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Started By
Message
Dinner Party Menu Planning...need some advice. (Updated, proposed Menu on pg 2)
Posted on 2/29/12 at 8:39 am
Posted on 2/29/12 at 8:39 am
My mom asked me to cateer a dinner party she's throwing at her home for her birthday. She asked me to do it because she loves my food, because I have a strong passion for cooking, and because it doesn't feel like work to me while I'm doing it. Many who have eaten some of my meals also say that it shows in the finish product.
Well, the party of for around 12-14 people. I'm looking for some suggestions as to what should be on the menu. I would like to cook things that aren't too complicated because I don't know yet how much help I would have in the kitchen. Right now I think all I have is one person, maybe two if my wife isn't busy the day before and the day of the party.
So, How many different courses should I have? I was thinking of only having three; an appetizer, entree, and dessert. If I added a fourth, it would have to be something like a soup or bisque.
So, with that I'll hang up and wait for some suggestions.
Well, the party of for around 12-14 people. I'm looking for some suggestions as to what should be on the menu. I would like to cook things that aren't too complicated because I don't know yet how much help I would have in the kitchen. Right now I think all I have is one person, maybe two if my wife isn't busy the day before and the day of the party.
So, How many different courses should I have? I was thinking of only having three; an appetizer, entree, and dessert. If I added a fourth, it would have to be something like a soup or bisque.
So, with that I'll hang up and wait for some suggestions.
This post was edited on 3/5/12 at 7:58 am
Posted on 2/29/12 at 9:12 am to Hammond Tiger Fan
Three sounds good...keep it simple, and something that you can let cook without having to dick around with it too much. A standing rib roast would be great...gives you a few hours to handle sides and stuff without having to mess with it too much.
Posted on 2/29/12 at 9:21 am to Schwartz
Cook a sauce piquante the day before and then put it on the stove top a couple of hours before.
Posted on 2/29/12 at 9:33 am to Hammond Tiger Fan
Is this going to be a formal sit down meal? Casual sit down meal? Will you be serving the courses yourself or will they serve themselves?
If you are doing all of the serving, it takes time to plate, deliver, plate the next course, pick up plates and then deliver again, for example.
What foods that you cook does your Mom like? Does she want you to prepare some of her favorites that you make or surprise her?
Dishes that can be prepped, for the most part ahead of time would be the way to go.
It will be easier to suggest when we know a little more about the meal.
If you are doing all of the serving, it takes time to plate, deliver, plate the next course, pick up plates and then deliver again, for example.
What foods that you cook does your Mom like? Does she want you to prepare some of her favorites that you make or surprise her?
Dishes that can be prepped, for the most part ahead of time would be the way to go.
It will be easier to suggest when we know a little more about the meal.
Posted on 2/29/12 at 9:45 am to Gris Gris
quote:
Is this going to be a formal sit down meal? Casual sit down meal? Will you be serving the courses yourself or will they serve themselves?
Well, it's going be casual. I had planned for it to be a buffet style and have everything lined up on a table in chafing dishes.
quote:
What foods that you cook does your Mom like? Does she want you to prepare some of her favorites that you make or surprise her?
She's a creole woman. She loves seafood. She loves dishes that are tomato based. She really doesn't care for steak so that's out. She wants me to make something that surprises her that she never had before. Sunday night, I experimented with a new dish it was called Baked Catfish Creole. The base is made just like your typical shrimp creole, but the difference is that you layer a casserole dish with catfish and spoon the creole based of the catfish and bake it. The dish is served over rice. My wife and I loved it!
quote:
It will be easier to suggest when we know a little more about the meal.
I agree and I apologize that I wasn't clearer in my initial post.
I'm wondering should I only make one type of appetizer, entree, and dessert or should have make two of each to have a little variety?
This post was edited on 2/29/12 at 9:47 am
Posted on 2/29/12 at 10:42 am to Hammond Tiger Fan
Grill a whole beef tenderloin or two if you think you will need that much. Make twice baked stuffed potato's and have asparagus. Make a nice house salad and have someone that's a good cook make desert.
This post was edited on 2/29/12 at 2:12 pm
Posted on 2/29/12 at 10:52 am to Hammond Tiger Fan
beef tenderloin is always good/easy to do. add some rolls and condiments. you can also go with an easy ap such as an artichoke dip. find a good dessert that you can pick up (chocolate truffles etc).
eta:
this too
eta:
quote:
Make twice baked stuffed potato's and have asparagus. Make a nice house salad
this too
This post was edited on 2/29/12 at 10:53 am
Posted on 2/29/12 at 10:52 am to Hammond Tiger Fan
Why not four or five course? Most of the parts can be made in advance, and heated or whatever at the moment.
Posted on 2/29/12 at 10:58 am to CITWTT
quote:
Why not four or five course? Most of the parts can be made in advance, and heated or whatever at the moment
Just didn't want to over extend myself because I don't know how much help I will have. But yes, I agree with you.
Posted on 2/29/12 at 1:48 pm to Hammond Tiger Fan
I'm not a big fan of chafer meals, but I'll get back to you when I've thought on this a bit. Do you think you couldskip the chasers if mist of the food was make ahead and you got someone to help plate and seve?
Posted on 2/29/12 at 2:06 pm to Hammond Tiger Fan
I like to do a Shrimp Creole for a crowd...easy buffet dish. Great over rice with a side salad. You can prep it a day ahead and add the shrimp 15 minutes before serving time. Consider some "pick up" hors o'dorves, too.
Posted on 2/29/12 at 2:07 pm to Gris Gris
quote::onlybecauseyouwon'teatmycookin:
I'm not a big fan of chafer meals
Posted on 2/29/12 at 2:29 pm to Gris Gris
quote:
I'm not a big fan of chafer meals, but I'll get back to you when I've thought on this a bit. Do you think you couldskip the chasers if mist of the food was make ahead and you got someone to help plate and seve?
Yes, that's a possibility. I'm sure my sister and my wife would help plate and serve. But it's at my mom's home and IMO her home isn't set up well for a sit down dinner for that many people (12-14). Now we could use the patio area as a dining area and set it up outside. That area is large enough to do that kinda thing, but my mom lives in the woods and bugs could be an issue If we did it outside I would assume that the lighting would have to be very dimmed or people would need to eat by candle light, which could also be nice too.
That's why I thought of the chafer meals. People can mingle and feast as they please without any restrictions.
Posted on 2/29/12 at 2:49 pm to Hammond Tiger Fan
Sorry about the typos. I'm on my phone in between some meetings.
Okay, so maybe you're thinking heavy cocktail food situation, here. I love being able to eat at my own pace, cocktail and visit. Is that what you're thinking? If so, you'll need things that hold for awhile in chafers without overcooking etc.
Okay, so maybe you're thinking heavy cocktail food situation, here. I love being able to eat at my own pace, cocktail and visit. Is that what you're thinking? If so, you'll need things that hold for awhile in chafers without overcooking etc.
Posted on 2/29/12 at 2:55 pm to Gris Gris
quote:
so maybe you're thinking heavy cocktail food situation, here. I love being able to eat at my own pace, cocktail and visit. Is that what you're thinking?
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.
Posted on 2/29/12 at 3:02 pm to Hammond Tiger Fan
Sounds like shrimp creole would be a good choice, and would stand up well to a buffet line. Salad and maybe corn machoux,french bread. Chocolate something for dessert.
Posted on 2/29/12 at 3:07 pm to Hammond Tiger Fan
This might be a bit too casual, but have you thought about something like a fajita bar? 99% of it is advance prep work, then once everyone gets there, you throw some steak, chicken and shrimp on the grill. Reheat some sautéed onion and bell pepper, and people can build their own. Might be a good option if there's not a lot of seating space.
You could serve these individual 7 layer dips as the app. I made them for our Super Bowl party and they were a huge hit. Seven Layer Dips Word of caution: do not make if you are not a patient person!
You could serve these individual 7 layer dips as the app. I made them for our Super Bowl party and they were a huge hit. Seven Layer Dips Word of caution: do not make if you are not a patient person!
Posted on 2/29/12 at 8:14 pm to Hammond Tiger Fan
The recipe below for Crawfish Beignets is always a hit. We serve them a lot during the cocktail hour before dinner. You can make them up ahead of time and keep them in the fridge. They do have to be fried just before serving, but that takes no time and with them all made up and the sauce made and ready to serve, there's nothing to them. They have the seafood requirement your mom likes and they would be a surprise unless you've made something like them before.
Something people don't have a lot at home as a starter is a soup and they really like that.
You could make ahead a roasted red bell pepper soup served in cups. Garnish with toasted almonds and chopped chives or thinly sliced green onions. You either load the soup on a tray and pass them or put it in a crock with small cups and let them garnish themselves. A shrimp or lump of crabmeat floating on top is another garnish possibility.
I have a white cheddar soup in the recipe book that's really good and well received at parties, if that might interest you.
You could also do a corn and andouille or crawfish or shrimp or crabmeat bisque.
Here's a recipe from Masson's Beach House that I love. You can make it ahead of time and bake just before putting it out or serving. You'll have to make the hollandaise, the day of, but you can hold it in a thermos for about 3 hours.
Crabmeat and artichoke
Makes 6 servings
2 bay leaves
6 fresh cooked artichoke bottoms (can add the meat from the leaves too, if you wish, and use some of the leaves to decorate the plates)
2 ounces white wine
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
¼ pound butter
1 egg
½ bunch green onions, sliced thin
½ cup bread crumbs
1 pinch cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
1 pinch leaf thyme
Hollandaise sauce
Saute sliced green onions, cayenne, thyme and bay leaves in the margarine about 3 minutes. Add wine and crabmeat. Fold in the egg and bread crumbs. Form crab mixture such that a generous amount fits on top of each artichoke bottom. Sprinkle with just a bit of grated cheese and bake in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Top with hollandaise sauce and serve. Outstanding!
Would your Mom enjoy shrimp and grits? You can probably hold the shrimp in a chafer if you can control the temp okay or you can just put it out as a meal rather than sitting out until they're ready. I made a very good and easy version and it's tomato based, so it hits the creole aspect that your mom likes. I usually make the sauce ahead of time and add the shrimp right before serving. Grits can be made ahead of time and baked again to warm. We do it all the time, that way. It's in the recipe book. I don't think the recipe looks near as good as it is. I wouldn't even make it at first. When my Mom made it for me, I was sold. I had it for some friends and two of them took the recipe and served it 3 times in 2 weeks. It's a good dish for a crowd. I use it for football game watching a lot.
What about a good bbq shrimp for a crowd? I always think that's fun, sort of like a crawfish boil since every is busy peeling and chatting.
Crawfish dishes hold really well in chafers. Crawfish cardinale is delicious and you could put out baked puff pastry cups for them to fill with the mixture. Have some nice asparagus and a tossed salad to go with it. The asparagus will hold pretty well in a chafer, also. You can substitute crawfish for shrimp in the shrimp and grits dish.
Bread pudding would be a good dessert if your Mom likes that.
Still thinking...let us know if anything triggers other ideas you have about this and we can go in other directions.
Something people don't have a lot at home as a starter is a soup and they really like that.
You could make ahead a roasted red bell pepper soup served in cups. Garnish with toasted almonds and chopped chives or thinly sliced green onions. You either load the soup on a tray and pass them or put it in a crock with small cups and let them garnish themselves. A shrimp or lump of crabmeat floating on top is another garnish possibility.
I have a white cheddar soup in the recipe book that's really good and well received at parties, if that might interest you.
You could also do a corn and andouille or crawfish or shrimp or crabmeat bisque.
Here's a recipe from Masson's Beach House that I love. You can make it ahead of time and bake just before putting it out or serving. You'll have to make the hollandaise, the day of, but you can hold it in a thermos for about 3 hours.
Crabmeat and artichoke
Makes 6 servings
2 bay leaves
6 fresh cooked artichoke bottoms (can add the meat from the leaves too, if you wish, and use some of the leaves to decorate the plates)
2 ounces white wine
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat
1 cup grated Swiss cheese
¼ pound butter
1 egg
½ bunch green onions, sliced thin
½ cup bread crumbs
1 pinch cayenne pepper
Salt to taste
1 pinch leaf thyme
Hollandaise sauce
Saute sliced green onions, cayenne, thyme and bay leaves in the margarine about 3 minutes. Add wine and crabmeat. Fold in the egg and bread crumbs. Form crab mixture such that a generous amount fits on top of each artichoke bottom. Sprinkle with just a bit of grated cheese and bake in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes. Top with hollandaise sauce and serve. Outstanding!
Would your Mom enjoy shrimp and grits? You can probably hold the shrimp in a chafer if you can control the temp okay or you can just put it out as a meal rather than sitting out until they're ready. I made a very good and easy version and it's tomato based, so it hits the creole aspect that your mom likes. I usually make the sauce ahead of time and add the shrimp right before serving. Grits can be made ahead of time and baked again to warm. We do it all the time, that way. It's in the recipe book. I don't think the recipe looks near as good as it is. I wouldn't even make it at first. When my Mom made it for me, I was sold. I had it for some friends and two of them took the recipe and served it 3 times in 2 weeks. It's a good dish for a crowd. I use it for football game watching a lot.
What about a good bbq shrimp for a crowd? I always think that's fun, sort of like a crawfish boil since every is busy peeling and chatting.
Crawfish dishes hold really well in chafers. Crawfish cardinale is delicious and you could put out baked puff pastry cups for them to fill with the mixture. Have some nice asparagus and a tossed salad to go with it. The asparagus will hold pretty well in a chafer, also. You can substitute crawfish for shrimp in the shrimp and grits dish.
Bread pudding would be a good dessert if your Mom likes that.
Still thinking...let us know if anything triggers other ideas you have about this and we can go in other directions.
Posted on 2/29/12 at 9:03 pm to Gris Gris
All of your suggestions sound great. Especially the Crawfish Beignets. I've never made this before.
Having a soup for a starter is a great idea. It's easy to make and I can make in bulk quickly. I've made a roasted bell pepper soup before from one of John Folse's cookbooks. It was fantastic and one of my favorite soups I've ever eaten. The Crawfish cardinale dish you suggested sound good as well. You mentioned that the dishes you suggested came from a cookbook. Do you mind sharing the name of the book? It sounds like it would be a great book to add to my collection.
The bread pudding idea for dessert is a great one. But I would like to have two desserts. What about a cheesecake or should the second dessert consist of some type of chocolate concoction?
Oh, and thanks for helping me think this out. I really do appreciate all the input everyone has given thus far.
Having a soup for a starter is a great idea. It's easy to make and I can make in bulk quickly. I've made a roasted bell pepper soup before from one of John Folse's cookbooks. It was fantastic and one of my favorite soups I've ever eaten. The Crawfish cardinale dish you suggested sound good as well. You mentioned that the dishes you suggested came from a cookbook. Do you mind sharing the name of the book? It sounds like it would be a great book to add to my collection.
The bread pudding idea for dessert is a great one. But I would like to have two desserts. What about a cheesecake or should the second dessert consist of some type of chocolate concoction?
Oh, and thanks for helping me think this out. I really do appreciate all the input everyone has given thus far.
This post was edited on 2/29/12 at 9:05 pm
Posted on 2/29/12 at 9:27 pm to Hammond Tiger Fan
The crawfish beignets are a lot of fun to serve because they're so different and the sauce is really good with them.
The recipe book I was referring to is the TD recipe book in the first post in the recipe thread at the top of the page. There are a few recipes that haven't made in into the book that are in the thread, but most are there thanks to Wink. You'll see the recipes I was referring to even though my name isn't next to them. No names are listed. My crawfish cardinale recipe is there on page 53. It's from the old Plantation Cookbook by the New Orleans Junior League. You'll see quite a few recipes from that book. It's a worthy purchase because it's tried and true. You can probably get a good used one on Amazon.
On the cardinale, I also serve it as a cocktail food that you load onto toasted French bread, but I have served it as an entree in the puff pastry shells and it's mighty tasty that way. Some folks put it over pasta, as well.
My corn and whatever soup is there. Mr. Balls makes it regularly for his wife to earn hunting nights. Mine has the option of andouille, crawfish, shrimp or crab.
The white cheddar soup and shrimp and grits recipes are there. I haven't posted a roasted red bell pepper soup, but you've already made one, so you have one you like. Mine is a pretty simple one with the base and cream.
I don't make desserts myself. I'm just not interested in making them, but I like to eat them. I'm sort of tired of cheesecake. Seems to be a go to dessert. I never tire of a good bread pudding, but my favorite dessert is creme brulee.It's so fun to brulee the sugar with the torch. The guests get all excited and impressed with that, though there's nothing to it. It's a show. Have whatever desserts are your Mom's faves.
If you can't find a recipe I listed in the TD book, let me know and I'll look up the page for you.
One more idea is shrimp and crabmeat stuffed eggplant. Those are make ahead and I love, worship and adore them. Don't know if that's something different for your Mom or not.
Oh, and without the shrimp in it, you can make the sauce for the shrimp and grits, days ahead, actually. Another reason it's a good recipe for a crowd when you're making a lot of other things.
Do tell us what you decide on and report back when it's said and done. Your Mom is going to have a great birthday party!
The recipe book I was referring to is the TD recipe book in the first post in the recipe thread at the top of the page. There are a few recipes that haven't made in into the book that are in the thread, but most are there thanks to Wink. You'll see the recipes I was referring to even though my name isn't next to them. No names are listed. My crawfish cardinale recipe is there on page 53. It's from the old Plantation Cookbook by the New Orleans Junior League. You'll see quite a few recipes from that book. It's a worthy purchase because it's tried and true. You can probably get a good used one on Amazon.
On the cardinale, I also serve it as a cocktail food that you load onto toasted French bread, but I have served it as an entree in the puff pastry shells and it's mighty tasty that way. Some folks put it over pasta, as well.
My corn and whatever soup is there. Mr. Balls makes it regularly for his wife to earn hunting nights. Mine has the option of andouille, crawfish, shrimp or crab.
The white cheddar soup and shrimp and grits recipes are there. I haven't posted a roasted red bell pepper soup, but you've already made one, so you have one you like. Mine is a pretty simple one with the base and cream.
I don't make desserts myself. I'm just not interested in making them, but I like to eat them. I'm sort of tired of cheesecake. Seems to be a go to dessert. I never tire of a good bread pudding, but my favorite dessert is creme brulee.It's so fun to brulee the sugar with the torch. The guests get all excited and impressed with that, though there's nothing to it. It's a show. Have whatever desserts are your Mom's faves.
If you can't find a recipe I listed in the TD book, let me know and I'll look up the page for you.
One more idea is shrimp and crabmeat stuffed eggplant. Those are make ahead and I love, worship and adore them. Don't know if that's something different for your Mom or not.
Oh, and without the shrimp in it, you can make the sauce for the shrimp and grits, days ahead, actually. Another reason it's a good recipe for a crowd when you're making a lot of other things.
Do tell us what you decide on and report back when it's said and done. Your Mom is going to have a great birthday party!
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