Menu suggestions for 1st stop of progressive dinner

From the Recipe Book. Make a day or two ahead. Then you can add the bread crumb topping and heat just before your guests arrive.


"Otis 2's World Famous Mushrooms Stuffed With Herbed Goat Cheese


This is a damn good warm starter or pick up food.

Filing:

4 oz softened goat cheese
2 oz softened cream cheese
1T evoo
2 cloves galic, minced
1T each minced fresh basil and tarragon
2 t each minced fresh oregano and thyme
A little salt, black and red pepper, just a pinch of the latter

Topping

A slice of sandwich bread, torn and toasted
1 T fresh Italian parsley, minced
2 garlic cloves , minced
2 T evoo

Mushrooms

24 large mushrooms, stems removed
1/4 cup evoo
1 T seasoned rice vinegar
Salt and fresh pepper

For the filling: process all ingredients in the food processor until smooth. Salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a zip lock bag and throw in the fridge.

For the bread crumbs: pulse the bread into coarse crumbs in the food processor.Mix all other ingredients in a mixing bowl, then add the bread crumbs and coat. Set aside.

For the mushrooms: Heat oven to 425. Line a baking pan with foil. Toss the caps in the evoo , salt , pepper and rice vinegar. Place on the pan, gills up, and roast 10 minutes. Turn over and roast again for 10 minutes more.

Remove and turn gills up when cool enough to handle. Snip a corner off the plastic bag and pipe the mixture into each 'shroom. Arrange breadcrumbs on a plate. Press each cap, stuffing side down,I not the crumbs to coat well. Pop back in the oven foe 5 minutes plus until heated through. Eat them and curse the fact you didn't make more."




Also, do little ceviche cups.

How many people and is it a sit down app or one to pass with drinks?

How many folks?

Do you know what the rest of the menu will be so you don't conflict with it or serve the same meat/seafood etc...?

25-30 people.

I am definitely trying to avoid anything too labor intensive.

quote:

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I am definitely trying to avoid anything too labor intensive

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Then why did you sign up?

What kind of place do you work? I mean, there's just a million ways to go. It's really just about what kind of atmosphere you want, if it's more of a cocktail party, more of a beer and meats type thing, a wine and cheese social...

Cane's Chicken Fingers?

#onelove

Professional crowd. More of a wine/cheese than beer/meat kind of party but a little of both is fine. The stuffed mushrooms are a good idea.

Maybe some grilled shrimp with a glaze or a compound butter.

The main course is beef tenderloin.

This thread is a collection of some ideas and links to other short threads on the subject. You might want to peruse those.

LINK

It would be nice to have a seafood app since the entree is beef. In those threads and in the recipe book is a crabmeat layered dip that's make ahead and goes a long way. Shrimp can be used instead of jumbo lump crabmeat.

I would serve 2-3 different things, myself.

I have a recipe for crawfish beignets (made with angel hair pasta) that's "put together ahead, but they have to be fried just before serving. I've done them many times for a larger crowd than yours. They take minutes to fry a batch and everything goes nuts over them. I'll find that for you, if you like.

We also have Ruffino's shrimp corn dog recipe and sauce which I've served to a crowd, as well. You can prepare everything ahead of time, dip and fry last minute. A fun app during cocktails.

Here's a smoked salmon layered spread that is always a crowd pleaser and is make ahead. If you make this or the seafood layered dip/spread, I'd make two small rather than one large with that amount of people and put them in different places so folks aren't crowding in one spot and waiting in line.

2 8oz bars cream cheese, softened
1 red onion-about ½ of a medium, chopped
Fresh or dry dill-I used dry this time and a generous amount of the Litehouse freeze dried bottle from Albertson’s by the vegetables. I keep it in the fridge. I think I used about 2-3 T.
Capers-about 3/4th of a 3.5 oz bottle
8-12 oz thin cut smoked salmon-depends on how much salmon you want in your layers. *On Christmas Eve, I got the hardwood smoked rather than the cold smoked and it was the connoisseur cut which is thicker and more heavily smoked from Sam’s. Worked fine. It comes in a 12oz package. You can use whatever type you wish.
Ritz crackers

Line a serving bowl or casserole dish shaped the way you wish to serve your spread. Even a plastic container will work. Mix the cream cheese, capers, red onions and dill together well. Spread the bottom of the dish on the plastic wrap with this mixture. Then, layer some salmon slices and continue until all ingredients are used and you have the cream cheese mixture first and last. Cover with the plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Remove the wrap from the top of the dish and invert onto the serving plate, removing the rest of the wrap. Garnish with fresh dill, a little salmon, red onion and capers if you wish. Sometimes, I put chopped hard boiled eggs around the outside of the spread. Serve with Ritz crackers or the crackers of your choice.

Nothing about this recipe needs to be exact. I usually eyeball it and taste the mixture to figure out the seasoning, but they get stronger after they’ve refrigerated. You can also add a little caper juice if you like.


Another make ahead fun item is cheese straw dough covered olives. Make cheese straw dough. Dry the queen olives well, roll the dough around each olive completely, then bake just before serving at about 350 or so until golden and crispy on the outside. They can be made ahead and frozen before baking. If you live in BR, go to Calvin's and buy the frozen tubes of cheese straw dough in the little freezer right up front by the fruits and veggies. It's called Mamie's. Use that to wrap the olives or cut them into rounds and bake. Those and cheese straws or cheese straw cookies are good to have out with some nuts.

There are so many options.

Jezebel sauce over cream cheese with crackers is super easy and people love it for whatever reason.

I was going to suggest some caramelized onion and Gorgonzola tartlets, but that's not exactly low effort.