Expert: Teri Davis Newman - 8/13/2008

Question
My brother-in-law has asked my to take care of the food for the party he's giving my sister for her 50th birthday So he rented a hall and is expecting about 80 people of all ages.  Right off I think buffet.  baked ziti? ham? I also need to do appetizers. Also, steamed shrimp is a must.  Can you please help me get a menu together?
Thanks, Trish.

Answer
Trish,
OK, I get your drift--I've got some questions but for the moment let's get the shrimp recipe and quantity out of the way, and here's my great shrimp recipe--it rocks! Shrimp are so bland, but this gives them great flavor and the sauce has some bite to it--but not too much.

Figure 4-5 shrimp per guest so you will need about 250 large shrimp (25-30 to the pound so about 11 pounds raw)peeled with tails on.
In a large stock pot bring to a boil: 6- 12oz cans of cheap beer, a gallon of water, 3 TBS of Old Bay seasoning and 6 TBS of pickling spice.  When the mix is rapidly boiling, add all the shrimp and bring back to a boil for one minute and remove from heat.  Let the shrimp cool in the broth and then put the whole pot in the fridge and let the shrimp lay in the broth overnight. Drain them the next morning, using the broth to rinse off any thing stuck to them--you'll see what I mean--just grab them and swish them in the broth to rinse them. Fill 3-4 gallon-size ziplocs with crushed ice or small cubes and place them in the bottom of the serving dish and pile the shrimp on top of them--this will keep them cold without letting them swim in water when the ice melts--yuckky!
Here's the sauce: 1 64 oz bottle of Heinz catsup, 1 cup horseradish,3 TBS of Louisiana hot sauce and stand aside!
What kinds of appetizers do you like? Hot? Cold? Dips? Let me know and I will help you with those.
If you do the baked ziti, that would be nice and you could serve sausage and peppers on the side--I have a killer recipe for both that I will share if you like.
I've got a dessert cake that will blow the doors off any cake you've ever had and it's cheap to make and goes with the Italian theme.
I could live on appetizers so email me directly at LimoBarbie@aol.com and we can talk about this some more.  I am a pro chef so I've got good stuff that's easy to make in big batches that won't put you in the poorhouse!