Posh simple food

[alwaystrying2]

My DD is having a party and I've said I'll make food. She is 30. I'm looking to cater for between 30 and 50 and want to make some posh simple food. I want people well fed but I want something extremely simple that if possible is trendy and looks cool! There will need to be a veggie option. Ideally keeping costs not too high!

Does this exist?

Thanks!

You say presentation, I say cross contamination.

This!

Big pot of chilli = student life, not posh in the slightest

Sausage rolls and vol au vents are also not posh.

Just watched them make this lovely cherry and chocolate tart on River Cottage www.rivercottage.net/recipes/cherry-and-chocolate-tart

Book caterers, try local cafes. I would never attempt to cater for that many people.

Catering for 30/50 is easy.
My only tip would be to hire the crockery and plates and if you want to serve coffee an urn!

My BIL had a party for his 50th. I made loads of mini quiches in advance, and some filo parcels. I used bought pastry and a selection of fillings for the quiche - all simple. Smoked salmon and asparagus (sounds posh but is simple) cheese and cherry tomato, cheese and caramelized onion, egg and bacon, bacon and mushroom, and the filo parcels were gruyere and onion chutney. They went down a storm! Ultra simple and I had several people ask for the recipe. Literally grated gruyere and onion chutney from the supermarket. My sister did coronation chicken and baked potatoes with salad, but maybe a bit tricky to eat if not sitting down?
A selection of little tartlets is fairly easy to adapt fillings for different tastes - provided you aren't catering for vegans, which is a bit more tricky!

Ooh that's a lot of people, if you're not an accustomed cook/caterer!

Some good suggestions above re side of salmon, chicken salad, dressed leaves etc but sorry I don't understand whether you want finger food/canapes or if people will be able to put drinks down and hold plates and forks?

If you want trendy, google 'grazing table'. It's basically the same thing as a charcuterie board, but you might get some alternative ideas, as they're often larger.

30-50 people is a LOT. I'd definitely consider ringing around some local caterers and get a couple of quotes.

That being said, a couple of large bunches of grapes go far 😆

Pay for catering - honestly 50 is a lot

Mini pizzas (buy puff pastry, smear on a little tomato purée add toppings)
Mini toad in the hole (buy precooked mini sausages, make Yorkshire batter)

Both are good cold (and even better warm)

As said, big pot of chilli with the guacamole, sour cream, cheese, etc

Selection of anti pasti, cheeses and breads

Crisps or nuts for grazing

2 or 3 nice salads - eg tricolore, potato salad, green salad

Canapés- you can buy them pre made from places like waitrose and m&s. You can also order other event food which takes some of the hassle out. You don't have to order everything you need, but I host a couple of times a year and use them for odd bits when pressed for time www.waitrose.com/ecom/shop/browse/eentertaining

Couple of pudding choices - cupcakes often go down well, or big puddings you can share out. All the better if it involves alcohol.

Aldi and Lidl are great for supplies too btw. I use them most when having a bbq but usually pick up a couple of their 'posh' pizzas to sustain people later on.

Oysters on the half shell?

expensive enough to be posh

From the sounds of it, it'll be a mingling event :

This would go down well:

www.wellplated.com/pesto-pinwheels/

www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/christmas/christmas-recipes/a38300897/prosecco-maple-glazed-pigs-blankets/

^^

Posh pigs in blankets

I’d do mini sliders- burgers, crispy chicken and hotdogs with decent coleslaw, potato wedges and dips/sauces. Not fancy but delicious and easy to eat whilst having a few drinks.

And several large cheesecakes and profiterole towers for dessert.

Firstly, I think you’re nuts! Catering for that amount of people when you’re not used to it is crazy. But it’s lovely that you want to do it for your daughter.

I would look into hiring a fairly simple hot-plate set up to keep food warm - that would alleviate your worry re serving food at the right temperature.

I think you want everyone to feel that they’ve eaten well, not just shoved a few sausage rolls down their throats.

If it’s a “standing” event, the most important thing is making it easy for the guests to eat their food. Look into hiring small/individual-sized simple white bowls. These can easily be held in one hand, makes it easy to eat whilst mingling.

Then look at, say, three fairly simple dishes that can be batch-cooked and kept warm on said hot plate set-up mentioned above. Thoughts off the top of my head are:

Some type of vegetarian risotto (there are cheat ways of doing risotto so you don’t need to be constantly on it stirring all the time).

A slow-cooked beef/veg/potato type stew (thick rather than runny gravy/sauce)

Thai red/green curry - could be chicken/veggie etc

For desserts, I’d be cheating and getting a load of individual servings from a supermarket, they all do fairly decent stuff.

An alternative, to take ALL the pressure off you, is to hire a catering service that provide a flying buffet service. Yes, it costs, but it saves you buying/cooking the food etc. plus they clean up the mess at the end of the night!

How are you going to cater for 30-50 people for dinner with one domestic oven? It’ll have to be either cold or just keep coming out of the oven in stages throughout the evening which sounds really stressful. Either book in caterers (some kind of street food style set up where they bring a van or stall and cook outside and everyone queues and orders what they want) or just do cold buffet nibbles.

Spanish omelette can make several in advance and serve cold/room temp cut into wedges its lovely

Charcuterie boards

Rainbow picnic pie again can be made in advance and is served cold

A range of winter salads - roast butternut squash and feta, a nice potato salad, Hot smoked salmon salad, tomato and mozzarella salad, etc.

You need to think broadly about the framework, then decide on specific dishes. Here are some general rules of catering:

1. Pre-dinner nibbles quantities are 3-5 per person, with a meal also served.
2. Cocktail party nibbles (no other food) quantities are 6-9 pieces of food per person.
3. You should make sure there is at least one of each type of food for each person.
4. if the crowd is young, you have to consider a higher number of vegetarian, vegan and pescatarian options, than for a more mature crowd.
5. If you only have one oven, you can’t have all hot options. You could have 2 going through the oven, and perhaps 2 options on the stove, but the other 5 from the 6-9 options will have to be cold.
6. Ditto pre-preparation. You won’t have time to assemble many things on the night/day. You can probably assemble 2 or 3. Therefore the other 6 options have to be ready to go from oven or fridge to plate immediately.
7. Will you have any helpers?

I love catering and cooking and would absolutely get into this. You could have a grazing board, plus then other hot food coming out to supplement it, and ending on a sophisticated sweet note. HOWEVER I know how much work this is. I suspect you’ll end up hating it and having a horrible day. Why not sis out a caterer, and could you make one special thing - a cake? Or contribute the champagne?

We are having about 30 people over for DDs birthday but it’s mainly a party for us 😂. I’m doing several meat and cheese boards with olives etc and a selection of posh crackers. Homemade guacamole and tortilla chips in nice small bowls. Doing more small bowls/several smaller boards looks fancier than big ones. A couple of baked dips, a white bean and cheese one and a roast veggie one. Mini goat cheese and squash empanadas, homemade sausage rolls. Cut up veggie plates and fruit plates. Couple of purchased dips (baba gahnoush and hummus). As it’s a toddlers birthday I’m also baking a giant chocolate cake like a strawberry and considering a second dessert.

I wouldn’t underestimate the size of the undertaking though, we regularly host big groups for sit down dinners (10-15) and do big bbqs with proper food (different types of skewers, make all burgers etc), 3-4 different salads/veggie sides/homemade bread for 20-30 and you can do it in a home kitchen but you need to REALLY think about timings, do ahead etc. largest sit down I’ve done was 18 and took quite a bit of planning. I write down EVERYTHING I need to do, how long it’s going to take, when I’m going to do it. Work out a schedule for the oven etc.

It is absolutely doable, even in a domestic oven. But you do need to be aware of a few limitations before you start menu planning.

30-50 people = sit down meal is unlikely, standing up with plates (and drinks) is tricky, canapés are super easy however.

Canapes = finger food, people only have two hands and don’t want to juggle a plate, fork, glass and the ability to lift those things to their mouths.

Canapes = you want some hot and some cold, some sweet, some savory, some meat based, some veggie. And you don’t want too many different items (I’d say a maximum of 10). And you don’t want to serve them all at once. Think of it as serving a multi course meal with some overlap.

Start with a few cold veggie options such as:
salad on a stick
crudities served in a shotglass of dip
olives and feta cheese in shotglass with a toothpick

Then some cold meat based options:
pate on toast points or a sliced baguette
smoked salmon ans
prawn ring (always popular but I question how posh or trendy it is)

Then some hot options:
veggie frittatas
goats cheese and onion tartlets
Mini Yorkshire pudding with beef (tip - use frozen Yorkies, deli beef with sour cream and horseradish sauce]

Dessert options:
birthday cake
scoops of ice cream served in muffin cases
cheese and crackers

This is all easily doable for a 3 hour(ish) party still leaving you time to socialize. Most of it is prepared in advance and then you just cook or heat up as you go along. Don’t put everything out at once. Circulate with the plates to the far side of the room and then leave them there for people to graze.

To be honest I think you should get a delivery from Iceland. Their party food is quite good, just stick the oven on and keep putting new food in.

They have mini bao buns and spring rolls, satay chicken, mozzarella sticks. I'd put a mixture on a baking tray so there are different things coming out of the oven / microwave every few mins.

They do mini chocolate eclairs as well for a pud.

For vegies they do a southern fried cauliflower and vegi samosas.

Their fish and chip cones are a favorite of mine.

I went to a wedding with Cornish pasties instead of an evening buffet. Went down a storm.

If you're not used to hosting or catering for that quantity then this is a fairly mad undertaking!

I'm a v confident cook & I catered for a significant birthday party for 25 - 30 people recently.

We hired all glasses & plates etc

Choice of 2 house cocktails on arrival- with the correct glass for each type & all garnishes etc . Dh was on these & they were a huge hit & really started the party

I had platters of puff pastry caramelised onion & goats cheese tarts laid out with Olives, nuts, posh crisps etc. V good red & white wine & all the spirits you can think of..plenty of ice, lemon, lime etc

The night before I made BBC slow cooked firecracker Brisket & I had it all ready to be heated up in the oven.

Once people had had a few drinks they were ready for food so I heated the brisket & put it on the middle of the table in a serving dish & along with about 40 posh brioche burger rolls, a huge bowl of homemade herbed coleslaw & condiments.
People made their own sliders & they were an enormous hit. Most people had more than one. Several people asked fir the recipe.
Pistachio & rosewater marshmallow meringues with whipped double cream, BBC good food ultimate brownies cut into tiny squares, Portuguese custard tarts (birthday request) & big bowl of marinaded strawberries for dessert

A cheeseboard - 3 large wedges (rather than loads of small pieces), pear & walnuts, grapes & membrillo. Delicious

All food was prepped in advance so zero cooking on the evening apart from heating the brisket.

It was a great success