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As my mouth salivates over the thought, I have to say that these little bundles are great for aircraft . . . already portion- controlled and easily placed and presented on a plate. When prepared correctly, they have a burst of flavor that explodes in your mouth. The variable textures as you crunch into these bundles are perfect to stimulate every needed sensation to excite your flavor detectives.
Something so easy to do (and easily done on an aircraft) is to wrap mozzarella sticks with prosciutto and lightly season with a dash of salt and pepper. Simply pop in the oven on high heat until the prosciutto crisps and the cheese is warm; remove and immediately top off with a radicchio or arugula salad. You can do the same thing with goat cheese and call it a crouton for a salad topper or appetizer. How about a burrito? No, not the ordinary, but just imagine an unexpected filling of seasoned and sautéed sunflower seeds, presented with lettuce, sprouts, avocado, pico de gallo and a sunflower cream. Instead of a tortilla wrapper use a collard green leaf with a side of veggie- infused rice rather than refried or black beans. Think about it . . . anything can be a “burrito”. Spicy stuffed cabbage could also be classed as a burrito. Roll it with a blend of flavored rice, caramelized onions, chives, dill, parsley and ground turkey or other protein and then wrap the mixture in savoy cabbage. Finish it off by steaming the bundles in lemon juice and water instead of tomato juice, beef or chicken stock. The tartness of the lemon will overcome the altitudes and pressure of the cabin - perfect for aviation. A little side note here; for food safety reasons be sure the rolls are reheated thoroughly to an internal temperature of 165°F. Warm your palates to some other unorthodox goodies The infamous Pigs in a Blanket; for those of you who aren’t familiar with this appetizer standard in the US, it's a small piece of bread dough wrapped over the center of a mini hot dog or sausage and usually served with yellow mustard. But not so from my kitchen! We make an assortment of rich and wonderful gourmet mustards. So make a variation of this standard and create kobe beef pigs in a blanket. Roll the ground kobe beef into a hot dog / sausage shape and then wrap in cheddar biscuit dough and bake. Make them any size from appetizer to entrée size. I like to prepare this as a breakfast sandwich for crew using a beef sausage or a chicken sausage wrapped up in an assortment of flavored dough from herb, to croissant, to yeast bread to pie crust. Handy to eat in the cockpit. Be daring and try adding cheese and chives to the bread dough before baking! If you aren’t a fan of cheddar biscuit, you can also try an herbed profiterole or a Danish dough.
A new veggie wrap cooked and grilled with what is fresh in season - squash, zucchini, carrots, beets - with white bean hummus, feta cheese, and a balsamic vinaigrette on lettuce wraps lined with spinach leaves. Lettuce wraps are a a nice change of pace without overstuffing yourself. Spicy shredded grilled chicken stacked on the side with shredded Nappa cabbage, rice noodles, bean sprouts, scallions and crispy noodles can take it from vegetarian to carnivore. It has all the necessary elements . . . flavor, crunch, variations in textures, and colors. Serve with a dipping peanut sauce or sweet and sour sauce on the side. This is a great way to allow customization of fillings by each passenger served. Sorry flight crew, I think this buffet might prove challenging in the cockpit! Something I tasted recently at the Women in Aviation Conference was a roast turkey wrap with large strips of fresh mango topped with mango salsa, avocado, and a Monterey jack cheese all rolled up in your choice of Bibb lettuce leaves or a spinach tortilla. Yum. Vegan foods Vegan foods are becoming more and more requested. A vegan wrap is a way to find a tastier path to vegan goodness. I got this idea from Eten Catering in Ft Lauderdale Florida. When I saw their extremely popular veggie burgers. I created an oval shaped burger rather than round which wrapped perfectly when I added a base of lentils to mixed vegetables. After cooking it, I wrapped it in a spinach tortilla with homemade Indian pickles, shaved carrots, spinach and a sauce of dried apricots, vegan mayonnaise, and pickle seasoning. Thank you Dirk for the inspiration. I must say that we should all keep our eyes and taste buds open to inspiration as it will find you in the most unexpected places. Crepes I am a glutton for crepes, any type of crepe. They can be light, rich and intriguing and prepared in all kinds of shapes for presentation. I have actually taught classes on 101 ways to use crepes. Unfortunately ( or not) I never tire of them. I was truly hooked when I had a classic French crepe in Geneva at a roadside stand . . . I know . . . a French crepe in Switzerland? . . . they were so incredible I stopped every day while I was there trying a new flavor each time.
The components for crepe fillings are extremely suitable when packing for self-contained travel or, as some call it, front- loaded catering. The portions are not too big, and the variations are almost endless. They can be appetizers, canapés, part of a salad, breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner entrees, not mention dessert. A zucchini and eggplant rendition of the traditional ratatouille with a sunny side up egg is a new creative way to serve for breakfast. A take on the breakfast burrito. The pieces come separate and ready to assemble on board; the egg can be delivered poached or done on board so the yolk runs to create a sauce. Need to make it to fit special dietary needs? - it can be gluten free if the crepe is made with buckwheat flour. Croissants From savory to sweet, kick the crave head- on and try a candied bacon croissant. Ask your bakery or catering source to help create this one for the aircraft since the oven usually found on board will not give the desired results for the perfect croissant. Bake bacon strips coated with maple syrup, brown sugar, crushed red pepper flakes, black pepper until crispy, and, when cool, wrap them in croissant dough and bake. A perfect combination of sweet and salty and spicy hot.
A pistachio croissant will easily slide into the dessert category. Consider it a dream treat. The croissant dough with its layers of buttery goodness can be shaped into all sizes. Visualize this . . . strips of croissant dough filled with perfect pistachios, big, tender and flavorful, rough chopped so as to see the beautiful green interior of the nut, laced with light amounts of honey and maybe even a bit of marzipan stuffing oozing out of the center on both sides of the strip when baked. Just a few bites - not so much as to overwhelm you - but enough to have the memory of the flavor and crunch for hours after you eat this delicacy. Can you tell I adore pistachios, croissants and marzipan? As a true Southern lady would say, " the thought makes me faint of heart." If you can reinvent the burrito, then why not the cannoli? We have reinvented one of our flight crews' favorite desserts that I call a mixed berry cannoli. For years we have made a Florentine cookie of pecans, almonds, and walnuts with brown sugar and butter. When baked we have always made this into a lacy bowl shape. To create a new and also smaller portion as our clients have requested, we now roll this to resemble a cannoli then, when cool. we dip one end into chocolate and fill it with hazelnut cream or just simply fresh berries and drizzle it with a puree of a particular fruit. Think outside the box Reinvention of food presentation has been done for centuries. The new trend of deconstructed menu items is just a new way to look at the same old tired foods we tend to order for sake of habit or security in knowing that a veggie tray is always be a veggie tray . . . or will it really? It is time you and your catering sources keep you from getting stuck in a culinary rut. You never know what they are reinventing unless you ask!
Let me introduce myself . . . My name is Paula Kraft and I am founder and President of Tastefully Yours Catering, an aviation specific caterer, located in Atlanta, Georgia for over 35 years.
Currently I am an active member of the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee Advisory Board and the NBAA International Flight Attendant Committee, Women in Corporate Aviation, Women in Aviation International, National Association of Catering Executives, International Flight Catering Association, the International Food Service Association and the International Caterer’s Association. I have coordinated training programs and clinics for NBAA, EBAA and BA-Meetup conference attendees for over 10 years, created mentoring programs for caterers and flight attendants to broaden their aviation culinary skills, and to assist them in adapting to the unique challenges and constraints found in catering for general aviation. I recognize the need for training and have worked closely with flight departments, flight crews, schedulers and customer service reps at the FBOs to ensure that catering specific training provides information and skills necessary to reduce risk while assisting them in their job duties that include safe food handling, catering security, accurate transmission of food orders, and safe food production, packaging and delivery. I fell into aviation catering quite by accident. I was the in-house caterer and bakery supplier for Macy’s department stores in Atlanta when catering was ordered for a Macy’s customer which was soon to change my life. After the client enjoyed the catering provided, I was summoned to the client’s corporate office to provide several of the items delivered through Macy’s to the executive dining room. Within a week, I was providing food for the flight department and my first order was for the President of a foreign country (as I was too be told soon after). So, here I am, some 35 years later, still loving every minute of every day in aviation catering.
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