Kitchen Window: Cooking for a Crowd

This is the season when home cooks become caterers, the time of year when the online cooking consulting company I work with is inundated with requests for help from people planning events. A typical question: "I'm cooking two, 5-pound pork roasts. Can I cook them at the same time?" or, the rather vague: "I'm planning a graduation party for 75. How much food do I need?"

Read the complete article at NPR's Kitchen Window.

Kevin Weeks is a Gather food correspondent (Paisano), personal chef, cooking teacher, and writer in Knoxville, Tennessee who spends too many hours on his feet, cooking. "Paisano" is a column focused on peasant dishes from around the world. To read more of Kevin's writings or connect to him click here. His blog,Seriously Good, is read by 100,000 cooks a month and in addition he writes a weekly column forSpot-Onand is the Guide for Cooking for Two at About.com.

Comments: 10

Robyn F. May 21, 2008, 3:59pm EDT

par-tay!!

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Jennifer Hodge May 21, 2008, 4:51pm EDT

Kevin, I just love Kitchen Window. You have so many great tips in your column. This is going in my file, just like your recipe for chicken in parchment paper and many of your other recipes! Thank you.

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Kevin Weeks May 21, 2008, 5:16pm EDT

Jennifer,
Thanks. I'm a maniac about planning events because even with all the planning something always goes wrong.

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Dorine H. May 21, 2008, 9:31pm EDT

Excellent advice and good recipes!

I learned the hard way to plan Thanksgiving feasts for crowds pf 16-20 well in advance and plan for things I can start as early as Monday.

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Linda K. May 22, 2008, 12:03pm EDT

What a wonderful party for your parents. Your siblings are lucky you can handle a large dinner party like this one. I have seen the recipes for the pork cooked in milk but haven't made it. This column encourages me to try it.

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Kevin Weeks May 22, 2008, 12:16pm EDT

Dorine,
Yeah, do as much as possible in advance, then if something goes wrong you can recover from it.

Linda,
It's absolutely delicious.

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Kerry Dexter May 22, 2008, 2:16pm EDT

Kevin,
when you say the party was a complete success -- that means you got to enjoy the company as well as the cooking? I hope so.

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Madame Donna C. May 22, 2008, 5:02pm EDT

Kevin, you've hit upon my specialty. My weeknight meals used to demand cooking for 10-12. After that on a nightly basis, a party of 25 was not a huge leap for me. The largest meal I ever prepared alone was for 50. I'd never do it alone again though. Great advice here and your guidelines stressing planning are quite on target.

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