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If you have a turkey fryer, you can easily whip up a batch of fried chicken for a crowd. Or do a fish fry. Either option is extremely popular. You'd be surprised how far people are impressed by simple, homemade fried chicken. Serve with slaw, biscuits, etc. If you have hotel pans, you can easily prepare casserole dishes such as arroz con pollo, lasagne, mac and cheese, etc. for a crowd. I figure that each pan serves about 25-35 people with average appetites. Another popular option is a "quesadilla fest" where you line up a bunch of fillings (veg, meat, seafood, etc.), assemble and grill. Since they only take a couple of minutes on each side, it's easy to make a whole bunch quickly. Serve with typical tex-mex side dishes and drinks. Also for breakfasts, don't forget casseroles like breakfast strata and overnight french toast. When I'm serving crowds for extended periods, I try to give each day a theme, such as Mexican, seafood, comfort food, soup fest, etc. Once I decide upon a theme for each day, it makes planning the individual day's menus easier.

Do Ramen noodles get added to this at some point? It looks good as-is, but I'm wondering why it's called Ramen noodle salad. I'm also a bit surprised that the seniors liked the salad (although it looks delicious to me). Isn't this a bit outside their comfort zone? How did they like the meatballs? I remember back when you started this thread how it was mentioned that even rice was a bit "foreign" for your seniors. Maybe their confidence in your cooking is paying off.

I have the salad spinner, the veg peeler and a few other things from OXO. However, I think that the OXO 4 cup fat separator is the bomb. Unlike most fat separators, this one has a large capacity so you can de-fat even a large pot of stock in no time. Cleans up easily in the dishwasher, too.

Hi Zoe and Welcome to Egullet! Thanks for joining and jumping in here on this discussion. I found the following comments especially helpful: One, let the dough store for at least 2 days to really let it ferment. It improves the taste considerably and the crumb. If you bake it on the first day you will have a mild flavor and a tight crumb. This explains why the loaf that I baked on day one (post #44) has less taste and crumb than the one that I baked today. Two, handle the dough as little as possible. We say to shape it for 30-60 seconds but that is even too long. It should be about 20 seconds. Experienced bakers have a tendency to want to knead. This knocks out all of the gas that has built up during the storing and will make the dough dense. So less is more in this case. Good tip - it is hard to give up dough handling! Even the NYT NKB recipe was hard to follow in this regard - it feels "wrong" not to knead. Three, the hydration level of our dough, although we avoid terms like that in the book, is about 75% if you are using average unbleached all-purpose flour. If you switch to KA all-purpose the protein level is much higher and you will want to increase the hydration to 81%. This means you will be adding about 1/4 more water to the dough. It should be wet and sticky, unlike traditional doughs. If it is too dry the crumb will be dense and it won't store for as long. You have diagnosed my loaf problem! I automatically reached for my bread flour, which I suspect has a higher protein level. The dough was not as wet as you describe, so I will try again and add 25% more water as you suggest. Thanks again for joining Egullet and thanks also to Calipoutine for inviting you!

Here is a picture of the loaf that I baked from the "regular" yeast batch. As had been suggested, I let this loaf rise longer - a total of 60 minutes. There was a slight improvement in the texture, and the flavor was noticeably stronger. Oddly (for a person who loves salt), I found the salt flavor to be too strong. I didn't notice that in the earlier loaf. I still have 3/4 batch of the "rapid rise" yeast batch and 3/4 batch of the "regular" batch in the fridge, so I will be playing around with the dough this week. Hopefully, I will hit upon the correct formula to achieve the results that others have reported!

Good point, Anna N. I checked out Zoe's website (www.zoebakes.com) and found this (the bold lettering is quoting Zoe's website - I can't figure out how to get the quote function to work for references outside of Egullet): 01/17/08 9:15 am zoe said... Hi Jerry, Sorry if that wasn’t clear. This is how it breaks down: non-refrigerated dough rests for 40 minutes on the peel. refrigerated dough rests for 1 hour on the peel. These times are for dough that is using less yeast. If you are following the recipe in the book, then just stick to those instructions. Does that help? You need to allow the dough to warm up somewhat before baking or your dough will be too dense and you will also have uneven oven spring. Thanks, Zoë So if I'm understanding her correctly, using the standard "master" recipe, the rise time should be 40 minutes even for refrigerated dough. I hope someone with the book chimes in, because now I am really confused.

You can definitely make these several hours ahead - put them on a platter that has been lined with wax paper, then use wax paper in between the layers (this way, you can stack them several rolls high if necessary). Put another piece of wax paper over the top, then lay a damp towel over that, and then wrap up the whole thing - platter and all - with plastic wrap. Store in your fridge or cooler until ready to serve. The damp towel will supply enough moisture to keep the rice paper hydrated. The wax paper will prevent the absorbtion of too much water, and will also keep the rolls from sticking to each other. Your menu sounds delicious!!!

I must say that my first experience was, well, disappointing. Yesterday morning, I made the master recipe as directed, however, I did not realize until too late that I used "rapid rise" yeast rather than regular yeast. So I made a second batch using regular yeast. Last night I cooked two loaves from the "rapid rise" batch, thinking that I should use that dough asap. I did add approximately 3/4 cup of boiling water to a pan on the bottom rack of my oven, and I cooked the loaves on a stone (preheated) on the middle rack. I let the loaves rise for 40 min., as directed, but they did not seem to rise well, so I gave them another 15 minutes and then baked at 450F for 20 minutes (as they were small loaves). Here is the result. The crust was OK, but I did not care for the texture (obviously the rise was insufficient) and it didn't have much flavor, at all. Tonight, I will bake a couple of loaves from the other batch - hopefully the "rapid rise" yeast is to blame for these poor results.

Thanks, Rona! I will keep these in mind in the future, when the girls in question are older (they are 2 and nearly 4 now).

Thanks for this info. I started some of the 5 minute bread (my first batch) this morning. Do I understand you correctly that I should pour boiling water into the roasting pan on the lowest rack in my oven? Then bake the bread on a stone on a rack immediately above? How much water should I use? I really must get this book - unfortunately, it is sold out at my local bookstores and out of stock at Amazon.

Is this the basic recipe? ← Yes, I believe that is the basic recipe. And thanks for answering all my questions, Randi! I'll try to post pictures of my results, too.

Hey Randi, do you have the book or are you using recipes found on the web? I could only find a recipe online for the basic starter. Your boules look great. What did the inside look like and how do they taste? What time and temperature settings did you use for the boules? Are you using your proofing function for the second rise? If so, what temperature? (Sorry for so many questions ).

I think that Doodad meant 2 cups, not 12 cups, of flour(?) There are recipes similar in ingredients (e.g., chicken and slick dumplings recipe) but not technique. These recipes generally call for 2 cups of flour and a similar amount of salt,shortening and liquids. I would love to see a demo!!!

These look lovely, but I can't tell from the pictures - what size are these items? I assume they are intended as toys for children. Is there a recommended age bracket? I have two small girls in mind that would love to play with such things, but I don't want to send a gift that might be age-inappropriate, or dangerous. What do you do with them?

Wait--she makes the salad on Saturday to sell for the whole rest of the week? Or only for sale on Saturday? I guess this is another way of asking how far in advance of serving one can make this salad and still have it be palatable and presentable. I've got a dinner coming up for which it would be a great boon to be able to get away with making the green papaya salad the day before as opposed to the day of. Thanks! ← Hi Mizducky, if you have a green bag, then you can julienne the green papaya, etc. the day before and keep in the green bag until the next day. Add the dressing right before you serve it. These bags are also wonderful for keeping the other items you might be serving (cilantro, thai basil, bean sprouts) fresh as new for a long, long time. I bought these bags because my nearest Asian market is 1.5 hours away. So when I shop, I load up and use the green bags to extend the life of my produce. They are reusable for several months. Regarding the green papaya, I have that gizmo that looks like a standard Y-frame vegetable peeler, only with a wavy blade, that I bought for $1.50 at a Daiso store. Works great - but doesn't offer the versatility of the Kom-Kom thing that Chrisamirault found.

Nakji: Bravo!!! Everything looks great. I'm sure your guests were impressed (and full). I just bought a book on Vietnamese home cooking last weekend, and I'm going to make some similar dishes this weekend, subject to finding ingredients (not easy where I live in FL). Vietnamese food rocks.

I have not eaten here but have wanted to, as other people have raved about it. They deliver to the zip code for your hotel:http://www.cafepizzaiolo.com/index.html Yes, that is the closest metro stop. I cannot offhand think of cheap places to eat near there for a group. There's a TGIFridays, but that's probably not what you're looking for.It's possible to walk to the Kennedy Center from there. It's not terribly far, but it would be a challenging hike for that many people. While you're hiking them around, is this too expensive? http://www.oldglorybbq.com/menu/default.aspx It's in Georgetown. I don't know where you're coming from to go to the Kennedy Center, but if Georgetown fits ahead of time, that would be one idea. ← Thanks for your suggestion - even though I'm trying to avoid pizza, I know that I will be overruled, so at least we'll have good pizza for a change.

I'm bumping this thread back up because the trip is getting closer and we have more details finalized. And I still need help!!! Thanks to all of your good suggestions, I have been in contact with some of the restaurants suggested. Bottom line is that we (group of 75 high school orchestra students and chaperones) will arrive in DC on Tuesday, April 1 and depart on Saturday, April 5. We will stay at the Americana Hotel, 1400 Jefferson Davis Hwy, Arlington, VA. The hotel is within walking distance of the Crystal City metro station and to save money, we will travel on the metrorail to and from the attractions. Understanding that this is a group of 75 public high school students, basically on a shoe-string budget, I need some additional suggestions, especially with dinners. (We will likely be eating lunch at the various food courts suggested upthread). I have contacted Jaleo and I'm waiting for a quote. Are there any other places that you folks recommend that are within walking distance from the hotel, or within walking distance from a reasonably close metro station? Cici's is also on the list (can't beat the price and they're giving us a private room). I'm also considering ordering takeout (eating at the hotel) for one night - again, to save money. Any recommendations? Here is the highlight of our trip: The Thursday, April 3rd performance, at 7:00 PM, of Mahler’s 2nd Symphony at the Kennedy Center. Any thoughts about an early meal for that evening would be great! I guess that the Foggy Bottom metro stop is closest to the Kennedy Center?? I'm sorry to be so cost-concious but the circumstances require it. That being said, I remain hopeful that I will not be subjected to all the Burger Kings and Pizzeria Uno's that were endured on the last trip!

Man, David Ross, your food looks stunning, as usual. I don't like herring in cream but your photo makes me want some. And yes to the pickled red onions. If you don't have any in the fridge, even a 30 minute soak in rice vinegar makes a big difference in taste, texture and appearance.

Congratulations! I would like to echo all the positive comments about how great this blog has been, and also to state that it has been a great source of inspiration. Thank you (x 3).

I love canned mushrooms on pizza, too. Reminds me of my youth, I think (that's the way they were always served when I was growing up). Your pizza looks great, BTW. I don't have a peel, so I make my pizzas on parchment paper, which I slide in and out of the oven using a cookie sheet (turned upside down). I let them cook on the paper, and it also keeps the pizza stone clean. I find that there is no difference in the crust cooked on the parchment vs. directly on the stone. FWIW.

Mushroom strudel from the original Moosewood Cookbook. Yum. Whole pumpkin, stuffed with a spinach custard or wild rice/nut stuffing (whole stuffed pumpkin makes a great party presentation!). Meatless meat loaf, covered with duxelle and pastry, similar to beef wellington (serve with mushroom gravy) (actually, you could do two wellingtons - meat and non-meat - and make all of your guests happy!) I would suggest getting away from cheesy entrees/sides because that's what most vegetarians get fed by non-vegetarians, i.e., predictable. I know that I sure got fe a lot of that kind of stuff when I was strictly veg. Keep the cheese course, though. Just my .02.

If you are serious about winning, and have the time, I would do a side-by-side of the conch and (proposed) scallop chowder. I'm still having a hard time imagining the scallop chowder. In addition to my fear about overcooking the scallops, I'm wondering whether the scallop flavor would shine in a chowder. All the better if you can find the conch at a good price. I live in FL, and even here the good stuff is $20/lb. Worth every penny, though, if prepared properly. Too many people ruin conch by using high heat cooking methods. I find it needs a low and slow cooking method (or seviche). I think a conch chowder accompanied by conch fritters would be a winner. How were you planning to garnish the scallop chowder?

The idea of a scallop chowder doesn't call out to me. I don't know the parameters of your service situation other than you said you were serving about 25, but I think there is a big risk that the scallops would end up overdone by the time they were eaten. Personally, I like the idea of a conch chowder (could even garnish with conch fritters). Your local reputable seafood purveyor should be able to get you frozen conch steaks. Just make sure that you pound them very well, and cut them into large-bite-sized pieces and cook them low and slow. Emeril has a good recipe for conch chowder on the Food Network website. Top with a splash of dry sherry on each serving. I also think a corn-lobster chowder would be popular -- float a anice big hunk of claw meat on top. Who wouldn't love that?

Oh, this will appear on my menu this week. Please tell me what the texture of the parsley should be -- limp, crunchy, in between? ← Well, hopefully someone with knowledge of the actual Spanish dish will chime in here, but when I make it, I like to cook the parsley over fairly high heat, briefly, so that the leaves are limp but there is still some crunchiness in the stems. It should remain bright green. I always prepare it last, as it just takes a couple of minutes. I remember that my old roommate used Crystal hot sauce (or similar) and he used a whole lot of it! (I usually use sriracha) Don't chop it up too small - maybe just 2 or 3 cuts per stem. Also, because it reduces so much when cooked, I usually buy at least one bunch per person (2 for me!)