Suggestions for culinary assignment

[macmesser]

I've been tasked with providing creative hors d'oeuvres for 15 people for a dinner consisting as well of roast beef, lasagna, salad. Any chefs around? I don't want to lose my rep as a talented dabbler in the culinary arts but I'm not used to cooking for parties.

How many pounds of hors d'oeuvres is sufficient for 15 people who don't eat like birds? Should I go with hot? I kind of wanted to transcend the antipasto plate but then you lose the nice diversity, so I think it does need to be special and…creative. Suggestions to get me started appreciated. BTW, the rest of the meal will be prepared by cooks who have real chops.

 

[ucfgrad93]

Pigs in a blanket.

 

[Don't panic]

easy to make, delicious and showy:

crab meat with avocado and mayo, served in endive leaves or celery stalks
- dice a ripe avocado in small pieces and mix with equal amount of crab meat, add mayo, parsley (or cilantro) and some lime juice, salt. mix by hand, put a spoonful into a small endive leaf or a 1-2 inches celery stalk.

bresaola and goat cheese dumplings
- add a little bit of olive oil to soft goat cheese so it makes a soft cream, put a teaspoon in the center of a roundish bresaola slice. fold in half moon dumpling and 'finger seal'

both bresaola and crab meat can be found at Costco.

 

[macmesser]

Pigs in a blanket.

I myself love them. Perhaps with a cream sauce infused with beer...

 

[Peace]

It might help if you let us know what the entrees are. Or the complete menu.

 

[macmesser]

easy to make, delicious and showy:

crab meat with avocado and mayo, served in endive leaves or celery stalks
- dice a ripe avocado in small pieces and mix with equal amount of crab meat, add mayo, parsley (or cilantro) and some lime juice, salt. mix by hand, put a spoonful into a small endive leaf or a 1-2 inches celery stalk.

bresaola and goat cheese dumplings
- add a little bit of olive oil to soft goat cheese so it makes a soft cream, put a teaspoon in the center of a roundish bresaola slice. fold in half moon dumpling and 'finger seal'

both bresaola and crab meat can be found at Costco.

Both sound delish. Bresaola and goat cheese dumplings are my kind of thing. How thick should the bresaola be? I'm thinking the dumplings would get sautéed in olive oil? Only problem is that the main course is a beef roast. It would work if they did pork. But this started my wheels turning. Some kind of dumpling. Meat (or even sea scallops) stuffed with something tasty.

The crab meat and avocado could go on my tray as something cold. I should have two or three things at least.

Thanks!

 

[macmesser]

It might help if you let us know what the entrees are. Or the complete menu.

So far: My hors d'oeuvres, salad, Italian sweet sausages, lasagna with tomato sauce (both homemade), roast beef. Probably red wine will be served. Asparagus or broccoli rabe (my fave). Someone is coming from Brooklyn and bringing pastries from an excellent Italian bakery for dessert.

 

[mobilehaathi]

Put crumbled goat cheese on an endive leaf, add 1-2 fresh mandarin orange slices, top with a couple almond flakes, diced chive, dress lightly with a fine Spanish olive oil and sherry vinegar.

 

[macmesser]

Put crumbled goat cheese on an endive leaf, add 1-2 fresh mandarin orange slices, top with a couple almond flakes, diced chive, dress lightly with a fine Spanish olive oil and sherry vinegar.

Thanks. That sounds great! Slices about 1/8"? Love all of those things. Is Spanish olive oil sort of like extra virgin?

 

[rdowns]

Wrap some bacon around, well, just about anything!

 

[mobilehaathi]

Thanks. That sounds great! Slices about 1/8"? Love all of those things. Is Spanish olive oil sort of like extra virgin?

I would certainly use an extra virgin olive oil, and if you can find one made with Spanish olives this is what I'd go for.

As for exact proportions, I'd suggest playing around and tasting until you get it the way you like.

 

[macmesser]

I would certainly use an extra virgin olive oil, and if you can find one made with Spanish olives this is what I'd go for.

As for exact proportions, I'd suggest playing around and tasting until you get it the way you like.

Will do. That sounds like an enjoyable experiment!

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Wrap some bacon around, well, just about anything!

Absolutely. Thinking of wrapping or stuffing some sea scallops with it. You can't go wrong with bacon.

 

[benthewraith]

Will do. That sounds like an enjoyable experiment!

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Absolutely. Thinking of wrapping or stuffing some sea scallops with it. You can't go wrong with bacon.

Bacon-wrapped weiners covered in brown sugar. Your arteries will hate you but your tastebuds will love you.

 

[macmesser]

Bacon-wrapped weiners covered in brown sugar. Your arteries will hate you but your tastebuds will love you.

Wieners and such are so worth a little guilt! That does sound good. Bite sized pieces, wrap, roll in sugar and bake?

Brown sugar is amazing stuff and adds character to "sweet". I always use a little brown sugar in tomato sauce, and a little red wine.

BTW, my arteries already hate me. I told them they should stay out of my relationships with foodstuffs. Flax seed oil is a good supplement for such as me.

 

[Don't panic]

Both sound delish. Bresaola and goat cheese dumplings are my kind of thing. How thick should the bresaola be? I'm thinking the dumplings would get sautéed in olive oil? Only problem is that the main course is a beef roast. It would work if they did pork. But this started my wheels turning. Some kind of dumpling. Meat (or even sea scallops) stuffed with something tasty.

The crab meat and avocado could go on my tray as something cold. I should have two or three things at least.

Thanks!

the bresaola/goat chess dumplings is also a cold plate. no cooking involved.
the slices are thin, like prosciutto slices. the one sold at costco is already sliced. If you are lucky enough to get the unsliced one, and own a slicer, they should be thin but not paper thin, as you need them to hold the shape.
I think they are different enough from roast beef to work anyways, but i see your point.
as far as olive oil, I only use extra-virgin, doesn't matter if italian, greek, spanish or californian.

 

[benthewraith]

Wieners and such are so worth a little guilt! That does sound good. Bite sized pieces, wrap, roll in sugar and bake?

Brown sugar is amazing stuff and adds character to "sweet". I always use a little brown sugar in tomato sauce, and a little red wine.

BTW, my arteries already hate me. I told them they should stay out of my relationships with foodstuffs. Flax seed oil is a good supplement for such as me.

Yup. Bite-sized.

 

[Peace]

Use fish. Smoked Salmon or Scallops.

 

[macmesser]

the bresaola/goat chess dumplings is also a cold plate. no cooking involved.
the slices are thin, like prosciutto slices. the one sold at costco is already sliced. If you are lucky enough to get the unsliced one, and own a slicer, they should be thin but not paper thin, as you need them to hold the shape.
I think they are different enough from roast beef to work anyways, but i see your point.
as far as olive oil, I only use extra-virgin, doesn't matter if italian, greek, spanish or californian.

I was wondering if you could have meant uncooked. If I had been familiar with the Costco bresaola I might have understood first time around. Sounds delicious and different. I will have to give it a try.

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Use fish. Smoked Salmon or Scallops.

Thanks. I had been thinking maybe scallops. Smoked salmon is an excellent suggestion. It would provide a lot of flavor in combination with just about anything. Good potential for a nice cold plate.

 

[snberk103]

Sushi. You can have 3 kinds, one vegetarian for those who swing that way.. though from the main course descriptions you may not have many of those.

Lots of instructions on how to make your own on the 'net.

Very easily eaten as finger food if you concentrate on the ones wrapped in seaweed. What will make this special are the little pots of Wasabi, soy sauce and ginger on the each serving platter.

If you want to be creative, use a very rare, very thinly sliced, steak instead of fish since the rest of the meal seems to be beef-centric and you won't need to mess with the wine.

If you put avocado on your burgers (yum!) you'll get why a slice of avocado with a slice of beef works so well. The key is very very sharp knives.

Luck.

Photos or it didn't happen, eh?

 

[Don't panic]

I was wondering if you could have meant uncooked. If I had been familiar with the Costco bresaola I might have understood first time around. Sounds delicious and different. I will have to give it a try.

yep, bresaola is a type of air cured beef. one of my favorite cold cuts
it is usually eaten sliced paper thin and dressed with just a drizzle lof olive oil (extra-virgin!), lemon, parmesan shavings (not grated) and pepper, and p[ossibly a bit of arugula leaves. yummy!

 

[macmesser]

yep, bresaola is a type of air cured beef. one of my favorite cold cuts
it is usually eaten sliced paper thin and dressed with just a drizzle lof olive oil (extra-virgin!), lemon, parmesan shavings (not grated) and pepper, and p[ossibly a bit of arugula leaves. yummy!
Image

It looks really wonderful (I'm hungry now) and the thought of it drizzled with olive oil is mouth watering. I originally thought you could be referring to something else; a thin cut of beef which is rolled around a stuffing and tied before cooking, usually by stewing in tomato sauce for hours. The cuts can be bought unstuffed or stuffed and both are called braciole. Carpaccio is more similar to what I originally thought you meant, which is very thinly sliced, very fresh sirloin that's eaten raw and could be served as your recipe describes. Confusingly, Boars Head has a product they call carpaccio which, as far as I can tell, is more like breseola. It's all good! Now that I know, I think you're right about it not being too close to a beef roast.

 

[macmesser]

Sushi. You can have 3 kinds, one vegetarian for those who swing that way.. though from the main course descriptions you may not have many of those.

Lots of instructions on how to make your own on the 'net.

Very easily eaten as finger food if you concentrate on the ones wrapped in seaweed. What will make this special are the little pots of Wasabi, soy sauce and ginger on the each serving platter.

If you want to be creative, use a very rare, very thinly sliced, steak instead of fish since the rest of the meal seems to be beef-centric and you won't need to mess with the wine.

If you put avocado on your burgers (yum!) you'll get why a slice of avocado with a slice of beef works so well. The key is very very sharp knives.

Luck.

Photos or it didn't happen, eh?

Thanks for suggestions. I had not even considered sushi, which I love. Yeah, with those condiments it's awesome! The beef sushi is a nice idea. Sort of like carpaccio with a Japanese flair. Dinner is this Sunday. Tommorrow I need to have my shopping list ready. I will take some pics.

 

[mscriv]

A great appetizer for a group of people is a couple of different cheese fondues with all sorts of yummy things to dip like various breads and veggies. Cheddar beer is always a favorite, but a good Swiss or other white cheese adds nice variety as we'll.

 

[Don't panic]

A great appetizer for a group of people is a couple of different cheese fondues with all sorts of yummy things to dip like various breads and veggies. Cheddar beer is always a favorite, but a good Swiss or other white cheese adds nice variety as we'll.

mmh fondue! broccoli and gruyere...
i might have to crack out the pot this weekend!
although my fav is fondue bourguignonne, no cheese, just meat and hot oil (or broth) and various sauces

 

[twietee]

This thread definitely deserves five stars! Didn't know you two were such culinary enthusiasts, mscriv and DP! Bresaola, fondue....mmmmmh...

My general rule is Italian food and French wine. Can't go wrong with that. Preferably some bruschetta (garlic and/or tomatoe) before main course.