Is this the right place to ask? A cauldron of one pot loveliness for the 27th

[Behooven]

I will have 25-30 people, so far I've planned a salmon, a ham, individual steak and gravy pies, and salads/bread rolls and roasties. (We like to eat drink and be merry over a period of time it's not a sit down meal) But I'd like to have my giant pot filled with something savoury and delicious that people can help themselves to as well. All easy ideas very welcome, thanks! (No special dietary needs)

A big pot of chilli seems to go down well, with bread rolls / garlic bread / rice / rice salad (take your pick). That's a lot if people to feed!

I'm going to be attempting a venison casserole but only for 6-8 people.

Definitely chilli, I'd do a veggie one

Thanks, Yes, chilli is ever popular although venison casserole is a good shout too.

Nigella's Asian braised shin of beef is really lovely and tasty. There's something quite Christmassy about the ginger and star anise flavours too.

Stovies would be my suggestion.

Chilli is always good. I have a number of one-pot options up my sleeve which I have used over various new year gatherings:

Curry
Lamb and prune tagine
Chicken, lemon and olive tagine
Cassoulet (a classic one with duck or just a sausage version)
Nigel slater's coq au Riesling (google it - lovely and scales up beautifully!)
Normandy pork or chicken (meat braised in Apple /cider /onion sauce)
Coq au vin
A nice spicy beef slow braised in coconut milk (with onion, chill, cumin etc)

Tagines are useful because you don't need oven or job space for cous cous, just a kettle!

Off to google. Loads of great ideas, thanks. I'm Scottish and never thought of stovies!

Veggie chilli always good. Or I went to a party in Scotland that had stovies and veggie stovies and they went down very well.

In fact, if anybody has a recipe for veggie stovies, I would be v interested!

this? remus
I was just googling stovies recipes and noticed this one. I'm now thinking I'll have stovies ready for later on to soak up some of the booze

Think I'm going to do this one with beef.
stovies

Thank you. The one I had used Quorn, I think - it looked much more like 'real' stovies. The one you've linked to looks nice, but not much like stovies!

I would say chilli or curry.

I would do chilli but make it with braising steak instead of mince, possibly with black beans instead of kidney beans and chorizo too.

How about a pumpkin or squash soup? A lot of your other food seems fairly heavy and this would offer a lighter option.

Does anyone have a tried and tested chilli recipe they could share please?

Soup too difficult to manage and eat standing up. Food is only heavy if you eat too much of it, there's going to be plenty of lighter nibbles too but this is an all day all night thing so people need proper food.

I think a chicken curry could go well with what you already have.

Sounds delicious by the way!

Skippy, just chuck it all in. Beef or minced beef, onion, garlic, chilli, cumin, corandier, beans, mushrooms, peppers, anything really.