by Tony Byrne | Mar 12, 2021 | Blog
We’re all excited to soon be able to continue with big events such as weddings and birthday parties. If you’re looking to book an event this year, there are many benefits of hiring a professional caterer.
With the announcement of a ‘roadmap out of lockdown’ we’re all excited that by late spring/early summer we will hopefully be able to attend family events again. When organising any event there are a number of things to plan and consider. These include location, music, cake, decorations and a guest list. Undoubtedly, one of the most important things to plan is the food. When it comes to food it can start to get stressful. This is because you have to think about what food you want, how much you’ll need and organise the making of the food. Hiring a professional caterer can ease this stress and make the planning process and the day itself go more smoothly.
Here are 4 benefits of hiring a professional caterer for your event:
1. Food Tailored to You
Food is a very personal thing and there are a lot of bases to cover when it comes to catering for an event. With a professional caterer you get a wide variety of food options ideal for any event or gathering. Plus, you have the option to mix and match meaning that you can make sure that you will have something every guest will enjoy.
There are also a lot of dietary requirements to keep in mind too. Many events often need gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian or vegan options as well. A professional caterer will have other menu items that will meet the needs of those who require alternative food options.
2. Professional Caterer Means Professional Service
Another benefit of hiring a professional caterer, you can rest assured that you will be receiving a first-class service. With their extensive experience in the industry, any professional should be able to serve high-quality food with every detail taken into account. A high attention to detail is used to ensure perfect food with perfect presentation. Top-quality service and food is the trademark of a professional caterer who has numerous years of experience in the industry.
3. Delivered on Time
One of the highlights of having a professional caterer provide food for your event is that you can have peace of mind that your food will be delivered on time. Any established caterer will know the routine like the back of their hand. This means that they’ll remain in-sync with any event planner or coordinator at all times. Doing this ensures that your food is prepared, cooked and delivered at the right times. The whole operation will be executed perfectly and you and your guests will receive your food when promised. The last thing you want is hungry party people!
4. Take a Weight Off Your Shoulders
Organising an event can get very overwhelming very quickly. There are so many things to plan, schedule and organise. Handing over the stressful task of arranging the food to a professional caterer can take a big weight off your shoulders. Doing this will leave you to enjoy your event and leave your tensions at the door. Everything relating to the food will be handled by the caterer. With a professional, you can count on them to make your event a success.
At Lauren’s Catering we pride ourselves on our high-quality food and timely service. We are an experienced catering team and can cater to specific dietary requirements as needed. We cater for birthday parties, weddings, family gatherings christenings and more. If you’re thinking of arranging a special event this year, get in touch to start organising your food today.
by Tony Byrne | Feb 25, 2021 | Blog
Whether you’ve heard about the TikTok tortilla hack trend or not, I’m here to talk about what it is and to give a few filling ideas if you want to try it yourself.
At Lauren’s Catering, we know how important a good lunch is. Sometimes plain sandwiches can get a bit boring. That’s why we offer a variety of different lunch options to keep your lunch exciting. Although our snack vans are still operating as normal, a lot of you are now working from home. One way that people working from home have been keeping their lunches exciting is with the TikTok tortilla hack.
You may or may not have seen the tortilla hack trend on TikTok. Even if you’re not a user of TikTok, the various viral videos have been hard to miss across other social media channels. With TikTok allowing users to post short and quick videos, it’s not surprising that it has been popular for sharing quick ‘hacks’. Many of us have been introduced to various hacks through the platform but one that has really caught on is the tortilla hack – it really is a game-changer!
What is the tortilla hack?
We all know the common way of using a tortilla wrap. You put your filling in the middle and you roll it up, sometimes folding the top and bottom to stop the filling from falling out. However, users of TikTok have been sharing a hack that allows you to enjoy your wrap in a different way. The result of the tortilla hack is a quesadilla-shaped sandwich with 3 or 4 layers of filling. The folding technique used makes it easier to eat and keeps ‘spillage’ to a minimum.
How do you make a wrap using the tortilla hack?
Using the tortilla hack to make your own wrap is super easy. It simply involves making a strategically placed cut across half of the tortilla wrap. This allows you to fold it over itself several times, creating separate layers of filling.
Put simply, all you need to do once you have made your cut is to put a different filling in each corner. Once you’ve done that you fold it up and round. Most people then grill it using a sandwich press until brown and crispy. If you don’t have one of these, you can easily get it toasty in a frying pan until it is nice and brown.
Here’s a quick step-by-step visual guide to show you:
What can you make with the tortilla hack?
This technique is extremely versatile. You can mix and match any fillings that you want and can create indulgent wraps, vegan wraps, health wraps or even dessert wraps. Whatever food you fancy, there is a way to utilise this TikTok hack!
Here are some recipe suggestions…
Classic Ham & Cheese Wrap
- Ham Slices
- Grated Cheese
- Fresh Rocket
- Sliced Tomatoes
Pizza Wrap
- Grated Cheese
- Marinara Sauce
- Sliced Mushrooms
- Pepperoni
- Sliced Pickled Gherkins
- Sliced Burger (Cooked)
- Grated Cheese
- Extra Toppings (Tomato, Lettuce etc.)
Breakfast Wrap
- Mayo or Ketchup
- Scrambled Eggs
- Crispy Bacon
- Fresh Salad
- Nutella
- Peanut Butter
- Sliced Strawberries
- Sliced Bananas
by Tony Byrne | Jan 21, 2021 | Blog
Before Christmas, we talked about how we had been doing our bit for the community and more specifically the NHS throughout last year. We were proud to be able to provide breakfast for the COVID-19 unit at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital. We also donated over 4,000 pairs of gloves. You can read more about what we did last year in our November blog.
We are really passionate about doing our bit where we can. Since November we have done even more to help out our local community. As we have mentioned before, we think having access to a good meal is essential, particularly when you are tired and stressed. We know that a lot of our keyworkers and NHS staff don’t have time to make sure that they are getting enough food, that’s why we wanted to help.
Breakfast For NHS Staff
On 23rd December 2020, we donated a breakfast morning to NHS paramedic and ambulance staff. We really wanted to thank them for their efforts throughout the year and for their continued commitment over the holiday period.
Donation to Local Vaccination Clinic
On New Year’s Eve we made a special delivery to the Covid vaccination clinic at Hucclecote Surgery. We donated lunches to all of the staff, including some of our best sandwiches complete with snacks. It’s safe to say they were all happily received.
Rosebank Health
We also donated lunch to Rosebank Surgery on 6th January. They have been working hard vaccinating patients against Covid-19 and we wanted to show them that they had the support of the community. It was also a great way to show our thanks for all that they have been doing throughout the pandemic.
We wanted to take some time to say thank you to all frontline workers and NHS staff. They have continued to help our country throughout these trying times. I’m sure that we will all be forever thankful for their dedication to helping their people. Especially throughout what has been a strenuous and unprecedented period in our history. We will continue to help out where we can, even if it’s just making sure that they have access to a good nutritious lunch!
If you’d like to keep up to date with what we’ve been up to, you can follow us on Facebook. If you have any question about what we do and our food, feel free to get in touch. We would be happy to help!
by Anthony Byrne | Dec 16, 2020 | Blog
Christmas is just around the corner meaning that it is nearly time for Christmas dinner. Although a wonderful thing, it can cause a lot of stress and anxiety, especially for first-time roasters. That’s where we can help. We are here to answer your questions and provide a few top tips to hopefully take some of the stress away and help you to cook the perfect roast turkey.
What size turkey should I get?
The size of the turkey you should get depends on a few different factors. One main one is how many people you need it to feed. As a general rule, you should allow about 1 pound (uncooked) per person. Even if you don’t plan on having an army of guests, you should keep in mind that if you intend to have leftovers the next day you might want to get a turkey a little bigger that will provide more than one serving per person.
Top Tip: Not the most obvious thing to consider, you should also take into account the size of your oven. A classic comedic tale, many people have bought a turkey that’s the perfect size but find when they get it home it won’t fit in the oven! A good top tip is that if you need a turkey that will feed a larger number of guests, instead of buying one big one, buy two smaller ones. You’ll be able to fit them both in the oven and they’ll even fit in the fridge better in the run-up to the big day!
How long should I roast the turkey for?
Typically, the label on your turkey will give instructions to help you work out how long to roast it for. If it doesn’t, a good rule to follow is to allow about 40 minutes per kg or roughly 20 minutes per pound of the total weight of the bird, which includes any stuffing. If you are still unsure, the BBC have a really helpful tool to help you calculate how long to cook your meat for.
Top Tip: To achieve crispy skin on your turkey, you could try dry brining. This involves rubbing salt all over the turkey, which helps to draw out moisture. This salty moisture is then reabsorbed by the meat, which also dries out the skin, helping it to crisp up. You could also try increasing the temperature of your oven by about 20⁰c for the last 30 minutes of the cooking time.
Should I use a roasting rack?
Put simply, if you can, you should. The use of a roasting rack lifts the meat off of the bottom of the tray, allowing air to circulate around the meat which promotes even cooking. It also stops the meat from sticking to the bottom of the roasting tin. Because turkeys are often too large to flip in the tray, using a rack is one of the best ways to evenly cook your meat.
Top Tip: Don’t have a roasting rack? You can easily use vegetables to lift the turkey up. Simply use long carrots, thick slices of onion, or even celery sticks to elevate your roast. Doing this can also make your veggies extra flavourful!
Should I let the meat rest?
For the perfect juicy turkey, you should leave it to rest out of the oven before serving. If you were to carve the meat straight out of the oven, all of its lovely juices would seep out onto your chopping board. By leaving it to rest, you give the meat a chance to reabsorb these juices, as well as allowing the meat to coagulate making it easier to carve. Once out of the oven you should leave it to rest in a warm place for between 30 minutes – 1 hour.
Top Tip: When carving your meat, remove the legs by cutting through the skin that links it to the breast. Doing this will give you better access to the breast meat, making it a lot easier to show off your carving skills!
What can I have instead of turkey?
If you’re looking for something other than roast turkey this year, there are many alternatives that you can try. Goose is a great option, with fat that naturally bastes the meat, making it nearly impossible to dry it out. Another brilliant choice is gammon. Marinated in a honey and mustard dressing, gammon is soft and juicy and makes for a great leftover sandwich the next day.
Top Tip: Vegetarian options can often be few and far between when it comes to Christmas but there are many things you can do instead. Fish is a good choice and would pair well with those lovely roast potatoes that you might be cooking for other guests. If you want something that can go with a more traditional Christmas dinner, something like a nut roast or vegetarian wellington would work well with the other parts typically found in a roast dinner.
We hope that you have found these tips useful and wish you lots of luck with your Christmas dinner – we’re sure it will be delicious!
Remember, we will be open for pre-orders between Christmas and New Year. If you would like to find out more, please do get in touch and we’d be happy to help!
by Anthony Byrne | Nov 25, 2020 | Blog
This year has been a challenging year for businesses and individuals alike. But the organisation that has had to overcome the most amount of challenges is the NHS. Since the beginning of the first lockdown in March, it has seen surges of Coronavirus cases, with beds filling to max capacity at times. Shortages of PPE has caused even more stress, on top of longer hours for staff.
Despite all of these challenges, NHS staff have pulled together, worked as a team and I think we can all agree that they have been absolutely amazing and done our country proud.
We think having access to a good meal is essential, especially when you’re tired and under a tremendous amount of stress. That’s why, to say thank you and to help do our bit, we have remained open throughout lockdowns to serve the country’s frontline workers. This has included providing breakfast for the COVID-19 unit at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, to make sure that they get themselves a well-balanced, tasty meal, even if they didn’t have time to go shopping between shifts.
We also wanted to help in other ways and are proud to say that we donated over 4,000 pairs of gloves to the hospital. As we have all been aware, there have been shortages in PPE equipment, and we wanted to make an effort to help keep our frontline workers safe.
If want to keep up with what we are up to, you can follow us on Facebook where we’ll keep you up to date with our latest news.
by Anthony Byrne | Aug 21, 2020 | Blog
At Lauren’s we are known for our tasty sandwiches, but did you know that over 4 billion are purchased from UK retailers and catering outlets each year? Sandwiches have become a popular lunchtime snack for us brits so surely we should know more about the humble sandwich. Here is a brief look at the history of the sandwich.
The sandwich that we enjoy today became popular in England way back in 1762 by the 4th Earl of Sandwich, John Montagu. Montagu was a HUGE fan of bread and meat, so would regularly eat them together. His creation skyrocketed and the sandwich revolution began. The first recorded sandwich recipe did not appear in an American cookbook until 1815, despite it being a popular delicacy in England.
You can see all of our delicious sandwiches and more over on our menu – don’t just take our word for it, check out our testimonials page!
