I need ideers

[JohnT]

So,

With the holidays comming up, and a house full of relatives, I have run out of ideas for food.

I plan on making a whole beef tenderloin for 12/23 adn a turkey dinner for 12/25, but draw a blank on the other days. They arrive on 12/20 and are staying up unit 12/26. a total of 7 of them (9 counting me and my wife).

Any ideas on what to make tht is easy and can feed the troops?

johnT.

 

[Julie]

Halupkis? Baby back ribs? beef brisket? pork shoulder and make pulled pork sammies

 

[tonyt]

Chili & Tamales.
Italian Wedding Soup.
Seafood Gumbo.
Let them take you out to ear at your favorite restaurant.

 

[Sirs]

do like me and the wife do when we want a lot and don't want to spend all day doing it. Chicken and rice with veggies added casserole.
Take a couple chickens whole cut them up and either boil them till falling off the bone, or if you got one pressure cook them with maximum amount of water. Once chicken is done debone not hard to do. Take what water is left from cooking chicken add enough to make 4 cups of rice: 4 cups of water/useing left over from cooking chicken plus 2 cups of rice bring all to boil cover and turn down to simmer for 20 mins. take off and let sit for 5 mins.). Combine deboned chicken, rice and a bag of frozen veggies of your choice we do brocolli a 1 lbs. bag or 2 according if you want more veggies or not mix up good in a large roasting/baking pan. You can at this point cover with grated cheese if you like or not either way is fine normally a pound will do nicely, bake this in oven till cheese starts to melt and barely brown (if not using cheese till the top start to barely crisp on top normally about 30 mins. This is good with garlic bread or texas toast which ever you prefer,you can add more rice and veggies to make more I normally double rice,veggies and cheese for my clan when we gotta feed them but it's always good and always gone lol

 

[Sirs]

if you got a pressure cooker you can do all this in about an hour

 

[ffemt128]

Pork chops cooked in Mushroom gravy and served over rice with Harvard beets. Takes about an hour to an hour 1/2 total and all you need really is a large roaster. Brown the po-chops, put in roaster with large can of mushroom soup and can of water, bake 1 hour at 350. Cook rice and harvard beets while in pork chops are cooking.

 

[UBB]

French Onion soup and a ceasar salad. A little goes a long way with such a rich soup!

 

[JohnT]

French Onion soup and a ceasar salad. A little goes a long way with such a rich soup!

Gotta recipe for the soup?

 

[rob]

Aldi has the best French Onion soup, look in the frozen food section, it comes in a box the size of a small brick.

 

[djrockinsteve]

Hot sausage sandwiches or meatballs.

 

[roblloyd]

Something fun could me make your own pizza.

 

[Angelina]

Grill on the Barbie one night make a easy meal no fuss, Dogs, Burgers or what ever meat is wanted, (Beer can chicken is great for this) potato salad, pickles and chips

 

[Runningwolf]

Grill on the Barbie one night make a easy meal no fuss, Dogs, Burgers or what ever meat is wanted, (Beer can chicken is great for this) potato salad, pickles and chips

Beer butt Chicken is the best. I also do large turkeys with apple cider this way.

 

[Wade E]

Nothing wrong with good old Sausage & Peppers or Sausage with Broccoli and Cavatelli.

 

[grapeman]

Aw just serve em some Candy Canes washed down with some wine or pee.

 

[Wade E]

Some Welches wine!!! LOL

 

[arcticsid]

Back when I used to get paid for cooking, one of my favorite things to make, and one everyone enjoys is Chicken Parmesan.

Start with boneless skinless chicken breasts. Place these between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound them out with a meat hammer. No need to beat the hell out of them, just enough to break down the fibers a bit and get the fat side the same as the other. This tenderises it nicely also, and helps it cook evenly.

Flour, eggwash(egg and buttermilk or reg mik), and italian seasoned breadcrumbs, I have always prefered panko.

You COULD freeze these ahead oftime!

Make up a italian tomato sauce, or use a canned spaghetti sauce, but you want it thick so either reduce it to achieve it or start with tomato paste and water and your secret spices. Heat this till hot.

Deep fry, or pan fry the chicken for just a bt, till the breading crisps up. Place on a baking sheet, spread some sauce on top, sprinkle parm cheese on top and top with shreaded mozzerella.

Bake until the cheese turns brown and bubbly.

Yeah buddy!!

Serve this with fettucine alfredo. Make yur own, or use a canned sauce. For your own, in a large bowl or pot, toss the hot noodles with real butter, a touchof heavy(whipping cream) cream, a bit of minced garlic, bit of salt, freh minced parsley, and a bunch of parmesan cheese.

This of course should be served with garlic bread, salad and veg of choice.

They will think you are Italian.

I have cooked many, many, whole tenderloins and have always liked to stuff it with slivers of fresh garlic.

I have a recipe for an absolutely outrageous dijon mustard sauce we served with a garlic stuffed filet. A chef I worked for gave me this secret recipe that he has won multiple awards with. If you are interested I will take the time to post it.

Good luck with whatever you choose.

There is no better meal to serve your guests than one in which time, consideration and love is involved.
Troy

 

[JohnT]

Thanks for the suggestions folks.

Wade -

sirs - This sounds good!!!! I could get chickens, remove the breasts (for chicken parm) and use the rest for the cassirole.

sid - Great idea. I think that I can get it to the point where I am ready to throw the parm into the oven ahead of time.

Questions:
for the alfredo, do you just add the ingredients to the hot pasta, or do you heat the cream and cheese, etc in a pan first?

I would defenately like your dejon mustard / tenderloin recipe!

 

[arcticsid]

Just go ahea and mix it in a large bowl. It wont hold long, you'll want to serve it right away.

I will post the dijon sauce and MY alfredo sauce.

 

[arcticsid]

Dijon mustard sauce

This was developed to be served with a garlic stuffed filet mignon, but will work with any meat, including chicken.

Ingredients

24 ounces chicken stock
4 ounces dry vermouth
4 ounces Grey Poupon(or any dijon, I guess), by weight
3 TBLS cornstarch
3 TBLS Water
1/8 c dried parsley flakes, not fresh
scant 1/8 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp gravy master, or kitchen bouquet. For color, don't buy a whole bottle just for this small amount
1 tsp black pepper, cracked!!! Not ground, at least coarse ground if you mut!
2 pounds butter, unsalted, UNSALTED!!!m cut into 4 TBLS chunks.

Have all your ingredients ready before you start, no stopping once you start!

Combine stock, vermouth, and mustard.

Bring to a boil, and reduce by half.

Add water/cornstarch slurry, stirring constantly.

Add butter 4 TBLS at a time, stirring constantly.

Add spices.

Darken with grav master.

DO NOT use salted butter!!!!

Remove from heat immediately Do not "hold" hot it will break(seperate).

Thanks to Danny Wiken, Executive Chef, The Packing House, Milwaukee Wisconsin for sharing this with me.

And thanks to him from me for being my mentor, teacher, boss and friend. It was a pleasure to work with him for 3 1/2 years I spent in Milwaukee.

( this is a mainstay dish at their restaurant, he has one many awards for this steak and sauce. It is outrageous!!0

I will edit this post later and tell you how to prepare the steak. I gotta run.check back to this post later.

Troy