Watch this video to see how St. Louis was connected to the sinking of the luxury steamship 100 years ago:

ST. LOUIS • Wreath-layings, a movie and a champagne brunch  are among commemorations here this weekend of the steamship Titanic, which sank  100 years ago in the North Atlantic.

The anniversary of the sinking of the British luxury liner, killing 1,517  passengers and crew, is Sunday.

At noon Friday, representatives of Bellefontaine Cemetery will lay wreaths at  the graves of Carlos Hurd, a Post-Dispatch reporter who was the first to  interview survivors, and Elizabeth Robert of St. Louis, a Titanic passenger who  survived. Hurd died in 1950, Robert in 1956.

A spokesman said the cemetery, 4947 West Florissant Avenue, will post signs  leading to the two sites. Hurd and his wife, Katherine, were passengers on the  Carpathia, the steamship that rescued Titanic survivors.

At 7:30 p.m. Friday, the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park will show the  1958 movie, “A Night to Remember.” On Tuesday, some tickets remained at $10  each, available through MetroTix at 314-534-1111.

Two events were inspired by the Titanic’s First Class dining rooms. A formal  dinner at the Fox Theatre, which is sold out, replicates the menu on the ship’s  last evening. A champagne brunch Sunday at the Piper Palm House in Tower Grove  Park will be of the liner’s breakfast fare. Some tickets remain for that event  through MetroTix.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/commemorations-planned-for-th-anniversary-of-titanic/article_be5d61d6-aa81-58c5-b50b-2e9c51ff64e0.html#ixzz1rvm6sSMy

We just returned from the annual Catersource Conference & Tradeshow in Las Vegas.  We spent 3 days taking educational classes and viewing demonstrations.  We learned about the hottest trends in food preparation, presentation, service standards, décor, etc.

While there, we also took part in a fantastic presentation from TV personality and catering chef, Andrew Zimmern. 

During his presentation we were honored with the annual ACE Award for the Midwest region.  The annual Catersource ACE Award recognizes companies that have shown noteworthy achievement in the catering industry through culinary, business, community and professional development. Five winners are chosen each year to represent the best of the best in each of five geographic regions:  Midwest, South, East, West and International. 

We are so honored & excited! 

*Watch the video below or click here: Catersource Conference & Tradeshow 2012

We can’t wait to begin putting the new tools & ideas we learned into use for your next event!  Call us today to book your party – 314.664.7680.

Cassie Burd, Vice President of Sales and Catering, is speaking at the ISES Eventworld 2011 Conference today! Check out the video to see highlights from last years conference.

Eventworld 2010 Baltimore Same Day Edit from CinemaCake Filmmakers on Vimeo.

KPLR11.com
May 9, 2011

Spring is rapidly slipping into summer. It’s time to pay attention to produce. Greg Ziengenfuss from Butler’s Pantry is the executive chef and vice president of operations. He has great tips for what you can do with fresh local produce.

September 13, 2010
KPLR 11

Watch Chef de Cuisine, Todd Lough, talk about the flavors of Fall at Cafe Madeleine.  You can also learn how to make our delicious Roasted Acorn Squash Soup with the easy to follow recipe.

Roasted Acorn Squash Soup

Serves 8

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced yellow onion
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon peeled minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup good dark rum
6 cups roasted, peeled and chopped Acorn Squash (approx. three  large)
1 tablespoon kosher salt or to taste
1 teaspoon white pepper
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoon maple syrup
1 cup heavy cream

For the roasted Acorn squash, cut the squash in half and remove the seeds with a heavy metal spoon. Place the squash cut side down on a roasting pan and place in a 375 degree oven. Roast until the skin is soft and starts to peel away from the flesh of the squash (approximately 15 minutes). Remove from the oven and peel away all the skin. Dice the squash, then proceed with the recipe.

In a medium saucepan, sauté onions in olive oil until opaque. Add the garlic, cinnamon and ginger. Sauté to aroma, be careful not to burn the aromatics. Add the rum and reduce in half. Add the diced roasted squash, salt and white pepper vegetable broth and maple syrup. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer until squash is tender (about 25 minutes). Puree with a submersible hand held mixer or in batches in a blender. Add the heavy cream, taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Garnish with a dollop of sour cream.

For a pretty presentation serve this soup from a hollowed out pumpkin or large winter squash into a half a roasted squash bowl.

Kristen Cornett for KMOV.com
Posted on May 11, 2010 at 7:42 PM

A new technology is on the market that keeps food waste out of landfills by turning it into water. Butler’s pantry in St. Louis is one of the first in the Midwest to adopt the new trend.

“We’re hoping to reduce our footprint…on the landfills and such,” says Greg Ziegenfuss, executive chef at Butler’s Pantry in south St. Louis. “But we’re also hoping to save money in doing that.”

They will save by cutting their trash-hauling costs. The machine composts up to 800 pounds of food waster per day. It’s expensive, but should pay for itself in a just a few years.

Here’s how it works. The food waste and disposable dishware get dumped into a machine, and microorganisms breakdown the organic waste into water that runs into the sewer. There is a misting of water and churning for part of every hour, but the majority of the time, the machine just sits, not using any electricity, allowing the microorganisms to go to work.

“Imagine at 9 a.m., your machine, the Orca Green, is filled to capacity, and then by 9 a.m. the next morning if you added absolutely nothing else, it would be empty,” says Jack Croghan of Green Smart Food Services.

The microorganisms last for one year, and they live in black chips, or biochips, once the food waste has been composted. The Orca Green has made its mark at Butler’s Pantry. Chef Ziegenfuss has even started to experiment with the Orca’s byproduct in his herb garden.

“I’m hoping to see some positive results,” he says. “It’s very nutrient rich, evidently, so we think that it’ll produce bigger, better basil.”

“Green Machine” Liquefies Waste

By John Abule for FOX2now.com & KPLR11.com
4:28 PM CDT, April 21, 2010

ST. LOUIS, MO (KTVI & KPLR) – A St. Louis catering company is blazing a new trail for waste management. Butler’s Pantry at 14th and Park is turning garbage into water. They’ve come up with a process to send it flowing through sewers instead of sitting in landfills.

Butler’s Pantry is an industry giant. They may rack up $5 million in revenue before this year is out. That adds up to a lot of garbage. Worried about filling up landfills, they made an investment a month ago. They spent $40 thousand for a foreign-made appliance called “The Green Machine.”

Richard Nix, Jr., Butler’s Pantry President says “We didn’t try to focus on dollars and cents. We tried to focus on how we could make the environment a little bit better.”

Basically, biodegradable waste goes in and a rather clear liquid comes out during a 24-hour cycle. Imported from South Korea, the machines are big in Europe where landfill space is at a premium.

But this is the only one of its kind in the Midwest.

“We’re doing about 250 pounds of trash a day in the machine over the past three weeks,” Nix says.

The waste water has passed all purity tests. Butler’s Pantry officials say they’ve been given the seal of approval by both the Metropolitan Sewer District and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

By Aimee Levitt, Tuesday, Apr. 20 2010 @ 1:40PM
Daily RFT

​How do you dispose of your trash? Do you shove it in a plastic bag and send it off to decompose in a landfill? Do you shove it down your garbage disposal and let the little blades chop it into tiny bits that can float through the sewer? Do you compost it and turn it into fertilizer? St. Louis caterer Butler’s Pantry has just invested in a novel form of garbage disposal: the Orca Green composting “bioreactor,” which turns waste into gray water and carbon dioxide.

The Orca Green doesn’t come cheap. The St. Louis Business Journal reports that the company paid $40,000 for the machine, but president Richard Nix, Jr., told the Business Journal that with the money he’ll be saving on trash-hauling, he expects the machine to pay for itself within a few years.

The machine looks like a small, stainless-steel Dumpster and can process up to 2,000 pounds of waste per day. It uses environmentally-friendly microorganisms that break down food and biodegradable materials over the course of 24 hours. The machine operates at a low temperature so it doesn’t smell, and the manufacturers promise that it leaves no sludge or other waste products behind.

Nix adds that Butler’s Pantry will be bringing the leftovers from large catering jobs back to the kitchen to process in the Orca Green. The company is also investigating ways to use the gray water byproduct as fertilizer in its herb garden.

The Orca Green was invented in South Korea; there are currently only about 7,000 in use in the world and one in St. Louis.

Here’s a video that shows how the machine works:

Watch Executive Chef Greg Ziegenfuss walk you through his recipe for Truffled Mushroom Soup on Great Day St. Louis.

Truffle Mushroom Soup

4 oz. Truffle Olive Oil
1 cup diced red onions
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 cups stemmed julienne shiitake mushroom:
3 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
3 cups sliced oyster mushrooms
1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 cup dry sherry
2 tablespoons truffle olive oil
¼ cup all purpose flour
2 qt. vegetable stock, chicken stock or low sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream

Heat truffle oil in a large heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Add celery and onions, sauté until opaque. Add all the mushrooms and the garlic and sauté until softened. Add the dried herbs and sherry, reduce in half. Add 2 tablespoons more oil and flour. Stir so as not to burn or clump. Gently whisk in stock, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer until mushrooms are tender and flour cooks out (approximately 15 minutes). Add heavy cream and season with kosher salt and white pepper to taste. Puree with a hand held submersible blender or in batches in a blender.

Serves 8. Garnish with lightly sautéed sliced mushrooms, a sprig of fresh thyme and a drop of truffle olive oil.

 KSDK

Labor Day weekend in St. Louis is a local grown food lover’s dream come true. We have the end of the season corn, tomatoes, watermelon, summer squash, eggplant, peaches as well as some early autumn lettuces and greens.

St. Louis is “normally” hot Labor Day weekend so I personally like to plan a meal which incorporates items hot off the grill which can be eaten hot or warm with fresh, cold / room temperature items to compliment the grilled items. Ideally as much work as possible can be done a day or two in advance so the host and hostess can enjoy the company of their friends, family and neighbors. With advanced planning, list writing and  timelines,  a delicious creative menu can be planned and executed and you can still enjoy the party.

Depending on the size of the get together you can always go pot luck and encourage guests to bring a dish of their liking. This also involves some planning as you do not want to end up with three green bean salads or seven desserts and no salads. When guests RSVP you can ask what they are planning on bringing and if their item too closely resembles another you can politely ask them to change their dish and make a suggestion as to what is needed.

Be sure to have plenty of beverages, both alcoholic and non alcoholic. Put jugs of Iced tea, lemonade and water out for guests to help themselves to and enjoy. Put beer in ice troughs as a self service item. If offering a full bar perhaps hire a local college student to help with the bar service and clean up. Be sure to have plenty of ice on hand. Do not forget mixers and fruit for the bar.

When all else fails there is always the option of hiring a professional caterer to make your party a fantastic affair with hardly lifting a finger.

Menu:

Spiced Rubbed Chicken Breasts with Roasted Corn and Tomato relish over a bed of baby Arugula

Spiced rubbed chicken: (serves eight)

8 – 8oz. skin on chicken breasts cut in half
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
1 Tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
2 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Onion powder
1 Tablespoon Sweet Paprika
2 Teaspoon Garlic powder

Combine the spices and whisk to combine. Rub the skin on chicken breast generously with the spice rub and allow to stand at room temperature for an hour. Place chicken on the grill skin side up for 12 minutes. Turn the chicken over and grill skin side down until golden brown, crisp and cooked through (a thermometer should read 180 degrees when inserted in the thickest part of the breast). Serve over a bed of baby arugula (recipe follows) topped with roasted corn and tomato relish (recipe follows). Serve with a loaf of artisan baked bread, sliced watermelon wedges and peach cobbler for dessert.

Roasted Corn and tomato relish: (yields 1 qt.)

2 Cups roasted corn removed from the husk (Method follows)
2 Cups diced tomato
½ Cup fine diced red onion
2 Tablespoon cilantro chopped
¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
Zest of one lemon
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
Zest of one lime
1 Tablespoon lime juice
Kosher salt and white pepper to taste

Combine all of the above ingredients up to four hours in advance. Bring to room temperature for an hour prior to serving. For the roasted corn I like to do this several days in advance, eat some of the corn hot off the grill the night I make it and reserve two to three ears for making this relish later in the week. I soak fresh in the husk corn in tap water for 30 minutes allowing the husks to become soaked. I grill directly over a hot charcoal fire turning the corn every five minute for approximately 30 minutes or until the husk is thoroughly charred. The flavor of the corn is outstanding! Be sure to make plenty as everyone will want more than one ear and there are many uses for the left over’s including the recipe for roasted corn relish above.

Arugula salad tossed with olive oil , orange juice and zest:

1 Gallon baby arugula
¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
Zest of one orange
¼ Cup  fresh orange juice
Kosher salt and white pepper to taste

Toss the arugula in the olive oil, OJ , zest, season to taste with salt and pepper. Place Arugula salad on a decorative platter, as the chicken comes off the grill place on top of the arugula, serve the roasted corn and tomato relish over the chicken for an excellent dinner on the back deck Labor Day weekend.