Help with a GCSE catering menu

tori.k

DFS1 has his GCSE catering exam coming up and we could do with some help to come up with two main courses one meat/one veggie

Bless he is not the greatest of cooks and catering is not job he wishes to go into but to me he's done 2 years of work, it would be a shame if he doesnt try and get the best grade he could.
He has and hour and a half to cook and clean up and needs something simple and healthy but looks good, there isn't a budget set, but as we will have a couple of attemps at home so the cheaper the better.

Any idea's ?
I thought a pasta in a home made tomato sauce for the veggie option but not sure if that would be seen as too basic. My cooking skills are quite simple and feel out of my depth here.

Many thanks

Butterfly_Brain

Mushroom Rissotto,Stuffed Peppers, for veggie option Chicken Curry, or Pork in cider, Medallions of beef with a sauce,
or I would suggest looking on the BBC web site loads of recipes on there and for your son who is on a time limit o for ready steady cook
And I would let him cook the meal at home first to get his timings and flavourings right

Little_K

Hi, I work as a Food Technician with catering students and would say that the more skills shown the higher the potential grades. For example, shortcrust pastry - for pies or quiches, bread dough - for cheese and tomato pizza also sauce making, especially white sauce for macaroni cheese or pasta bake. These dishes can be made quite economically and could be made with additions of meat or extra veg.
Hope that helps

bltchef

hi does he have a buget ?
what about white chicken chilli with cashew nuts
grilled pork chops with a apricot crust and for the vegge stir fry with fresh pinneaple
any Q just ask on how to let me know

jexygirl

hi ya,
If he can cook off some chopped fresh tomatos in a pan with some red peppers and a toiuch of garlic, butter, salt and pepper, lay to one side (about 5 mins) boil up some sweet potato and mash it (put it on to boil as first job so its done in time - about 20 mins) sautee in some butter a few onions, a little garlic and salt and pepper, and add some cooked boiled cabbage (I only cook savoy cabbage for 5 mins so its crunchy and keeps its colour) then use an old lemonade bottle as a mold = lay in the cabbage and onion at the bottom, then lay in the mashed sweet potatos as the next layer, then top off with the fried off tomatos and peppers - voila, tri coloured vegetable gateau! Serve with some sauteed green beans. Should have plenty of time as you can do everything else whilst sweet pots are boiling. It looks good and is quick and simple to make.
Otherwise what about some sort of veggie tartlet / or a quiche (provided that classes as veggie even tho it has eggs) as Little K says, making the pastry shows skill off. Otherwise some sort of veggie crumble as again making the crumble shows skill.
Then what about lasagne as the meat option? It will as Little K says, show of skills of making a homemade cheese sauce, and there are lots of easy options for the mince. he should have about an hour, so thats plenty to fry off mince etc. and make cheese sauce.
Just some ideas
Let us know how he does
Jex
Edit - just re read OP - perhaps lasagne isnt that healthy so serve it with salad
Otherwise some sort of stuffed chicken breast then wrapped in bacon. Maybe that low fat boursin cheese, stuffed in a breast, wrapped in bacon and oven roasted? looks and tastes nice, with some nice veg?

laura.1984

What about a chicken pot pie for the main? No Idea about a veggi one

Alison_Funnell

Way back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth ( well maybe not THAT far back!) I remember my then O level cooking - good luck to him.

Pasta - if he makes it himself. Mushroom lasagne or ravioli for the veg meal?
That could include a roux based sauce. Remembering to account for protein in the meal - milk, wheat, cheese if it is in the sauce.

For the meat course could he do something like steamed dimsum (mince pork filled) with stirfried veg? Or cornish pasty?

babyshoes

For both, he could try a butternut squash almost cooked then halved lengthways (use giant cleaver, it is tough!), remove the seeds and stuff the middle with either a (cooked) mince and rice mixture or a (cooked) veggie and rice mixture. Top both with cheese and bake until done. Might take a bit longer than he has though, may need to pre-bake the squash the day before, if that is allowed? Not sure of timings etc, but we got served it in University dining hall a lot and it was YUMMY. Keep meaning to try it myself!

PasturesNew

tori.k wrote: »

DFS1 has his GCSE catering exam coming up and we could do with some help to come up with two main courses one meat/one veggie

Won't they expect the menu to reflect the syllabus and what's been taught/learnt over the year? Rather than a random menu. I mean, would they expect it to demonstrate good use of the nutritional needs etc etc ... and balances ... etc.... would they expect it (for example) to include a 5-a-day, some protein, or something. Some "formal structure" to what's included. Also, include techniques/methods learnt etc.

Just a thought.