Ideas for feeding 17 next weekend. Allergies and picky eaters to complicate things....

[mawbroon]

There will be 17 of us, 8 adults and 9 kids ranging from 3yo to 16yo.

Several people are wheat/gluten free and there is a pork allergy in the mix too. And some of them are just a bit fussy....

If it's nice, we will be outside, but our BBQ isn't anywhere large enough to be catering for that number of people, so we can't do BBQ really.

I need it to be simple and the holy grail would be a dish that would suit everyone and all the requirements.

OK, back in the real world, it will need to be a mish mash of things. There won't be enough seats for everyone, so there also must be things that can be eaten picnic style, probably by the kids on a rug if we are outside.

If it was winter, I would do a huge pan of stovies, but I can't really serve stovies if it's hot weather.

Aaaargh, help me please with ideas before my brain explodes.

Could you shove a load of baking potatoes and sausages in the oven, and then do bowls of stuff to go with - grated cheese, green salad, maybe a meat and/or veggie chilli, homemade coleslaw etc. Then you could do some veggie kebabs and maybe some corn on the cob on the barbecue.

How about something rice-based and in one pot (or two large ones). I'm thinking large, colourful paella or jambalaya. If you do two large pots you can always include delicious pork, say chorizo, in one of them.

Ok, could see either of these working, although baked potatoes are hard to eat if you don't have a seat. could maybe do those triple baked ones with cheese though..

Do wedges rather than spuds? Same idea but easier to eat.

A traditional cold poached salmon as a centre piece, with salads and stuff?

Or do lots and lots of tiny potatoes - don't overcook them though!
Or halve normal ones and scoop out, mix with cheese and butter and then rebake.

Yes, wee tatties, great idea!

A cold salmon centrepiece sounds lovely, but sadly probably less than half the people would eat it....

Any other ideas?

How formal? I'd be tempted to go for sausage and a bun - lamb sausages for pork allergy. Salads and relishes to add interest. Posh sausages and artisan bread to appeal to foodies otherwise go standard. Do sausages in oven. Or chicken drumsticks with different marinades and salads with nice bread. Sometimes the food at these events can get over complicated, keep it simple and enjoy having people around.

Any veggies?

Go for Indian style food with rice

Easy to eat with one hand

Easy to prepare

Keep in warm oven

Make Lebanese salad and serve with pitta breads for those that can eat them

you have to tell us what those who are picky won't eat (apart from salmon and pork)

Not formal at all. Just family. No veggies.

Picky eaters, hmm, where do I start.....

How about salads from this thread

apart from some chicken pieces&wings which you can mariante and cook in the morning and just reheat or serve cold?

Do you have a slow cooker? I did a bit pot of chilli in mine when we had a crowd over. Another huge saucepan of rice and some salads and we were sorted.

I'd also go for the baked potatoes and a big choice of fillings like tuna and sweetcorn, celery and apple in mayo, sausages (gluten?) with BBQ sauce, chilli con carne. Maybe some sweet potatoes too with fillings.

Tagine in a slow cooker with a carrot, mint and orange salad. Bulgur salad although that's not gluten free. Lentil, rice and pasta with fried onion and tomato sauce kushary (make one without the pasta).

Big Mexican chilli, guacamole, salads, cheese, refried beans, yoghurt, shredded white cabbage, lettuce etc in wraps, tacos, gluten free bread

Ah, slow cooker, that's a good idea too.

We had a family get together recently and there was 30 of us. We did a mix of bbq and oven food. Started at 1pm and last people left around 12.30-1am (some stragglers ended up staying) and even though we had masses of food on tap all day, we was still bunging more in oven and snacking till the end and we had loads, so always over estimate, I would rather throw away than not have enough.

In the oven/ cold stuff we did

Garlic, rosemary and bacon roasted new potatoes in oven (could leave out bacon)
Spring rolls and samosas (sains)
Beef kofta kebabs (sainsburys)
Lamb kebabs (sains)
Chicken kebabs (sains)
Bought loads of mini bilinis and topped with philly and smoked salmon
Chicken satay and made a peanut sauce (which was amazing I might add lol)
Sausage rolls
mini eggs
a caesar salad
roasted vegetables
tomato, basil, buffalo mozzarella, olive oil salad
mini Cornish pasties
Pieces of roast chicken
Bowl of cooked fresh prawns
Big bowls of crisps and dips
Bowl of marinated roasted veg
olives, sundried tomatoes, feta
platter of ham, salamis
Cheese board and crackers
Loads of different breads and rolls

On bbq

selection of loads of different sausages
Selection of different flavoured burgers
selection of different meat kebabs