Glatt Express Catering is now cooking for everything from dinner parties to fundraising events! The team recently provided kosher selections for two Neiman Marcus events: A 20th anniversary fashion show event, and another event in conjunction with WIZO. It won’t be long before weddings are on their to-do list.Glatt Express Catering is now cooking for everything from dinner parties to fundraising events! The team recently provided kosher selections for two Neiman Marcus events: A 20th anniversary fashion show event, and another event in conjunction with WIZO. It won’t be long before weddings are on their to-do list.
“Customers who love our food started asking us about full scale catering,” said Dani Secemski, Head of Operations. “It really made sense. Traditional caterers may have busy and slow times, but with our supermarket and Lazy Bean coffee house, we are working all the time, creating fresh food.”
Bruce Sufian, Catering Manager, came to Glatt six months ago from Main Event Catering, with a flair for introducing new items he thinks people will like but maybe haven’t yet been exposed to. He’s happy to provide set menus but prefers making personalized plans with each customer. “We can create anything. We encourage clients to come in for a tasting,” he said.
Glatt Express has recently introduced pretzel challah, a west coast specialty making its way across the country. New ways of making chicken are always popular. Rainbow chicken fingers, breaded in fruity pebbles, are getting good reviews from the younger set. More formal gatherings might include chicken roulades and stuffing, arranged artfully for a good visual presentation. Farrow grain is another innovation, especially for people who want healthier, or gluten free side dishes. Sufian is looking forward to introducing cauliflower rice, another dish gaining ground with home cooks but not widely available ready-made.
With food being prepared all the time in-house, Glatt Express catering has more flexibility and can respond quicker than a traditional caterer. “If someone’s not sure what to have, I can do a quick menu,” Sufian said. “We usually have eight types of chicken cutlets.” He can handle people calling the day of an event; unfortunately that often happens for meals following a funeral. There is no minimum or maximum—Sufian has arranged meals for 25 to 400, with deliveries throughout New York and New Jersey. Planning an event? Contact Bruce Sufian at 201/837-8110 or https://www.glatt-express.com/catering-quote/, or call Dani Secemski at 201/522-3854.
Sufian said he learned to cook as a child by staying up late with his mother and learning from her. Although he was the youngest child of working parents, he would come home from school and make dinner for his siblings. He began working for a friend of his brother’s, who was the catering manager at Lincoln Square Synagogue in New York, and has been in the business ever since.
Sufian creates the menus, and then turns over the recipes, with quantities, to Chef Alan Solomon, the man behind the pan. Solomon came to Glatt Express two years ago after 24 years at Glatt Mart in Brooklyn. He introduced 40-50 new items into the ready-made food department including salads, dips, kugels and pareve cheesecake.
Solomon has been a chef for 40 years, starting with his father’s dairy restaurant where he learned to make pizza and knishes. He is a veteran of several food service establishments, where he learned to acquire a feel for the right taste in a dish from Chinese to Sephardic cuisine. Cooking for large Brooklyn weddings of up to 800 people became part of his repertoire.
Glatt Express also does on premises catering at Lazy Bean for a minimum of 15 people during evening hours. Hosts can order platters or let guests order individually. Wraps, fruit parfaits, mini muffins are some of the most popular items. Events include birthday parties, PTA meetings, Sheva Brachos and Teacher Appreciation nights. NCSY has a gathering every Thursday night.
The holidays are around the corner and Glatt Express is ready for every customer’s style: meats, fish, produce and supplies to cook from scratch; fully prepared meals for a crowd; and individual prepared items to round out your menu. Order your Rosh Hashana dishes from the take-out menu by September 25 for a 10% discount.
Chef Alan Solomon shared some of his favorite holiday recipes with JLNJ, seasoned with advice and humor. We will share one piece this week, with more to come next week!
Honey and Apricot Capon
Ingredients
2 large capons (about 5-7 pounds each)
1 pound jar honey
1-18 ounce jar apricot preserves
2 large onions, chopped
3 stalks of celery, cut into pieces
2 large carrots, cut into pieces
1/3 cup orange or lemon juice
3-4 cups water
OPTIONAL: 1/3 cup apricot liqueur
Clean the capons and place them on a poultry rack in a large roasting pan.
In a large saucepan, heat the honey, apricot jam, and the juice. Mix together until well blended. Bring to a boil and turn off heat. Set aside.
Place the oil in a large skillet and add the onions. Stir, over medium heat until golden brown. Place the onions, celery, and carrots in the bottom of the roasting pan. Add about 3 or 4 cups of water in the bottom of the pan.
Rub the chicken with olive oil and roast, covered at 350 degrees for about an hour. Add more water to the pan as needed. Begin basting the capons at this time, basting every 15 minutes, about 3 or 4 times. You’ll use about 1/2 to 3/4 of the honey apricot mixture. When the capons are cooked through, the leg will move easily and the juices will run clear. To be completely safe, buy an instant meat thermometer to test for doneness. Remove the capons to a platter and pour the liquid into a deep measuring cup or a cup designed to separate fat from the liquid. Discard the fat and mix the rest of the liquid, including the onions, with the remaining honey apricot sauce. Heat through and add the apricot liqueur. Mix well and serve as gravy for the chicken.
By Bracha Schwartz
