Elegant Eating Caterers, Long Island, New York: Catered Food Reheating Directions 

REHEATING DIRECTIONS

General Information

Below are some general cooking directions for the best results from the
delicacies you are bringing home from Elegant Eating. Should you have any
additional questions, please give us a call (631-360-2211)

In general, pre-heat your oven before baking. Puff pastry, especially, must
go into a hot oven for proper results. Do your baking on the middle oven
shelf to allow the heat to be evenly distributed. You cannot bake on an
aluminum disposable. You need a cookie sheet, preferably one with shallow
sides, so if anything leaks it will not spill all over the oven. This kind
of cookie sheet is also called a jelly roll pan. If the baking sheet is very
thin, double it with another one.

The colder the food and the greater the volume, the longer it will take to
re-heat.

Beating one egg with one tablespoon of water makes egg wash. Putting this on
top of pastries helps the crusts turn golden brown. Another option is milk
as a glaze.

When using parchment paper, it is not necessary to grease the baking sheet.
Unbaked hor d'ouerves come with parchment paper.

Specific Food Directions

Puff Pastry Hor D'oevrves: Pre-heat oven to 400. Brush with egg wash and
place on baking sheet that has been covered with parchment paper. After
placing the puffs in oven, reduce heat to 350 and bake 20-25 minutes or until
golden brown.

Cocktail Franks: Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Make sure the seam where the pastry meets is against the baking pan.

Whole Brie in Puff Pastry: Keep cold until ready to bake. Brush with egg
wash. Put into pre-heated 350 oven and bake 30 minutes or more depending on
the size of brie. Pastry should be golden brown. Cool at least 20 minutes
before serving.

Phyllo Triangles: Pre-heat oven to 350. Brush with egg wash. Place on
cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake 20 minutes or until golden
brown.

Stuffed Cabbage - Meatballs: Brisket and other entrée items can be reheated
covered 20 minutes in the shallow baking pan and 25 minutes in the deep pan.
Always support a hot disposable with a baking pan placed underneath.

Grilled Vegetables, Herbed Potatoes, and Green Beans Almondine: Reheat at 350 uncovered for 15-20 minutes.

Steamed Vegetables or Vegetables in Garlic Sauce or Herb Butter: Place in microwave dish and reheat no more then 4 cups at a time for 2 minutes or longer, if necessary. If you have no microwave, vegetables can be placed in
a colander and submerged in boiling water for one minute or until hot. Then
can also be reheated in the conventional oven, covered about 15 minutes. Be
careful not to overcook the vegetables. Heat the sauce separately.

Antipasto Display: Put out with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sliced
Italian bread.

Autumn Salad: Top with wheatberry sprinkles and balsamic vinaigrette. Toss
well.

Righa Salad: Place Arugula in bowl, top with roasted peppers, all the corn
from the dressing and as much dressing as you like. Sprinkle with pecans.
Toss and enjoy.

Mandarin Jade Salad: Add ¾ mandarin oranges and ¾ toasted almonds over the greens, pour dressing and mix well, top with remaining oranges and nuts, Serve immediately.

Vegetable Lasagna: You will receive a disposable casserole of lasagna and a
bag of grated mozzarella cheese. Place the covered pan of lasagna into a 350
oven for 60 minutes. At this point, uncover and place the grated cheese over
the top. Place back in oven for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese
just starts to brown. If the lasagna is at room temperature before baking,
instead of just out of the refrigerator, reheating time will be somewhat
shorter.

Turkey: To carve the turkey, cut the leg attached to the thigh off first. Then cut against the bone, the whole breast lobe. When slicing the breast, cut against the grain to get a more tender slice. After carving the turkey, it can be reheated by placing the slices in a pan. Then cover the turkey with hot chicken stock, turkey stock or thinned gravy. Just a minute in this hot broth will reheat the turkey without overcooking it. A little redness around the thighbone doesn’t mean the turkey is not cooked.

The whole turkey can also be reheated in the oven at 350 for about 50 minutes covered with aluminum foil. If it is too hot it will be difficult to carve. Remember the larger the turkey, the longer it will take. Don’t forget to put out the triple berry sauce.

Chicken Wellington: Pre-heat oven to 400. Brush the frozen Wellingtons with
egg wash for a greater shine. (this is not necessary Place on parchment
paper (provided by caterer) and put on cookie sheet. If cookie sheet is
thin, double it. Lower heat to 350 and place Wellingtons into oven. Bake
for 40 minutes or more, until golden brown. The crust should puff up. Serve
immediately.

Honey Orange Chicken: Place on cookie sheet or in the aluminum disposable pan the chicken comes in. Bake in pre-heated 350 oven for 15 minutes. If not
hot enough, keep in oven a little longer.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts - Cornish Game Hens: Re-heat in disposable with the lid on but not sealed. Place in a 350 oven for 20-25 minutes.

Chicken Francaise, Marsala or Grilled Chicken: Pre-heat oven to 320. Place uncovered into oven for 10 minutes. Pour sauce over the top and bake another 10
minutes. Sauce can also be reheated by placing in the microwave on high for
2 minutes or in a saucepan on top of the stove over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Duck Breast with Caramelized Pears: Reheat covered duck breasts  in oven at 350  for 10 minutes, uncover and heat an additional 5 minutes. Heat caramelized pears either in saucepan or microwave. Place duck on platter, spoon caramelized pears over duck breasts and serve.

Sea Bass with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce: Reheat Sea Bass covered at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Heat red pepper sauce in saucepan or microwave until well heated. Spoon sauce on platter, arrange fish on top of sauce and serve. You also can spoon some sauce on top of fish or reserve and serve additional sauce in gravy boat. 

Rack of Lamb (8 chops): Reheat uncovered at 350 for about 20 minutes. Use a meat thermometer, it should read 130 - remove chops at this point. Slice in between bone of each chop. (Meat should be pink not purple.) Heat caramelized pears either in saucepan or microwave. Transfer lamb chops to platter, spoon pear sauce over chops and serve

Potato, Cous Cous and Rice Dishes: Re-heat at 350 covered for 15-20 minutes. Also can be re-heated in the microwave on high for 2 minutes or depending on the volume.

Casserole Dishes (such as corn custard, sweet potato casserole, savory stuffing, mashed potatoes, macaroni & cheese, etc.): Bake at 350 covered 25 minutes or until hot covered first 15 minutes then uncover.

Soup: Place in proper size pot (2 quarts of soup into a 3 quart pot, etc.)
and re-heat over medium heat until steaming. Do not allow cooking too long
as the soup will evaporate. Matzo balls and kanadelach re-heat nicely in the
soup, however they do absorb soup as they cook, so there will be less soup.

Sun Dried Tomato Bread: Place in pre-heated oven for 5-8 minutes just before serving. It is best served hot. Foccocia is also more flavorful if served
hot.

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