Sometimes We Cater

Ended up spending the day working on a catering order.  This was a bigger order for a retirement party.  I say bigger, it wasn't quite like catering for the institute closing social.  It was a meal for 100 people.  We did the Hawaiian thing which we have gotten pretty good at doing.  Lots of mac salad, Kalua Pork, Shoyu Chicken, rice and grilled pineapple at this one.  All went well at the dinner. 

We did have a little problem prior to the dinner.  The pork that was cooked last night did not turn out well.  It would likely have been okay but our cooks did not seal the container with foil as they should have and used a loose fitting lid instead.  The pork was dry and it was salty and really, not good enough.  That was 33 pounds of pork and there was no time to roast more of it.  So I pulled/shredded what we had and then I came up with a way to smoke it and re-flavor it.  I took a warmer and turned it up on high, then I put a base over the water and a second pan that was for steaming.  I made an apple juice and liquid smoke sauce that I poured over the pork that was sitting in the steam pan and I put a lid on it.  That really seemed to do the trick.  The pork was back to flavorful and moist.  The word from dinner was the pork was fantastic.  Success! 

Well, sometimes we cater and it can be a lot of fun.  Always a challenge, always some sort of a surprise and always a learning experience.