THE cake made by Tremont 647's Pastry Chef Kat Craddock

Catering for 200 people can be quite difficult, especially weddings.  Thanks to the awesome hard working team at Tremont 647 it went off without a hitch!  here’s the menu and pictures

Passed

Appetizers

Oaxacan Cheese Papoosas

smoky sour cream

New England Scallops

wrapped in Applewood smoked bacon

Shrimp Ceviche

on plantain chips

Stationary

Appetizers

Chips, Salsas & Guacamole

salsa roja, salsa verde, guacamole

VT Butter & Cheese Company Cheese Platter

assorted cheeses & crackers

Black Bean & Queso Fresco Tamales

Buffet

Dinner

6:30pm

Station 1

Build Your Own Taco

Corn Tortillas-Cruncy & Soft

El Pasteur (grill roasted pork)

Chicken Chicharrones (seared chicken thighs)

Grilled Local Cod with cilantro & garlic

Grilled Veggies

All the fixin’s

guacamole, sour cream, queso fresco, shredded lettuce, tomatoes, limed sour cream

Station 2

Middle Eastern Station

Salt Cod Potato Cakes with chorizo vinaigrette

Roasted Leg of Lamb with saffron & white beans

Grilled Vegetable Salad

Minted Quinoa & Tomato Tabouli

Local Field Greens

buffet table almost ready.....

ok we're ready 'bring it!'

the amuse 'fall spiced pumpkin soup'

Chef Izzy working the carving station

pastry chef Kat putting the final touches on the cake

waiting to be on display.....

jamie, Chris, and John. Pure Happiness

About 11 years ago my high school friend [go rockets!] Chris Hart and I decided to compete in the Pig and Pepper BBQ competition.  It was a wind swept weekend with rain and we were ill prepared:  crappy tent, horrible smoker, no tables.  We really had no idea what we were doing.

I remember being so cold and wet, thankfully Jed of Uncle Jed’s BBQ team took us in and let us sit next to his fire and gave us bourbon (two essentials at a BBQ competition, we were learning).  Finally went to sleep in a damp tent with a belly full of bourbon only to wake up to a collapsed tent and the fire out in our lame smoker.  Our pork was mushy, brisket raw, and it was pretty obvious we had no clue and no chance of winning.

We did the best we could with what we had and that wasn’t much, we decided to focus on our chicken and some how it worked. During the awards we got a third place trophy, we were so happy.  That weekend is one of my favorite memories; we had so much fun besides the elements, met great friends, and capped it off with a little gold trophy that said ‘nice try’….

Fast Forward to this year and we are now a well oiled machine:  a new Jambo Pit, lots of equipment, and 7 of the best guys you would ever want to spend a weekend with. Our team, iQue, has been doing very well, Chris Hart has become one of the best BBQ competitors in the United States and I am proud to help out where I can.  We compete all over the country, mostly in New England (New England BBQ Society), as well as, compete in some of the bigger national competitions like the Kansas City Royal (we got 1^st in brisket a few years back outta of 500+ teams) and The Jack Daniels World Championships in Lynchberg, TN.

This past weekend, Chris Hart, Jamie Hart, and John Delpha went down to the Jack Daniels Invitational World Championships and I am so proud to say THEY WON!!! This is the first New England team to win this and it is no small feet.  Think the Superbowl of BBQ!  It’s a long way from that rainy weekend 11 years ago, I couldn’t be happier.

Thank you to Harpoon for being a wonderful sponsor.

Last spring Gretchen Coffin, the farm stand manager, of Allandale Farm, called me to see if we’d be interested in buying two baby lambs that would be ready in September.  I jumped at the chance!  We are committed to using as much local ingredients as possible and whole local lamb was pure excitement.

The summer flew buy with all of the Hells Kitchen craziness and, of course restaurant weeks, and we found our selves at the end of August with no menu and lambs on the way in a few weeks, Chef Izzy kicked out a killer menu and the dinner was so yummy.

Here’s the menu and pictures….

Allandale Local Farms

Lamb Tasting Menu

Hors d’oeuvres

Mini  BLTs

House made lamb “Bacon”

Butter head lettuce , heirloom tomatoes

Rosemary aioli

Coriander Scented lamb

Phyllo triangles

Caramelized onions, toasted pine nuts

fig chutney

Steamed Scallion Ginger “Momo’s”

Ground lamb- Spinach and Cilantro

Soy Sake and Sirracha sauce

Appetizer

Frisee and Arugala salad Duo

12 hour Confit belly  bacon lardon

And Pearl onions

Cask aged sherry vinegar

House made fennel crisp

Entrée

Trio of Lamb

Sausage Merguez- Roasted Red pepper

Moroccan Spice

Slow baked salt crusted leg of lamb

With orange peel, sweet basil, Summer Savory

“Shepherds Pie” honey glazed rainbow mixed

carrots, Sweet “Providence Corn”

Dessert

Cherve Cheesecake

Summer berry compote

Pistachio Praline

hanging in the walk-in

Dimitrias, Kat, and Izzy giving the lamb some lovin'

and the process begins, breaking down 2 lambs took about 3 hours

Izzy gives me some pionters

primal parts

Sous Chef Dimitrias and intern Molly making Merguez

Chef Izzy and her lamb leg cooked in salt dough

Lamb Bacon BLT

the salad

Entree....

Chef Kat's dessert, so good.

We do dinners every month, if you’d like advance notice about them, sign up on our website Tremont647.com

My friend Mark Ellis, owner of the Chef’s Table (one of the best caterers I know), has been asking me to go fishing with him for years.  I had never taken him up on the offer until this summer, and if asked again, there will be no hesitation, it was so much fun.

We first got caught in the fog and fished off peggoty beach in Scituate, then trolled up the north river in Marshfield, I caught a striper in the south river by Hummarock…

Friends and Fishing, the best combo eva.

quick stop for some frozen Mackerel

Mark getting us ready

it was a weird cloddy/foggy/sunny day

Mark surveying the sea.....

"I think I got one!"

Striper!!

needed to be 28" this one was only 25", Mark pulled the hook out and it lived for another day

rain coming and going, time to head home

ended the day with a rainbow!

should of started the day with sunscreen. what a fun time! Thank you Mark!

Awards for the invitational are over, we place 43 outta 119, not our best showing.

I thought our Q was good! Tomorrow we compete against 476 teams….

Here’s the boys during awards and me an bill Arnold- he makes the award wining blues hog sauce.

We’re done with the turn ins
Veg: pumpkin purée seasoned with nutmeg cinn maple syrup topped with fluff and toasted pecans

Potato: cheddar filled tots

Beans: 4 beans with east coast grills baked beans, head country sauce, and BBQ spices.

Dessert: ken’s butter cake, cool whip and caramel

Here’s our brisket turn in, few years back we placed 1st here

Meats are so goood, we’re real happy.

We’re all hurting from last night. Meats are looking real good.

Chicken is first, here’s the turn in

Arrived last night at tenish, (chris hart, iQue’s pitmaster, flew in and got here a little after we did) put the cooker (Jambo pit) in place, emptied the rv of coolers and gear and settled down for some serious poker and bourbon. We played till about 2am then crashed.

Up at 7am. Today is mainly filled with setting up camp and getting ready for the invitational BBQ competitions tomorrow (we start cooking tonight at 11- briskets and pork) and the sides competitions.

For the BBQ meats we trim, inject, and rub building unique layers of flavor. The side dishes we are running tests, just made the most tasty pumpkin puree thanks to chef John Delpha. Blanched potatoes for tots and braised the beans in Bill Arnold’s Blues Hog sauce.

Team next to us, Montley Que, is making gumbo so we’re off to try some then a shrimp boil at Transformer BBQ, then to see Gari and his team from Jamaica for Red Stripe and Appleton Rum.

Meats will be fired later, Chris, Kenny and Jamie will stay up all night to watch the fire, I’ll be up at 6 to enter the grits comp..

I’ll take pictures of tomorrows entries, here’s today’s piks…