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A Mexican Fiesta for Fifty
Chips and Salsa Margaritas ~ Chicken Enchiladas Burritos Carnitas Tacos with Guacamole Mexican Rice Refried Beans Green Salad with Ranch Dressing Fruit Salad ~ Birthday and Graduation Cakes from the Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies Krispie Treats
One of my sons has a birthday in early June, so we usually have a party to celebrate his birthday, and to kick off the summer. This is the menu he always requests. This year my youngest son is graduating from high school, so we are combining all the celebrations into one big party. The great thing about this menu is that it works for almost any time of year and it can be adapted easily to almost any size party. Just set everything out on a buffet and let guests help themselves. When I’m cooking for this many people, I take advantage of prepared foods available at the market whenever possible, and use shortcuts where I can to make the process less stressful. When preparing this much food, you would need several days to prepare everything from scratch. If you don’t have several days, it’s important to choose where to spend your time and effort to get the most flavor, and use prepared foods for the rest.
Chips and Salsa
For a crowd this size, I use purchased fresh salsa, which is available in almost any supermarket these days. Use whatever kind you like best, as long as it is fresh rather than from a jar or can.
Margaritas for a Crowd
This recipe will make about 40 four-ounce Margaritas, so you may want to double or triple it based on how many Margaritas you expect to serve. I like my Margaritas over ice rather than blended, but you can blend this mixture with ice if you prefer. I always have sodas, bottled water, beer and wine available for anyone who might not want a Margarita.
2 quarts tequila 2 ½ quarts Margarita mix 2 cups fresh lime juice 2 cups Grand Marnier lime wedges salt for glasses ice
For a smaller gathering, here are the proportions: 2 cups tequila 2 ½ cups Margarita Mix ½ cup fresh lime juice ½ cup Grand Marnier
Mix first four ingredients together in a large pitcher. Rub the rim of each glass with a lime wedge and dip into salt. Serve margaritas over ice.
This recipe makes one pan of enchiladas. You will need to triple it to make three pans to serve fifty people.
About 20 thin corn tortillas 1 cooked rotisserie chicken from the supermarket 1 28-ounce can Las Palmas green chile enchilada sauce 1 cup heavy cream 2 cups shredded jack cheese, or a combination of cheddar and jack 1 small can sliced ripe olives Canola oil or other flavorless vegetable oil (not olive oil)
Remove all meat from rotisserie chicken. Shred. Have ready the shredded chicken, the tortillas, tongs, a plate with a triple layer of paper towels, another plate, and a 9 x 13” pan or lasagna pan sprayed with cooking spray. Have additional paper towels within reach.
Pour about ¼ cup oil into a sauté pan and heat until the edge of a tortilla dipped in the oil begins to sizzle – if the oils starts to smoke, it is too hot. Place one tortilla in the oil and let it sizzle for just a few seconds. Remove with the tongs and place on the plate with the triple layer of paper towels to drain. Pat top quickly with additional paper towels to absorb excess oil. Working quickly, place about ¼ cup shredded chicken on the tortilla and roll up into a thick cigar. Place seam side down in the pan. Repeat with remaining tortillas and chicken, squeezing them into the pan if necessary. The size of your pan will determine how many will fit. Add additional oil to the pan when necessary. Replace the paper towel layer on the plate frequently so that your tortillas will drain and not retain too much oil.
Pour enchilada sauce over the enchiladas, making sure all the tortillas are completely covered. Pour cream over the enchilada sauce, distributing evenly. Top with shredded cheese, and sprinkle the olives on top. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes. Serve immediately. You can hold the unbaked enchiladas for about an hour to an hour and a half or so, but if you hold them too long the tortillas will absorb the liquid and they will become dry.
5 pounds boneless beef chuck 2 onions, chopped 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes 5 cloves garlic, chopped 5 jalapeño chiles, seeded and chopped 2 bay leaves 1 cup chicken broth ½ cup fresh lime juice 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar 2 teaspoons thyme 2 teaspoons cumin 1 teaspoon oregano 1 teaspoon kosher salt several grindings black pepper
2 40-ounce cans whole pinto beans 2 pints fresh salsa about 40 flour tortillas, 8” diameter about 40 pieces of aluminum foil, each large enough to wrap a burrito
Mix onions, tomatoes, garlic, jalapeño, bay leaves, chicken broth, lime juice, vinegar, thyme, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Pour over meat and marinate several hours or overnight. Place in a covered roasting pan or cover with foil and bake at 300º until meat is falling apart, about 4 hours. Cool. Remove meat from juices. Shred meat and place in a large bowl. Strain juices. If there is more than a cup or so, reduce to one cup. Add juices to meat. Drain pinto beans and add to meat mixture. Stir to combine.
Warm flour tortillas, a few at a time inside a plastic bag or wrapped in a towel, in the microwave. This will soften them and make them pliable so they won’t crack when folded. Work with one tortilla at a time, keeping the others covered. Place about ½ - ¾ cup of the meat mixture in the center of a tortilla, including a little of the juice. Top with a tablespoon of fresh salsa. Fold one side over the filling, tuck in the ends, and roll up to enclose filling. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Prepare remaining burritos in the same fashion and stack on a sheet pan. These can be prepared a couple of hours ahead. Before serving, heat burritos in the oven at 350º for about 20-30 minutes, or until warm.
Carnitas Tacos with Guacamole This recipe was also featured in the April edition of Sunday Night at Charlotte’s.
5 pounds country-style pork ribs 4 cups water 2 cups fresh orange juice 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed 1 tablespoon grated orange zest 2 teaspoons Kosher salt ¼ cup brandy 50 of the thinnest corn tortillas you can find 2 pints fresh salsa Guacamole (see recipe below)
Place the pork ribs in a wide pot large enough to hold them. Add 2 cups water, orange juice, garlic, orange zest and salt. Simmer, covered, until pork is tender and falling off the bone, about 2 hours.
Uncover. Remove the meat from the pot and let cool until cool enough to handle. Boil liquid until it is reduced by half. Stir in brandy. Remove meat from the bones and shred. Return to the pot with the liquid and continue to reduce until the liquid is almost gone and the meat starts to crisp around the edges. Taste and correct seasoning.
Place the tortillas in a plastic freezer bag and warm in the microwave for a few minutes. Check frequently and rearrange tortillas in the stack as necessary so they all warm evenly. Set out on the buffet table, so that each guest can fill a tortilla with some of the meat mixture, a little salsa and a dollop of guacamole.
Guacamole
6 large ripe avocados 1 cup fresh salsa (see above)
Just before serving peel and dice avocado, then mash it up a little bit. You want it to be somewhat chunky. Add salsa and stir together.
You will need to double this recipe for 50 people.
1 onion, finely chopped ½ cup canola oil 4 cups rice 1 cup tomato sauce 1 7-ounce can chopped green chiles, drained 1 teaspoon cumin 2 teaspoons salt freshly ground black pepper 2 cups chicken broth 2 ½ cups water
Combine water and chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Keep hot.
Heat canola oil in a large pot. Add onion and sauté until soft and translucent but not brown. Add rice and sauté until rice begins to sizzle and pop, and all grains are coated with oil. Add cumin and sauté a minute more. Add tomato sauce, green chiles, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer over very low heat for 20 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve. When I am cooking rice for 50 people, I make it earlier in the day and heat it, covered in the oven before serving.
For this many people, I might make the beans from scratch if I had time. More often, however, I take the faster route and use Rosarita refried beans from a can. Put three 28-ounce cans of the already refried beans in a 9x13” pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray., Cover with a couple of handfuls of cheese and some plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed. Heat in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes before serving.
Green Salad with Ranch Dressing
I like ranch dressing with Mexican food, but I’m not crazy about the kind that comes out of a bottle. I prefer to make it myself from the packet with mayonnaise and buttermilk.
5-6 heads Romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and torn into bite-sized pieces 1 bunch carrots, grated or sliced 1 green pepper, chopped 1 basket cherry tomatoes, washed and cut in half 2 cucumbers, peeled and sliced 1 package salad croutons
1 packet Buttermilk recipe ranch dressing mix, prepared according to package directions
Toss dressing with salad ingredients just before serving.
2 fresh pineapples 2 cantaloupe or honeydew melon 1 small seedless watermelon 2 baskets fresh strawberries 2 baskets fresh blueberries Add any other fresh fruits that you like and that are available where you live. This is a very flexible salad. ¼ cup brown sugar (optional)
Chop pineapple and melons into bite-sized pieces. Hull strawberries and cut into halves or quarters. Wash blueberries. Combine fruit and toss very gently with brown sugar to taste, if desired. The brown sugar is especially good if some of your fruits are a little tart. If they are all very sweet, you may want to omit the brown sugar.
For fifty people you will need two batches of these.
2 sticks butter, softened ¾ cup granulated sugar ¾ cup brown sugar, packed 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla 2 ½ cups flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 350º. Mix butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat until light and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add vanilla. Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add to butter mixture and mix just until completely blended. Don’t over-mix. Mix in chocolate chips and nuts, if using. Drop by teaspoons onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies resist when pressed lightly with finger. Cool on a rack.
You will need two batches of these for fifty people. My recipe has more butter than usual, but for a party they are ultra-luxurious and never fail to get rave reviews. You can cut the butter back by as much as half if you wish.
1 stick butter 1 16-ounce bag miniature marshmallows 8 cups Rice Krispies
Have ready a 9x13” pan sprayed with cooking spray. Place butter and marshmallows in a large pot and heat gently over medium-low heat until melted and smooth. Add Rice Krispies and stir to combine. Working quickly, spray your hands with cooking spray and press mixture into pan. Let set up for at least 30 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.
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Copyright © 2008 by Charlotte Rose. All rights reserved. |
