From fabulous dinner parties to buffets and family-style suppers, let The Butler’s Pantry look after all your catering needs this autumn …
If you’re planning a dinner party with friends or a special family feast, The Butler’s Pantry should be your first port of call. With delectable canapés, super starters and sides, crowd-pleasing mains and indulgent desserts, its new Autumn and Winter Entertaining Menu will ensure any event is a resounding success.
With 35 years of expertise, when you place an order, you’re guaranteed the finest seasonal ingredients and freshest of food, prepared by hand by its team of experienced chefs and bakers in Bray, Co Wicklow. The team also comprises events managers and sommeliers to help plan the perfect party from drinks to desserts.
If hosting a stylish cocktail party, the range of nibbles and delicious dips and pâtés will appeal will appeal to the most discerning and demanding of guests. Favourites from the menu selection include Ardsallagh Goat’s Cheese and Red Onion Tartlets, Wild Mushroom Risotto Arancinis (served with truffle mayonnaise), and Chicken and Red Pepper Ballotines with red pepper gel on a savoury biscuit. As for dips, these include Black Olive Tapenade and Chicken Liver Pâté made to a traditional recipe with a dash of port and brandy, as well as Baba Ganoush. The only thing any hostess needs to worry about is which platter she should use for serving.
For more traditional three-course suppers, the range of satisfying soups for starters includes classics such as Seafood Chowder or Creamy Chicken Soup to Vegetable Laksa – a classic Southeast Asian soup with beans, peas, mangetout and sugar snap peas, cooked in a fragrant coconut Laksa broth.
Often it’s the little details that impress most at a dinner party … like a great bread basket! The Butler’s Pantry is committed to the art of bread-making, from careful selection of its flours to the refinement of baking processes. Using extended proving times, this is real bread – the superior tasting alternative that is both wholesome and nutritious.
For the main event, The Butler’s Pantry’s chefs cook with the seasons and often offer limited edition and vegetarian options. Each main course serves up to six people. For example, the Basque Chicken Supreme is served with sautéed chorizo, black olives and sweet red peppers in a smoky tomato ragù. This dish goes perfectly with a side order of Chargrilled Baby Potatoes, ready-to-heat with thyme and rosemary butter.
Other main courses, which have also won Great Taste Awards include Lamb Tagine – succulent slow cooked lamb with roasted almonds, apricots and sultanas finished with fresh coriander – and Beef Bourguignon, a hearty dish of Irish grass-fed beef braised in red wine with pearl onions, garlic, thyme, parsley and bay leaves. There are also Italian options (from Lasagne to Pork and Beef Meatballs) and Seafood specialities (classic Fish Pie and Thai Red Prawn Curry). Tempting side dishes from gratin potatoes to braised red cabbage, roast root vegetables and fluffy couscous served with lemon zest and seasonal herbs, can also be added.
For casual buffets, Dressed Organic Salmon, Honey Glazed Free Range Ham and a Chermoula Chicken Platter are all cross generational classics that are complemented by a range of side salads. Curried Cauliflower and Quinoa, Bacon and Chestnut Mushroom Orzo Pasta, Winter Slaw and a Classic Baby Potato Salad are popular options, with many more available too.
Leave room for an impressive sweet finish. Chocoholics will not be disappointed in the trio of options (serving up to six) which include an award-winning Chocolate Marquise or The Black Forest Entremet: a light chocolate sponge topped with cherry compote, rich chocolate mousse, Kirsch cream and vanilla mascarpone Chantilly cream. There’s also a decadent Chocolate Mousse with raspberry confit, finished with crunchy praline.
Individual desserts are available and include Vegan Chocolate Cakes and Lemon Meringue Pies. The selection of Dessert Canapés including Chocolate, Caramel and Peanut Cups and Vanilla and Raspberry Mini Choux Buns are a lovely way to end an evening accompanied by some speciality coffee.
The Butler’s Pantry also offer a sommelier-curated range of fine wines which can also be delivered nationwide. Provenance is a priority; every bottle sourced is from small, boutique vineyards, which champion organic wines made from lesser known grape varieties. Take the Ginglinger Côte d’Eguisheim for example. This is an ideal dinner party wine or “concertina wine” – great for opening the show, wrapping itself around a dish, and highlighting flavours. Produced in Alsace by the Ginglinger family (who have been in the business for 13 generations) this wine goes perfectly with Wild Mushroom Risotto Cakes, or the Basque Chicken Supreme and Thai Prawn Red Curry.
Guidobono Langhe Nebbiolo is another of the sommelier-recommended wines and could be considered a “baby Barolo.” Light in colour, it is a deceptively lean yet full bodied with notes of sweet black cherries, dried cranberries, black plums, leather and rose petals. It goes perfectly with the Baba Ganoush dip, Beef Stroganoff and Chicken Boscaiola.
Need to Know: The Butler’s Pantry has eleven shops around Dublin and an ever-evolving online shop. All food is prepared by its team of chefs and bakers using the best ingredients without the use of additives or preserves in its central kitchen in Bray, Co Wicklow. To discover how The Butler’s Pantry can help with all your party needs, visit www.thebutlerspantry.ie.
