Israeli style Purim seudah - help?

amother

Fuchsia

Thu, Mar 14 2024, 12:42 pm

amother OP wrote:

You are right. Maybe I will make meat burekas (ground beef is affordable enough). Maybe not perfectly Israeli but I'll call it close enough!

Great idea. You could also do lachmagine, mini pizzas with ground meat on top. We could do a deep discussion on whether they’re Israeli or Sephardic but it’s Purim so there’s no need to take ourselves too seriously. They always go over well.

amother

Hyacinth

Thu, Mar 14 2024, 12:44 pm

Elfrida wrote:

She said up to thirty, and probably less. Not everyone eats pickles and olives. I think they're there more for the atmosphere than as a main part of the menu.

If its being served than people can eat it. Why put out food just for the "atmosphere" ?

amother

Gray

Thu, Mar 14 2024, 4:00 pm

OP I think it's great having an open House. Problem is if people come and pop in an hour later,(it can happen) and the Felafel balls are cold. you gotta go keep warming them up. Other dishes you can keep on a Platta and it can stay warm and be self service. (Meatballs and sauce, Farfel, quinoa).

amother

Fri, Mar 15 2024, 12:38 am

amother Gray wrote:

I can't keep falafel balls on a sterno?

Lots of good food for thought here, thank you all! Hopefully will turn out really nice no matter how many do or don't show up.

amother

Tan

Fri, Mar 15 2024, 1:52 am

amother OP wrote:

I'm planning on doing an Israeli style Purim seudah this year.

Problem is that it's drop in and I can't rely on rsvps. I won't know how many are coming in advance. It could be almost nobody, or it could be up to 30. My brain keeps panicking that it will be more than 30 even though that's pretty unrealistic.

I'm planning on having falafel and pita and lots of stuff to put inside.

Right now I plan on having:
60 pitas
160 falafel balls (frozen)
6 containers assorted humus
3 containers techina
2 cans Israeli pickles
1 can Israeli olives
a big Israeli salad
maybe roasted eggplant

Does that make sense?

I also want to have some sort of backup food in case I run out (not likely but my brain won't relax). Any ideas of a cheap, easy, freezable Israeli type dish that I can have on hand just in case?

Thank you for any advice!!!

Just wanted to say that I also invited a bunch of people and don't know who will show. I'm renting tables and chairs so it's a bit nerve-wracking to pay so much and not know if it's worthwhile. I hope it all works out well and it's enjoyable for all.

Trying to keep some extra things in the freezer that I can throw together and add to the table as needed. Same for some canned vegetable type salads- kept in the cabinet as back up and I can toss together quickly, but can leave the cans in the cabinet for later if we don't need the extras. (Better than overbuying on the planned salad veggies, which if I have too much of can go bad.)

We'll do this together!

amother

Kiwi

Fri, Mar 15 2024, 8:53 am

amother OP wrote:

You are right. Maybe I will make meat burekas (ground beef is affordable enough). Maybe not perfectly Israeli but I'll call it close enough!

You can make it withmixgrind that’s cheaper, if they sell that by you
If you can do ground beef I second, mini arrayas

amother

Kiwi

Fri, Mar 15 2024, 9:11 am

Rice and seperate white beans made in tomato sauce-
Every Israeli restaurant has it as a side dish and it’s cheap, filling, and easy to keep hot.
Plus it freezes well if you have extras

To the beans add meatballs. You can add filler to the meatball to make it economical, and it’s easy to keep warm without drying out. Mix it in with the beans

Matbucha is also cheap to make and freezes well.

You can buy a jar of mashed up eggplant and season it yourself

IMHO- menu
Pita
Rice
Beans with meatballs inside

Falafel
Fries
Chumus
Tehina
Matbucha
Babaganush
Red cabbage salad
Israeli pickles
Pink turnips- so easy to make yourself
Onion seasoned with sumac

amother

Midnight

Fri, Mar 15 2024, 9:40 am

amother OP wrote: