Expert: Teri Davis Newman - 3/28/2009

Question
QUESTION: I need to make a meal for 80 people and am looking for entree ideas and recipes.  I provided oven fried chicken to this same group last year, but would like to offer something different.  I've asked about glazed ham/ham balls, lasagna or ziti, sweet and sour pork, plum chicken or salisbury steak but they are not interested.  I'd love some ideas for beef or chicken entrees that aren't a ton of work. And if you have actual recipes, that's even better!  Thanks so much for your help!

ANSWER: Give them spaghetti and meat sauce--here's a great recipe for the sauce that will feed everyone.
10-15 lbs ground beef
20 29 oz cans any cheap tomato sauce
5 12 oz cans tomato paste
3 TBS Basil
7 TBS garlic powder
10 TBS Italian Seasoning blend (Spice Islands)
10 bay leaf
6 TBS fennel seed
3 c. sugar (trust me)
2 TBS accent
crushed red pepper (for hot and spicy, optional)
Brown the beef, add the rest of the stuff, bring to a boil. Cool, boil,
cool, boil. When ready to serve, cook you favorite pasta shape according to
the directions on the box. Reheat the sauce and ladle over the cooked
drained pasta.


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: It's for a buffet style dinner in a barn at a horse show, so it doesn't have to be fancy necessarily but I think spaghetti is too casual.  They want good, hearty food.  Last year I made oven fried chicken, cheesy potatoes, green beans with bacon, Feta salad, homemade rolls and homemade carrot cake.  Any other ideas?  One thought the person brought up was some sort of beef roast.  I haven't done many beef roasts so any recipes would be helpful.

ANSWER: You could switch it to baked ziti to dress it up a bit and get lasagne taste without lasagne work.  I'd suggest you make a small batch of the sauce and taste it--it's a delicious sauce that I perfected the recipe for after many years of playing with it.  It's consistently the most requested recipe in my repertoire because is is so very good.  Here's a cut down recipe to make a trial batch:
3/4 lb ground beef
2 15oz cans any cheap tomato sauce
3 oz  tomato paste
1/2 tsp Basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1.5 tsp Italian Seasoning blend (Spice Islands)
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fennel seed
1/8 c. sugar (trust me)
1/2 tsp accent
crushed red pepper (for hot and spicy, optional)
This will make about a quart of meat sauce, try it and see if you like it.
I don't know how you will make all this food in a barn so I really don't know what to recommend as I have no clue what kind of equipment you have to make a meal for 80 in a barn!
Here's a few suggestions of things I know travel well that I can give you great (and very easy) recipes to prepare.
German Potato Salad
Amaretto Cake
Gingered Carrots
Burnt Sugar Sweet potatoes
Cuban Pork Roast (Mojo Crillo Pork)
Garlic Bread
As for a beef roast, you just season it and roast it by weight--just like a turkey--x amount of minutes per pound for rare/med/well-done)


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I've asked about pasta dishes and that's not what they are looking for.  So, pasta isn't an option.  There really aren't places to cook at the barn so last year I cooked everything in the kitchen of my church which has two large commercial ovens as well as convection oven.  Then I borrowed insulated containers from a catering company and transported the chicken and other hot dishes to the barn in those.  Now that you know pasta isn't an option, any other ideas?

Answer
Roast Turkey
German Potato Salad
Amaretto Cake
Gingered Carrots
Burnt Sugar Sweet potatoes
Cuban Pork Roast (Mojo Crillo Pork)
Garlic Bread
As for a beef roast, you just season it and roast it by weight--just like a turkey--x amount of minutes per pound for rare/med/well-done)