Idea's guys??

[theshee]

Right guys, I know your all foodies so I need some good ideas/ advice?? My son is getting married at the end of this month and we have just been let down by the caterers for a cold buffet at the night time 'do'. Im trying desperately to try to get another one but not having much luck! The only option left if I cant find one is to do it myself, seing Im the Mother of the groom everything is going to have to be done befor hand. Any ideas of the sort of food to make and serve to a wide range of people? Around 150 of them

[boxfree]

That sure is a lot of people to feed shee. Whatever you decide will take a good days preparation and a way to keep it from spoiling unless you get a team of friends together. You got your hands full for certain. Maybe a large Deli pre order and a bunch of ice chest coolers for when delivery takes place...

[brillbilly]

well shee how about

If you have more than 50 guests, then for each additional 25 guests add the following:



1 x large quiche
25 meat slices
2 x salads
1 x large French stick
0.5kg cheese
1.5 packets of crackers
1.5kg strawberries
1.5pt cream

I hope you enjoy these wedding buffet recipes!

The Recipes
Three Bean Salad (serves 25)
3 tins red kidney beans
1.5kg broad beans, shelled
1.5kg French beans, trimmed
200ml French dressing (see recipe below)
Parsley to garnish

1. Cook the broad beans in salted water for about 15-20 minutes. Drain the water once cooked.
2. Cook the French beans in salted water for about 5-10 minutes. Drain the water and add to the broad beans.
3. Drain and rinse the kidney beans well. Add to the other beans while they’re still hot. Add the dressing and mix well. Allow to cool.
4. Dress with parsley just before serving.

This can be made the day before, just leave the dressing off until ready to serve.

Oriental Salad (serves 25)
From The Housekeeping Cookery Book, 1985
2 heads of Chinese leaves, roughly chopped
450g beansprouts
4 medium red peppers, seeded and finely shredded
300ml vegetable oil
90ml soy sauce
10ml runny honey
30ml white wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
100g unsalted peanuts

1. Mix together the Chinese leaves, beansprouts and peppers in a large bowl.
2. Place all the remaining ingredients, expect the peanuts, in a bowl or screw-top jar and whisk or shake until well blended.
3. To serve, add the peanuts and dressing to the salad and toss well.

Fennel and Radicchio Salad (serves 25)
From The Housekeeping Cookery Book, 1985
2 large iceberg lettuces, shredded
2 medium heads of radicchio or 450g of red cabbage, shredded
2 medium onions, skinned and sliced
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and finely chopped
150ml sunflower oil
50ml red wine vinegar
15ml whole grain mustard
Salt and pepper

1. Mix together the lettuces, radicchio, onions and fennel in a large bowl.
2. Place the oil, vinegar, mustard and seasoning in a bowl or screw-topped jar and whisk or shake together until well blended.
3. Stir the dressing into the salad and toss well.

Pasta Salad (serves 25)
2lb pasta
4 red peppers, seeded and chopped roughly
2 celery heads, sliced
1 can of black, pitted olives
1lb feta cheese, chopped in small squares
200ml French dressing (recipe below)

1. Cook pasta as per instructions on pack. Drain and place in serving bowl.
2. Add peppers, olives, celery and feta and mix well.
3. Add dressing before serving.

Brown Rice Salad (serves 25)
2lb brown rice
2 bunches spring onions, finely chopped
4 red pepper, seeded chopped
10oz currants
10oz cashew nuts
10tbsp roasted sunflower seeds
10tbsp parsley

Dressing:
0.5pt sunflower oil
8tbsp soy sauce
4tbsp lemon juice
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

1. Cook the rice as per instructions on packet. Drain and allow to cool.
2. Once cooled, mix all the ingredients together (except the dressing ingredients).
3. Make the dressing by putting the oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper into a bowl or screw-top jar and shake or whisk until blended.
4. Pour dressing over rice salad when ready to serve.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad (serves 25)
1kg tomatoes
2 cucumbers
Parsley to garnish

1. Slice the tomatoes and cucumber.
2. Arrange on a serving plate and garnish with parsley.

Warm Potato Salad (serves 25)
8lb potatoes
1 bunches chives, finely chopped
150g butter
Salt and pepper

1. Cook potatoes for 15-20 mins, until tender. Drain well.
2. Cut butter in small chunks and add to the potatoes. Add in chives, salt and pepper and mix well, until butter has melted.

French Dressing (makes 200ml)
150ml olive oil
50ml white wine vinegar
1 level tsp sugar
1 level tsp French or Dijon mustard
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

Place all the ingredients in a bowl or screw-top jar and whisk or shake well until all the ingredients are blended.

Use less oil, if a sharper dressing is required. This dressing will keep for a couple of months in a refrigerator and gets better with age!

If you have any more easy wedding buffet recipes that you'd like to share, let me know.

Why not read more about my wedding under £5,000?

Related articles:

DIY Wedding Catering – Hints and Tips
Tips For Cutting Your Wedding Catering Costs
Easy Wedding Food For Buffets
Where To Start When Catering Your Own Wedding
www.cheap-wedding-success.co.uk/wedding-buffet-recipes.html

Menu suggestions for 50 guests


Large cold poached salmon x 2 (to be done the day before)
Meat platter (40 slices each of ham and beef)
Large quiche x 2 (can be bought pre-made)
Green salad (pre-made bagged salad is fine, use 5 large bags)
Three bean salad
Pasta salad
Brown rice salad
Tomato and cucumber salad
Coleslaw (4 litres - can be bought)
Bread and butter (4 french sticks and 500g butter)
Whole ripe brie
Stilton or other blue cheese (1kg)
Crackers (3 packets)
Strawberries and cream (3.5kg strawberries and 3pts cream)
French dressing

Alternative salad recipes
Oriental salad
Fennel and radicchio salad
Warm potato salad

Alternative cheap wedding desserts
Serve the bottom tier of wedding cake (alternatively, this can be saved for supper later in the evening)
Meringues nests which are easy to make or buy them ready-made
Ice-cream (5kg will serve 50)

I hope you enjoy these easy wedding food recipes.
www.cheap-wedding-success.co.uk/wedding-food.html

;D or
Baked Spaghetti

*Note: I have modified the recipe to account for 150 servings*

Ingredients:

18-3/4 pounds lean ground beef
25 (16 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
25 pounds spaghetti
25 cups shredded mild Cheddar cheese

*This recipe's Ingredients were scaled to yield a new amount. The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield of 6 servings.*

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In large skillet, cook hamburger until brown. Mix spaghetti sauce into skillet. Reduce heat and simmer.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Mix in pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Mix together spaghetti and meat mixture, pour into 9x13 pan. Top with cheese and bake for 30 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

Hope this helps! :]
uktv.co.uk/Food/thread/threadId/9217
www.momswhothink.com/easy-recipes/buffet-recipes.html
chefdirectnortheast.co.uk/buffet-menu-catering.html

or go to iceland,lol ;D

[Naught]

I suck at food. Slith is good at that stuff. Here


Buffet MENU for 125

Dinner was served at 7PM, everyone was hungry and ate heartily.

There was more than enough food.

The Menu was designed to allow for Vegetarian Guests.

There was lots of food left over and it came in very handy.

The leftovers were served for lunch and dinner the following day,
when their home was full of relatives and quests.

Two people worked in the kitchen at the hall for approximately 6 hours;
organizing the food, serving it and then putting it away.

These ladies suggest starting 2 hrs. prior to the meal and having,
if inexperienced, a 3rd person helping.

ITEM -- for 125 people Amount Actually Needed - with a small allowance for extras Amount Made or purchased Notes for another time
Dinner Buns 10 dozen - 3 varieties 12 doz. you don't need 1 roll for every person, although it was handy having leftovers.
Butter 1 lb. cut into pats We cut 2 lbs. of butter into pats. You can purchase butter pats, or you can whip the butter with with a bit of milk, or you can cut your own pats. Only one lb. was used.
Caesar Salad 15 lb. of prepared bagged romaine lettuce fed everyone with 1/2 bag left over. People were taking generous amounts. 1 1/2 qt. of dressing was all that was used, however you might need more if you wanted the salad a bit heavier dressed on the salad. we had 20 lb. on hand with 4 qt. bottled dressing. We had 5 lbs. of salad left oven and half of the dressing. Must be mixed at the last minute so that the salad doesn't wilt. Very popular item, would use again. Make sure there is enough dressing used (I'd estimate 1 c. for each 2 lbs. of salad.) and mix in the parmesan and croutons rather than sprinkle on top. Bowl needed to be refilled several times, be prepared to refill it quickly. A very large plastic bowl was rented for this from a party supply rental.
Marinated Vegetable Salad approx. 4 gallons
Greek Salad Make using a base of 8 cucumbers and 16 tomatoes approx. 4 gallons we made using a base of 10 cucumbers and 20 tomatoes
we had an excess of this salad.

Pasta Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing 15 c. dry tiny shell pasta was the correct base for this salad 21 c. dry tiny shell pasta was actually cooked and this allowed too much left over salad We had 25% left over of this salad. The volume we made wasn't required. It was considered a starch staple in the menu and could be replaced by any other pasta, rice or potato salad.
Sliced Ham allow 14-16 lb. of sliced ham 200 slices were made, and there was LOTS left over The chicken was more popular than the ham and we had too much ham left over.
Rice Pilaf 18 c. of uncooked rice was the basis for this. Allowed 1/2 c. per person, but this was an over estimate.
Chicken In Grand Marnier 90 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut in half or several strips (approx. 12 kg. or 27 lb. purchased frozen) This was very well received and very tender and tasty. Excellent recipe and froze well ahead of time. Would definitely use again.
Pickles 1 large jar of dills cut into 200 pieces
3 - 14 oz. cans pitted black olives Use pickles of your choice and have the pickle pieces cut to a convenient size
Dessert Assorted bars, cut into small pieces. We had lots left over. 2-3 bars per person is adequate as many did not have dessert.
Wine We made our own wine for the wedding to save money, as wine is very expensive here in Canada.
Beer approx. 16 doz. beer We purchased more beer just before the wedding and we were glad that we did. Punch was not served as it would have been too labor intensive and would have taken up valuable fridge space which was needed for the food.
Other Beverages Approx. 15 2 liter bottles of Pop We had a mix of regular and diet pop and had purchased more than 15 bottles The extra pop was handy to have the next day.


TIPS:

All the menu items were prepared in small batches and 'voted on' by the bride and groom and their family. Only the dishes the majority enjoyed were chosen.

As much as possible was frozen ahead of time. We used neighbors freezers too.

A full menu dinner was prepared for some family and friends and the amounts consumed were noted in an attempt to estimate the total amounts of food the would be required.

Menu items that could be frozen were frozen, then tested for reheating.

A detailed 'volunteer list' was created for the food prep day, so that volunteers helping knew exactly what to do.

This wedding was in the winter and the cold food was stored in the garage, a thermometer was kept in there to determine the correct food safe temperature. (otherwise neighbors fridges would have been used or fridge space would have tried to be rented)

Punch was not considered as it was considered too labor intensive.

There were no appetizers served, as the was also considered too labor intensive and there was no fridge space for anything extra other than the meal itself.

[theshee]

Thanks guys... If there is any vegetarians/peskaterians etc there will be salad for them, simple as that. Its going to be hard enough without people with finicky lifestyle choices! I have a huge fridge/freezer so Im going to run it down so its just about empty.

Im still trying to find another company who can take it on. I know it wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the fact I will be at the wedding all day so everything will have to be prepared a few days in advance, oh, and a huge lock put on kitchen door to keep his friends out to stop them from eating the goods befor they are on the buffet table hahaha

[shatnerswig]

shee thats wayy too much prepping for 1 person to do ! i dunno about where your at, but in the usa even supermarkets sell catered food... they just dont have service for the party ... if they don t do that by you , i would try getting prepared food from more than one say several specialty restaraunts , stash it all in the fridge and freezer the day before to keep the raiding to a minimum, you can get buffet service equiptment at party rental places ..

[theshee]

Ive found a new caterer This woman is good, so Im chuffed to bits, stress over! Thanks guys

[boxfree]

Yeah shee....our answers got ya real scared and made ya go for the pros... ;D

[slith]

Salads work well Shee. Canapes are my choice though for this type of service. Blanched asparagus wrapped in proscuitto, roasted red pepper cream cheese on blinis, reduced sour cream and cilantro on a belgian endive. Cold stuffed pork tenderloin, sliced thinly with a chiffonade of celeriac and daikon salad @ a rice wine vinaigrette, to name a few. Good luck with the wedding, and congrats!

[theshee]

Mar 8, 2012 21:55:20 GMT 10 boxfree said:

Yeah shee....our answers got ya real scared and made ya go for the pros... ;D

LOL ;D Like I say if i had time during the day I would have tried it, I love cooking. As it stands Im going to do a cupcake stand for the night time, I can make it the day befor

Cheers Slith