I like the menu posting idea too. Here is one from a beach party for 50 I threw for my DH's birthday

C

CathyZ

Well-known member
...it is from several years ago so it is a bit dated but it was great fun and everyone seemed to enjoy the food. I set up in a grove of trees just off the beach, had two grills going and was just 5 minutes from home where my ovens and refrigerators were so I was easily able to keep everything hot and cold.

Beach Party for 50

Sliced Chicken Breasts stuffed with Herbed Ricotta and Spinach

Grilled Butterflied Shrimp with Dill

Spicy Beef Kabobs with Peppers and Onions

Grilled Eggplant, Mushrooms and Peppers with Cilantro Butter

Pissaladiere

Roasted New Potatoes with Sour Cream and Caviar

Minnesota Wild Rice Salad with Snow Peas

Layered Gazpacho Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Fresh Ahi Sashimi

Wasabi-laced Deviled Eggs

Carved Watermelon Boat

Kriss's Favorite Cherry Pie

Banana Cream Pie with White Chocolate and Ginger

Four-Chocolate Fudge Cake

 
CathyZ , this sounds great...

how did you do those stuffed breasts? I so often find they are tough, I think it is the kind available here.
I love an appetizer of new potatoes boiled, halved, bottoms nicked off so they can stand, topped with sour cream and caviar...so decadent and simple.

 
OH Cathy...re the pizza story..

I wonder if the pizza didn't work just right because I could not get it off the parchment easily...I turned it over the coals (which were also too hot..right for the red peppers) but, I THINK...where I am going wrong a bit is that the rolled out dough is not chilled before using...it stands around a bit.(even 5 or 10 mins is too much to keep it chilled in the heat we are having.)
I will try to take it out of the fridge directly to the fire next time and I am also going to put it onto that flat cast iron 'skottel' in the camp fire image...I think that, that just might work better...what do you think???

 
Ah, salt water humidity island-style

Yes, Joanie- I would use your skottel- I think it would work famously for pizza. What a wonderful cooking surface it has!

I have never used parchment paper for transporting rolled out dough to my grill so I am not an expert on it.

Heat and what I call salt water humidity turn a ball of dough into mush so quickly. Sometimes I roll out the dough and place it in the refrigerator for a time just before putting on the grill. It does help.

 
I baked the stuffed chicken breasts with pans of water in the bottom of the oven so they "steamed"

 
Hmmm- I will do some looking for the recipe- it was several years ago and I remember it was good but

not sure what recipe I used. I am that way- I find a recipe, use it and then it gets filed and I may not use it again for years. I'll do some searching. I seem to remember making a batch of homemade bloody mary mix to use in it. Hmmmm.....it gives me a good reason to dig through my recipes. If I can find it, I'll post it.

 
Here it is thanks to Pat in No Cal- her brains work better than mine. REC Gazpacho Salad

I posted this ages ago and Pat, who is the recipe search queen, dug it up for me. This is a very delicious and gorgeous to look at.

My brain has been jogged now- I did make homemade bloody mary mix but we drank it instead of putting in the salad- LOL.

JULIA CHILD'S GAZPACHO SALAD
(from Julia Child & More Company)- serves 8

3 cups diced tomato (slice in half first and
squeeze the seeds out before dicing)
salt & red wine vinegar as needed
3 cucumbers, peeled, cut in half lengthwise,
seeds scooped out, then diced.
1/4 tsp sugar
2 green sweet peppers, diced
2 red sweet peppers, diced
1 large mild red onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
about 2 cups lightly pressed down, fresh bread
crumbs

Dressing:
3 large cloves garlic, peeled & crushed
1 tsp salt
zest of 1/2 lemon
fresh basil leaves
2 tsp dijon mustard
3 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup good olive oil
wine vinegar if needed
freshly ground pepper and drops of hot pepper
sauce (tobasco)
5 tbsp fresh minced parsley

Tomatoes: when diced, add 1/2 tsp salt and 1
tsp wine vinegar and let sit in a bowl for
about 5 minutes. Turn into a sieve to drain.

Cucumbers: when diced, toss in a bowl with 1
tbsp wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp
sugar. Let stand 5 minutes then turn into a
sieve to drain.

Peppers, onion, celery: When diced, mix all
together and add drops of wine vinegar and
salt to taste (note: Julia says to drop the
onion in boiling water for several seconds to
take out the "bite" but I always leave the
onion raw)

Dressing: Pound the garlic in a morter with
the salt. Mince the lemon zest, add it to the
mortar and pound until pureed. Add some basil
and pound that too. Beat in the mustard with a
whisk then add the lemon juice and the oil by
droplets. Season well with more salt, drops of
vinegar if needed, pepper and hot pepper sauce
to taste.

Arranging the salad- 4-6 hrs before serving:

Pick a straight-sided glass bowl if possible
because the colors are so pretty in this
salad.
Spread 1/4 of the breadcrumbs evenly on the
bottom of the bowl. Cover with 1/3 of the
pepper-onion mixure, then 1/3 of the tomatoes,
1/3 of the cucumbers, then 1/4 of the
dressing. Continue with crumbs, pepper-onion
mix, tomatoes, cucumbers, dressing and so on,
encing with a layer of crumbs, then the
remaining dressing. Spread the parsley over
the top. Cover with plastic wrap and
refrigerate.

 
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