Passed Hors d’oeuvres included proscuitto wrapped fig with gorgonzola, bite sized beef Wellingtons, wild mushroom Baklava and crab cake sliders with fried-green tomato and smoked paprika remoulade.

For an entree, guests were served a beautiful arrangement of medallion of beef tenderloin, filet of Alaskan halibut with champagne caviar sauce and garnished with watercress, chive mashed potatoes and a spring vegetable bundle.

Finally, for dessert, everyone enjoyed their own individual Derby hat or Jockey hat fondant covered cheesecake, provided by Sugar Buzz Custom Cakes & Confections, based out of Lawrenceburg, Kentucky.

Banh Mi is a Vietnamese term meaning bread, and most commonly it is used to describe the baguette, which was introduced to Vietnam by the French during it’s colonial period. These baguettes are usually filled with proteins such as pan-roasted pork belly, grilled chicken, pate, fried eggs, tofu, sausages, meat balls, sardines, salmon etc., and they are often accompanied by fresh cucumber, radishes, cilantro, daikon, and pickled veggies. Common condiments include chili sauce, fresh sliced chilis, mayonnaise and cheese. Although the term banh mi means only bread, the implied term almost always means a delicious meat and veggie filled sandwich that is served at bakeries all over Vietnam and abroad, including the US, Canada, Australia, and any French communities with a substantial Vietnamese population. These sandwiches are the perfect fusion of French and Vietnamese cuisine and the one that chef Terry made is so delicious.

Banh Mi

Serves 4-6

Caramelized Pork and Bánh mì Assembly

1-1.5 pound pork tenderloin

3 tablespoons Fish sauce

2 tablespoons Maple Syrup

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 slice ginger, minced

1 green onion, sliced thinly

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 loaf sweet French baguette (thin) or french bread sandwich rolls. Try to get the kind of French bread with a crisp crust and tender light center.

red leaf lettuce

pickled carrot and radishes (see below)

sliced jalapeno chili peppers

cilantro

Pâté (optional, but recommended) A mushroom duxelle would also be a delicious and low fat alternative and would keep with the French inspired recipe.

Mayonnaise

Cut tenderloin across the grain of the meat into ½ inch pieces. Flatten each piece to an even ¼ inch between two pieces of saran wrap using a meat pounder or rolling pin.

Mix ingredients from fish sauce to black pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning – it should be sweet and savory so add more soy, salt, or sesame oil as you like. Coat in marinade. Marinate for 10-30 minutes.

You can cook the pork on the grill outdoors (best) or indoors using a grill pan or cast iron pan, something that you can get very hot. Heat grill or grill pan to high and turn on that vent fan! Add vegetable oil to meat and stir to coat. Sear first side of meat until very dark brown on one side, then flip and sear on the second side. Be careful not to overcook it. The meat is thin so it cooks quickly, one or two minutes on each side.

To assemble sandwiches, slice baguette and spread mayonnaise on one side, pâté on the other. Add lettuce, meat, pickled vegetables, cilantro and peppers.

Pickled Carrots and Radishes

1/4 pound baby carrots, peeled

1 bunch red radishes, preferably breakfast radishes (daikon are more traditional. I just think red radishes are beautiful.)

1/2 cup water

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

Slice carrots and radishes into quarters lengthwise. Mix all ingredients together. Taste for seasoning. Let stand as little as an hour or up to overnight. They keep for several days.

For a southern twist use spicy Tennessee chow chow in place of the pickled vegetables.

]]> http://www.sargentscatering.com/blog/2013/03/caramelized-pork-banh-mi/feed/ 0 http://www.sargentscatering.com/blog/2013/02/shrimp-okonomiyaki-with-sriracha-soy-aoili/ http://www.sargentscatering.com/blog/2013/02/shrimp-okonomiyaki-with-sriracha-soy-aoili/#comments Wed, 27 Feb 2013 21:51:02 +0000 Sargent's http://www.sargentscatering.com/blog/?p=432 Continue reading →]]> John has been on a serious Asian street food kick over here at Sargent’s lately, which inspired chef Terry to make a batch of these highly delicious, extremely easy to make Shrimp Okonomiyaki. These eggy, savory, tender shrimp pancakes were made even more delicious by sriracha soy aioli.

Shrimp Okonomiyaki

Sherri Clark, Event Sales and Coordination

Where are you from?

Short answer since I come from a military family… born in Madrid, Spain, last lived in Houston Texas.

 What drew you to the service industry?

I was 21 and thought it was time to get my first job so I walked into a restaurant in a mall one day. They hired me and probably regretted it soon after. I was a terrible waitress. Somehow I managed to prevail and later became their corporate trainer.

What other companies have you worked for?

I was the General Manager of a trendy restaurant in Houston – Ruggles Grill and later La Strada.  I moved to Nashville with my “then boyfriend” to be a part of F. Scott’s of which he was co-owner. Through a friend’s recommendation I meet John Howard and found the world of catering.

 How long have you been with Sargent’s?

This year I will celebrate my 9th anniversary.

 What, in your opinion, are the most important steps that a caterer can take to make interactions with the customer unique and special?

At Sargent’s it’s all about the client. We go out of our way to accommodate their wishes. We are all very personable here and many of our clients are considered family. It’s just the little things we do that separate us from other caterers. Our clients are given our personal cell numbers to call us anytime if they need something. We are like a family and we all enjoy working for John and Pat whom stay true to our Mission Statement.

 What is your job title and what does it entail?

Event Sales and Coordination – I’m also the personnel manager. I wear many hats, one being John’s right arm! I mostly relate with the clients, getting them John’s and chef Terry’s menus, doing the preliminary estimates, ordering rentals, staffing the events and giving the staff the event information needed, answering the phone, and doing emails all day long.  I am surrounded by amazing people to make this all happen.

 If I were to call Sargent’s in need of catering, what would I notice about my interaction with you that makes Sargent’s different from other caterers?

Everyone here is so nice that it is easy to develop a personal relationship with our clients. First of all we are accessible, dependable, honest, and work very hard to meet their dreams as well as their budget. We guide them through the process and help them with suggestions and ideas. We take the time to listen and we are excited about their event as they are.

 What is your favorite part of being part of the Sargent’s Fine Catering family?

The answer is in the question- Being part of Sargent’s family. It’s like no other.

If you knew that tomorrow was your last, what would you choose as your last meal?

Loaded question for me! First I would say – the creamiest chocolate cake in the world- then I think why I would eat something that would make me feel all full and yucky with so little time. I would be on the phone or something!

*People matter most.
This is why we are in the business. We never forget we are a service industry. We appreciate our clients and staff.
*Local is priority.
We always try to support local businesses. Our local vendors are a priority.
*Seasonal makes sense.
We try to develop our menus around what foods are seasonally available.
*Authenticity rules.
We are true to our company’s spirit, personality and character.
*Delicious trumps.
Everything we create and produce tastes and looks great. Always.
*Pretense loses.
Everything we say and do can be supported.
*Comfort feels good.
We want our clients, staff and vendors to be stress free by creating a comfortable and safe working environment.
*Appreciation tastes better.
We want our clients, staff and vendors to know we appreciate them.
*Prudence sustains it all.
We are skillful in the use of resources, shrewd and discreet in the affairs of our clients.

John Howard, Sargent’s Fine Catering

Great tasting, good looking food. We shop fresh. We protect our clients by doing everything legally. We stay true to our Mission Statement.

It’s time to decide what you’re having for your last meal. You choose:

Fried Chicken. I love it but I rarely eat it.

]]> http://www.sargentscatering.com/blog/2013/01/get-to-know-the-owner-a-chat-with-john-howard/feed/ 0 http://www.sargentscatering.com/blog/2012/04/history-of-wine/ http://www.sargentscatering.com/blog/2012/04/history-of-wine/#comments Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:47:56 +0000 Sargent's http://www.sargentscatering.com/blog/?p=306 Continue reading →]]> Wine

“The earliest archaeological evidence indicating wine that might have been made from domesticated vines comes from a pottery jar, dated between 7400 and 7000 years ago, which was found at the Neolithic site of Hajji Firuz in the northern Zagros Mountains.”
—Cambridge World History of Food, Volume One (p. 730)

“Whilst the Greeks on the whole are responsible for initiating specialized viticulture which ultimately spread throughout the Mediterranean and into France and Germany, the vine is indigenous to Asia Minor and it was probably among the people of that area that viticulture had its true beginnings. We know from their texts that the Hittites were enthusiastic vine-growers and wine-producers. Viticulture was known in Mesopotamia as early as the third millennium BC, and was probably well under way in Egypt even before dynastic times. Although the vine is not indigenous there, pictorial representations appear in tombs of the earliest dynasties and the Pyramid Texts indicate at least six varieties. All large gardens grew grapes along with dates and figs, but the wine still had to be imported from Syria and Palestine, where viticulture was of primary importance. So wine remained in Egypt a drink for the rich, with beer and water for the peasants, until the arrival of the Greeks in the Hellenistic period. Mesopotamia too, whilst producing wind from a very early date, did not make sufficient for the masses…There is some dispute about the antiquity of wine-drinking in Crete and the Aegean, and it has been postulated that beer was probably drunk prior to wine…Wine-production in Italy is thought to have been initially introduced by the Etruscans.”
—Food in Antiquity (p. 167-169)

“Unlike brewing, wine-making is a natural process which does not strictly require any human intervention–in fact, apes Often seek out fermenting fruits. To make wine, all that is needed is for the juice of a ripe grape to come into contact with airborne yeast. Wine-making, then, was not ‘invented’ by man: humanity’s role is a more modest one, to refine and guide…From prehistoric times onwards, wine could be made wherever people and grapes coincided. Yet there is little doubt that, of all the vitis species, vitis vinifera is the most suitable for wine. Vitis vinefera is believed to have originated south of the Black Sea in Transcaucasia, now the disputed territories of Georgia and Armenia, since this is the area that had the greatest variability of human population at the time and was therefore where humans were most likely to have started using it…Archaeologists assume that by 7000 BC previously nomadic farmers in the Near East had taken up grain-farming and stock breeding. Domesticating fruit trees involves a different kind of existence. The first wild fruits to be domesticated in the Near East were the fig, the date, the olive and the vine…Deliberate cultivation of fruit trees such as the vine therefore presupposes a fully sedentary way of life and a complete social and economic system, with one generation leaving property to the next. This stage was probably reached in the 4th millennium BC or possibly the 5th…However, cultivation of Vitis vinifera is not necessarily the a same thing as wine-making…Archaeologists have found remains of presses dating from the Bronze Age (i.e. c. 3000 to 1050 B.C.). Finds of empty grape skins together with pips and stalks at Myrtos, Crete, from the early Minoan period (i.e. c. 3000BC) are proof of wine-making as opposed to the production of table grapes. That the earliest piece of evidence is not a grape skin or a stalk or a pip at all; it is a wine stain. In the early 1970s a Persian amphora dating from 3500BC was found at Godin Tepe, Iran. Recent chemical analysis of the red stain inside has shown that it contains both tannins and tartaric acid, suggesting that the amphora must have had wine in it.”

Not in your budget this holiday season? No problem. Book with us during the month of January or February and receive an instant 20% discount off your food order!

For details and more information, please give us a call or visit our main website to book an event.

Jazzmania 2011 is the Jazz Party of the Year and will feature food from around the world from Sargent’s Fine Catering, complementary wine and beer from Lipman Brothers, and music from some of Nashville’s finest jazz artists. Cuisine will include: Asian chicken skewers, spring rolls, Argentinean grilled beef with chimmi churri, ceviche, homemade salsas, vegetable curry with basmati rice, coq au vin, salad bouquets, classic southern pies and more.

For more information please visit www.nashvillejazz.org