Sandwich Dinner

[Chufi]

I'm having a party in 2 weeks, I expect I'll have to feed about 16 people. I'm going to make a large batch of coddled pork (pork shoulder very slowly cooked in olive oil, from Paula Wolfert's Slow Meditteranean Cooking) and serve this in sandwiches with a bit of lettuce and tarragon mayo. I recently made these when I had some of that pork left over, and they were so fantastic that at the first bite I said: that's what I'm going to make for my party!

Anyway, I'm really stuck when I think of the other dishes. The sandwiches will be warm, so I think I need one cold, and one hot side dish. At this point I feel that with an average of 4 of these parties a year, for the same group of friends, I've done every single salad and gratin imaginable...

So, I need help. What goes well with warm pork sandwiches, can be prepared ahead, and will wow my guests?

edited to add: this won't be a formal dinner obviously, but I will have enough space for everybody to sit while eating, so it does not have to be finger-food.

Edited April 17, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Susan in FL]

Surprisingly, one of the things that wow'd my guests yesterday was the zucchini and prosciutto roll-ups. The night before I salted thin lengthwise slices of zucchini and after they gave up quite a bit of liquid, rinsed and dried them. I stored them in the fridge overnight with paper towels, in a plastic bag. Yesterday morning I placed one basil leaf on each slice of zucchini, and then placed a half slice of prosciutto on top, rolled them up, and stuck a toothpick in each. A drawback (?) for you would be that it's another pork thing.

The herb-marinated shrimp on top of spicy red cabbage was a big hit, too. I'll tell you more about that if you would like to hear about it. Are you interested in ideas that are just vegetable or starch kind of side dishes, or would it be of interest if there's a bit of meat (or seafood) or etc. in it?

[Chufi]

So those zucchini are salted overnight, but not cooked in any other way? sounds easy, simple and I bet those bundles look cute!

In the past I have done buffets with sometimes up to 10 different dishes, meat, seafood etc., but I promised myself (for various reasons, one of them that I won't have a lot of time for prep) to keep it simple this time. So I am looking for 2, or 3 sidedishes, so people can have a plate of food with different things that taste good together.

[Marlene]

I guess the obvious ones are coleslaw and potato salad. A pasta salad would work well . Simple sliced tomatoes.

[Trishiad]

sweet potato fries or chips with a tangy catsup or dijon.

[Jaymes]

I'd do something cold and marinated for sure....plenty of things to choose from....rice, or bean, or mushroom, or onion, of all of those, salad.

Maybe escabeche de zanahoria y jalapenos -- those pickled carrots with peppers and onions that the Mexicans love.

Or the pink grapefruit slices with avocados and sweet red onions & vinaigrette.

Or tabouleh...

Edited April 17, 2006 by Jaymes (log)

[Shaya]

Klary/Susan:

I've made those zucchini bundles only they get dipped and fried:

make sandwiches layering zuke/proscuitto/cheese/basil/zuke

then roll in flour and egg/salt/pepper

then fry until golden brown on both sides, drain and top with parmigiano.

Another idea - since it's sandwiches, what about some sort of chip idea - paper thin slices of beets, sweet potato, potato, fried or baked...something crispy and unexpected next to such an elegant sandwich.

[lexy]

Maybe escabeche de zanahoria y jalapenos -- those pickled carrots with peppers and onions that the Mexicans love.

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A homemade pickle would be nice - especially if you can get ahold of some nice young spring vegetables. Or an olive/herb/marinated vegetable mix.

What about soup, maybe served in a cup if people are going to be mingling?

[christine007]

Cut up fresh fruit is wonderful with sandwiches.

how about a platter of fresh cut up vegetables and a dip for them?

homemade potato chips too.

Everything sounds good, frankly!

[Susan in FL]

So those zucchini are salted overnight, but not cooked in any other way? sounds easy, simple and I bet those bundles look cute!

In the past I have done buffets with sometimes up to 10 different dishes, meat, seafood etc., but I promised myself (for various reasons, one of them that I won't have a lot of time for prep) to keep it simple this time. So I am looking for 2, or 3 sidedishes, so people can have a plate of food with different things that taste good together.

Yeah, that's it on the zucchini. Actually before the overnight, I rinsed them. I was going to blanch them, but was glad I didn't -- they came about very rollable and full of flavor. I'll post a photo as soon as an ImageGullet glitch in my account is worked out. They were cute.

Klary/Susan:

I've made those zucchini bundles only they get dipped and fried:

make sandwiches layering zuke/proscuitto/cheese/basil/zuke

then roll in flour and egg/salt/pepper

then fry until golden brown on both sides, drain and top with parmigiano.  . . .

I've seen that recipe -- I think I saw it on the food network recently -- and I thought about it, but only thought about it for a split second. That would have been more work than I wanted to do, and I wanted to do as much ahead as possible for yesterday. But they looked so good, I decided I want to make them for just Russ and me some night.

And Klary, I did forget to say that the shrimp salad thingie was made totally the night before and the shrimp part and the red cabbage part were stored separately. Then I just put the shrimp on top of the cabbage before serving it. That was mainly why I mentioned that dish!

. . . What about soup, maybe served in a cup if people are going to be mingling?

Cold soup! Served in cups, which can sit on the plates with the other food, or not!

[judiu]

Boston Baked Beans with molasses and bacon. Creamy coleslaw. Potato salad with a nice mayonnaise dressing with celery and onions. Now I'm hungry!

[snowangel]

Klary, this Cole Slaw is a nice twist on a familiar favorite, and goes very well with pulled pork. It's really easy, so your other side could be hot and more labor intensive.

[Megan Blocker]

Refrigerator pickles!!! Or, really, even just a cucumber salad.

[Susan in FL]

. . . even just a cucumber salad.

But of course! Why didn't I think of that.

[lexy]

By the way, I know you've already chosen what you want to do for sandwiches, but if anyone else is looking for interesting sandwich ideas, I've been dying to have a sandwich party ever since reading Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book.

[forever_young_ca]

I made the "Not your Boston Baked Beans" from recipe gullet a couple of weeks ago. I loved them, and think they would be excellent with a pulled pork sandwich.

Easy to make ahead as well

Here is the link http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r463.html

[Chufi]

Thanks everybody there are some wonderful ideas here!

Coleslaw would be great. It's really unknown here - so that's why I never thought of it myself. Snowangel that recipe with the dried cranberries sounds wonderful.

Those beans also soud good and woud be a good way to get something bulky and filling into the meal.. my friends eat a lot

Pickles and chips also sound great. What I love about all your ideas is that they are easy, and within my budget. I have lots of new things to think about now! Thanks!

Edited April 17, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[NWKate]

I have blanched matchsticks of various veggies and then tied bundles of them together with blanched green onions. A little melted butter and drizzled lemon juice really sets them off.

Kate

[mizducky]

What about soup, maybe served in a cup if people are going to be mingling?

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Yeah, some kind of chilled vegetable-based soup would be a great contrast with pork sandwiches, I would think. Some kind of gazpacho, for example.

[Kim Shook]

sweet potato fries or chips with a tangy catsup or dijon.

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OOOHH! I second this one - sweet potato chips with pork sounds like an instant classic to me!!

[scubadoo97]

I guess the obvious ones are coleslaw and potato salad.  A pasta salad would work well .  Simple sliced tomatoes.

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I love slaw and use cabbage quite a lot. You can give it a twist with different dressings, spices and other ingredients to give it an Asian or Mediterranean flavor which can turn regular cole slaw into something quite interesting. Of course I love the American standard as well.

[Daniel]

I recently had this awesome dish.. It was haricots verts in a simple dressing of white vinegar and egg yolks.. There was also some smoked duck in it. Using bacon would be good I would imagine or duck prosciutto.. Served cold.. Great stuff..

Edit to add:

Homemade chips with garlic and parsley wouldnt be the worst thing in the world either.. Or assorted root vegetable chips would make a pretty color combo..

Edited April 18, 2006 by Daniel (log)

[jsolomon]

I'm in the refrigerator pickles camp. Pickled onions, carrots, cucumber (of course), and whatever else fits your fancy are always great sides with a sandwich, hot or cold.

Alton Brown's B&B pickles is a good place to start.

[Chufi]

Thanks guys! I knew I could count on EGullet to inspire me!

So, I was thinking about beans and thinking about soup, and then my thoughts turned to beansoup

So here's what I have figured out:

appetizers: cheeses, breads, some sausage maybe or pate. Possibly Susan in Fl.'s cute zucchuni/prosciutto rolls.

Chickpea rosemary soup

Pork sandwiches with tarragon mayo

coleslaw (I really like Snowangels recipe with the dried cranberries)

sweet potato chips. I'm thinking of baking them, like these, but I've never done that before and I will have to do a test batch for that.

Some kind of pickle. Sweet and sour onions maybe. Something tomato-y would be good, but decent tomatoes are very expensive at the moment.

This way, I have the hot soup, the warm sandwiches, and cold slaw & pickles. I think that would be a nice balance.

And not too much last minute preparation.

[Susan in FL]

Sounds wonderful. So for when should we all book our flights to Amsterdam?