Cooking for a Large Crowd for the first time

As previously stated, I love food, but more than that, I love to feed people!

This weekend I had the opportunity to plan, cook and serve a meal for 100 people and it was quite the challenge (I honestly felt like I was in my own little Top Chef episode)! Thank you so much to the 5 people who helped me cook this meal - you guys are the best!

The meal was intended to be sort of fancy, sort of special, so I decided to make what I consider to be the best recipe I've ever modified: Lamb Meatballs. I took Nigella Lawson's Aromatic Lamb Meatballs Recipe and made a few tweaks to suit my tastes better. I had to come up with other things to accompany the meatballs, so, here's the final menu:

Lamb Meatballs

Tri-color Couscous

Tarragon Hummus w/ Pita Chips

Spinach & Feta Salad w/ Balsamic Vinaigrette

Baklava

Here are the recipes:

Aromatic Lamb Meatballs
Modifications

• Instead of the scallions, I use 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onions.
  
• I add about 2 tablespoons of minced garlic (addition to the recipe).
  
• I sautee the above ingredients for 5 - 7 minutes, until the onions are starting to get clear (make sure not to burn the garlic!).
  
• I also add 1 cup of craisins.
  
• And I add 1 teaspoon of coriander.
  
• As a side note, you can substitute the semolina for ground-up triscuit or any breading you choose to use.

Tri-color Couscous
I uses the tri-color, pearl couscous and follow the directions on the box.

Tarragon Hummus
Ingredients

• 2 cups of canned chick peas (drained into a container for later)


• 1/3 cup of tahini


• 4 - 6 garlic cloves


• 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice


• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil


• 2 tablespoons of the liquid drained from the chick peas


• 2 tablespoons of tarragon

Preparations

• Drop the cloves of garlic into your food processor or blender and chop.


• Then add the rest of the ingredients and continue to mix.


• If you feel the consistency of the paste is too viscous, add more of the drained chick pea liquid until you achieve your desired consistency.

Spinach & Feta Salad w/ Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients

• 9 oz bag of pre-washed Spinach


• 4 oz of walnuts, chopped


• 4 oz of feta cheese


• 4 oz of golden raisins


• 4 oz of whole black olives


• 1/3 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil


• 1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar


• 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice


• Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation

• Place the spinach in a large bowl and add the walnuts, feta cheese, golden raisins & whole black olives on top.


• Whisk the extra virgin olive oil with the balsamic vinegar and the lemon or lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.


• Add the dressing and toss right before serving.

Baklava
Modification

• I mixed 2 parts pistachios and 1 part walnuts.


• Instead of those bread crumbs, I use very finely ground wheat thins.


• I use half the recipe for the simple syrup.


• Here's a tip: when doing the outer layers, make sure to use a lot of butter so the nuts and the layers will stick together when you cut into it after baking.


• Another tip: it took me 45min to bake the baklava, not 1hr like the recipe suggests.