Help! 14 people for buffet-style dinner! What will I make?

[chipmonkey]

Anyone?

Or something you can cook in one big pot?

Pile of jacket pots + vat of chilli or curry.

Or hot dogs and burgers.

Or fish and chips served in newspapers- like from the chippy (use oven made).

Or cold buffet - ham, beef, boiled baby pots, rice salad, green salad, salmon, coleslaw etc etc

Lots of fresh bread, cheeses, salamis, olives, dips, etc. tapas stylee.

I like the tapas idea but may be too sophisticated for the In-laws!

Hot - large fish pies, (easy to eat with a fork) cold, coronation chicken and salad?

Shepherds pie as can be eaten with fork standing up if necessary,need no extra veg/pots and everyone likes it.

I always do Nigellas 24 hour roast pork. It is amazing, really simple, and always tastes great.

Basically IIRC you get a huge shoulder of pork, go to a butcher as they will do it better, make sure they score the skin REALLY well. Make up a mush of fennel seeds, garlic, salt, pepper and rosemary (I think) and olive oil, smear this over pushing it into the skin.

Roast on highest temp for about 1.2 hr until skin blisters, then turn down to anbout gas 1 for up to 24 hrs, or at least overnight. The brillant thing is this cannot be ruined and is all done before. I usually bake a load of spuds too (I take the roast out for an hour and turn up the heat) and salads and it is delish, literally falls apart, you cannot carve it, more like spoon and fork!

If yo wantthe proper recipe, I'll find it for you

How about yummy, quick deli-style dips/filling you can make the night before? People can eat them as is, on sliced baguette bread etc.

Here's a few quick but yummy dips...

Coronation Chicken
Mayo, medium madras curry powder, honey, sultanas or raisins, cold chicken (cooked), mix together to taste, being careful with the honey!

Waldorf style salad
Chopped apples, grapes, celery & cheese mixed with mayo.

Prawn Marie Rose
Mayo (80%), tomato ketchup (20%) ish. Mix together with a squeese of lemon juice and add cooked prawns.

Yummy, quick bread things.
Slice a baguette or two up slightly diagnolally and spread pesto sauce, some mozzerella, and a slice of tomato. Stick in the oven and yummy hot or cold.

I cooked all these things up and more for a party last week. Did the dips the night before and the bread the nest day. Very quick, very nice looking and very yummy IMO of course.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

You know what, you are all brilliant! Loads of ideas!

Yep definitely with soapbox - also add quiches into the mix (-hot or cold), maybe garlic bread too.

oh some friends of ours did a huge buffet for 18 and it was fantastic!
they are quite rich though but some of the stuff was easy and relatively cheap....

let me think

expensive beef ala jamie oliver
salmon en croute (can be reasonably cheap - salmon in puff pastry with sacuuce stuff in...have recipe)
new potatoes
tabbuleah (spelling?) - basically a cous cous salad - dead easy
homemade profiteroles which I actaully made - and if i can anyone can
passion fruit pavolova - sooooo easy!

most if that can be preared in advance

cant type soryr

Also, I put the prawn marie in some volevonts and sprinkled some dry basil on top. They went down a treat.

If the weather is nice you could do a BBQ and have salads and breads on the side.

You could do a cold chicken (or 2)
green salad
tomato basil and mozzarella salad
potato salad or baby potatoes roasted in their skins
garlic bread
cheeses
all quite easy and it's just a matter of putting it out really.

I recently did a party and made three pans of soup (3 different ones, made the day before), had bread and smoked salmon, dips with cucumber/celery etc, crisps, salads, cheeses, and cakes fruitsalad, and chocolates for desert. It was quite a nice spread of food, hot and cold, vegetarian and with meat, and the children could tuck in as well.

whast it for chippers? baptism?

No cod, dh's 40th. Only for his family though. Had it today! Yes go on, tell me off for asking what to make the night before but I was panicking a bit because in my family everyone brings either a salad or a dessert and in dh's family one is expected to do it all oneself. Thank God for BIL's wife who came in, rolled her sleeves up and got stuck in as soon as she arrived, we are soul sisters! Dh and I had just come back from a trip to Bratislava, otherwise would have been a bit better prepared but I did marinated chicken portions, baked ham and loads of Salades a la Mumsnet Girls. Went down a treat! Dh and I now having a nice bottle of Chianti by way of recovery!