Sharing food is one of the most basic and powerful ways to help people. Considering that 1 in 6 people in America face hunger, there needs to be more of us feeding those who are struggling. Cooking for 100 people is easier than you might think!
Every Saturday in Downtown Shreveport a group of people gathers in an empty lot, just before 5:00pm. They set up folding tables and serve a meal for 50 to 100 people and then clean up, break down, and vanish leaving no traces that they were ever there, all within a single hour.
This past Saturday it was my turn to cook. Because it is near the end of the month, I was told to expect a lot of people – as many as 100. Normally I cook for three people so this undertaking seemed like a big task. It really wasn’t.
Cooking for a large group is not difficult at all; it just requires some planning and forethought, plus a little extra equipment. If (when?) you decide to do something like this, be sure to tell all of your friends and family what you are planning. My mother-in-law happily donated her 3-gallon (12 quart) and 4.5 gallon (18 quart) stock pots to the cause, along with two pounds of frozen meat. A coworker donated a bag of chicken, which meant I didn’t have to purchase any meat at all. We picked up two 4-gallon (16 quart) stockpots at a discount store for $12.00 each. As long as you’re making stews and foods with a lot of liquid and keep the heat fairly low, the cheap stockpots will do just fine.
I only spent about an hour researching “Cooking for 100 people” before I had a good understanding of how much food I needed to make. It takes about 6.5 gallons to serve one cup of food to 100 people, so I decided to make 8 gallons of stew and 10 lbs of rice to serve with it. The last thing in the world I wanted was to run out of food before everyone got to eat. I have included my recipe below, including all of the day-before preparations and some advice to help you avoid my mistakes.
Here is a slide-show that I prepared from photos taken along the way.Download the pdf slide show with photos taken along the way. 02/23/13 Serving a Hot Meal
In the past I have been against posting photos of good deeds, but I’ve since discovered that this is an EXCELLENT way to let friends and coworkers know what I’m doing – and hopefully – inspire them to pitch in and help! After sharing this around a little bit, I already have several people lined up to help me next month. It is hard to argue with what works.
Hearty Bean Stew for 1
In the past I have been against posting photos of good deeds, but I’ve since discovered that this is an EXCELLENT way to let friends and coworkers know what I’m doing – and hopefully – inspire them to pitch in and help! After sharing this around a little bit, I already have several people lined up to help me next month. It is hard to argue with what works.
15 lbs of dry beans, any kind.
I used a mix of kidney, pinto, black, navy.
9 lbs of meat. I used:
2 lbs pork tenderloin
6 lbs of chicken breast
1 lb pork sausage
3 bunches of celery, chopped
4 lbs of onion, chopped
chicken broth (as much as you can add)
3 teaspoons of liquid smoke
3 TBSP or more of minced garlic
Tony Cachere’s – green can
1/2 cup Oregano,
salt & pepper
6 lbs of white rice (I cooked 10 lbs – way too much!)
The day before:
- Rinse and soak beans for a minimum of 8 hours.
- Boil and shred the meat.
- Save the broth to use the next day,
The day of:
Get started first thing in the morning! Drain the beans and add them evenly to each of the two cooking pots. Add the all of the broth and add enough fresh water to go about 2″ above the beans. Heat until a hard boil and cook the beans for 10 minutes. Turn down to medium and add a mountain of chopped onion and celery. Add the meat, garlic and seasonings. Stir well, then reduce heat to low and cook for 3 hours. Stir every half hour.
I cooked 10 lbs of rice but 6 or 7 lbs would have been plenty. The best way to cook large quantities of rice is in steam table pans in the oven, but if you don’t have those just cook it in several smaller batches. I used a large stockpot which produced very mushy rice. It wasn’t a big deal this time since the rice was being mixed with stew.
The pots stayed very hot wrapped in blankets, and laundry baskets made it all easy to carry. We didn’t have to worry about spilling in the car.