cooking for 12 people next week

i'm hosting 12 people for dinner next week, haven't cooked on a scale like that before. any tips from people who have experience with this sort of thing, like how to keep all the food warm because there are a few things i'll be doing in batches (starting off the dinner with pan seared scallops), would be appreciated.

i'm doing five courses: a seared scallop over a curried apple and carrot puree, braised pork belly, a salad of some sort, beef short rib ragu over hand made fettucine, and then some sort of dessert involving nutella.

ideas welcome

cheers

A toasty oven should work for keeping the food warm, is that what you mean?

would that overcook the food though if you keep it in the oven? maybe i could keep the plates in the oven

here's some advice:

stop making that fucking awful ragu and come up with a new idea you cunt

*kidding, im an 'orrible cook*

i would say it depends on how you are serving it

i would attempt it very restaurant style-prep absolutely everything in a way that it can be put together rather quickly. if time is lacking, unfortunately youd probably have to stay in the kitchen to make sure everything is ship shape, other wise, your guests should be happy enough to wait 20 minutes each course for your delicious feastings.

oh yeah, would it be rude not to join them for dinner and let my wife do all the socializing while i run the kitchen?

and would it be "weird" to hire a chimpanzee to chop vegetables?

  On 12/9/2009 at 7:46 PM, Fred McGriff said:

oh yeah, would it be rude not to join them for dinner and let my wife do all the socializing while i run the kitchen?

 

and would it be "weird" to hire a chimpanzee to chop vegetables?

i would say not, especially if its a small kitchen, its not like they cant shout from across the room or peer in from the entryway...if you really, i mean really want it to move quickly, youd pretty much have to stay in the kitchen unless you have others helping.

maybe your wife can handle the wine/ social part, you take care of the chef part.

plus i think a chimpanzee would be a fresh amazonian avant-garde take on prepping veggies.

good ideas, good ideas

wear only an apron and oven mitts. I can't cook so I have no other useful tips.

sounds like a good menu.

im thinkin you might actually be able to socialize briefly sometime between the first and second course....all youd really have to do is watch the oven for the pork belly and watch the pot warming the puree....or am i missing something?

do as much of it in advance as possible, I don't know how you feel about microwaves but I think you can do a lot of your veg in advance and microwave it.

A practice run always helps, obviously not on that scale but it helps to highlight potential problems. Also, make sure the meal is more than managable so that if there are (allah forbid) any bumps in the road the whole spead doesn't go to shit. ribs are ideal for pre-cooking. I don't see why the mains couldn't work. Belly Pork can be truly spectacular but you dont want that fat too moist nor do you want the meat too dry. Scoring and airing the meat can help.

In terms of keeping the food warm, scallops need to be served FAST, those little bastards lose heat rapidly so you want hot plates and you want them on the table asap.

Nutella makes an incredible stuffed french toast, pretty easy to cook/prepare, cheap and cheerful served with a dollop of decent vanilla icecream. Garnish with chopped mint.

Hot plates are usually essential on an oparation of this scale, if the oven is too full fill the sink with hot water and keep them in there. Have someone (wife/chimp) on hand to dry those bad boys thoroghly before serving.

Hope that helps.

8 packs of ramen noodles

You only get to socialize a bit but afterward you are the cook and it's fucking great.

  On 12/9/2009 at 8:01 PM, Etch said:

A practice run always helps, obviously not on that scale but it helps to highlight potential problems. Also, make sure the meal is more than managable so that if there are (allah forbid) any bumps in the road the whole spead doesn't go to shit. ribs are ideal for pre-cooking. I don't see why the mains couldn't work. Belly Pork can be truly spectacular but you dont want that fat too moist nor do you want the meat too dry. Scoring and airing the meat can help.

 

In terms of keeping the food warm, scallops need to be served FAST, those little bastards lose heat rapidly so you want hot plates and you want them on the table asap.

 

Nutella makes an incredible stuffed french toast, pretty easy to cook/prepare, cheap and cheerful served with a dollop of decent vanilla icecream. Garnish with chopped mint.

 

Hot plates are usually essential on an oparation of this scale, if the oven is too full fill the sink with hot water and keep them in there. Have someone (wife/chimp) on hand to dry those bad boys thoroghly before serving.

 

Hope that helps.

fucking great tips. gonna look into that nutella thing.

i've practiced the short rib ragu twice before so i'm ready for that i think. this whole meal is actually a practice run for the throwdown my brother and I are having over christmas.

gonna try to do as much of this shit as possible before hand. word on the scallops being served immediately. i want to have every thing done for the most part before I put those in the scallops in the pans. the rest will simply involve plating, boiling the pasta, and more plating. that sink idea is brilliant. i have a big ass farmhouse sink so that will be perfect, i wouldn't have thought of that.

Glad to help.

One more thing, go for a pudding tha is almost completely preped. During the meal you want to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labour, have a few glasses of wine and kick back like you do this all the time etc. The last thing you want to do is get up from the table and launch into something complicated. Go forsomething that you whip out of the fridge/freezer, maybe make some custard/choclolate sauce or something but ideally you want the prep to be as simple as possible.

I can't think of anything else. I reckon you'll nail it.

I want some photos of your guests eating round the table with their faces photoshopped blank (a la BOC).

You probably know this already, but don't be tempted to overload one pan at the same time, particularly with the scallops. It just sucks the heat out of the pan, and you end up stewing rather than searing things.

Also, mise en place

If you put some foil over dishes before putting them in a warmed oven it should keep it from drying out too much depending on the dish. My oven is kinda whacked and the back right burner gets quite warm if the oven is on so I often use that to keep pots warm.

Hope you take some pictures man, your cooking is often an inspiration for my own culinary battles.

I'd consider getting a catering company's quote on how much the dinner will cost you and compare that to your time plus the cost of materials to you and say 'fuck it' to the cooking part, and entertain your guests with burlap drawings.

fred, you're my hero.

  On 12/9/2009 at 7:35 PM, Fred McGriff said:

i'm hosting 12 people for dinner next week, haven't cooked on a scale like that before. any tips from people who have experience with this sort of thing, like how to keep all the food warm because there are a few things i'll be doing in batches (starting off the dinner with pan seared scallops), would be appreciated.

 

i'm doing five courses: a seared scallop over a curried apple and carrot puree, braised pork belly, a salad of some sort, beef short rib ragu over hand made fettucine, and then some sort of dessert involving nutella.

 

ideas welcome

 

cheers

Man, we usually cook for two, and even when we have only two other people over, it's like cooking an entirely different dish. Cooking for more is so fuckin hard!

My amateur ideas:

Please let us know how it turns out! I could use the dinner party tips -- I really want to be able to throw one but find it intimidating.

I didn't know you had 12 friends!

en<3y

  On 12/9/2009 at 9:30 PM, Joyrex said:

I'd consider getting a catering company's quote on how much the dinner will cost you and compare that to your time plus the cost of materials to you and say 'fuck it' to the cooking part, and entertain your guests with burlap drawings.

No, no, it’s about actually doing everything yourself (hence the homemade fettuccine), rocking it, then earning everybody’s fucking respect.

Just set your oven to warm and keep the finished dishes in there. If you're going to go the route which requires you to be in the kitchen most of the night, just make everything one at a time, and keep it in the oven if your guests aren't ready for the next course. Depends on the dish, but you could time it perfectly if you start cooking another course when you serve one.

Actually, fuck it. Just serve hot dogs.

i love tits covered in nutella.

*jots tits down*