Need some advice!

Hi,

I'm doing a "light finger food" party for 300 persons on Feb. 18th, and I have never done something quite this big! I have done 100 before, but never 300. The thing is, I really am unsure about how many appetizers I should allot to each guest. Can anyone please give me some advice on this?

Thanks!!!

Stephen

[lynne]

Stephen,

Give us a little more background on the event, and I'm sure we will come up with some answers.

Time of Event? Is it pre-dinner, theatre, etc? Right after normal workday?

Length of event?

Is the venue conducive to eating or not?

Client Make-Up? Mostly men?women?teens, etc.

Will alcohol be served?

Are HD to be passed? buffet? combination?

We touched on this topic earlier at:
http://www.cheftalkcafe.com/ubb/Foru...ML/000011.html

I believe there was another similar thread, but I haven't located it in archives yet...

Good luck!

Thinking warm thoughts!
lynne

[Chef David Simpson]

Prepare 4 per person each hour the event is in session. For example, if the party is in session for three hours, 12 per person. And it may vary if the patrons are drinking or not. Or what hour in the day it is. If it's at night, then people don't eat as much and you can serve 2 or more, again, depending if the patron is drinking. Because you eat very much at all while drinking.

Hey Lynne and David, thanks for the replies and help!

I don't think I will be doing it. She finally got back to me, and she wanted 5$ a head! In this country that is really laughable. The food costs are quite a bit more than in the US, mind.

Anyway, I am considering possibly seeing if I can do it cheaply. After all, she wants cheap, that is what she will get. I can say one thing, she will never get anyone to do it for that!
The nice thing is that the guest list was lowered to 200 persons.

Anyone know of some good cheap things to do?

Or, do you think I should save my rep. and my time? I would say forget it, quite frankly. I have had too much experience with not getting paid enough! I mean, I can make more doing programming and web design!

Stephen

[shroomgirl]

Cheap~ hummos on pita chips
baby pizzas
small dollar sandwiches (pork loin is cheap)
Veggy platters with dips
Cheese and crackers
well $1000
if you can keep food costs under $150 tack on labor to the $1000 it would be an ok day.
I'd do it....not if servers are included in that price.

[This message has been edited by shroomgirl (edited 01-29-2001).]

[Mezzaluna]

Hmmm... I'm thinking pork loin wouldn't go in Jerusalem, right? (Bet it's expensive to boot!)

Why not traditional (and nutritionally very un-politically correct) chopped liver? Or what my Romanian grandmother called potlagiana, but which is also called baba ganoush?

If that's too cliche, why not roll out a lot of puff pastry and do some permutations: cheese puffs, etc. and if it's not kosher, you could envelop some meat balls spread with tapenade, too. These come out like mini beef wellingtons sort of. Or you could do phyllo mini-pies (tiropites)- anything with phyllo looks good, but maybe it's too labor-intensive. Good luck!

[This message has been edited by Mezzaluna (edited 01-30-2001).]

Just wanted to let everyone know that I did the event and it all went VERY smoothly! And Thanks For All the Help!
The client was very pleased with our work and would like to do it again. I ended up getting the price that I had wanted and the profit was very nice. I think that I will from now on out have a catering partner (that I can trust to do a good job) by my side at all times!

Being that they wanted different than what is served here, this is what we served:

All HD's
-
Tuna Mousse Canape w/lemon peel, and dill
-
Cucumber with curry butter canape topped w/cherry tomato wedge and chives
-
Deviled eggs topped with caper and paprika
-
Sinful Spuds: baby potatoes filled with feta mixture and topped with parsely leaf
-
Orange balls (intense orange flavor!)
-
Banana bread slices
-
moist Carrot Bread slices
--
note: they wanted moderate, that is what they got. They also wanted very american and very un-Israeli, I think we succeeded.

Forgot about the Sweet and sour goose picks!
Those went very well as well!

[shroomgirl]

OK GOTTA ASK>>>>sweeet and sour goose picks??? What are they?

Hi Shroomgirl!

Here is what I did:

Debone a goose
dredge in egg wash then corn starch
Deep fry in oil until golden

For the sauce just use your favorite intense flavored sweet and sour sauce (should be very thick).

when ready to assemble:
place Sweet and sour sauce in a large pan on an heating surface, and warm.
toss goose in with warmed sauce until well coated

Stick two pineapple chunks on a tooth pick
stick pineapple picks into goose in pan
leave in pan until ready to tray and serve.

very simple!

I think a nice addition would be to add:
- a green pepper square to the tooth picks
- roll in sesame seeds for less mess and more texture
- or add a parsely or cilantro leaf for garnish.

[shroomgirl]

Wow goose!!! sounds just like chinese s&S
I've read that Israel exports a large quantity of foie Gras....is it inexspensive where you are Steven?

In comparison to markets out side Israel, it is less expensive. In fact, just about every nice restuarant uses foi gras in their menu at very resonable prices. I don't know the going rate at the moment, though.

One thing I might mention, though, is that the prices for non vegetable or fruit foods are quite a bit more expensive than in the US. So, I'll bet it kind of evens out in pricing of foi gras. When I find the time, I'll check on the pricing of foi gras here.

Take Care

Stephen

I forgot to mention, the type of sweet and sour sauce I used with the goose was not chinese in the least...it was Indian. I used a very good mango ginger chuntny that was: sweet, sour, and mildly spicy when heated. I chose it for it's intense and complex flavors. When pureed it became very thick and perfect for coating the goose. I was going to use a traditional sweet and sour sauce, but decided on this. It should be noted that "Pakak's" ginger chuntny is what got me on the idea. This chuntny went with the goose very well! I might use a ginger chuntny next time around.

Stephen

[shroomgirl]

I use their brand of chutney too....it's good