Feeding the masses, party of 15 for 3 full days + 1 dinner.

[billyhill]

Son is graduating from high school. For his senior trip, he wanted to go to the beach with his friends. These kids do not come from money, so we will be eating at the beach house for most if not all days. I am comfortable with breakfast, It is lunch and dinner that concern me. Standard kitchen, gas grill, no food allergies, only one picky eater. I am looking for advice.

 

I will have some help, several kids want cooking lessons while we are there.

 

 

[MaryIsobel]

54 minutes ago, billyhill said:

Son is graduating from high school. For his senior trip, he wanted to go to the beach with his friends. These kids do not come from money, so we will be eating at the beach house for most if not all days. I am comfortable with breakfast, It is lunch and dinner that concern me. Standard kitchen, gas grill, no food allergies, only one picky eater. I am looking for advice.

 

I will have some help, several kids want cooking lessons while we are there.

 

 

"Bars" are good in these situations; taco bar, baked potato bar, mashed potato bar, sandwich bar, quesadilla bar... You get the idea. They allow each eater to customize the offerings to their liking. I also found that pulled pork and mac and cheese was a huge hit with teenagers. Serve with buns, cole slaw and whatever fixings you can come up with. The leftover pulled pork (if there is any - that age of kids can really eat!) make great nachos the next day. Mac and cheese would be a great cooking lesson. Also sweets; muffins, cookies, squares, etc.

[Alex]

Advice #1: Don't cater to the picky eater. Hunger + peer pressure is not necessarily a bad thing. I'd warn the person in advance, though, in case they want to bring their own protein bars, snacks, jar of peanut butter, etc.

 

 

Edited March 2 by Alex
to fix a typo (log)

[TdeV]

@billyhill, I can't remember if you engage in food dehydrating? Lately, I have been pulling semi-dehydrated stuff out of my freezer; the process of having dehydrated food has also semi-prepared it. I would think this would be a great advantage for bulk cooking.

 

[billyhill]

18 minutes ago, MaryIsobel said:

"Bars" are good in these situations; taco bar, baked potato bar, mashed potato bar, sandwich bar, quesadilla bar... You get the idea. They allow each eater to customize the offerings to their liking. I also found that pulled pork and mac and cheese was a huge hit with teenagers. Serve with buns, cole slaw and whatever fixings you can come up with. The leftover pulled pork (if there is any - that age of kids can really eat!) make great nachos the next day. Mac and cheese would be a great cooking lesson. Also sweets; muffins, cookies, squares, etc.

Pulled pork, maybe made before we leave is on the list. Son mentioned making chorizo today, again before we leave.

[SLB]

Chili, my friend.  No, it's not really beach food.  However; it's kids, they can be ok with it.  

 

My vote is chili.  

[Margaret Pilgrim]

YES to pulled pork and chili.   "Bars" another great idea.      

Mac and cheese always sells.    Pasta and ragu always requested by our kids.

Hot dogs and potato salad.   

 

[Senior Sea Kayaker]

Pulled pork make ahead and chili are a definite go to.

To the 'bar' idea I would add burgers/cheeseburgers (make your own version) with add ons and condiments and potato salad or bean salad or coleslaw to accompany.

Pasta with make ahead sauce and garlic bread and salad.

The other suggestion I would make is bring lots of oranges, apples .... etc...

 

 

[billyhill]

1 hour ago, TdeV said:

@billyhill, I can't remember if you engage in food dehydrating? Lately, I have been pulling semi-dehydrated stuff out of my freezer; the process of having dehydrated food has also semi-prepared it. I would think this would be a great advantage for bulk cooking.

 

I make jerky, zucchini chips and dried tomatoes. Nothing else, as of now.

[billyhill]

55 minutes ago, Senior Sea Kayaker said:

Pulled pork make ahead and chili are a definite go to.

To the 'bar' idea I would add burgers/cheeseburgers (make your own version) with add ons and condiments and potato salad or bean salad or coleslaw to accompany.

Pasta with make ahead sauce and garlic bread and salad.

The other suggestion I would make is bring lots of oranges, apples .... etc...

 

 

Yep chili is added to the list. Pulled pork, if there are enough leftovers could repurposed into a tamale pie/casserole

[billyhill]

Other than sneaking away 1 day to go deep drop fishing for swordfish and barrel fish, i plan on doing nothing other than cooking. Even if we get skunked fishing, my brother has a 9 lb chunk of sword loin in the freezer for me. I do not know if I am willing to feed that to teenagers. 

[Margaret Pilgrim]

41 minutes ago, billyhill said:

Yep chili is added to the list. Pulled pork, if there are enough leftovers could repurposed into a tamale pie/casserole

Remember that the other name if Pulled Pork is Carnitas!    Many lots.    Like a pork shoulder's worth.

[MaryIsobel]

Coincidentally to this conversation, I made a big batch of beirocks today. They freeze really well (if you have the freezer space) and are great for filling up the bottomless gullets of young men. I just wing them at this point but here is an idea of what they are. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/23658/pams-bierocks/ I do add a layer of cheese.

We are not fond of sweet dough for them, so I just make my regular dough for rolls or white bread. The picture is them proofing on the counter for 1/2 an hour. Once they're proofed I'll egg wash them and bake.

[MaryIsobel]

And baked

[billyhill]

1 minute ago, MaryIsobel said:

And baked

Nice

[Rickbern]

I’ll chirp in with a lunch idea…

 

I always made sausage and broccoli rabe sandwiches on baguettes for my kids when large groups were involved, always a hit even with kids who were new to bitter flavors 

another one that was popular was swordfish salad with onions capers celery and mayonnaise. Could obviously substitute tuna in cans instead 

 

also did pate with gherkins and mustard or thin sliced tenderloin with arugula and pickled onions, sometimes  three together. Always on baguettes. 
 

I never shied away from trying to introduce teenagers to more sophisticated food. Upside is they kept coming back for dinner as they got older

[&roid]

This sounds like a fun trip
 

Lasagne is a go to of ours for feeding groups, super easy to make the ragu ahead of time, even assemble the whole thing. then you’re only half an hour away from eating. 
 

Curry would be another - maybe a meat dish and a chickpea one with a salad. Very easy to scale up. 
 

Last suggestion would be a slow roast lamb shoulder or two. 5-6 hours of unattended cooking will make the backbone of a great meal. 

[lindag]

10 hours ago, MaryIsobel said:

And baked

Beautiful!

[gfweb]

What a beautiful thing!

 

Italian sausage sandwiches w peppers and onions

 

They will eat a TON of food.

[billyhill]

Its a good bunch of kids, I do not dread this trip.

9 hours ago, &roid said:

This sounds like a fun trip
 

Lasagne is a go to of ours for feeding groups, super easy to make the ragu ahead of time, even assemble the whole thing. then you’re only half an hour away from eating. 
 

Curry would be another - maybe a meat dish and a chickpea one with a salad. Very easy to scale up. 
 

Last suggestion would be a slow roast lamb shoulder or two. 5-6 hours of unattended cooking will make the backbone of a great meal. 

I love lamb, a few of them have had lamb before when I made smoked lamb nachos with leftover lamb and chili Colorado.

 

Black beans and rice might be a good choice.

[billyhill]

Was asked to teach carne asada today, and I will. 

[billyhill]

Day 1 arrival 430pm.

 

Dinner was pulled pork bbq sandwiches, baked beans and chips.

 

Day 2:

Chorizo con Pappas breakfast tacos and eggs to order. Over easy egg in place of scrambled was a winner. 

 

Lunch:

Black bean, chipotle, and cheese quesadillas.

 

Dinner:

Home made bread.

 

Spaghetti with italian sausage and tomato sauce. Shrimp cocktail and boiled shrimp was also available.

 

Day 3

Canadian bacon, bacon, and sausage with eggs to order.

 

Lunch: 

Hot dogs and chips

Dinner:

Fifi's south of I 10 gumbo. I made a double batch, they ate the whole thing. I didn't even get a picture.

 

Made 2 1/2 gallons of chili for tomorrow. Wife will make pot roast and potatoes, asparagus, and salad.

 

I will be 70 miles offshore swordfishing. I will try and get some pictures up soon.

 

 

[gfweb]

Heroic, @billyhill!

[billyhill]

Just got home, will update and add a few pictures when I can. It was worth doing!