thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jan 19, 2015 9:49:24 GMT -5
I am a confident entertainer / cook. I can have 50 people in my house for dinner with 24 hours notice - no sweat. This weekend, we are doing a progressive dinner and after much passing of the proverbial hot potato, I volunteered to do the main dish. I have habitually served the same things over and over, and I really don't want to do that this time around. Usually when I entertain for a large group, it isn't as much of a sit-down thing, so I have shredded taco meat in the crock pot (or BBQ pork, or whatever.) For this occasion, I was hoping to do something just a tad bit more elegant. I think our headcount is 20, and it is roughly half adults / half kids. I only have to do the main dish - someone else is bringing beverages and side dishes. It doesn't have to be large, because we are having 3 other courses (soup/salad, appetizers and dessert.)
Anyone have anything non-casseroly, non-crockpotty, but scaleable to feed 20? Or even 10, and I will make hot dogs for the kids?
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Jan 19, 2015 9:55:42 GMT -5
beef tenderloin
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2015 9:56:46 GMT -5
What is a progressive dinner?
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jan 19, 2015 10:02:11 GMT -5
What is a progressive dinner? I'm not sure why these are considered a good idea, but you go from house to house and have one "course" at each house. Start at someone's house for appetizers, go somewhere else for salad, a third house for the main dish, and a 4th house for dessert. It seems silly to have 4 people clean their house and prepare for guests, and then 4 people have to clean up after a party. Seems better that you just find a central place and everyone brings their assigned course. But, one of our friends got hot on the idea, and I don't want to be the rain cloud that criticizes every idea. We are actually putting a spin on it to make it fun. We are having a regressive dinner. We are starting with dessert and after-dinner cordials, then doing main dish, then salad, and finishing with cocktails and appetizers. The houses are all in the neighborhood, so drinking and driving isn't an issue.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jan 19, 2015 10:04:55 GMT -5
Potroast. You can have it on the plate or slice it up and make a sandwich - gives people options
Fish. One big one, on the grill.
As Archie said - Beef tenderloin - America's Test kitchen had an awesome recipe for it, but I am too cheap to try it out on such an expensive piece of meat.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Jan 19, 2015 10:06:17 GMT -5
OK, I just read your description and I would go with potroast bc you don't have to "keep cooking" it. Put it in the oven and you are done, kwim?
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tloonya
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Post by tloonya on Jan 19, 2015 10:11:07 GMT -5
$13lb? I don't think so... I had actually just saw rib eye roast for $26.99lb. I said I SAW it not I got it. Got it?
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Jan 19, 2015 10:15:11 GMT -5
$13lb? I don't think so... I had actually just saw rib eye roast for $26.99lb. I said I SAW it not I got it. Got it? Maybe Thyme can start a gofundme campaign for her progressive dinner tenderloin.
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TheHaitian
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Post by TheHaitian on Jan 19, 2015 10:20:27 GMT -5
CAB Beef Tenderloin Steak
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tloonya
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Post by tloonya on Jan 19, 2015 10:21:16 GMT -5
$13lb? I don't think so... I had actually just saw rib eye roast for $26.99lb. I said I SAW it not I got it. Got it? Maybe Thyme can start a gofundme campaign for her progressive dinner tenderloin. Good idea! I can start campaign for rib eye! How fast funds are coming? I am getting hungry here...
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Jan 19, 2015 10:21:16 GMT -5
a pasta dish? that sort of thing is always easily scalable. do you know what the side dishes will be?
for various gatherings this holiday season, we put out large serving trays of chicken and broccoli alfredo penne pasta. marinate B/S chicken thighs, grill them and cut up into bite-size pieces. we used a garlic peppercorn marinade. nuke plain broccoli Steamers bags, toss the chicken and veggies with cooked penne and stir in some alfredo sauce. for 20 people, I'd probably just use jarred sauce for this. I don't make and freeze batches of alfredo like I do red sauce.
other large scale pasta mains that I've used successfully: -stuffed shells -meatballs -chicken cacciatore
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Jan 19, 2015 10:23:30 GMT -5
seafood lasagna
chicken and spinach lasagna
chicken pot pies.
Swedish meatballs over egg noodles.
I'd make a few pans of different lasagnas, put out some bread and salad, and be done with it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2015 10:28:29 GMT -5
Stuffed Chicken Breasts. They have some at Costco I want to get for next week with seasoning, asparagus and cheese. I like it because it gives you meat and veggie in one.
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tloonya
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Post by tloonya on Jan 19, 2015 10:30:35 GMT -5
For guests you don't care about -stuffed shells -meatballs -chicken cacciatore For guests you care about -tenderloin -rib eye -CAB Beef Tenderloin Steak -shish kebob
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chiver78
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Post by chiver78 on Jan 19, 2015 10:43:07 GMT -5
For guests you don't care about -stuffed shells -meatballs -chicken cacciatore For guests you care about -tenderloin -rib eye -CAB Beef Tenderloin Steak -shish kebob I'm sorry you don't like my choices. I'm Italian, that's what we serve.
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Jan 19, 2015 10:57:20 GMT -5
I've always thought Progressive dinners (esp. in the winter) are kinda stupid, but I’m probably kind of a Debbie downer when it comes to that stuff. We’ve had friends that have done country-western parties or 90’s parties and I always think they are really lame. It’s like, we are all busy here, do we need to make going out even more complicated than it needs to be?
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Jan 19, 2015 10:58:58 GMT -5
I've always thought Progressive dinners (esp. in the winter) are kinda stupid, but I’m probably kind of a Debbie downer when it comes to that stuff. We’ve had friends that have done country-western parties or 90’s parties and I always think they are really lame. It’s like, we are all busy here, do we need to make going out even more complicated than it needs to be? she lives in AZ. I don't think they're really constrained by the weather.
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mollyanna58
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Post by mollyanna58 on Jan 19, 2015 11:05:00 GMT -5
I am a confident entertainer / cook. I can have 50 people in my house for dinner with 24 hours notice - no sweat.
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Ryan
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Post by Ryan on Jan 19, 2015 11:09:30 GMT -5
I've always thought Progressive dinners (esp. in the winter) are kinda stupid, but I’m probably kind of a Debbie downer when it comes to that stuff. We’ve had friends that have done country-western parties or 90’s parties and I always think they are really lame. It’s like, we are all busy here, do we need to make going out even more complicated than it needs to be? she lives in AZ. I don't think they're really constrained by the weather. I don't have a map with the pinned locations of YMers so I wouldn't know where she lives...doesn't change anything else in the post.
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Pants
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Post by Pants on Jan 19, 2015 11:23:22 GMT -5
Ham loaf? I think we have different definitions of "elegant."
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Jan 19, 2015 11:25:17 GMT -5
What about a taco bar? You could have a choice of meat and toppings, with some black beans and spanish rice on the side. And lots of choices of salsa. YUM!
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jan 19, 2015 11:25:15 GMT -5
Ham loaf? I think we have different definitions of "elegant." If you plate it surrounded by iceberg lettuce and boiled eggs THAT's fancy. The 1950's called. . .
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kittensaver
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Post by kittensaver on Jan 19, 2015 11:26:53 GMT -5
Ham loaf? I think we have different definitions of "elegant." [ No kidding! ]
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kittensaver
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Post by kittensaver on Jan 19, 2015 11:29:41 GMT -5
chiver78 - we're Italian too, and that's what we serve! I second the idea of a seafood lasagne, or ricotta-stuffed chicken breasts. Or Chicken Marsala.
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Jan 19, 2015 11:32:02 GMT -5
Ham loaf sounds absolutely awful. And I'll eat just about anything.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Jan 19, 2015 11:32:16 GMT -5
For guests you don't care about -stuffed shells -meatballs -chicken cacciatore For guests you care about -tenderloin -rib eye -CAB Beef Tenderloin Steak -shish kebob I'm sorry you don't like my choices. I'm Italian, that's what we serve. I don't think she meant they were bad just cheaper and of the ones she listed and little easier on the prep. A lasagna would be a whole lot more work to me though than most pasta dishes. If I didn't care about it I would go with cooking frozen stuffed shells.
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tloonya
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Post by tloonya on Jan 19, 2015 11:32:27 GMT -5
chiver78 - we're Italian too, and that's what we serve! I second the idea of a seafood lasagne, or ricotta-stuffed chicken breasts. Or Chicken Marsala. How often can you eat meatballs and pasta? Or lasagna. I love it but common, people, it is a party not family dinner.
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tloonya
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Post by tloonya on Jan 19, 2015 11:33:30 GMT -5
Ham loaf sounds absolutely awful. And I'll eat just about anything. I thought so but didn't want to say it because there was word 'elegant' used so I thought it could be sensitive matter to a poster.
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Pants
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Post by Pants on Jan 19, 2015 11:34:43 GMT -5
Ham loaf sounds absolutely awful. And I'll eat just about anything. It is one of those things where if someone served it to me at a party, I would assume they were a little "off" - or doing some retro "I'm cooking everything in the Betty Crocker cookbook from 1957 and posting it on my blog don't you want to hear about my upcoming book deal "
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NomoreDramaQ1015
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Jan 19, 2015 11:34:41 GMT -5
Could be worse, my MIL thinks ham salad is fancy. She can't figure out why it's never eaten.
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