Planning a simple buffet for around 40 people

[glennbech]

Hi,

 

We are throwing a baptism party for our newborn, and I am toying around with catering for the whole bunch. We want to keep it very simple since we don't have that much time up-front of the event and want to enjoy the party ourselves as well. We also want to keep the cost down.

 

I was thinking serving home made bread width different kinds of proteins. A kind of sandwich buffet; 

 

I would really like Ideas on things that could work, with focus on cost and the ability to prep in advance. I also need help on scaling. I am thinking around 200g proteins per person, but I have no idea how to scale the rest...

 

I was thinking in the lines of this.

 

- Bread (Home baked of course)

 

Condiments

 

- Butter (flavor added, regular)

- Mayo / Aioli

- ... ideas?

 

Green Salad/Lettuce

 

Proteins

 

- Sliced Country ham (sous vide cooked maybe)

- Pulled pork (sous vide cooked)

- Home cured/smoked bacon 

- ... ideas?

Edited September 9, 2014 by glennbech (log)

[CatPoet]

Sounds like you are making a  Smörgåsbord,  I been trying to find the cookbook that show how much per serving but at the moment I cant find it.

We have meatballs for sandwiches,  tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, lettuce  and pickles, cheeses , sliced  meats of different sorts , different types of bread,  wet salads, butter, herb butter  and what ever you need to make a lovely sandwich.

[Lisa Shock]

Condiments:

 

Mustard, you can make several types, and since they store well, you can make them in advance.

Mayo - make a couple flavors from scratch, also can be made in advance. (lime/dill, honey mustard, basil, etc.)

 

 

Green Salad/Lettuce

 

Have a nice selection of vegetables, like cucumber slices, grated carrot, tomato slices, sliced radish, etc. They add a lot to a sandwich and give vegetarians something more substantial.

Be prepared for the gluten-free folks to take a lot of salad, the rest of the crowd, not so much.

 

Proteins:

 

Cheeses for the vegetarians, preferably ones without animal rennet.

Hummus or an Italian cannellini bean spread/dip might be nice. Hummus is very popular in the US right now.

[SylviaLovegren]

Buns and meat, my favorite crowd buffet!

 

But definitely have some vegetarian options.  Where I live, I'd have some vegan options as well, but you know your friends and neighbors. 

[gfweb]

cole slaw goes well with pulled pork

[CatPoet]

Found it:

Smörgåsbord cheat chart. 1 person

 

Warm meats:  100- 150 gram 

Cold cuts 3 types and more :  50 gram per type

Hard cheese : 25 gram

Soft cheese : 15 gram

poultry :  50 gram

Poultry with bone:  100-150 gram

Fish smoked, cured or pickled if 3 types or more:  50 grams.

Shrimp peeled:   50 gram

 

 

Simple rule: meats should be  300 gram per person.

 

 

Potato: 100 gram

Potatosalad:  100-150 gram

Green salad:  50 gram

vegitable paté: 50- 150 gram   (larger number if  vegan or 

vegitarian)

Vegitables ( 3 or more) : 50- 100 gram

Bread soft: 50 gram

crackers: 15 grams.

 

Hot sauce:  3 tablespoon

 

Cold sauce:  2 tablespoon

 

Dressing:  1 tablespoon

[JohnT]

Glenn, is this to be a lunch, afternoon or evening celebration buffet?

[heidih]

Are guests going to be able to sit down to eat? If not, I envision issues with make your own as it seems to require two hands to eat. Also folks tend to be indecisive at buffets and adding the assembly might create a log jam at the table. An array of cold or room temp salads (using the term loosely) might be more efficient, A small sign at each dish with a description is also a good idea. Baskets of interesting crackers and small breads to round it out. 

Edited September 9, 2014 by heidih (log)

[CatPoet]

Oh  we never get a jam here at smörgåsbord,  every  guest gets a butter knife / knife  and a plate, add  what you want and  assembly where you sit.

[LizD518]

Are guests going to be able to sit down to eat? If not, I envision issues with make your own as it seems to require two hands to eat. Also folks tend to be indecisive at buffets and adding the assembly might create a log jam at the table. An array of cold or room temp salads (using the term loosely) might be more efficient, A small sign at each dish with a description is also a good idea. Baskets of interesting crackers and small breads to round it out. 

 

This.  When I offer catered lunches, my least favorite is the "deli buffet".  Yes, there is a lot of variety, but it takes forever for people to go through the line.  And what happens is that most people take all the components of their sandwich on their plate and then move away to assemble it. If they don't have a seat / bit of counter, that will be really hard.  

 

I would make a buffet of 3-4 pre-made sandwich varieties.  Cut them in half and plan on at least 3/4 of a full sandwich per person, plus a garden salad and 1-2 sides like potato salad and coleslaw, pickles or other salads.  And dessert.  Have at least one of the varieties of sandwich be vegetarian, but something popular like a caprese sandwich will get snapped up by non-vegetarians too.  Do one chicken salad -type variety (tuna salad or egg salad or even ham salad if it popular in your area) and two regular meat based sandwiches.  You can make them as creative or simple as you like.  

 

So for 40 people

35 - 45 full-size sandwiches, 3-4 varieties 

garden salad - 1 1/2 large bowls

potato salad - 1 large bowl

coleslaw or bean-based salad - 1 large bowl

pickles - 2 jars

dessert - 1-2 platters of assorted cookies/ bars