good appetizer for a wedding

grillfella

grillfella

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Hey boys I am catering a small wedding for 175 people. It only has some elements of actual grilling, I am doing lasagna green salad italian sausage and peppers on the grill, and some kind of appetizer, any suggestions ?:icon_shy
 
To stay with an Italian theme: Zucinni (and or yellow squash), onion, mushrooms sauteed with garlic. You can steam them in half pans and add butter or not later and keep it from getting mushy, great thing is that you do not have to cook the heck out of them because they can also be eaten raw. You might want to pass on the onions though. I normally make them using foil pouches. I also add finely diced potatoes if I want to bulk it up some. Then you have to increase the cooking time for sure.

Easy to do and everyone likes them too. Probably more of a side dish though.
 
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Antipasto tray....sopressetta, salami, prosciutto, various italian cheeses, olives, peppers served with crispy bread straws
 
Grilled, prosciutto wrapped asparagus.
47b8d735b3127cce98548a40186400000046100ActGjNw2bsmSA


Smoked, flaked salmon with crackers.
47b8d735b3127cce98548a45995100000046100ActGjNw2bsmSA


Sausage skewers
47b8d725b3127cce98548a6f105800000076100ActGjNw2bsmSA


Shrimp salad wonton cups
47b8d725b3127cce98548a6e916900000076100ActGjNw2bsmSA






Grilled Bacon wrapped prawns - No photo, sorry!
One note on this appetizer is to half cook the bacon before wrapping it around the shrimp. Otherwise the shrimp will be overcooked by the time the bacon is done. Oh, and I soak both the cooked bacon and the shrimp in either teriyaki sauce or another marinade for a bit before wrapping. Makes it much easier to wrap, and tastes good too.
 
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Keep it simple is all I can say. One of the secrets to cooking for the masses is to provide simple straight forward food that isn't overcooked or undercooked and that can be prepared very easily also in a short amount of time. Sorry Marsha, as good as those sides looked, I would bet they were all time consuming to prep for 175 people. :| That said, if you prepared them all the time, the prep time will get easier.

So again, figure out something easy but good. My goal is always to have folks say things like "that was awesome", knowing that the dish was very easy to prepare.

I guess another thing to add into the equation is, how much refrigeration space do you have, how much money do you have to work with and what are your time constraints?

I would also go with the anti-pasta I guess. There has got to be something in there for everyone whether it be the cheese or the salami etc... Plus it is easy to make.
 
tony76248 said:
Keep it simple is all I can say. One of the secrets to cooking for the masses is to provide simple straight forward food that isn't overcooked or undercooked and that can be prepared very easily also in a short amount of time. Sorry Marsha, as good as those sides looked, I would bet they were all time consuming to prep for 175 people. :| That said, if you prepared them all the time, the prep time will get easier.

So again, figure out something easy but good. My goal is always to have folks say things like "that was awesome", knowing that the dish was very easy to prepare.

I guess another thing to add into the equation is, how much refrigeration space do you have, how much money do you have to work with and what are your time constraints?

I would also go with the anti-pasta I guess. There has got to be something in there for everyone whether it be the cheese or the salami etc... Plus it is easy to make.
Click to expand...


Good points, but it can be done! Say for instance you contract out what Marsha has presented for $9 bucks per. 9 x 175 = $1575; so for chits and giggles we say ingrediants comes to 1/3 = $525; hire several folks to conduct the the labor at $525, this will leave $525. Additionally, your profit margin should be even higher because, you will not be paying that much for labor.

Or simply contract out the appetizers and charge the client 2x to 3x your cost.

YMMV:biggrin:
 
An Antipasto tray is defintely a good idea for an appetizer. Sounds so yummy right now!

I was just giving some different ideas for appetizers. BBS is right, we hire a couple people to work with us and we do the appetizers assembly line style, etc. Not only does it make it quicker, but we have a fun time doing it cuz I hire friends who like the side work. And yes, it does get easier to do the more often you make those appetizers. We tried to talk a bride out of the prosciutto wrapped asparagus a couple months ago cuz asparagus was out of season and a bit more expensive. But once she saw the photo she said she would pay to have them out of season. Who was I to argue with her!? :D
 
Marsha said:
Grilled, prosciutto wrapped asparagus.
47b8d735b3127cce98548a40186400000046100ActGjNw2bsmSA


Smoked, flaked salmon with crackers.
47b8d735b3127cce98548a45995100000046100ActGjNw2bsmSA


Sausage skewers
47b8d725b3127cce98548a6f105800000076100ActGjNw2bsmSA


Shrimp salad wonton cups
47b8d725b3127cce98548a6e916900000076100ActGjNw2bsmSA






Grilled Bacon wrapped prawns - No photo, sorry!
One note on this appetizer is to half cook the bacon before wrapping it around the shrimp. Otherwise the shrimp will be overcooked by the time the bacon is done. Oh, and I soak both the cooked bacon and the shrimp in either teriyaki sauce or another marinade for a bit before wrapping. Makes it much easier to wrap, and tastes good too.
Click to expand...


Are these apps that you actually made and is your Pron, or are they cut and paste. Looks like a Pro Photographer did some nice food designing. If it is yours then, WTG:!:
 
The Anchorman said:
Are these apps that you actually made and is your Pron, or are they cut and paste. Looks like a Pro Photographer did some nice food designing. If it is yours then, WTG:!:
Click to expand...

The top two are my own photographs of appetizers we served at a wedding reception. I make the bottom two all the time, just didn't have one of my own photos handy at the time. Yes, especially at a wedding, presentation is HUGE and we always try to make it memorable.

I think you even need to make a tray of crackers look nice.
47b8d735b3127cce98548a6a184e00000056100ActGjNw2bsmSA
 
Marsha said:
The top two are my own photographs of appetizers we served at a wedding reception. I make the bottom two all the time, just didn't have one of my own photos handy at the time. Yes, especially at a wedding, presentation is HUGE and we always try to make it memorable.

I think you even need to make a tray of crackers look nice.
47b8d735b3127cce98548a6a184e00000056100ActGjNw2bsmSA
Click to expand...

Yup!
 
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