Recipes to Feed Large Group for Progressive Dinner

I always cook a chicken gumbo for a large crowd. It is inexpensive and is even better the second day so you can make it in advance. If you've never made gumbo don't be afraid to try. It is one of the easiest things to cook. If done with the right recipe it is delicious. If you need a recipe I will be happy to share mine.

Our neighborhood does progressive parties too, and they are a lot of fun. Actually a big piece of salmon would be easy to fix. Just get a full filet and coat it with your favorite italian salad dressing. Wrap it in foil and bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Open the foil and bake for another 10 minutes. Super easy, super yummy, looks like and tastes like you spend hours on it... Keep in mind, that people are eating at every house, so they won't need a full meal. Just a nice bit of fish and perhaps some couscous as a side.

Have fun!
H.

Hi J.. How about a barbecued brisket? All you need to do is fire up the grill about 6 hours before hand. After the coals are just right, wrap your seasoned brisket in foil, put it on the grill, turn it about twice within the next 4-6 hours and you'll have a delicious main course that will feed a crowd. All you have to do is slice it once it's done.
The good thing about this dish is that you can do all your house work while it's cooking.
L.

I just fed a large group of family on Saturday and we had Chicken enchildadas. It was great because I made them the day before and just heated them up on Saturday. Here is the recipe.
4 Boneless skinless chicken Breasts
2 c. sour cream
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can diced green chili
1 c. Monterey Jack cheese
1 can green chili enchilada sauce

Boil chicken breasts until done and then dice or shred. Mix together sour cream, enchilada sauce, cream of chicken, green chili, and chees. Reserve 2 cups of this for topping. Add chicken to remainder of mix. Use 8 inch flour tortillas and put a couple of spoonfuls of mix into each tortilla. Roll up like a burrito and line up closely in a 9X13 inch pan. Spread the topping evenly over the top and sprinkle a little more cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

You could always make a large batch of soup. You could certainly make it the day before and refrigerate, then heat up on the event day. And, any leftovers can be frozen and used for a family meal at a later time. There are many kinds you could make that contain chicken or beef so that it can be served as a meal. Check out http://www.allrecipes.com. You can find all sorts of soup and other recipes. Once you find a recipe you want to make, you can enter the number of servings you need on the site, and it will adjust your recipe for you.

You can get pork tenderloins at Sam's at a very affordable price. I've done these to feed my crews at work & a few parties - 2 tenderloins will feed roughly 30 people (give or take a few). Buy one of the extra long aluminum steam table pans and roast in the oven at 350 for 2-3 hrs (use your meat thermom. to check temp.) Prior to placing in oven, place the loins fat sid up in the pan. SHake spices over the top (I use a liberal amount of granulated garlic, sea salt, cracked pepper & rosemary). For added flavor you can do a smear of mustard (yellow, brown, dijon, etc) or applesauce. You could also pour a cup or two of apple juice in the bottom for flavor. Sliced apples or pineapple add flavor too.
One the meat is at temp. remove from oven and let rest 10-15 min. You can then slice into portions and put back in the oven at 150-200 degrees to keep warm.
Any starchy side goes well (scalloped or mashed potatoes, mac&cheese or some other pasta dish, wild rice, etc)
Or you could do baked apples or homemade apple sauce.
Hope you have a great time!

Chili is always easy to make and reheat.

I have a fabulous recipe for baked ziti which is easy, freezes well and you can just reheat in the oven. It is sort of like lasagna, but not as time consuming to prepare. Let me know if you want the recipe.
Good luck and have fun!
A.

A big ham from Costco or Sam's would be affordable and tasty. Or a big turkey. Prime rib would be hundreds of dollars for 35 people.... wouldn't it?

You could salmon. Costco always has a good deal on it, and it's not bad when it gets cold (I don't know how you'd keep it warm, but another mama might). Salmon with julienne carrots, capers and a little cream cooks nicely in the oven and you could always serve it with potatoes which are cheap and easy too.

How about a huge pan of lazagna? You could cook it most of the way through and then just leave it on warm until you get back to eat it.

Girl, I am tooting my own horn here but I have some WONDERFUL products that you could purchase that are not real expensive and I think would be a GREAT idea! I would not serve anything but finger foods...ESPECIALLY if it is not a longer party! I have some ideas - go to wildtree.com and check out my line of food products!!! Then you can email me and I will give you some ideas!

Another idea...go to HEB and buy the precooked briskets...they are FABULOUS!!!! All you have to do is heat them up and NOBODY will EVER know - I promise!!!

Tamales are good for parties and they get them already made. You would only have to make a salsa to go with them. I sell tamales for during the holiday season. Let me know if you'd like some.
G.

Would suggest baked ziti, lasagna or mexican chicken.

baked ziti:

1 pound italian sausage (spicy is the best)
1 package mushrooms
1 16 oz can pureed tomatoes
1 16 oz can tomato paste
1 can water
1 container ricotta cheese
1 egg
4 tsp italian seasoning
2 cups of shredded mozzarella
1 bag or box ziti (pasta_

brown italian sausage with mushrooms. add pureed tomatoes, tomato paste and water. simmer for about 15 minutes. boil ziti noodles. drain. mix ricotta cheese with 1 egg and italian seasoning. add ziti and cheese mixture to the sauce and stir well. put in a 13x9 pan and top with mozarella. bake at 375 until cheese is lightly brown and pasta is bubbly.

good luck.

Shrimp or Chicken Angel Hair with Pesto and Cherry Tomatoes
-I suggest making a batch of each for guests with seafood allergies or aversions.

6 cloves garlic minced (or pressed)and divided
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 pound shrimp- deveined and peeled
(for chicken used breast meat from 1 store bought rotissery chicken- cubed)
2 containers cherry or grape tomatoes- cut into halves
1 jar Classico pesto (found in pasta section)
1 lemon- halved
1 cup shredded or shaved parmesan
1 package angel hair pasta

In large pot cook pasta according to directions (be careful not to over cook)drain and set aside.
Meanwhile:
In large pan (preferrably with deep lip) sautee 1/2 garlic on med heat in olive oil. Lay shrimp on top of garlic, squeeze with juice from 1/2 of lemon and cook 1-2 minutes. Flip shrimp, add remaining garlic and cook 1-2 minutes until shrimp are cooked (opaque). Add jar of pesto and combine until shrimp are well coated. Add all of tomatoes and stir until coated. Simmer until tomato skins start to shrivel a bit. Squeeze juice of 2nd 1/2 of lemon. Stir.

Toss shrimp pesto in pasta, garnish with parmesan- serve.
SOOOO good and very easy.

For chicken- repeat same instruction with rotissery meat.
Enjoy!

Do a basic chili and have a variety of toppings out for guests.

Veggie Chili and cornbread

Ive always found when feeding a large group, that BBQ'd leg quarters are great. Bathe them in a season salt. This gives them a slightly crunchy skin. And dont cut them in half. They hold the juices better whole. Serve them with or without sauce. Or even fried chicken. Chicken is a good inexpensive meal. Good Luck and Have Fun!

AS you probably know traditions says black eyed peas and greens in the So7uth. If you want to do this Hoppin John with a ham and a green dish with cornbread is great. However if you prefer a casserole King Ranch is great and in keeping with what has been served in the past

I was thinking Lasagne also, and if you do make it from scratch, use the noodles that you DON'T have to boil. Those save so much time. Brisket is another great idea. If you don't want to take the time to cook it, check and see if a local BBQ place will cook it for you. Some do it for so much $ a lb. Good luck.

what about some ribs you can do beef ribs, they are not expensive and you just leave the oven for as much as you want the longer the better they are always a success.

Easiest ever brisket is so tender it's hard to cut and makes it's own gravy.

Place brisket, fat side up, in a turkey sized baking bag in a large roasting pan.
Sprinkle with one cup of flour and one box of Lipton Onion Soup Mix (both envelopes)
Pour in water to cover bottom of bag to depth of about 1/4 inch
Tie the bag shut and ventilate (small slits so you don't lose the gravy!)
Bake in oven that set on the lowest setting available(200 - 225 - 250) for 10 to 12 hours

Can be served shredded over rice, with the traditional mashed potatoes and vegies or on tortillas like a taco. Leftovers should be stored with the gravy and make excellent substitute for carne guisada.
.

Ventilate

Lasagna, green beans, salad, and bread. All can be bought at Sam's for pretty cheap!

You could do King Ranch chicken; that's always popular. You could maybe do a Shepherd's Pie type of thing. If it's cold, you could make a big pot of stew or chicken tortilla soup. Good luck on the search, but your dinner sounds fun!

Is there a theme to the dinner? Brisket is easy, can be fixed ahead and very Texas........enchiladas....ham, baked with all the fixins.........I have recipes for all.........sounds like fun!

Have you ever deep fried a Turkey. A 20 pound bird only takes about an hour to cook. so you can just keep dropping birds in the oil as you need more food. Its about 3 minutes per pound so smaller birds cook even quicker.

I know this is cheap and good as well. Dont be thrown off by can goods. '
It will feed an army and everyone likes esp w/cold weather.

stew like
about 6lbs ground beef cooked w/onion but leave kind of chunky dont crumble too much and drain off fat...
2pkg chorizo brats by johnsonville, cooked on grill or in pan w/little water till done then cut in bite size pieces.

add this to huge stock pot or a roaster like for a turkey which is what I use.

Then add 4cans of drained sliced potatos
2 lrg can of stewed tomatoes w/garlic
1 can of sliced mushrooms
8 lrg cans of chunky veg all drained all but 2cans, the big pieces not small kind.
1 can of snappy tomaoto in a can or can use v8 but use 2small if so
1 can of roasted garlic chicken broth
I then season w/garlic, cumin, little kosher or sea salt, cayenne, cracked blk pepper, 1/2c woirshtisher sauce and a little soul season or some season of your liking. all to taste. you can cook day before and it is better heated and in elec roaster a breeze to reaheat.

we eat with cornbread made with pkg that has the honey cornbread, i think is martha white and I use per 3pkg one can of cream corn and 1 cup of mix shredded cheese and a half can of green chilies drained a little w/enough can milk to mix it up and 3eggs and 1tblsp of soft butter. You can double the recipe 2x and make two pans in two 9x13's and I spread with butter atop after brown. Good luck....

I have had good luck freezing lasagna-- you could make it ahead of time and stick it in the freezer. Maybe offer a few different ones-- traditional, vegetable, ham & alfredo style? Have fun-- sounds like a great tradition!
A.

Last time I had this problem I bought BBQ beef brisket, it was cheap and there's not any people that I know that do not like BBQ. We told the person what time we'd be picking it up and got it on the way to the party. Serve it with mashed potatoes and rolls and it's a crowd favorite. Fajitas are okay, but for that many people it can be expensive. I do not suggest you try the tamales because so many people make it in so many different ways, and I have tried some that have made me want to puke. I've seen spaghetti done in a lot of similar events, so that would be ok.