Menu help wanted! | Imamother

amother

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 8:36 pm

Good evening everyone!

For one meal of shavuos I will be hosting five adult guests. I'm having a strangely hard time deciding what to serve. I don't know them well, but like them a lot and would like to get to know them better. This family is well to do and eats well. We are not well to do and I serve a lot of pizza. I know they're coming for the company and not the food... but still, I'm a bit intimidated.

I made a veal roast stuffed with couliflower, onion, celery and mushroom. It's really yummy. But I don't think it's large enough to be my only main dish for so many manly meat eaters.

And that's it! My mind is blank!

What else should I serve?

tichellady

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 8:50 pm

I would make a chicken dish, salad or two ( one green and one chopped or cabbage) roasted vegetable ( green beans, butternut squash, cauliflower, broccoli or asparagus) and a carb (roasted sweet potatoes or a rice or barley pilaf or scalloped potatoes or potato kugel).

amother

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 8:51 pm

ra_mom wrote:

Add chicken. Soup. Lots of vegetables. Potatoes and rice side dishes.

Thank you! So helpful!

Any suggestions regarding types?

I don't want to serve chicken soup. I don't have any others that I serve often that I know come out great. I'd be happy to try something new. Got ideas?

Also, If I serve soup, do I need to serve another appetizer?

Re: chicken: I think I'd serve cutlets, maybe grilled.

Do I need to serve a sweet side dish?

pizza4

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 8:54 pm

Soup- butternut squash is simple and appeals to most palates. There are many variations to suit your taste. Serve with chow mein croutons.
A vegetable kugel or vegetable knishes.

amother

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 8:55 pm

tichellady wrote:

Thank you tichellady! I feel like my brain is coming out of deep freeze... I don't know what about this meal has me so frozen!!These suggestions are so helpful!

We love green beans. Amazing! One main and one veggie side down, lots more to go!

Let's talk potatoes. I don't want to serve kugal. Could I do mashed potatoes? Maybe with carmalized onions and roasted garlic?

thunderstorm

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 8:57 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Mashed potatoes are perfect and if you want to jazz them up you can sprinkle store bought crispy onions on top of a scoop of mashed potatoes .

livinginflatbus

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 8:58 pm

You can do potato borekas. Easy and popular. And cream of broccoli or zucchini soup is pretty popular if you don’t want to do chicken.

ra_mom

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 9:02 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Creamy zucchini soup is always a hit.
Grilled cutlets sound great.
You should have something on the plates when they come in as an appetizer. It can be a salad (with or without cubes of fish), little cups of dips for challah, or even 2 fruit kebabs on each plate.
Mashed potatoes or sauteed baby potatoes sound great. I never serve sweet side dishes - I leave that for dessert. Smile

Unless like a sweet and savory wild rice & cranberry dish.

Last edited by ra_mom on Tue, Jun 04 2019, 9:12 pm; edited 1 time in total

tichellady

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 9:07 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Sounds delicious. I think mashed potatoes are well liked. I don’t think you need to serve a sweet side; I don’t ever.

amother

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 9:45 pm

Cheshire cat wrote:

Ra_mom.
You're a wonder.

Your all wonders Smile

This is a huge help--- thank you all!

So here's what I got so far:

Veal with veg
Green beans
mashed potatoes with onions and garlic
Green salad-- any interesting recipes?

Still need another side, another main.

I could make meat lasagna roll ups. Too casual? Would it be a main or a side?

I think zucchini soup could be great. Anyone have an easy recipe?

Can the appetizer be chumus, spicy ground meat, homemade matbucha on each plate? I don't usually plate things, but I know it looks nicer. I always feel a little bad about the waste when what I've plated doesn't get eaten and ends up in the garbage... can I serve these dips in the center of the table? Or is it really much nicer plated?

ra_mom

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 9:55 pm

That chumus plate sounds perfect.

Zucchini Soup

3 Tbsp oil
3 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
6-8 medium zucchini, with skin, ends trimmed, and cut into chunks
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried dill
2 pinches dried basil
7 cups water
2 Tbsp salt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat oil in 8 qt pot over med-high heat. Add onions and garlic and saute 5-7 minutes.
Add zucchini for 3-5 minutes. Then parsley, dill and basil for 3 minutes. Add water. Bring to a boil. Cover pot and simmer 25 minutes.
Blend soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

amother

Forestgreen

Tue, Jun 04 2019, 10:47 pm

Serve pulled beef/chicken tacos or alternatively on pretzel buns. For the tacos, you can use the mini del campo taco shells.