200 offsite highend Kosher

[W.DeBord]

Shroomgirl I did crab ragoon (wontons of all sorts, very popular) ALL the time catering, not a problem. We always deep fried at base kitchen, for obvious reasons. We had sucess holding them days in the cooler then re-heating. They also freeze well. BUT the trick with ragoon when your not fresh frying is using less cream cheese and more crab (imiation to supliment works well to).

We always brought our own table top convection ovens. Found that nothing compared when it came to crisping up and cooking quickly h.d.'s. Plus they vent well and don't over heat.

As far as using a warming cave. You can make your own like Pete suggested. We did that often holding entree's, using the caves we owned and used to transport our trayed food in the van. BUT no matter what you do caves build steam and that doesn't work with crisp items! Plus you can't go in and out with-out too much heat loss.

What we did....I had a girl that heated our h.d.s on the other side of the kitchen or the other side of the building (depending upon what was needed). Using 2 small convections you can handle 500 people if she knows what she's doing. That frees me (you in this case) to cook the entree, etc...carefree from the h.d.s

As far as doing the h.d.'s in the convection....they won't hold a reg. 1/2 sheet pan. You need to buy homemaker sized jelly roll pans. But these ovens and trays work GREAT and will be used on ALL your parties in the future. When it comes to reheating, you don't go from a cold state to a hot one in one step. Unforunately your re-heating a couple time (BUT done right, you actually don't loose the quality of a fried item)....warm them a bit, then place them in foil pans ontop of your convections to keep them warm. Then full temp. heat and pass. Hope I made sense....?

P.S. Your menu sounds great! Also phyllo is really popular...but keep your fillings moist...we still prebaked and kept warm until final cook and pass. You won't have the time to cook them start to end with a three trayed convection in a one shot cooking method and pump out the volume you'll need.

[shroomgirl]

Thanks Wendy!! Just the info I needed. There are big logistical challenges with cooking on Sat for a Kosher party. I figured I'd use convection ovens a bunch.

[Suzanne]

Just one note to add: CRAB IS NOT KOSHER, so you will have to use all "imitation crab" for the Rangoon.

Only fish with scales can be considered kosher, and no scavengers. And no crustaceans or shellfish, so no crab, shrimp, lobster, clams, oysters, etc.

[W.DeBord]

Schroom called them Krab cakes (I think) and I knew what she meant... Sorry it was me who blurred the lines. Of course, no shell fish....the imitation crab ragoons actually turn out better than fresh in this application.

[kuan]

I knew that No actually I didn't. I was wondering myself. Thanks W for clearing that up.

Kuan

[shroomgirl]

POOOOOOP! some other caterer they had previously used for offsite got it....this would have been a REALLY B$$G one for me.
Sooooo the next that is mine is Feb 20th 300 people (legislators, I guess they count) 120 miles away in a bldg with a kitchen, donated farmer foods and very limited funds. A challenge but also
not the kind of work I wanna propogate....does not pay my bills for the amount of energy expended... I'll post when I find out what the donated foods are....Mo farm foods of course.

[shroomgirl]

***Oh yeah, for those of you that are newbies, I've taught Kosher cooking for 3 1/2 years to different orthodox groups....and weekly to a 3 sets of pots and pans student. Pretty good for a gentile.