Rugby team food catering

poppy-glos

Hello all, been away a while but may I pick your brains?

I'm doing the food for local men's match next week, catering for 40 at £1 a head or less. I've done a bit of Internet research and found no quantities or coatings posted. I'm thinking either stew or chilli or bolognease. Has anyone any advice to offer me please. Thanks.

Pitlanepiglet

Either bolognase or chilli are pretty straightforward to do in quantities, my preference would probably be chilli as I find it easier to deal with the rice than the pasta as the pasta tends to stick to itself fairly swiftly if it isn't used immediately.

I work on the basis of 100g of meat per person with a bit for extra. I also just multiply normal meals - so for 40, you're just cooking for 4 ten times!

I'd probably go with 4 or 4.5 kg of mince, then the equivalent of ten tins of kidney beans and ten tins of chopped tomatoes - start adding them and see how it looks. Go easy on the chilli powder, easier to add more than take away.

For rice I'd work on 2 or 3 ounces per person - I'd cook it in a number of batches rather than trying to cook a huge amount in one pan.

Given that you are feeding rugby players you might want to allow higher amounts of food per person...

Fruball

I would do chilli with jacket potatoes - much easier than managing rice for that many people and jacket spuds are difficult to get wrong.

You could also do baked beans and cheese in case anyone doesn't like chilli.

Add cumin to your chilli and use Enc0na hot pepper sauce instead of chilli powder - they add a certain something and everyone who has had my chilli says its the best they have had

airgead

Jacket spuds is a good idea, as long as you have the time and space to cook them all. Cooking that quantity will take longer in the oven than the usual family sized amount, even a commercial oven will take 2+ hours to cook them poperly.

Pasta is quicker, you can keep it warm, if you oil it after draining, and don't dry it out. About 75-100g dried pasta per serving. Slightly cheaper than a spud, at about 10p portion. Or if you've got help, you can keep a fresh supply coming.

I wouldn't bother with rice, to much hassle to cook that kind of amount. It also is hard to keep warm.

I would make about 10 litres of sauce for 40 servings, plus a bit extra for luck. This will give you 250 mls per serving, which is about 2 ladlefulls.

BEEF CHILLI 10 LITRES/ 40 portions

　
3KG MINCE
6 onions
5 red peppers
1/2 bulb garlic
500g mushrooms
10 tins tomatoes
10 tins kidney beans
tomato puree/herbs/stock/chilli to taste

This should stay within your budget, if you shop cannily!

stiltwalker

What airgead said! Would also add that there are more food safety issues with rice so you would be better with pasta or jackets if you are able to do them. Don't forget that with spices you don't need to increase in the same quantities as the rest of the ingredients so better to put less than you think in - you can always offer a bottle of tabasco for anyone who wants to pep up their chilli.

Another thing I've had great success with in big quantities is stew and dumplings - but baked dumplings not done in the pot, you use the same recipe as for steamed but just bake for about 15/20 minutes on greased trays. - Well sourced cheap cuts of beef (skirt maybe) and lots of root veg and you should be able to do this for your budget.

Pie and peas always goes down well too and if you do a couple of big meat and potato pies (same provisos as above) and a big pan of mushy peas (soaked and cooked up not ready made) and that should come in for your budget too.

missmucksmum

For the chilli I would use
6 x 800gms tesco value mince £14.40
1kg tesco value onions 69p
2 x 400gms mushrooms t value £1.94
2 x bags peppers (=10) t value £1.96
10 x kidney beans t value £1.80
10 x chopped tomatoes £3.10
tomatoe puree 200gms 35p
5 x chilli con carne mix £1.30 (to flavour and thicken)
4kg long grain rice £1.60
20 x value garlic baquettes (1/2 each) £6.40
£33.40 in total
I used to cater for a cricket team so would put the chilli in 1 or 2 large catering pans if you have them then wash and cook rice drain rinse with kettle water then put in slow cookers to keep hot so not too much hassle to serve also the garlic bread will go down a treat x( with the change you could get some cheap ice cream/cake/fruit/pies/fruit

camNolliesMUMMY

Would chilli n a jacket be around that budget? Saves you messing about with rice?
Bulk out with kidney beans carrots chickpeas what ever you can to stretch it?

Take_it_like_a_man,_sonny

Think Carbohydrates. Pasta is probably the best, or pizza's. Ther ones I do photo's for can demolish a house after a game and also are prone to a few little wobbleades as well. Mostly they are chirpy

seraphina

Rice - you'll only have a food safety issue if you let it cool. YOu can do large quantities of rice in the oven - water and rice in foil wrapped large baking trays. Google should help with timing, and you won't need to drain large pans of boiling water, as you would have to do with pasta.

I'd do rice or jacket spuds for ease - if you have a local asian supermarket you can pick up a lot of rice very cheaply.

Also, if you can get some cheddar as well to grate and sprinkle on top it adds that bit extra.

airgead

Another option is to do a pasta bake rather than pasta and sauce separately. Basically the same ingredients, cooked and then mixed and baked in the oven with grated cheese on top. Stays hot and no worries about pasta drying out. You would need a big oven and trays though.

Definitely agree about the carbs thing. If you do pasta, you can get away with less sauce, as long as its tasty and coats the pasta well.

nesssie1702

Rugby players after the game more likely to want something that will absorb any drink they'll have!!! Carbs probably better for before the game?

Chilli would be what I would go for. If you can, don't go for a packet chilli mix (:eek:) but use a mix of cumin, paprika, chilli powder, fresh chillies and coriander - that gives it more depth than just using chilli powder. I use a mix of beans in mine; kidney, cannellini, borlotti etc. Thicken the chilli with a couple of tins of tomato puree. If your budget will stretch to it, then a stick of chorizo chopped up will give it an extra flavour dimension as well.