Food Preparation and Serving to Large Groups

2010 February 9

by Emily S.

Entertainment Tips Courtesy of: J. Harvey

Buffets and Large Food Preparation
Buffets and Large Food Preparation

A presentation by Jeanne Harvey
I. Introduction: What are you going to do?

1) What kind of party? The party drives the menu.

· How many guests?

· How formal or informal?

· The setting: seated? Standing? Indoor? Outdoor?

2) Type of menu

· Plated meal? How many courses?

· Trays of hors d’oeuvres?

· Buffet?

· Hot or cold food?

A. Be aware of tools/tables/hot or cold stands needed

3) Be realistic! What is your budget?

Your budget is going to determine whether you can have a large or small party and what sort of food you will serve. If you want a very formal party with a very expensive menu (e.g. multiple courses including lobster, crab, or similarly expensive meats or spices), then you may need to limit your guest list. On the other hand, if it’s imperative that you serve many people (church coffee hour or a wedding reception open to the entire church), then your budget may require that you choose less expensive foods that can be served more easily in a buffet style.

But don’t think buffets are always inexpensive or that you are limited to “cheap” food! Sprinkle in a few classy items. Instead of chips and dips, offer various crackers with a variety of cheeses. Instead of classic sandwich fixings, set up chafing dishes with hot foods complimented with a variety of breads. Remember who is on your guest list and be sure to include foods that are appealing to all. Younger children are frequently more impressed with a simple burger or hot dog than with more gourmet offerings!

II. Planning is everything!

1) Plated Meals

· Since portions are set, you need less food.

· Multiple courses give you time to space out the meal: plan timing.

· Plan on more beverages.

· Planned well, can be very impressive!

2) Passing trays – by nature is more formal

· Lots of helpers needed – should dress up, uniform look

· Best to hire a caterer if this formality wanted

3) Buffets

· Will you serve at the table – like church coffee hour?

o less food needed, more flexible for menu choices

· Will you set the food out for guests to serve themselves?

o Cheap food first, meats last (more on this later)

· Make it pretty – flowers, mirrors, multi-level (more later)

Plated Meals

In comparison to buffets, you can get away with serving less food – but plate presentation is essential for delivering the effect you desire. Plan on at least three courses.

Start with a salad and bread course. The main course is next. But don’t just throw the food on the plate and serve it. Make it look pretty: 1 meat, 1 sauce, 2 vegetables, 1 starch. Arrange these creatively, establishing balance, unity, focus and a sense of flow on the plate. Dessert comes last. Multiple courses gives you time to plate the next course while your guests are eating. Feel free to add as many courses as you want: separate the bread from the salad, add a soup course, insert an ‘intermezzo’ course before the main meat dish, add a cheese course. If you truly want to go with a formal 7 – 13 course meal, check out books on formal dining and presentation for which foods go before others and what MUST be served when.

Because your guests have their food limited, be sure to offer plenty of beverages – water, fruit juice, flavored water, coffee, wine. You don’t need to offer all of these, but whatever you do offer should be in abundance.

Passed Trays

This is a nice idea for a more formal, standing cocktail style party. You can have a variety of hors d’oeuvres served by help on trays along with beverages. Your help should understand that they are there to serve. They are not guests themselves. For this reason, it’s probably best to hire a caterer for this type of offering rather than asking friends to help.
Buffets

If you are serving your guests as they pass through the line, like church coffee hour, you can get away with a little less food than a set buffet. Same principle as plated meals: you control the serving size.

Remember that running out of food at a buffet party is the ultimate faux pas. You can get away with it at coffee hour because we love you – but we’ll be talking about estimating serving size and food quantity a little later. Meanwhile, you’ll want to set out plenty of food, be prepared to replenish it as needed, and set it up logically. People tend to load up on whatever they see at the start – put the cheap food first! We’ll discuss arrangements to give the impression of abundance, too.

Food Preparation

4) How much food do you need?

A. What type of party? How many people?

· Figure out uniform servings – do the math.

· There is no “100 people need xx #’s of meat”.

· Use the servings suggestions on the package/box.

· Use 2 oz or 4 oz ladles, cookie cutters, food scoops

· See the enclosed recommendations chart

B. Coffee Hour

· This is an “almost” meal because of the long day –

“1/2 rations” are perfectly fine

· Plan 2-3 parts: meat or dairy, veggie, fruit/sweet

· Plan on 250 servings: people/kids come back for more

C. Buffets

· Plan on 5-10 different foods total, depending on type/size of party

· need fewer hot than cold; can be all cold

· be aware of ease/difficulty of serving e.g. cheese is sticky

· Put out a portion to start and replenish as you go

e.g. chips are bulky, no need to stack 10 bags on the table

** My preference is the one sided table so it can be replenished without disturbing the line.

Fellowship meal is the exception since all food is put out at once.

· Cheap and cold first; expensive last

· Group foods logically – chips with dips; sandwich makings together

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Since you are hosting the party, you can decide the average serving size. Then you just have to do the math based on the number of expected servings to figure how much food you need. Make use of the serving size on the side of boxes or cans. Invest in ladles and scoops so that your servings remain predictable and consistent.

Coffee Hour

This is an “almost” meal, but not a full meal. Feel free to give half-servings: people will come back for seconds if they want more. Also – the smaller kids tend to “rush” the line. Start your servings smaller and increase them when the adults start arriving.

Buffets

A varied menu gives the impression of plenty, if you have plenty of food. A buffet can be all cold or hot and cold, but be aware of how the food will “settle” through the course of the party. Cheese at room temperature gets sticky and more difficult to serve. That delicious hot meat/sauce dish may not look so appetizing a couple hours into the party unless it’s kept hot.

A word about sanitation: the standard hold time before food becomes “dangerous” (growing enough bacteria to make a person sick) is four hours off the heat or out of the cold. If you plan on serving food at an all day party, see about renting chafing dishes to keep hot foods hot or self-draining ice bins on which you can keep cold foods cold. But for a normal party, such as a wedding reception, the food won’t be out long enough to become dangerous – as long as you keep it hot or cold prior to service. Make sure your site has adequate ovens or refrigerators for your needs.

Suggested Entertainment Needs

When planning a party it is important to provide the appropriate amount of hors d’oeuvres for all of your guests.

If you will be serving DINNER, be sure to allow 4 to 6 hors d’oeuvres per person:

Number of Guests 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 50 55 60 100
Passed Trays # pieces

40 60 80 100 120 140 160 200 220 240 400

Buffet

# pieces 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 300 330 360 600

A dinner hors d’oeuvre tends be slightly larger, 2-3 bites.

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If you be serving only HORS D’OEUVRES, allow for 8 to 10 pieces per person:

Row 1 Number of Guests

10 15 20 25 30 35 40 50 55 60 100
Row 2 Passed Trays
# pieces

120
160
200
240
280
320
400
440
480
800

Row Three Buffet
# pieces
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
500
550
660
1000

Cocktail party hors d’oeuvres tend to be smaller, 1-2 bites.

III. Food Preparation cont’d

2) Prep the food

A. Uniformity

· A larger party needs more kitchen space.

· If having several friends prep food:

· Break recipes/meals into parts and assign different parts to different people

· Be very specific with recipes: stress no creativity!

B. Time Management

· What parts can be prepped ahead? Assemble on site.

o Most fruit keeps well. Cut/chop 3-4 days in advance.

o Prep recipe parts ahead. e.g. tart shells ahead, freeze, then assemble on site

· Plan out a timeline

o How much time to set up? What time to start?

o Be realistic – allow extra time for inexperienced helpers

· Make sure all participants know what is expected. Helpers are not guests!

o Hold a meeting before the event to cover specifics

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When thinking strictly about prepping the food before the party, whether a plated meal or a buffet, the more you can break it down into steps and pieces, the easier the prep will be. Remember that the same recipe given to five different people will yield five different end results! But you can have uniformity by having different people prep different pieces of the recipe. E.g. if you are serving fruit tarts for dessert, have one person prep the shells, another the fruit filling, another the cream to pipe on top.

Read up on what can be prepped ahead of time – plan on assembling as much as possible on site. It’s much easier to transport bulk food than individual servings. I’m a huge fan of piping bags – pipe a swirl out of a bag using a fancy tip adds a zing to your presentation! Plus it’s actually faster and neater than spooning.

How much time are you going to need to assemble everything the day of the party? Remember that in some cases, you don’t need to have everything fully assembled before the party – you can prep as you go. But be realistic! Are you running the kitchen yourself – or handing the service over to a friend? Make sure you have one person in charge who is responsible and understands what you envision for your event.

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Be sure to allow enough time for creating and setting up whatever decorations you have planned. See some suggestions on the next page for getting the younger kids to help with decorations: making paper snowflakes, colorful chains, or folding napkins. The library has books on children’s crafts to give you more ideas.

The Hess family no longer attends our church, but they had an incredibly loving way of serving every week: their kids took plates of food to the adults. What a wonderful way to teach our children to show respect and caring toward all the brethren!

IV. Execution / Service

1) Tools & Space

A. What hot/cold trays do you need? Serving tools?

· Look into renting serving equipment

o Hot trays heated with sterno flames

o Cold (ice) trays should be self draining for sanitation

· What tools will you need behind the scenes? Keep food hot/cold prior to service

o Bring extra tools: knives, spoons, etc.

o Will the site have enough space (counters) for prep/assembly?

5) Presentation

A. Plated dinners

· What will the table look like? Centerpieces?

· Dishes / flatware / glassware / linens

B. Buffets

· Mirrors / dishes

· Multiple levels – boxes under linens

· Flowers / baskets / decorations

C. Coffee Hour

· Little decorations make a big difference!

· Linens, baskets, multi-levels

6) Involve the younger kids

· Cut out paper flowers or snowflakes

· Make paper chains for color

· Fold napkins / set tables

· Have younger kids take servings to adults (Remember the Hess family?)

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The tables, regardless of plated meal or buffet, should maintain the formality of your event. Centerpieces should be low enough that guests can still chat across the table. Dishes, flatware, glassware, linens can all be rented – you don’t have to use paper or plastic. Any theme for the party should be continued across the tables. Try not to overdo it, though! Subtle is always more elegant.

Create multiple levels on your buffet table or at coffee hour by draping linens over boxes of various sizes. Angle baskets and allow food to “spill” out of them. Place food directly on top of mirrors on the table(s) arranged in a design or randomly spread across. E.g. set several small bowls of dip across a long, rectangular mirror and crumble crackers on the mirror between them. The reflection gives the impression of plenty. Put decorations between your bowls/platters of food – fill the table with color, variety, height differences.

Cheap foods first! You can save your budget by arranging the foods that you have most plentiful at the start of the buffet. This is what your guests will load up their plates with. There will be less room on the plates for the meats at the end of the table. Observe how restaurants set up their Sunday brunches…

Fellowship meal: what if we set the salads first and hot dishes second?

V. References

Search through the library – entertainment, parties, decorating

Can be fun to review different books and get lots of ideas!

I like anything by Martha Stewart.

Search the internet: ask.com; foodtv.com, etc

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online resource for homemakers

Food Preparation and Serving to Large Groups