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If you were approached to cook a casual dinner, buffet style, for 100 persons, what would you cook? Try to keep it casual and use something which will go a long way, yet not extremely expensive. I may have to do this>
I think I would have:
a couple of cheese balls with crackers
fresh vegetable platter with cubed cheese stabbed with toothpicks
Sloppy Joes or Maid Rites as some call them
Silver dollar rolls
Deli meat platter with oven roasted turkey and roast beef
Cheese slice platter
Small rye bread and selection of other bread
Potato salad
Macaroni salad
Vinegar based vegetable salad with peas, corn, French style green beans, onions, celery
Fresh Fruit Salad
Brownies
Assortment of cookies, including diabetic cookies
Coffee, unsweetened and sweetened iced tea, lemonade, water
Pulled pork
coleslaw
potato salad or party potatoes
-OR-
Some type of Tex-Mex like fajitas, tacos, enchiladas that can be prepared in large quantities. With Tex-Mex you can put out chips and salsa with big vats of queso.
I usually always have veggie and cheese trays like you mentioned.
These are some of my go-to menus for a crowd because they are fairly inexpensive yet easy to prepare in large quantities.
Hope that helps!
I have two menu's. I am from a Cuban family/upbringing and I live in BBQ haven here.
Cuban Menu
Whole Roasted mojo pig cooked in a caja. (sounds complicated but ridiculously easy)
White rice with choice of black beans or red beans
Mofongo
Plaintains
Tomato/Avocado salads with lime/olive oil
Cuban Bread
Flan
American BBQ
A couple of pulled pork shoulders
Choice of bbq sauces
German Potato Salad
Asian Slaw
Chopped salad bar with choices of dressing (so they can make custom salads)
Bread rolls
Oven cripsy wedges
Brownies with choices in ice cream
With both there would of course be drinks, chips, condiments, deli trays etc.
Baked Ziti 2 full trays
Eggplant parmesan 2 full trays
Full tray of salad
2 full trays of sausage and peppers
I would order 2 6 foot hero's
Full tray of chicken cutlets
This is what I would make because they can be made ahead of time and frozen, then thawed 2 days before and baked in the oven.
I have two menu's. I am from a Cuban family/upbringing and I live in BBQ haven here.
Cuban Menu
Whole Roasted mojo pig cooked in a caja. (sounds complicated but ridiculously easy)
White rice with choice of black beans or red beans
Mofongo
Plaintains
Tomato/Avocado salads with lime/olive oil
Cuban Bread
Flan
American BBQ
A couple of pulled pork shoulders
Choice of bbq sauces
German Potato Salad
Asian Slaw
Chopped salad bar with choices of dressing (so they can make custom salads)
Bread rolls
Oven cripsy wedges
Brownies with choices in ice cream
With both there would of course be drinks, chips, condiments, deli trays etc.
Oh man, that sounds great. I'd love to get a link to how to cook the whole pig (which we can get very easily here in Raleigh, NC)
I would personally add something heavy for vegetarians - pasta salad or hot pasta dish, ratatouille, maybe a bean-based dish. They can't live on lettuce alone, I'm afraid!
Either ham or pulled pork with rolls, a couple kinds of bread, condiments and bar b cue sauce
Fried chicken
beans, probably bar b cued, a lot of people do not like baked
mac salad (I love potato but it is time consuming to make for that many)
fruit salad
cold slaw
fresh veggie platter with a decent dip
cheese and crackers
cookies
brownies
coffee, tea and maybe punch
If it wasn't truly a buffet, I would do:
spaghetti
green salad with choice of dressings
garlic and cheese bread
lemon bars and choc bars.
Grilled chicken, pulled pork, sliced brisket (using a professional slicer), green bean casserole, baked acorn squash, sliced tomatoes, fresh creamed corn, baked beans, & coleslaw. Appetizer of fried okra and a berry/cheese platter. Free choice teas for beverage. Peach cobbler for dessert with vanilla ice cream with coffee for those who need it.
If you were approached to cook a casual dinner, buffet style, for 100 persons, what would you cook? Try to keep it casual and use something which will go a long way, yet not extremely expensive. I may have to do this>
I think I would have:
a couple of cheese balls with crackers
fresh vegetable platter with cubed cheese stabbed with toothpicks
Sloppy Joes or Maid Rites as some call them
Silver dollar rolls
Deli meat platter with oven roasted turkey and roast beef
Cheese slice platter
Small rye bread and selection of other bread
Potato salad
Macaroni salad
Vinegar based vegetable salad with peas, corn, French style green beans, onions, celery
Fresh Fruit Salad
Brownies
Assortment of cookies, including diabetic cookies
Coffee, unsweetened and sweetened iced tea, lemonade, water
Without knowing exactly what type of meal it would be for (and having zero experience for cooking for that many folks), I am attaching a link you might find helpful. Growlies BIG recipes Index recipes to serve 100 people or more
This site has the actual recipe amounts, and different scenarios for the large meal (wedding, picnic, etc.) Good luck!!!!
First off, I tend to overcompensate. This is because one Thanksgiving I was busy serving everyone else, that I didn't get anything to eat. This list is just a rough draft.
Since it's a buffet, I would put the condiments in little containers that people can grab and go because you want it to be quick. When you're in a buffet line, there's nothing more annoying than the kid trying to get the ketchup out of the bottle and squeezing out too much. Also, I'd avoid anything with bones.
Appetizers
Dinner rolls (you can buy those pre-package butter squares?)
Spinach salad Jamie Oliver's Everyday Green Chopped Salad
Fruit salad
Bacon-wrapped in string beans, then bake it
Cheese and crackers
Bruschetta
Swedish meatballs
Garlic bread
Main dishes
Baked Ziti
Honey baked chicken
Chicken Jambalaya (Avoiding shrimp for seafood allergies and sausage for non-pork eaters; could put it on the side, though)
Chicken fettucini alfredo
Shrimp fettucini alfredo
Turdurken (that's a stretch...)
Kabobs (chicken & shrimp options)
Stuffed chicken
Kid's buffet area (Optional)
Chicken tenders or chicken nuggets
Sandwiches (I'd use 2 loaves and cut them in half)
Mac & Cheese
Desserts
Pretzels dipped in chocolate
M&M cookies
Cupcakes
Chocolate-dipped strawberries
Pound cake
Banana bread
Brownies Sweet potatoes with marshmallows
Drinks
Lemonade
Fruit punch
Water
Cranberry juice
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