Reply With QuoteDo you work in a pub? 26?Originally Posted by Dave O'Sullivan
Just the four of us here, but I do a roast dinner most weeks so nothing unusual. Still look forward to it though.
Good luck with yours
Anyone else got a house full?
I’m cooking for 26. Can’t wait!
Do you work in a pub? 26?
Just the four of us here, but I do a roast dinner most weeks so nothing unusual. Still look forward to it though.
Good luck with yours
I’ve the mother-in-law visiting. She’s known as the Exorcist, when she visits a house, all the spirits disappear…
We’ve got the out-laws round as well. Currently have a joint in the oven, Yorkshire pudding mix resting, pigs in blankets assembled and back in the fridge now onto the cauliflower cheese prep. Rest of the house still fast asleep.
Only cooking for 9 today.
Do a roast most weekends but will put a little extra effort into this one, of course.
The in-laws don’t like lamb and I don’t fancy tackling a whole leg on my own. So we have a nice big beef sirloin, and some chicken and pork instead. And all the trimmings too like pigs in blankets, roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings.
Everything made from scratch in three hours straight!
26! I’d be serving hobnobs and pork pies if I had 26 round.
Lunch out today, for 12. Lamb for me. Love lamb.
"Bite my shiny metal ass."
- Bender Bending Rodríguez
Roast for us Friday, had 5 visitors yesterday, 5 today and 6 tomorrow. I’m already exhausted!
Beef Roast for 8 today Just traditional Potatoes, Parsnips, Carrots, Sprouts and Yorkshire puddings
But, Im a little nervous of getting the beef right, so would others here please share their prep and cooking times It's a 2.5kg Piece of Topside that I have
Thanks
John
PS Serving it with a couple of bottles of decanted Amerone (at least I know I've got that bit right)
Last edited by johnboy9876; 31st March 2024 at 09:04.
This is pretty good, BUT - I only use to plan for when to bung in the oven to have it ready for (say) 2pm - and go entirely with a digital temperature probe which my phone monitors.
Work to an internal temperature of 54c and pull the meat from the oven at that point.
Those trad thermometers using a bimetal coil and a dial - are pretty useless.
https://www.waitrose.com/home/recipe...oast-beef.html
The pork joint I just cooked would have stayed in the oven an extra 30 minutes if I’d just followed timings. The digital thermometer said it was up to temp so out it came.
I have the ‘children’ around today so 4 of us - slow roast pork shoulder
In York to visit the MiL but heading back up North of the border at mid-day. So we had a lovely Lamb Shoulder, roasties, and Yorkshire puddings yesterday instead.
To be fair, there’s seven of us so I’m already tipping the scales before guests arrive!Do you work in a pub? 26?
Just the four of us here, but I do a roast dinner most weeks so nothing unusual. Still look forward to it though.
Good luck with yours
2x legs of lamb, a 5kg pork crackling joint, 1.5kg smoked gammon joint (as a bit of a filler).
Roast potatoes, boulangère potatoes (cooked under the lamb), possible mash too.
Sage, onion and sausage meat stuffing, cauliflower cheese, Yorkshire puddings.
Honey roasted carrots and parsnips, celeriac and leek gratin and steamed veg.
Should be a piece of p!ss…
Only the two of us and plant based these days, so just a normal meal, no roast.
Sun is shining, will try and get a few hours in the garden before the footie comes on.
Easter Sunday is family day in our house, so cooking for eight. Roast leg of lamb garlic and Rosemary infused also a roast chicken mainly for my granddaughter. Going to sort the Red wine shortly.
At my daughter, Son in Law, & 2 Grandsons today for a roast beef dinner. Looking forward to it and a nice beer. 😋
only a gathering of 7, im going to skip breakfast to have more room for the good stuff
I am currently sitting on my ar5e watching the Mrs rush around the kitchen…
7 of us for dinner today. Slow roast lamb and spuds - Greek style with wild garlic dressing and some green things.
I am sure she will pull it off…
If I had to cook for 26 I would emigrate
26 people, wow. Must have a massive table! And the chairs!!
Good luck. Just preparing the lamb. Just 7 here today
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Im not a big fan of visitors, least of all cooking for them.
Brother, wife and niece coming over this afternoon and they will get coffee and cake at best.
Cheers,
Ben
..... for I have become the Jedi of flippers
" an extravagance is anything you buy that is of no earthly use to your wife "
We had ours yesterday as the Grandchildren came round. Roast lamb - lovely.
Today I had hot cross buns whilst sorting out curtains and poles at my eldest son's house.
Cheers,
Neil.
Rib of beef for 16 here.
Beer in the sunshine while it's in the oven.
Last edited by gunner; 31st March 2024 at 15:04.
Lots of chat here
]]
Just the 6 of us…. 3 kids and eldest daughters boyfriend joining my wife and me
Did the 1.5kg sirloin justice… loads left over for sandwiches and my daughter taking a ton back to London on the train later
7 here today including my parents, known as "Havoc and Chaos". Had to go for walk with the dog via the brewery after lunch just to regain some sanity...
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Should have said Dave, I'm a trained Butler.
As in.............. "I'll get you for this...."
Rib of beef for 16 here.
Beer in the sunshine while it's in the oven.
Looks great! Rib of beef, self basting from the cap....................... Stunning !
That selection looks splendid, well done sir!Lots of chat here
Just the 6 of us…. 3 kids and eldest daughters boyfriend joining my wife and me
Did the 1.5kg sirloin justice… loads left over for sandwiches and my daughter taking a ton back to London on the train later
My day was less Easter, was chopping 1kg of onions for curry base this morning at 9am as cooking for friends tmrw & realised I’d run out in the freezer.
Then neighbours over for drinks & nibbles, meaning I’m blitzing the base and then making sag aloo ahead of tmrw. Tikka on the egg in the morning and then sauce making.
Not seasonal, but this is what 2kg of sag aloo looks like if anyone was ever interested. Not cooking this size batch again, it’s not fun & im not a line cook in a restaurant.
Happy Easter all
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^^^^
Looks yumska!!!
Indeed Sir.
Went ok in the end.
Lamb overdone (but still tasted good) and the tatties got a bit soggy in the food warmer but given the numbers and the time it took to serve everyone, that was always going to happen.
Took a few photos pre oven then as usual, forgot to take many after.
Best bit was though that all the food was from Asda. Last year a did Waitrose / local butchers and it came to about £650 with booze.
This year, it was about £220.
Not that I’m a skinflint but I was interested to see the difference. Taste wise, there wasn’t one really.
Special mention for my gravy stock as it looked like lady bits when it was in the pan.
Interesting your comment on the Asda Lamb we had six of us for lunch and the Lamb was from Asda and i must say it was excellent even my picky know-all Step Daughter was impressed and at 5.75 a kilo so was i.
I FEEL LIKE I'M DIAGONALLY PARKED IN A PARALLEL UNIVERSE
Yorkshires look amazing. I'm very impressed, the only way that I can cater for those sort of numbers is something that I can do in a massive pot like curry, chilli or gumbo.
Don't just do something, sit there. - TNH
Great pictures, looks epic. Cant imagine cooking for 5 people let alone 26.
I went for a takeaway curry and have the other half in the fridge ready for tonight.
Seriously impressive catering there, Dave! Please tell me you had 2 full sized ovens? I run out of space catering for 6 oven wise with 2 in the kitchen.
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Some lovely looking repasts there Gents!
Cheers,
Neil.
Yes. Used two ovens, 2 hobs and the air fryer.
Made stuffing, cauliflower cheese and gravy stock the day before. Brother in law made the gratin (although brought it around cold so I had to squeeze that in to heat up too)
I tend to cook for a minimum of 11 on a Sunday so am used to catering en mass.
My biggest problem is keeping stuff hot. I’m thinking of installing some halogen heat lamps under one of the counters as a warmer but haven’t worked it all out yet.
11 weekly is impressive and I guess builds some muscle memory. All comes down to timing, and when it’s just 2 people that carries a lot of flexibility. Halogens is an interesting solution, I’d almost want them removable to bring out as needed.
Can’t beat a good gravy, my wife doesn’t have any so I tend to make a batch & freeze it in portions for me. Going from cooking a roast for 2 to then 7 at Xmas and not in my own kitchen is always an added challenge.
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My immediate thought was how do I cook c50 Yorkshire puddings whilst keeping everything else warm/cooking.
I'd say that was a jolly good effort to produce anything remotely decent without commercial catering facilities!
Off topic, but what are the enamel pans like for cooking with?
All ours are Le Creuset & are a) heavy fully loaded, and b) expensive when I never seem to have enough / the correct size.
I’ve always imagined them to be more prone to burning as they are thinner, but literally no idea how I got to that assumption.
Quite like a range of plates / trays for serving my bbq on also, but then things start getting daft with how many loads of entertaining dishes we need. I’m a mug for kitchen / cooking things!
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First time I’ve used them - they were on special offer at Pro Cook. I tend to use stainless steel roasting pans (also from Pro Cook). I’m going to get some 1/3 ones so I can get three of them side by side on the oven tray.
I did similar with my oven pans, some go 3 wide, some 2 wide and it’s a complete game changer in oven logistics.
The m in law always had a Hostess Trolley for keeping things warm and tbh I'm not sure you can really improve on that approach.
Trouble with those is they trap moisture from the food in the main cavity, so all the work gone into crispy roasties disappears.
They may have improved since my childhood memories, or just keep crispy stuff out of it I guess.
Also got to store it somewhere too! Our family friends still have the one my parents gave to them almost 40 years ago.
I’m not allowed one :(
We used to have an Aga which was good for keeping stuff warm, but since we've had our kitchen re-done, we had two new eye level ovens installed, with a separate large capacity warming draw under each one. They're brilliant, I usually put plates and serving dishes in one, and any veg that needs keeping warm for a while in the other.
That’s what I found. Next time, I’ll just shove them back into the oven (turned off) to keep them warm.
Although, the crackling healed up pretty well in them.
Yeah, it’s all a dark art of resting & warming through / keeping warm.
Interesting on the crackling as always resorted to grill & my wife keeping an eye on it if it needs recovery / crisping…. who has the attention span of a goldfish, one job to do etc, and a burning fire of skin!
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In Madeira at the mo and Easter seems special here, but if at home Sunday food as per any another Sunday, atheist non religious so Easter is just another day-like Christmas- all you guys celebrating a religious festival is dinner after church?
Agreed, surprised Easter is such a thing nowadays - likely driven by the supermarkets.
And what’s special about Sunday anyway?
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