchen, to a battered commercial kitchen, my team and I cranked out all kinds of fabulous food to feed crowds from 75-125 people, including no fewer than 4 weddings. I shall miss The Queen's Croquet very much. Our theme for this last event was "At the Movies."

Friday lunch had been sandwiches the last few years. But we were recently gifted with a substantial cache of canned cheese products, and money being tight, Her Majesty requested that I utilize the cheese as much as possible. 

Thus,  lunch for the early arrivers was The Cheesiest.

First up, Beefy-Cheesy Casserole - GFS meatballs, potatoes, cheddar cheese sauce, mild salsa:

And, next:

Cheesy Chicken with Fresh Spinach. Cooked chicken, cheddar cheese sauce, fresh spinach, Corn Flake topping, salt & pepper

The catering commenced in earnest with Friday Dinner: Cloudy, With A Chance of Meatballs.

Three Cheese Spaghetti Pie

GFS Beef Meatballs

I usually make them myself, but couldn't make them for the price GFS was selling them for, so frozen it was.

From Scratch Marinara Sauce

Farfalle with EVOO

EScape from the Maelstrom Pesto: garlic scapes, walnuts, Parmesan cheese, EVOO, Salt & Pepper.

Virginia's property has an overabundance of garlic plants, which yield a lot of scapes this time of year. The Farfalle was described as a place to resto your pesto.

Cheeseburger Soup

The first full meal appearance of the cheese sauce haul was in this delicious soup! Cheeseburgers were, after all, the first food that rained down in the movie.

Silky Spinach Soup

What a tasty way to eat your vegetables!

Salad Bar

Banana Pudding

Dave Reckner, who so kindly donated the cheese sauces, also donated some pudding. Not Jello, but it did just fine!

Cherry Slab Pie

Caren Bachman made not one, but two slab pies. Given our theme, Cherry was necessary (and delicious)!

Blackberry Slab Pie

Not finished yet, Caren donated another sweet treat for the dessert table:

Bund Kuchen with Raisins

I regret that I failed to take any photos of Ernie and Nita Jones dishing up omelets to order for breakfast Saturday morning. Ernie, the Queen's Omeletier, served up AM deliciousness at 8 of the last Croquets, and though he does them for some other events, the Croquet omelets will always have a special place in my heart. Perhaps because they always followed Ernie's fabulous Karaoke by so few hours?

One tradition that began at Mary Lee's house over the long Memorial Day weekends, which continued to the end, was the Grill Out. People would bring their own meat and Mikey would grill day and night! Once we moved to the first hotel in 2001, it became necessary to re-organize a bit.

The Queen's Grillfriend, John Massura, would schlep a Weber all the way from Chicago to join Her Majesty's Weber in some outdoor part of the hotel property (in Dayton or Cincinnati, depending on the year), where Saturday lunch would be prepared. Some years, John even prepared Grilled Chocolate - just because he could!

Saturday Lunch:

Bratwursts, Half Pound Burgers

Hot Mettwurst, Smoked Sausage (Mild Mettwurst)

Plain Grilled Chicken, Honey Teriyaki Chicken

John's Maple Baked Beans 

Though I usually made the beans from dry beans, John wanted to make this recipe (which he got from Caren) for the last Croquet. I could not refuse him, and they were marvelous.

Cole Slaw a la Chef Eric Wells

Chef Eric, now the Executive Chef at Cleveland's Ligali Bistro, taught me this simple and tasty cole slaw dressing that has ruined me for commercial cole slaw products.

No such luck with the potato salad - I just don't have the time to futz with the potatoes, so GFS it is!

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Amazingly similar in content to the Cheeseburger Soup from Friday's dinner, this dish was even more popular than it's predecessor. It was so good, I might make it again for another event, even if I wasn't gifted with cheese sauce.

Dessert

And so we came to my final Croquet meal. Nita would be making pancakes (and I think Ernie took care of the sausage) for breakfast Sunday morning; again, I am kicking myself for not taking any breakfast pictures. But this dinner would be my last cooking project for the Croquet, other than heating and serving leftovers on Sunday for lunch.

Keeping with the overall theme for the weekend, dinner was dedicated to: Chicken Run.

These Chicken Pies (but of course!) were, I do believe, the best entree item Bob and I have ever made for a catered event. The filling was made in advance and frozen in pans, then Bob put together a simple crust that we baked down after the pans were hot.

Braised Chicken Parts

Parts is parts. But this simple dish was killer!

Baked Chicken Eggs with Spinach, Mushrooms & Bacon

The top pan was without bacon, for a vegetarian option. I found the recipe (at Smitten Kitchen), but Virginia made it hers. A very successful dish.

Scott started bringing his chili to the Croquet around the time we started holding it in hotels and donated a big pot of it every year thereafter. This year, it gave relief to those who'd had enough chicken!

Corny Chicken Feed Salad - made by Virginia from Theresa Gregory’s recipe!

More Cheese, Gromit! 5 different kinds of cheesecake, made and donated by Caren Bachman. Plus, there was one more plain one left for lunch on Sunday!

I realized as I prepared this post that I never took a photo of my very last Croquet dish - a pasta salad I created Sunday morning from a pan of leftover Farfalle, EVOO, Balsamic Vinegar, chopped ham and mushrooms originally prepped for omelets, and some broccoli florets intended for the snack table. It accompanied the leftovers we served for our last meal together. Oh well. For more information about The Queen's Croquet, and some non-food photos of the fun, visit here.

I have made many friends over these last thirteen years as I've been learning the art and science of catering. But the two I hold most dear are Virginia and Phil. They first got to know one another at the Queen's Croquet, and were married at a Croquet. I was honored to cater their wedding dinner! And so, this post ends with a couple of non-food photos; I could not have done all the above without their love, support, and most important, HELP!

Here, Virginia is a two-fisted soup stirrer.

And below, Phil busts suds Sunday after our final Leftovers Lunch.

The end.

Fun Playing with Food at the Queen's Croquet

Last weekend, we catered for the 22nd Annual Queen's Croquet, in Cincinnati Ohio! My team would provide meals for our volunteers during the day on Friday, and meals for all of the approximately 80 attendees from Friday dinner through Sunday's farewell lunch. The Queen's Croquet started as a Memorial Day weekend grill out party at Queen Mary Lee's house. Then, it got out of hand and moved to a hotel. Our theme this year: Building Bridges. 

Beginning with a bare hotel ballroom, a bunch of tables, 4 refrigerators, and plentiful extension cords and outlet taps provided by the hotel, we assembled our kitchen and serving line. To the rear right, we had a portable oven, commercial rice cooker, 17 quart roaster, and room to plug in crock pots as needed for the two Saturday dinner items that would cook in crock pots.

In the photo above, Queen Mary Lee peruses the snack food service line (dry salty and sweet treats, plus a hotdog machine, veggies and dip, cheese cubes, pepperoni and other goodies) with input from Court Jester Drake. The Queen's Grillfriend, John, is in the doorway contemplating filling the hotdog cooker, as his grilling assistant Lori watches the scene. The working end of our kitchen consisted of the six butane stoves you see here.

We prepared a simple, yet delicious breakfast for our volunteers Friday morning: Tater Tot Casserole with Eggs, Milk and Cheddar Cheese. I put them together Thursday evening, so all we had to do Friday morning was pop them in the portable oven.

Friday lunch consisted of "make your own" cold cut sandwiches, with a simple tuna salad, lettuce & tomatoes, and cheese slices. Sorry, no photos.

Friday night, the party would commence in earnest. As we began planning for the event over the winter, the Queen had mentioned her love of Chinese Buffet, and so we determined to bring a bit of that to our first meal. Behold, Bridges to the East:

As usual, our dinner buffet began with three soup choices. 

Shantung (Chinese Velvet Chicken Corn Soup With Bacon) made by Me

Vegan Minestrone (made by CJ Howarth)

The third soup (no photo) was Beef Barley, from Gordon Food Service. GFS's "ready to use" line of refrigerated soups (available by order only at the retail stores) actually taste very good, though you don't want to know what is in them! Virginia had saved a few bags in the freezer after a large party she held in February, and donated them to the Croquet!

Dinty Moore Beef Stew with Peas

Virginia also donated this, to ensure that anyone who didn't care for Chinese-style food would have something they'd like to eat. 

Steamed White and Brown Rices

Beef with Black Pepper Sauce, Carrots & Scapes

Virginia also graced us with a large quantity of garlic scapes from her backyard, which is loaded with garlic plants. We used them in a variety of dishes over the weekend (and offered some finely chopped on the salad bar), including this one. Here's a photo of naked scapes, from our garden:

I used inexpensive beef roast for the black pepper sauce dish. Giant Eagle offers this roast cut into "steaks." After cutting the steaks into "stir fry" size pieces, and bathing it in an overnight marinade of egg white, cornstarch and sherry, I passed the meat through hot oil (about 250-275 degrees) to velvetize it. For service, I heated up cooking oil in a pot, sauteed the carrots and scapes for a few minutes, then added the beef, then my pre-made sauce. Once the sauce bubbled - it was done! The meat was very moist and, most important, tender.

Chicken with Broccoli in Brown Bean Sauce

This entree resulted from a similar process. Prior to the party, chicken breast was cut up, marinated in egg white, cornstarch and sherry, then velvetized in hot oil and chilled. The broccoli was blanched for about a minute, then chilled and bagged. After sauteeing some garlic and ginger, I added the previously prepared sauce mixture to a pot and brought it to a bubble. Once it thickened, the chicken and broccoli each went in. Stir fry without the wok!

"Stir Fried" Green Beans with Garlic

The Queen had alerted me that this is her favorite Chinese Buffet dish. Thanks to fabulous green beans and garlic from Cleveland's own Premier Produce (and also the broccoli used above - thank you Joe Harvey!), I was able to make this dish happen, in several small batches, on a butane burner. The beans were tipped and blanched in advance, then chilled. For service, oil was heated in my five quart rondo pan, and sliced garlic added. When it was hot, the green beans got their turn. A sprinkle of salt - and done! 

Cold Sesame Noodle Salad

Again, the main ingredient (the noodles) was blanched and chilled pre-event. Add the sauce (also made in advance), and some sesame oil, then toss, and this was ready to serve!

Edamame Salad

Our friend Caren made this tasty vegetarian option.

Finally, we offered a salad bar (and fortune cookies):

Choices included lettuce-radish mix, grape tomatoes, chopped scapes, shredded carrots, peas, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, stuffed olives and mushrooms.

Also served up after dinner was an amazing bridge cake, constructed by Ernie and Nita. Here is a link to a photo of it taken by one of our guests. In addition to being the Cake Fabricators to the Queen, Ernie and Nita provided hot breakfast on both Saturday (made to order eggs and omelets, and pancakes) and Sunday (scrambled eggs & cheese).

We usually don't serve soup at the Saturday Lunch (The Great American Grill Out), but since Virginia had some more GFS product to donate, we began the line with GFS Vegan Minestrone. 

Though not in the same league as CJ's homemade version had been, our guests did enjoy this option. Not to be outdone by GFS - CJ also provided a cold soup for Saturday's lunch:

Gazpacho!

For the baked beans (which we make from scratch every year), I took inspiration from a recipe I sampled at the North Union Farmers' Market over the winter.

Apple & Bacon Baked Beans

Here, small white beans are joined by bacon (and the renderings from cooking the bacon down), Granny Smith Apples, Ketchup, Onion, Brown Sugar and Cinnamon. Yum.

Grilled Half Pound Burgers

John grilled up all of these juicy meats - burgers, chicken (honey teriyaki and plain), mild metts and beer-soaked brats.

Of course, you can't have burgers without fixins:

Or cole slaw and potato salad:

Chef Eric's Recipe Cole Slaw

GFS Southern Style Potato Salad with Fresh Dill

And the serving line ends with fresh watermelon slices!

Saturday dinner was titled: Bridges to Satiety, and we loaded up on the comfort food!

The base for this Bridge over Boiled Waters was Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup (another Virginia donation) cooked with cream and milk instead of water, with the Tortellini (heated from frozen right in the soup pot) floating (thus providing the bridge over the boiled waters) and fresh basil. Canned soup never tasted so good! The other two soups were also Virginia's GFS overstock:

Potato-Bacon Soup

Italian Wedding Soup

Virginia prepared the crock pot mac 'n cheese that followed (cooked pasta, butter, Velveeta and milk, and it cooks itself). 

As it turned out, Scott's "Bite in the Ass" Chili was a bit more, um, bite-ier this year - I discovered that it paired amazingly well with the mac n cheese. Scott, who always brings a pot of chili to this party, is also our Recycler; virtually all of the aluminum, glass and plastic used over the weekend is recycled, thanks to Scott.

"A Bite in the Ass Chili" made by Scott

Virginia made her crockpot chicken and stuffing, which Her Majesty greatly enjoyed at the February party, and it was a big hit!

Since our theme was bridges, the one food that dominated my planning was Rice A Roni - I remembered that the package would sometimes have an image of the Golden Gate Bridge on it. Beth was able to find and deliver some graphics - and so the challenge was on: could I make Rice A Roni from scratch for a crowd? Oh, yes.

Beef Style Rice A Roni with GFS Meatballs  (another donation from Virginia), topped with Garden Parsley

Vegetarian Rice A Roni (made with butter instead of goose fat)

Caren made the above salad of cous cous, garbanzo beans, apricots and fresh herbs.

The serving line concluded with another salad bar:

The salad bar carried blanched green beans that hadn't been used on Friday, and the remainder of Friday's tuna salad, together with the usual suspects of carrots, mushrooms and cheese. 

Sunday's eating began with Ernie's scrambled eggs and some delightful muffins that CJ prepared. At lunchtime, the leftovers parade commenced, with re-heated burgers and baked beans, lunch meat, various vegetation, sesame noodle salad, and a whole fresh crockpot of mac n cheese! What a great weekend of cooking and eating with friends! 

Indeed, at the Queen's Court, held on Saturday evening, I was treated to a serenade from my towel-snapping Hospitality Crew, to the tune of Whatever Lola Wants (from the play, Damn Yankees; thank you Becky for coming up with this!):

Whatever Nancy wants

Nancy gets.

And little man, little Nancy

wants you!

Make up your mind to have

no regrets.

Put an apron on,

until the dawn.

You're through!

She feeds us well,

that's what she aims for.

The food is swell,

that's what we came for.

Whatever Nancy wants, 

Nancy gets!

You're no exception to the rule,

she's irresistible, you fool.

Give in!

Give in!

Fun playing with food and friends in Croquetia. We're already planning for the next party!