Buffet for 40/50, Nigella's ham in coke?

[lilibet]

I'm veggie but am doing a buffet for dd's 21st soon and was planning to do this. I've done t before for carnovire parents and it went down really well, so, how many would you do and how would you serve it?

My original thought was to do 2, have one ready sliced and one in the centre with the glaze on looking posh for people to start on after the sliced one has gone, but I have jsut seen that one only serves 8, so I'm unsure about what to do?

Suggestions?

TIA

What else are you having with it?

If it's the 'main' meat then I think you need to go for it serving 8 and do 5 or 6. Have 2 or 3 sliced, 1 in the centre, and have the rest out back sliced and ready to go if you can. If it's one of a couple of options then you can make it stretch to 10 and only do 4 or 5 with 1 looking posh and the rest sliced.

In fact reading that back I'd say do 5.

Am assuming it's all people with adult size appetites.

Wow, a buffet for 50 is hard work!

Do you have a Costco near you. There you can buy spiral sliced whole hams and loads of other buffet foods (cold meats, cheeses, large quiches, salads...).

BTW, if you buy a whole ham, it should weigh around 4kg, so fine for 40 people. You can get one from Ocado for £23.

Spicy chicken kebabs
Stuffed Jackets
Crisps nuts etc
Cocktail sausages (children!)
Rice Salad
Greek Salad
Couscous adn Roasted Veg
Salamis
Melon
Smoked salmon blinis
Bread
Cheese board

Tiny meringues filled with either lemon or white chocolate flavoured cream
Tiny eclairs with raspberry or coffee flavoured centres
Chocoalte Brownies

Whaddya think?

Oh and individual quiches!

Oh gosh you've got loads! Only need a couple of hams of the size Nigella suggests then so your original plan is a good one.

Do you think three then?

One to look posh and two sliced IMO. Then you can hack into the complete one when you need to.

depends on size I guess?

Looks like a great list -I would be teempted to do a big pot of chilli or curry too if you can?

I would keep it simple and posh. Glazed hams would go well with:

a mustard and pickle tray
a basket of decent mixed rolls/baguette
potato salad
green salad
tomato salad
cheese board (3 or 4 large cheeses rather than lots of bits and pieces eg whole brie, whole mini stilton, large slice of cheddar, couple of goats cheese logs)

Then you can spend money on little unusual things that will be remembered, like

bowls of hard boiled quails eggs for them to peel, with celery salt to dip

bowls of fresh pineapple very nicely presented

erm... its too early for me to think of more at the moment!

The idea is of bounty through having lots of a few things. Too many things on a buffet table look messy, and nobody eats from bowls that are nearly empty so you'll save in the end by going big and bold, and you'll have a nicer effect.

Another idea would be to poach a whole salmon, which is really easy and looks very smart too.

good luck!