ISO menu ideas

[SharonT]

My ladies guild group is putting together a menu for our next luncheon, coming up early in October. So far we have:
Moroccan Chicken (chicken tenders with spicy tomato sauce & raisins served over garlic/olive oil couscous)
and a
Side Dish of julienned zucchini and carrots

what's a good thing to complete the plate here? bread?

Also searching for ideas for an appetizer and dessert on this menu.

 

[urmaniac13]

Keeping the mediterranean/Arabic theme, how about Falafels for appetizer, and Fattoush for salad?

(my recipe for falafels are oven baked, but of course if you prefer, they can be deep fried in a traditional manner as well!)

For a dessert, baklava?

 

[Half Baked]

You could have pita for the bread to scoop up the great sauce.

How about Dolmades for an appy?

 

[Chef_Jen]

I love Jans appy idea.. for the dessert since its in october what about something apple..

like baked apples or Apple dumplings with a cinn. Vanilla sauce? or with a caramel sauce?

 

[Constance]

Stuffed Dates

Since you have a Moraccon theme going, I think stuffed dates baked in honey might be a suitable sweet to go with the meal. Here's a traditional recipe:

http://www.godecookery.com/friends/frec59.htm

 

[SharonT]

Thanks for all the speedy replies which gave me some fabulous ideas in time for our meeting tomorrow...

I should have said further that we serve between 150 to 180 at our (fund-raising) luncheons so, sadly, things like grape leaves would break the budget.

Pita or flatbread will be great to fill out the plate. And the falafels sound amazing. I think our group of amateur volunteers will be leary of taking that on for the number of people we serve, but I'm adding it to my own "try this soon" file right now.

Thanks so much for the dessert ideas!!

 

[Half Baked]

Hummus would be inexpensive but the pita bread might be redundant. I guess you could use the flatbread with the main dish.

 

[SharonT]

Hummus would be inexpensive but the pita bread might be redundant. I guess you could use the flatbread with the main dish.

I did think of hummus... but agree that it wouldn't be best choice if we use flatbread on the plate. Although, the appetizer is not served at the tables.

Here's the setup: The appetizer is set out along with the beverages (usually iced tea, water and coffee) as the ladies gather. They serve themselves at the beverage / appetizer tables, then sit at tables; program begins, luncheon is plated up in kitchen and served to the tables, then individual desserts(or dessert trays are carried to each table sometimes), then speaker.

So, maybe the pita bread won't seem so redundant, especially if it looks
different, cut up a different way or something. I'm still trying to picture what it would look like on the plate with the other two dishes. The other down side to hummus is that we've done it before, and we try not to repeat ourselves, which is getting more difficult now that we're about to complete our sixth year of carrying on these luncheons, served seven times a year since 2000.

Well, I'm off to the planning meeting. Thanks for listening.

 

[Robo410]

mix the appetizers: olives, feta cheese, hummus, baba ganoush etc, some flat bread, but also have some vegetables for dipping.

 

[Half Baked]

That's a great idea, Robo.

 

[SharonT]

mix the appetizers: olives, feta cheese, hummus, baba ganoush etc, some flat bread, but also have some vegetables for dipping.

Excellent notion!

 

[karadekoolaid]

Moroccan "salads" are often made with grilled peppers, zucchini, onions, olive oil, etc.
Can't for the life of me remember where my Moroccan recipes are at the moment, but you could play around with it. They're very authentic!
Or if you decide to go with your carrot/zucchini - grill the veg first then slather in orange juice and olive oil.

 

[SharonT]

I tested the menu Sunday - tried the carrots and zucchini - simply steamed with butter and white pepper - thinking I didn't want the side dish to fight with the spicy Chicken. But they were just not interesting and I overcooked the zucchini. bleh

The chicken dish has tomato salsa, honey, cinnamon, curry, cumin, garlic, raisins and will be served over couscous with garlic and onions... The family all liked the chicken but the side dish needs more jazz.

We'll be serving around 150... I'm thinking now of switching to a vegetable salad - and also like the sound of grilled (roasted?) peppers, zucchini, onions. Even the carrot/zucchini combo would probably be better grilled. What would you season those with for this menu? Serve at room temp?

 

[SharonT]

Posted this in Member Photos today - wanted to say thanks again for the great ideas in this thread.
I switched the entrée to Moroccan Chicken with Potatoes and Olives and the side dish was a Tunisian Chopped Vegetable Salad.
Baklava for dessert.

 

[Claire]

I know this is past but will chime in with there always should be some kind of flat bread in this time of meal. A good short cut is taboule (middle east makes a good easy one, especially if you add a lot of fresh parsley). But everyone's favorite in my set, to lighten it up, is some thinly sliced cucumbers in yogurt and mint. Mint tea is also good. The cukes can be sliced and left overnight, and the yogurt tossed on at the last minute. The mint is optional. But that tart flavor and cucumber light-ness will make the entire meal a little lighter. I make meals in this line often, albeit not for that many people!!

 

[SharonT]

Thank you Claire! Actually, we did serve sesame seed flat bread (I meant to add that note) which we found at the local Mediterreanean grocer's. Tabbouleh was one of the appetizers, along with hummus, carrots, olives, dates, figs... served with pita crisps. The Tunisian Salad had the cucumbers (and peppers, and tomatoes and mint... and yogurt dressing).