A great big BBQ, a wedding, and catering in scenic surroundings...

Summer's coming and here at Eco Cuisine we’re determined to make the most of it and pass that good feeling onto our customers (you one day, hopefully!).

As per usual, this last week has been pretty hectic – lots to prepare and lots to achieve. If you read the previous blog then you'll know that we have been very busy helping charities and attending various events. Well, we're pleased to say that the charity, Otesha thought our canapés looked and tasted stupendous! Equally, Saturday's wedding catering couldn't have gone with more of a bang...we're really pleased with how it all went and the feedback we’ve been getting suggests were doing a few things right!

Of course, the venue really helped with things...because when you're catering at a gorgeous location overlooking the River Thames – East Moleesey boat club – it makes for a much better atmosphere for all involved. We always find that a nice, relaxed atmosphere makes for guests who enjoy themselves much more, and we find this tends to translate to the food as well. Able to enjoy their food in beautiful surroundings, everyone is happy (including us; it makes for less stress and when we get a minute to ourselves we even get to enjoy ourselves with the guests too!).

Another factor which really made the day come alive was the weather. And this Saturday we got exceedingly lucky, we have to say! I had even bought a brand-new charcoal BBQ – six-foot long and exactly what was needed for this grand occasion. Lucky for me I had Vanessa (Chef Ness) and Mario to put it together on arrival.

And the food we did for the wedding...well, it was good and simple like always works best – all the favourites and the kind of stuff that everyone can enjoy. For example, we made lamb kofte and chicken kebabs, as well as new season lamb chops to go with it.

To add a bit more variety, and for the fish lovers who were present, we also did Cornish line caught sea bass and fresh market king prawns on skewers, which went down an absolute storm. Add to this a decent helping of hot potatoes and rice – along with cracked wheat and flat-leaf parsley – and we guarantee it: you have a winning combination on your hands! We finished it off with Greek salad and a fine assortment of bread to keep things light.

This was followed by our not too alcoholic Tiramisu and a selection of baklava to accompany guests’ tea or coffee.

Aside from that, it isn't all fun and games I'm afraid. You may recall from an earlier blog that I was involved in some crime-fighting action which fortunately resulted in me getting my beloved van back. Well, sadly, the van is too damaged to be worth keeping, beyond economic repair the garage called it, so hopefully the insurance company won’t take too long to pay out.

In the meantime, myself and Mario have to get to the police station to make statements, so maybe they have some cctv to go on. I do hope so. The look for a new van continues…………….

Weddings, lovely venison and catering capers!

The weather may seem anything but ideal for BBQing right now, but don't think for a second that it isn't too early to begin preparing for what will hopefully be a blissful summer! (Or just a few weeks of it. Right now we'd settle for that, to be honest...). It's been a busy weekend for  Eco Cuisine, but much has been achieved, including getting a hold of some lovely venison from Sussex. Make that fresh, wild, excellent venison, in fact – shot on Woodland Trust land thanks to special permission from a kind friend, this was made into some fine marinated kebabs which were BBQued yesterday, along with some gorgeous little marinated steaks!

Other news this week, hmm, let's see. Well, the School of Economic Science is a good place to begin. All the ingredients we use for them are second-to-none as usual, which always makes it a pleasure to cater. One new addition which is causing a stir is the vegetable lasagne. This, along with a menu of free range lasagne sheets with cocktail tomatoes and onions, makes for a lovely mix. Combined with broccoli and aubergine, carrots and organic cheddar – and milk, added to the sauce – it makes for a sumptuous combination of textures that we think is lovely!

It's going to be a very busy week. Friday will be especially so, seeing as we have two events to cater for: the first will be preparing vegetarian and vegan canapés for Otesha.org's 5^th birthday party (delivering to E1 on a small budget) and the second will be preparing for a wedding in East Molesey near Hampton Court, on Saturday.

When the wedding day comes, there'll be a BBQ for family and close friends, followed by a fork buffet as the sun goes down. And it's going to be eclectic...a blend of Greek and seasonal English food, with Spring lamb and chicken kebabs on the BBQ, along with mackerel, sardines and sea bass too. This will sit alongside an irresistible greek salad comprising of handmade tzatziki, cracked-wheat salad and new potatoes. The evening buffet won't lack excitement either, and will be a selection of dips, spinach and feta cheese wrapped in filo pastry, stuffed vine leaves and lamb kofte. Yum! Salmon and beetroot will also make an appearance, with prunes & bacon, smoked mackerel pate and a good selection of bread!

There's a price to pay for catering, of course, and this time it's missing the Champion's League Final with our beloved Chelsea! Providing we win we'll be watching that around 11pm when we get back...if we don’t then you may not hear much about it here.

What else is coming up?  We've just got the go-ahead for a gastro-inspired evening at the Bounds Green Bowls and Tennis Club happening on the 21^st July. Exciting times here at Eco Cuisine...we'll be back soon with an update on that and other things in the pipeline.

catering frenzies and pyjama-wearing crime-caper action!

If you read last week's blog, you'll know that when it comes to the fight to better the world with great organic cuisine, there's never a dull day! (If you didn't read the blog then it's not too late to, and it contains all kinds of info about the work we've been doing alongside the RSPCA, as well as a firm called DTV). This week we're just as rushed off our feet, but in that good knackered-but-satisfied way which always puts a smile on our faces.

Today is Tuesday, and as you read this we're bang-smack in the middle of catering for Asdan (Old Street CAN) – a not-for-profit organisation who run a series of courses on a vast range of subjects. Finding somewhere to park in London is never easy, but getting out early helps, and it's always worth it for good clients like Asdan. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we'll be helping out at Loman Street CAN. Lovely people, great food, and a relaxed atmosphere amidst the craziness of trying to do our best to make only premium food. Just the way we like it!

Actually, before we go any further, let's not just single Asdan out: Eco Cuisine is very fortunate to have only lovely clients, and they make it all worthwhile.

Now, back to what's been happening over this Bank Holiday weekend, and you can be sure it doesn't involve relaxation! What it did involve, however, was us working hard at the School of Economic Science. The only downside of catering here was that – as with all our jobs right now – we were only able to use Spanish asparagus; we like to use UK asparagus wherever possible, but the recent rain has made that impossible for everyone in the industry! Funny, when you consider we're at the tail end of a drought that should have made asparagus plentiful (note: actually it isn't very funny at all!).

Now we move onto what else is happening tomorrow: when 5pm comes we'll be serving-up sandwich platters to the London Wildlife Trust. This is much better than what has been going on with Sonya's van! In the words of Sonya herself, a woman never to sit back and watch criminals get away with things, several weeks ago, in a scene reminiscent of Cagney and Lacey, “I found myself gazing out of the window in the living room and saying 'that looks a lot like my van driving away...'. Well, you guessed it, it WAS my van driving away.”

Fortunately, Sonya and her friend – now in Mario’s car – managed to keep close to the van and, being all daring as we all know caterers secretly are, confronted the criminals there and then at some traffic lights! They got the van back in the end, but not without it being damaged; the Police are apparently chasing it all up, so hopefully we'll soon be able to fill you in on the conclusion of Sonya's crime-fighting capers! And you probably thought Eco Cuisine only did great organic food...

catering frenzies and pyjama-wearing crime-caper action!

This week: catering frenzies and pyjama-wearing crime-caper action!

If you read last week's blog, you'll know that when it comes to the fight to better the world with great organic cuisine, there's never a dull day! (If you didn't read the blog then it's not too late to, and it contains all kinds of info about the work we've been doing alongside the RSPCA, as well as a firm called DTV). This week we're just as rushed off our feet, but in that good knackered-but-satisfied way which always puts a smile on our faces.

Today is Tuesday, and as you read this we're bang-smack in the middle of catering for Asdan (Old Street CAN) – a not-for-profit organisation who run a series of courses on a vast range of subjects. Finding somewhere to park in London is never easy, but getting out early helps, and it's always worth it for good clients like Asdan. Tomorrow (Wednesday) we'll be helping out at Loman Street CAN. Lovely people, great food, and a relaxed atmosphere amidst the craziness of trying to do our best to make only premium food. Just the way we like it!

Actually, before we go any further, let's not just single Asdan out: Eco Cuisine is very fortunate to have only lovely clients, and they make it all worthwhile.

Now, back to what's been happening over this Bank Holiday weekend, and you can be sure it doesn't involve relaxation! What it did involve, however, was us working hard at the School of Economic Science. The only downside of catering here was that – as with all our jobs right now – we were only able to use Spanish asparagus; we like to use UK asparagus wherever possible, but the recent rain has made that impossible for everyone in the industry! Funny, when you consider we're at the tail end of a drought that should have made asparagus plentiful (note: actually it isn't very funny at all!).

Now we move onto what else is happening tomorrow: when 5pm comes we'll be serving-up sandwich platters to the London Wildlife Trust. This is much better than what has been going on with Sonya's van! In the words of Sonya herself, a woman never to sit back and watch criminals get away with things, several weeks ago, in a scene reminiscent of Cagney and Lacey, “I found myself gazing out of the window in the living room and saying 'that looks a lot like my van driving away...'. Well, you guessed it, it WAS my van driving away.”

Fortunately, Sonya and her friend – now in Mario’s car – managed to keep close to the van and, being all daring as we all know caterers secretly are, confronted the criminals there and then at some traffic lights! They got the van back in the end, but not without it being damaged; the Police are apparently chasing it all up, so hopefully we'll soon be able to fill you in on the conclusion of Sonya's crime-fighting capers! And you probably thought Eco Cuisine only did great organic food...

This week: helping the RSPCA, amazing stroganoff and gearing up for a wonderfully organic breakfast…

 

When we started Eco Cuisine it would have been easy just to go for the corporate market – we had the knowledge of good food behind us and knew that this was something of real interest to many companies. Except, we're all human beings, aren't we? And it's not all about the money! Which is why from day one Sonya and co have been involved in not only the food but the community and how good ethical produce fits in with it all. Here's a run-down of what we've been up to:

As you read this, we're in the midst of a serious feeding frenzy! Yes, that's right, from today (Monday) to Thursday of this week we're feeding as many as 96 people every single evening. And it's not just any old food, of course...as ever, we're supplying only the finest organic vegetarian food and asparagus is first on the list. We're talking things like delicious asparagus tarts and mushroom, new potato and leek stroganoff! Don't think for a minute that people are going to get bored, either, as we'll be alternating these dishes over the next couple of weeks before we move onto some stunning new ones. Oh, yes, we believe the word is yum.

Also starting today, of course, is RSPCA week – a great idea we support, which helps both raise money for the animals and up the profile of the businesses involved. Everyone wins.

Think this is it for Eco Cuisine this past couple of weeks? You’d be very wrong! All this is just the beginning of what we're up to – a frantic combination of running around while coming up with new ideas which tick all the boxes. Another thing we've been doing is catering for DTV – one of the number 1 firms who shoot ads for charities. With the Hong Kong office over for the day, it's true that we had some serious work to do, but work hard was what we did, and by the end of the morning we were getting great feedback on the fresh-fruit breakfast we'd delivered – a sumptuous mix of strawberries, melon, pineapple and kiwis, alongside fairtrade/organic croissants with jam and butter. Oh, and let's not forget the organic smoked salmon rolls and the particularly intriguing vegan apple and banana muffins...all this food-talk is making us hungry.

We hope you'll come back and visit soon!

eco cuisine wins RSPCA good business award

News from last week is that eco cuisine won the catering category award at the RSPCA good business awards. We had a lovely evening at one, Marylebone - the champagne was flowing before and after the awards ceremony and I was really chuffed to get this - that's me in the middle, with my two Vanessa's either side of me.

April to June

I don't know where these past few months have gone but here is a catch up on what we've been up to.

We had a food tasting with administrators and kitchen staff at the School of Economic Science which resulted in the Summer term menu of Stuffed aubergines, Thai green curry, Mushroom stroganoff and vegetable crumble.

The Wastewatch conference went really well and I met some interesting people there.

We catered for another Newnham college associates evening at a lovely venue - the Freud Museum, Hampstead. Sadly, the weather was initially quite wet but when the sun finally came out guests were able to take advantage of the garden too. A great venue if anyone is looking for something a bit different and with a homely feel.

In May I travelled to Colchester for two days to feed staff and film crew on a Greenpeace shoot for a secret campaign coming out later this month I believe. Each day providing breakfast and then a hot lunch - it was great fun. Hope to work with them again soon.

Our next big booked catering event is at the beginning of September - the WWF run Blue Mile event to be held at the West Reservoir, The climbing centre N4, off Green lanes. It should be a great day and I hope that anyone who can swim, paddle, hold an oar will take part and arise money for this fantastic cause.

We will be catering a wedding in Wiltshire on August too whcih I'm looking forward to. Will let you know how July ans August have gone soon.

cheers
Sonya

New Year to date

In February I cooked a hot buffet lunch for the suppliers of Kyocera Mita products - they were competing agains one another for an all expenses paid trip and needed brain food to keep their efforts up in the afternooon session. On the menu was fish pie using some lovely Cornish pollack and smoked haddock both landed on day boats or coq au vin using juicy chicken thighs from Devon. they were accompanied by some steamed seasonal vegetables and organic jacket potatoes. This was follwoed by individual portions of pavlova and fresh fruit - seasonal English apples and pears.

March has been really busy - especially this week with the two day CSO conference hosted and run by WWF at Bankside, SE1. The two days flew by and there seemed to be a lot of positive energy flying between the rooms of delegates. We ran the tea and coffee breaks as well as a buffet lunch with sandwiches, wraps, and finger food. The menu included mini thai style fishcakes, falafel balls with yoghurt and mint dip, mini duck pancakes, radish stuffed with tapenade, crostini topped with minted pea puree and sandwich fillings such as roasted vegetables, eco hummus and red pepper, Somerset cheddar, chicken salad - all organic of course ! We had many compliments on the food which is always a great feeling when you've worked hard to try and give people food that's tasty and want them to enjoy it.

Next week we're catering for the Wastewatch, Big Green Society conference and very much looking forward to it. I'm going to be saying a few words about my food too and will report back on that effort soon.