Maple-Mustard Pork Tenderloin for 36

My butcher has had a great price on pork tenderloin lately, so I've cooked it a couple of common meals in a row. This time, I got thinking about pork, and what would go well with it, and immediately thought of maple. And mustard as a nice complementary flavor. I went looking for ideas on the net and found a lot of people using apple cider vinegar, and that was an excellent addition - it ensured that the sauce wasn't too sweet. I served this with mashed sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli and salad.

Maple-Pork Tenderloin for 36
12 lbs pork tenderloin (about 8)
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
vegetable oil

8 oz maple syrup
8 oz dijon mustard
4 oz apple cider vinegar, plus extra for deglazing
2 tbsp chopped fresh sage

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sprinkle the pork tenderloin with salt and pepper and set aside for at least 5 minutes.

Mix the sauce ingredients together.

Preheat one or more large heavy pans. Add just enough vegetable oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Working in batches, sear the tenderloins for 2 minutes on each side, for 6 to 8 minutes total. Place onto a baking sheet. When all the tenderloins are seared, coat them generously on all sides with the sauce. You will use about half of the sauce. Reserve the extra.

Roast tenderloins in the oven for 15-30 minutes or until they reach an internal temperature of 145 to 160, depending on how well done you like your pork. Remove from oven, cover loosely in foil, and let rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.

While the tenderloins are roasting, deglaze the searing pans with extra cider vinegar, scraping up all the accumulated fond. Add reserved maple-mustard sauce to pan and set aside. When the tenderloins are done, add any pan juices from the roasting pans, and reduce sauce by 1/3.

To serve, slice roasted tenderloins into medallions and place on platters, topped with maple-mustard sauce.

Spicy Korean Pork Tenderloin and Asian Slaw for 32

This one is adapted from a recipe in Fine Cooking. It's really easy, and really tasty. The most annoying part is pan frying all the pork pieces. I've experimented with doing them on the grill and the broiler as well, and that works okay, although frying tastes better. The marinade adapts well to tofu, which you then just bake at 375 for about 45 minutes or so.

Spicy Korean Pork Tenderloin
10 lbs pork tenderloin
2 2/3 c soy sauce
1 c rice vinegar
1 c brown sugar
1 head garlic, minced (about 16 cloves)
3/4 c minced ginger (given the quantity, I use the jars of pre-minced, but it would taste even better with fresh)
1/4 c sesame oil
1/8 to 1/3 c Sriracha or other Asian chile sauce (depends how spicy you like it!)

Trim the tenderloin of silver skin and membranes and slice on the diagonal into 1/3 to 1/2 inch medallions. Be careful not to make them too thick.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together. Pour half of it over the tenderloin. Reserve the rest for serving. Marinade the tenderloin for 30 minutes at room temperature, or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator.

In one or more griddles or large heavy pans (cast iron is great here), heat canola oil over medium high heat until shimmering. Place a single layer of pork tenderloin in each pan, shaking off any excess marinade. Be careful - it will splatter! Cook for 2 minutes, flip, then cook for 2 minutes on the other side. Transfer to a covered dish and/or low oven to keep warm while you cook the rest. Because of the sugar in the marinade, you will need to scrape or wash out the pans after a couple of batches. I kept a bowl of water, a dishcloth and some tongs by the stove, and used that to wipe out the pans as needed.

To serve, place on platters and top with reserved marinade. Sprinkle with some chopped scallions.

Asian Slaw
8 lbs napa cabbage, thinly sliced
2 lbs carrots, grated
2 red peppers, quartered and thinly sliced
2 bunches scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
1 bunch cilantro, minced
1/2 c canola oil
2 tbsp salt
1 c rice vinegar
1/2 c brown sugar
1/4 sesame oil
2 tbsp Sriracha or other Asian chile sauce (optional - I like to serve the slaw without any hot sauce to counter the spicy pork)

Combine cabbage through cilantro in a large bowl. Mix together dressing ingredients (oil through chile sauce, if using). Combine veggies and dressing only about 15 minutes before serving, otherwise it will be too soggy.

Tortilla Soup for 30

This is one of the most popular meals that I make for my cohousing community, and one I get frequent requests for. It's adapted from a Cook's Illustrated recipe, and all their meticulous testing really shows in the result. Thanks to an initial "enrichment" step, the broth has a deep complex flavor, even though it starts with purchased stock. If you have 40 cups of homemade stock lying around the house, by all means use it - it will be even better. But you really don't have to.

Tortilla Soup for 30

Tortilla Strips
6 dozen corn tortillas
vegetable oil
salt

Soup
40 cups water [1]
1 jar Better Than Bouillon Chicken [1]
7.5 lbs bone-in chicken breasts and/or thighs, skin removed and trimmed of fat
5 large white onions, ends trimmed, quartered and peeled
1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled
1 bunch cilantro
5 sprigs oregano
10 medium tomatoes, cored and quartered
2 jalapeño chiles (optional) [2]
2-5 chipotle chiles in adobo (depending how hot you want it) [2]
3-4 tbsp vegetable oil (depending on the size of your pan)
1/2 tsp salt

Garnishes
4 limes, cut into wedges
6-8 avocados, diced fine
2 lbs of cheese (Cotija is traditional, but you can substitute shredded Monterey Jack or - better yet - put out some of each)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 jalapeños, chopped fine
32 oz sour cream
rest of the can of chipotle en adobe, pureed into a sauce

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut the tortillas into 1/3 to 1/2 inch strips. Working in batches, spread them on sheet pans, drizzle with vegetable oil and toss to coat, then bake for 7 minutes. Rotate pan and shake or stir strips to redistribute and cook for another 6-7 minutes or until golden brown and crisped. Sprinkle with salt to season.

In a large pot, combine 40 cups of water with the Better than Bouillon. Add chicken pieces, half of the onion quarters, half of the garlic, and the whole sprigs of cilantro and oregano to the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until chicken is just cooked through, about 20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter to cool, and strain the broth into another large pot, discarding the remaining solids.

In a food processor, puree the tomatoes, remaining onions and garlic, jalapeño (if using), and chipotles until smooth. Depending on the size of your food processor, you will probably need to work in batches. Heat the oil in a large frying pan (or two) until shimmering, then add the tomato mixture and salt. Be careful - it will splatter! Cook, stirring frequently, until mixture darkens in color and starts to dry out - about 15-20 minutes (the smaller amount if you're using multiple pans, the larger amount if it's all in one).

Add tomato puree to stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes to blend flavors. Meanwhile, shred or pull the chicken into bite size pieces. Add it to the simmered stock and cook for 5 minutes to heat through.

Serve buffet style. At the start of the line, put the big bowl of tortilla strips. Follow that with the soup, then all of the garnishes.

[1] You could use canned or carton stock, but the Better Than Bouillon a) weights less, b) cost less and c) was the second place winner of the Cook's Illustrated canned stock taste test.

[2] When I make this, I use just 2 chipotle chiles for the whole batch, and no jalapeños, because I have to cater to a wide range of spice tolerance. Use the larger amounts below if you have a spice loving crowd!

White Bean and Butternut Squash Gratin for 32

I can't claim to have been at all creative or unique in making this recipe. Adapting it to feed a crowd didn't really require much more than multiplication. But it is a tasty and cheap meal that feeds a lot of people. I used almost entirely organic ingredients and it cost about $4/person (which included a mixed green salad with goat cheese and blood oranges). If you're less particular about organics or downgrade the salad, it would be really cheap!

White Bean and Butternut Squash Gratin
(adapted from Russ Parson's recipe as seen at Wednesday Chef)

1 1/3 lbs thick-sliced bacon
2 large onions, chopped
1 head garlic, minced or pressed, divided into two equal portions
4 pounds dried cannellini or Great Northern beans
18 cups water
4 teaspoon salt
4 (28-ounce) cans diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 c chopped sage
12 pounds butternut squash
2 loaves day-old good quality French or Italian style bread
1 cup olive oil, plus additional for pans

Chop the bacon into rough squares. Combine the bacon, onions, half of the garlic, beans, water and salt in a large pot. Bring to a simmer, cover tightly, and cook for 2 - 2.5 hours, stirring occasionally. Add additional water if necessary.

When the beans are tender, stir in the tomatoes and sage. Stir roughly to break up some of the beans, which will thicken the liquid.

Meanwhile, peel the squash and cut it into 1/2 inch cubes. I like to use gloves for this step, as I find that cutting butternut squash does something nasty to my skin, and you have to cut a LOT of squash. Working in batches, steam the squash over a pot of rapidly boiling water for about 7-10 minutes or until tender. Set aside.

Cut the crusts off the bread and cut or tear it into rough cubes. Working in batches, process in the food processor with the remaining garlic until you have coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Prepare four 3-3.5 qt casserole dishes by brushing each with with 2 tsp of olive oil. (I only had smaller casseroles, so I just used more pans. You could use a couple of large pyrex pans instead - but don't try to go too deep - you want a good ratio of bread crumbs to filling, and for that you need lots of surface area!) Divide the butternut squash across the pans. Divide the bean mixture on top of that, using a slotted spoon. Add just enough of the liquid to cover the bottom of the pan. Stir a little to combine (the squash is fairly delicate, so be gentle). Divide the bread crumbs across all the pans. Drizzle with olive oil, about 1/4 c for each pan.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 40 minutes or until bread crumbs are nicely browned. Be sure to rotate pans from top to bottom shelf to ensure even browning. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Jambalaya for 24

This is a recipe I've made for my cohousing community several times. We have people in the community with shellfish allergies, so it's shrimp free, but you could certainly add shrimp at the end, and substitute some clam stock for the chicken stock. When I put this on the menu I was worried about getting all the rice cooked without burning it on the bottom, since most jambalaya recipes call for cooking everything together in one pot, and I just didn't see that working in bulk. To get around that, this recipe cooks the rice separately and combines it with the rest of the ingredients before serving. It makes for a really easy and nearly foolproof recipe, without sacrificing flavor or texture, IMO.

Cohousing Jambalaya (serves 24)
(recipe adapted from Cook's Illustrated)
6 cups long grain white rice
9 cups chicken stock
4 onions (peeled, ends trimmed, and quartered)
4 ribs celery (cut crosswise into quarters)
2 red peppers (stemmed, seeded and quartered)
2 green peppers (stemmed, seeded and quartered)
1 head garlic (cloves separated and peeled)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 lbs andouille sausage (halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch pieces)
20 bone-in chicken thighs (skin removed [1])
2 lg (28 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 tsp salt
2 tsp fresh thyme
6 bay leaves
1/2 - 1 tsp cayenne (optional - see [2])
1/2 c chopped parsley

Combine rice and chicken stock in a rice cooker and start cooking.

Chop the vegetables (onion through garlic) in a food processor. It will take about 6 1-second pulses - do not overprocess - you want finely chopped, not puree. It's okay if there are a few larger bits in the mix. Work in batches, with some of each ingredient in each batch. The number of batches will depend on the size of your food processor. Set aside.

In a large pot, heat the vegetable oil over high heat, then add the andouille and cook until it's browned all over. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the fat in the pot.

Add chopped vegetables and cook until soft. Add cooked sausage, tomatoes, salt, thyme, bay leaves and cayenne (if using) to pot and bring to a boil. Add chicken thighs and cook until chicken is done, about 20-25 minutes.

Remove chicken from liquid and set aside to cool slightly. Meanwhile, stir the now-cooked rice into the liquid. Turn heat to very low or off entirely - the pot will keep its heat for a long time. When chicken is cool enough to handle, pull it off the bone into bite size pieces and stir it back into the rice mixture.

By this time the rice should have sucked up all the yummy liquid and it should be nicely integrated and ready to serve.

Notes:
[1] Quick tip for removing chicken skin - loosen it with your fingers, then use a paper towel to grip the skin and pull - it will pull right off. Don't worry about getting off every last bit of fat - you want the flavor.
[2] The amount of cayenne you need will depend on the level of heat in the andouille you're using, and how spicy the crowd you're cooking for likes it. If your sausage is particularly mild, you might need to increase the amount beyond the range I list here. I have a mixed crowd with kids and adults and the sausage I use is quite spicy, so I omit the cayenne when I make it and put hot sauce out on the side for those that want to punch up the heat.

Thanksgiving Dinner for 65

3 twelve-pound turkeys
25 lbs mashed potatoes
10 lbs ginger glazed carrots
8 lbs roasted brussels sprouts
6 squash cut in half and stuffed with bread stuffing for the vegetarians
Extra stuffing for everyone
8 cups of gravy
8 cups of cranberry sauce
2 9x13 pans of nanaimo bars

I live in a cohousing community here in Ann Arbor. We have shared meals several nights a week, and I cook a couple times a month. I'm a Canadian living in the US, so last year I thought it would be fun to cook a Canadian Thanksgiving meal. It was fun, but it was also an awful lot of work, and I swore "never again." But then this year I let a neighbor and friend convince me to do it again. It was an awful lot of work again, starting when my butcher didn't have my turkeys ready and I had to make do with three small and mostly frozen turkeys... You can read about the whole saga - and other common meals I've cooked - here.