Suggestions? We need to cook a big meal

[Brisketexan]

Our church is hosting for the interfaith hospitality network this week. Dinner is covered for every night but Saturday -- our ministry group (the Holy Smokers) has been assigned that duty.

I was thinking of fajitas, but those are already on the menu earlier in the week, as are pizza, lasagna, hot dogs, chili, and meatloaf.

We need something that a group of us can cook and have some fun doing (after all, fellowship is part of our mission), and feed around 20 people. These are my ideas thus far:

-- Good burgers (not crappy little thin patties, but real thick grilled burgers. Grill them to order, with bacon, cheese, jalapenos etc. as desired). No idea what side dish we would serve.

-- Red beans and rice with sausage. A big ole pot of red beans with sausage, served over white rice, with a hot crusty french bread.

-- brisket, beans, and tater salad. Yeah, it sounds great, but considering that our serving time is about 6:00, and a brisket needs to cook for about 13 hours by my technique, that means a cooking start time before 5:00 a.m. On a Saturday. Not thrilled about that.

Any other ideas, suggestions, or revisions to any of the above proposals?

 

[Smoky Brisket]

- Hams with an apricot or mustard glaze
- Collards cooked with smoked turkey legs
- Jalepeno Cheese Grits
- Dinner rolls

it can be doubled/ tripled pretty easily, so it's good for a crowd.

 

[NickDanger]

Have a fish fry or shrimp boil.

Alternatively, enchiladas are really not hard to make for a mess of people.

 

[Tex Pete]

Our church youth have a Cajun Christmas party each year, and they serve jambalaya. They make it with chicken, since some people might not eat shrimp. It's really good, and serves a lot of people pretty inexpensively.

 

[cbs]

No ideas, but good work on volunteering with IHN. Very rewarding.

 

[DoobieWah]

Tacos.

Picadillo and grilled chicken.
Grilled onions and peppers.
Lettuce, tomato, jalapenos.
Cheese.
Crispy shells. flour tortillas.

Let 'em build 'em to suit themself.
Welcome to Texas.

 

[12thStudStan]

ditto on the grilled chicken, since you haven't done any yet. Quick and easy, but still allows for group interaction and teamwork. There are many good ways to marinate, brine, inject and/or rub chicken and deciding how to do it can be part of the group interaction. My son and I cooked 150 chicken breasts marinated in a Tequila and citrus based marinade for a family gathering this past summer. Simple, quick and fun.

 

[LongestHorn]

Some good suggestions so far. I would like to add that everyone enjoys cranking out fresh pasta as a group activity. Fettuccini noodles boil in 3 minutes and you can't beat the taste. Angel hair in less than 60 seconds.

Make a rich marinara, alfredo sauce, maybe a clam sauce etc like a "taco bar" with meatballs, sausage and different cheeses. Fun times.

 

[Brisketexan]

Some good ideas -- keep 'em coming.

I like both the taco and pasta suggestions, although they will have already had italian and mexican.

The fish fry idea is interesting.

I'm also thinking of a big pot of chicken and sausage gumbo to add to our list of possibilities.

 

[LongestHorn]

Have you considered buying a lamb at the butcher and burying it in a grave of coals the night before this church shindig? That's fun.

 

[NativeTXchic]

BBQ chicken hindquarters with pinto beans and potato salad and even cole slaw would be good. It's easy and pretty cheap. We used to do that for fundraising.

The fajita idea is good. The fish fry is good, esp if you catch the cats, but if not, it could be pricey.

Spaghetti is another option that is cheap and quick, though you've already done Italian.

You could also do a sandwich bar or something of the like.

 

[judgroybeanbag]

Chicken spaghetti. Or tetrazinni if you prefer. You could even incorporate the homemade noodles for fun. You can make lots of big foil pans of it loaded with cheese all over the tops...

 

[Luke Duke]

You could smoke some pork loins. They only take ~3 hours. Pork butts only take 5-6 hours. Chicken quarters and sausage cook quickly. Sausage would probably be the most expensive of the things that I mentioned.

 

[ImissWallyPryor]

How about a luau? Dress the women in grass skirts and have them dance. Have a couple of guys play with torches.

Or, perhaps stick with the taco bar idea.