Calipoutine Scrambles to go Catering

[Lilija]

Randi, we needed that picture of you- just to make sure that you're smiling and in one piece. And believe me, having worked at a camp before, photographic proof is sometimes necessary. 

Congratulations on the successful endeavor and the deserved reinforcement! And yes, if Marcy doesn't mind, I could use some old-fashioned sex bread in my life. 

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Haha, I thought the same thing, when I saw that pic "Oh, thank goodness, she's alive, and hasn't torn out all her hair!" The second thing I thought was that Randi looks exactly like my close friend Angel, and I had to take a double take!

I could go for some sex bread, myself. Anything with garlic, cheese, and slathering involved is definitely worth making.

[SushiCat]

Ah what an interesting read.

I'm about to do my stint of cooking for a crowd, I do it once every three years and it is always of a similar vein ... many people, vegans and special diets, hot heat with high humidity (like how do you keep the food-safe?), many children who are picky etc. Everyone is always very appreciative of my home cooked food and goes on and on about how good it is, like they all eat from packages all the time (which I know is not true).

This year I want to change up lunches and have pre-made sandwiches, as usually we put out every fixin' avail. and let people do their thing. Randi, any idea how long it took to make sandwiches (e.g. minute per concept) and how many sandwiches got eaten along side the salads etc. ? In the past we have used much more deli meat / cheese than I can ever imagine. This makes me guess that people would eat three or four sandwich halves, but maybe if the sandwiches are made it is different.

Great job you did! Hope you are having fun in the sun!

S the cat ...

[CaliPoutine]

Ah what an interesting read.

I'm about to do my stint of cooking for a crowd, I do it once every three years and it is always of a similar vein ... many people, vegans and special diets, hot heat with high humidity (like how do you keep the food-safe?), many children who are picky etc.  Everyone is always very appreciative of my home cooked food and goes on and on about how good it is, like they all eat from packages all the time (which I know is not true).

This year I want to change up lunches and have pre-made sandwiches, as usually we put out every fixin' avail. and let people do their thing.  Randi, any idea how long it took to make sandwiches (e.g. minute per concept) and how many sandwiches got eaten along side the salads etc. ?  In the past we have used much more deli meat / cheese than I can ever imagine.  This makes me guess that people would eat  three or four sandwich halves, but maybe if the sandwiches are made it is different.

Great job you did!  Hope you are having fun in the sun!

S the cat ...

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I thought about doing meat/cheese platters. I know that people eat a lot more when its a make your own type of thing. I made all the salads( tuna and egg) ahead of time. I also cut all the cucumber/lettuce so it went pretty fast. I think we ( 2 of us)made about 50-60 sandwiches ( they were all gone) in about 15 min. I did put out a platter of onions/tomato so people could add it to their own sandwich. I did put mustard and mayo on each sandwich too. If you put out bowls of that, it would cut down on your time.

The egg salad was very popular. I used 6 cans of tuna( drained well, and process in the cuisnart) and there was a lot of tuna salad left. I made 2 vegan sandwiches ( hummus and avocado) and those went first. The other sandwiches were turkey and ham.

I'm getting ready to leave for the airport to fly home. It was a fun trip.

[kbjesq]

Ah what an interesting read.

I'm about to do my stint of cooking for a crowd, I do it once every three years and it is always of a similar vein ... many people, vegans and special diets, hot heat with high humidity (like how do you keep the food-safe?), many children who are picky etc.  Everyone is always very appreciative of my home cooked food and goes on and on about how good it is, like they all eat from packages all the time (which I know is not true).

This year I want to change up lunches and have pre-made sandwiches, as usually we put out every fixin' avail. and let people do their thing.  Randi, any idea how long it took to make sandwiches (e.g. minute per concept) and how many sandwiches got eaten along side the salads etc. ?  In the past we have used much more deli meat / cheese than I can ever imagine.  This makes me guess that people would eat  three or four sandwich halves, but maybe if the sandwiches are made it is different.

Great job you did!  Hope you are having fun in the sun!

S the cat ...

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How big is your crowd? I regularly make sandwiches for 75-125 people and I find that the fastest way to do so is to use Italian bread (like a giant sub sandwich). One loaf yields eight servings. Plan on approx. 2 oz. of meat and 1 oz. of cheese per person. Line up all of the prepared sandwich ingredients such as shredded lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, mayo etc. then assemble all of the sandwiches at once. Mrs. Dash (no-salt seasoning blend) makes a great addition to these sandwiches. As Randi mentioned, a hummus sandwich is a great option for vegetarians. I like hummus, roasted red pepper and alfalfa sprouts in combination.

Working by myself, I can prepare 8-10 whole loaves (64 - 80 servings) in about an hour including clean-up, if that helps you. I do use a mandoline for slicing, it really saves time.

To keep salads cool, I line a hotel pan with ice, then put another one inside and keep my salads in that. You could do the same thing with two big bowls.

Hope this is helpful and good luck! Let us know how it turns out.

[wheatgirl]

Garlic Slathered Stretch Bread

© MARCY GOLDMAN’s RECIPE from

A Passion for Baking, Oxmoor House, 2007 (Pizza and Flatbreads Chapter)

I am doing a first! I am contributing a recipe from my new cookbook, A Passion for Baking, (Oxmoor House 2007) as a public service to Egullet. No more pining or wondering about a bread that is the next best thing to….(fill in the blank and trust me, for me, it’s not Hagen Daaz). This simple white dough gets smeared with a garlicky past that bubbles up in the oven and then gets crisp and bakes up into a golden wonder. Leftovers can be sliced in sticks for dipping into marinara or used as a sandwich bread and pressed in a zesty Panini style snack. This has an Olive Garden sensibility about it. This is one of those make-it-once and then make it once a week thereafter recipes. No one remembers anything else about the food when this is served as part of the meal. It’s like the meal where time stands still…….I use Fermipan or Saf yeast for this bread and a bread machine is find for making the dough. For more on this or other recipe help, visit my site www.betterbaking.com where the Baker is IN, for questions.

Dough

2 cups warm water

1 3/4 teaspoons rapid-rise yeast

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons sugar

4 cups bread flour

Garlic Slather Topping

6 cloves garlic, finely minced (I use more but I am starting you off ..s.l.o.w.)

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup mayonnaise

1 cup Parmesan cheese

3/8 teaspoon mixed Italian herbs

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and drizzle with olive oil.

In a mixer bowl, hand whisk the yeast and water together and let stand 2-3 minutes to dissolve the yeast. Briskly whisk in the salt, sugar and most of the flour to make a soft dough. Knead with dough hook on the lowest speed for 5-8 minutes, adding in more flour as necessary until dough is resilient but not tough. Remove the dough hook and spray the dough with nonstick cooking spray.

Cover the entire mixer and bowl with a large, clear plastic bag. Let rise until doubled in size, 90 minutes to 3 hours. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently deflate the dough. Cover lightly with the clear, plastic bag and make the Garlic Slather Topping.

For the Garlic Slather Toppoing, in a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic with the salt to a fine paste. Remove to a medium bowl. Fold in the mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, herbs and olive oil.

Divide dough in two portions. Stretch each to a long oval or 18 inches by 6 inches or so. Place on the prepared baking sheet, evenly spaced apart. Using the back of a spoon, spread the filling all over the top of each bread. Top each with the mozzarella cheese. Cover lightly with the large, clear plastic bag and let rise 60-90 minutes until puffy.

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Bake until nicely golden on top and topping is sizzling, about 20-25 minutes. Makes two flatbreads which serves 2 greedy people of 6 polite diners.

[CaliPoutine]

Thanks wheatgirl for posting this.

Now, I have to add my alterations of the recipe. I made it as written the first time, except I reduced the garlic to 4 cloves( it was still very garlicky). I also found the dough a little too "yeasty" for my liking. Robin loved it though.

The second time I made it, I reduced the yeast to slightly less than 1 tsp and I allowed for an overnight rise in the fridge. The dough was way more flavorful and less yeasty. I'f you're an experienced breadbaker like myself, you'll probably want to do it this way.

Make it though, its sooooo good!!!

ETA: Ok, I'm a bit slow this morning. I just realized that wheatgirl is Marcy. LOL. I thought Wheatgirl was just posting a recipe from her new cookbook that she bought.

Edited June 19, 2008 by CaliPoutine (log)

[Sony]

Yay! Thank you for sharing so generously, Marcy....sure you don't want to rename it "sex bread"?

[forever_young_ca]

Are the mixed Italian herbs fresh or dried?

Thanks,

[CaliPoutine]

Are the mixed Italian herbs fresh or dried?

Thanks,

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Dried( at least thats what I used). I'm sure if you have fresh, you can use that but you'll need to use more.