Tacos For 125: Meal Overview

I was completely excited about making the food for this party as soon as I was asked to do it and was told "do whatever you think will work for 100 to 150 people."

Tacos, Mexican fiesta, sauces, nachos, chili - That was my first thought and the party hosts were totally cool with it.

Game on.

Close family friend, Joannie Schnellbach asked me to make the food for a party in honor of her daughter's recent marriage. The bride, Brittany and love of her life, Kevin Bewely tied the knot a few weeks before in a small private ceremony. They wanted to throw a big party for all the friends and family that would have attended a more public and larger wedding celebration. The shindig was going to be held at our family camp ground, so it was home turf to me.

A taco bar is a simple way to feed a lot of people, all of the ingredients can be mixed and matched. A simple taco or a hardy plate of nachos can be made from all the different ingredients. To take the taco bar concept into the gourmet realm I made a series of hot and mild sauces, a ranch-buttermilk based finishing sauce and the meats featured a special marinade and seasoning. For the kids, it was decided to have a small hot dog bar off to the side of the Taco fiesta.

When planning for a meal in general, a good ball park figure is 4 oz portions of meat per person. That is a lot of meat for a soft taco to hold, so I figured that for each person to get 4 oz of meat they would probably need at least two tacos. There were roughly 125 rsvps, Joannie told me to plan for 150, just to be on the safe side. Roughly 40 pounds of meat would be needed to make an estimated 300 tacos.

We decided to only put out small plates and little ballpark-style boats for nachos. This forced people to eat one or two tacos or a modest plate of nachos at a time. It was a little cruel to do it that way but if you give people a big plate, they will fill it – normal people in front of a giant spreads of food will pile food on plates as if they were Spartans prepping for battle. In my experience catering dinners and receptions I have become disgusted by what people do when an unlimited amount of food is set before them. Some people really just eat like hogs when given the chance. Others just pile it on a plate and throw half of it away.

If they were gonna eat like heathens at our fiesta, they were gonna have to do it with multiple trips.

The plan worked. People ate their fill, but there were no plates half full of food tossed in the dumpster.

The tomatoes for the sauces and taco garnishes were fresh from the garden. The party was Sept. 28, right in time for everyone to be bringing in their final harvests before tilling the garden under. I had a full 5-gallon bucket of tomatoes just for sauces and fresh salsa, with another bucket fresh picked before the party for garnish and an impromptu bowl of pico de gallo.

All the shopping for the Saturday party was done the Wednesday before. The sauces were made Thursday, the meat and chili on Friday. All of the little taco and nacho garnishes were done Saturday morning. Being able to do the sauces and meat ahead of time allowed for a really relaxed catering job, there were no moments where I felt I was in the weeds and the prep couldn't have went any better than it did.

THE MEAT
Recipe for the meats

THE SAUCES
Ancho chili sauce
Guajillo chili sauce
Salsa verde
Ranch tomatillo dressing

THE PARTY
The biggest surprise was the amount of people who opted for a plate of nachos rather than soft tacos. They covered the chips with all the gourmet meats and sauces like they would have a taco, many just opted for tortilla chips to deliver the goods.

Another huge surprise was raw onion. I could not keep the container full, I diced at least 10 large red onions before and during the party. When it comes to a taco bar make sure you give them onions!

Another unexpected dilemma was the nacho cheese sauce. We purchased a large gallon container of it and I thought it would be nice for the nacho chips but it was really intended for the hot dog bar put out for the kids. But, like the onions, I couldn't put enough out. People were drowning plates of nachos with the stuff, there was a group of teenage boys that should have just grabbed pint glasses of it and drank it because that would have been more practical than the runny mess they made at the counter. So, if you put nacho cheese on a taco bar, PLAN TO HAVE AS MUCH NACHO CHEESE AS YOU DO MEAT! It was the first and only item that I ran completely out of.

The party had three main waves of eating, and there were people snacking at all times. The first big wave was right when the party started at 2 p.m. and it was mostly the bride and groom's family. The second wave was around 5 or 6 and was a mix of family and a younger crowd of friends that were there to party. The third wave was later that night when all of the party people got the munchies. The late night run got crazy with people using the chili as taco filling. (Which was pretty tasty I must say.)

In the end, small portions of meat were left, a few soft tacos and a half bag nachos. The mild sauces ran out, but I had a lot of the spicier salsa left over. There was just a small amount of chili left and a few dogs. If I had to do it again I would do it exactly the same way, except I would probably make more mild sauce than hot and I would have purchased 2 gallons of Nacho cheese instead of 1.

It was a complete success.

FYI - Desert and cake was provided by the Mother and drinks were BYOB ... 


THE LIST
My grocery list that became the meal:
300 tortillas
30 lbs chicken
1 gallon margarita mix
30 lbs ground beef
2 Cups  Chili powder
1 Cup Cumin
5 lbs tomatillos
15 pounds tomatoes
30 red onions
30 to 40 jalapeños
3 lbs green peppers
20 limes
10 bunches of cilantro
Half gallon buttermilk
Jar of mayo
2 packets of ranch seasoning mix
1 Bag each of dried ancho and gaujillo chilis
10 heads of garlic
5 heads of lettuce
5 lbs shredded cheddar cheese
150 oz of tortilla chips (6 25 oz bags)
1 gallon of salsa for chips
60 hot dogs
60 hot dog buns
1 gallon Hot dog chili sauce
1 gallon nacho cheese
2 30 oz can refried beans
5 cans black beans
5 cans corn
4 32 oz boxes beef broth

What it makes
300 Tacos - meat, garnishes, sauces
10 quarts of Southwestern Black bean and corn chili
60 hot dogs - chili or nacho cheese
Chips and salsa, or a plate of nachos for 125 people

This party was a total success, it seemed as though there was enough variety that everyone was able to build the taco or nacho plate that they wanted. Cant wait to do it again.

Eat well, cook often ...

Tacos for 125: The Meat

Margarita chicken taco

When I originally started to plan this meal I was gunning for lime-garlic chicken and a flank steak preparation of some kind. As I got to pricing it out I quickly realized that I would need to replace the flank steak with ground beef because the steak would have eaten up to much of my limited budget. By switching to ground beef, not only would I have a beef taco but I could also make a 5 gallon pot of southwestern style chili.

During my search for a large container of lime juice for the chicken I wasn’t having any luck with finding a gallon size offering on the shelf. I did stumble upon half gallon containers of margarita mix though. I took a look at the ingredients and I realized it had what I needed as for as citric acid to be a good marinade for the chicken. I switched on the fly and bought a gallon of regular margarita mix for marinade.

I bought 30 pounds of chicken breast and 30 pounds of ground beef. 20 pounds each for tacos. The margarita mix was actually a great marinade that I plan on using again, it provided the yummy lemon-lime flavor with a bit of sweet. I seasoned the ground beef for tacos with a simple chili powder-cumin mix that provides all the great flavors of those store-bought taco seasoning packets without all the extra sodium.

After the meat for the tacos and southwestern chili was made I had 10 pounds of emergency chicken left that we never had to use. The plan was to see how things were going and cook it on the fly if necessary but we never had to break it out.

All of the meat was made the day before, refrigerated and then heated to temperature for service before the party. I stored everything in 5 pound bags which I brought out of the refrigerator and warmed up as needed throughout the party. It worked better than I had even planned and I would do this exactly the same way if I had to do it again.

MORE POSTS RELATED TO THIS MEAL
Salsa Verde
Gaujillo Sauce
Ancho Sauce
Meal Overview

THE RECIPES

Ground beef taco

MARGARITA CHICKEN
Makes 20 pounds; 3 to 4 hours
20 lbs Chicken breast
1 gallon Margarita mix

Marinate, grill chicken
In a large kitchen bucket soak chicken in margarita mix for two hours. Half an hour before removing chicken, prepare charcoal grill. Remove chicken from mix shaking of excess liquid. Season chicken with salt and pepper then grill in batches. Cook chicken until cooked through. 6 to 8 minutes per side or until internal temperature reaches 165°.

Dice, serve
Let chicken rest and cool slightly, then dice into small chunks. Put chicken in a warmer for service. If making a day ahead, store in gallon sized bags and  refrigerate until 1 hour before service time then re-heat for serving.

TACO SEASONED GROUND BEEF
Makes 20 pounds; 1 hour
20 lbs Ground beef (5 lb batches)
1 C Chili powder (1/4 C per batch)
3/4 C Cumin (3 Tbs per batch)
Salt and Pepper (Approximately 3 Tbs salt and 2 Tbs pepper per batch)

Cook, season beef
In a large pot over medium high heat cook ground beef in 5 pound batches until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes per batch. Stirring occasionally, breaking up any chunks. Season with salt and pepper at the start. Half way through cooking add chili powder and cumin. Once finished remove to a large vessel and serve. If making a day ahead, let cool and store in gallon zip lock bags, refrigerate until an hour before service then reheat for serving.

Tacos for 125: Salsa Verde

Salsa Verde

I knew I would have a variety of red sauces for the party so I wanted to make a green sauce, or a salsa verde to go with them. The base of this sauce is similar to the red sauces, the major difference is tomatillos replace the chilis and tomatoes. (Hence, the green color.)

The first batch of this sauce I made was actually pretty hot. I had seeded and stemmed the jalapeños but I think there were a couple of peppers on the high end of the heat scale because I got a pretty nice kick upon the first taste. The second batch I dialed back the heat.

The verde was made to go with the chicken. That is how I like to pair the sauces, green with the poultry and red with the beef. Any combo works but that is how I planned it for this particular meal. I thought a sweet and spicy verde would go perfect with my margarita grilled chicken.

Tomatillos look like little green tomatoes in natural paper wrappers. They are actually large berries and are a staple in Mexican cuisine.

MORE POSTS RELATED TO THIS MEAL
Gaujillo Sauce
Ancho Sauce
The meat
Meal overview

THE RECIPE

Salsa Verde

Makes 2 Quarts
8 to 10 Tomatillos, quartered
4 Red onions, quartered
6 Jalapeños
6 to 8 Garlic cloves
2 C Cilantro
Juice of 3 Limes

Roast or grill vegetables
Preheat oven or grill to 425°. Toss tomatillos, onions, garlic and jalapeños in a little olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tomatillos wilt and edges appear slightly scorched.

Blend, adjust taste
IN TWO BATCHES place vegetables, cilantro and lime juice in blender, then liquefy. Taste, adjust seasoning and add a little water until desired consistency is achieved.

FOR HOT AND MILD VERDE
To make a hot salsa and a mild salsa, place more of the jalapeños in one batch than the other or adjust heat intensity by removing all, some or none of the stems and seeds of the jalapeño. 

Tacos for 125: Gaujillo Chili Sauce

Gaujillo Chili Sauce

This sauce features the guajillo chili and required less sugar to balance the bitterness than the other red sauce I made for the diner. Because of that I decided to make a super hot offering. The first batch was of medium heat but the second batch I left the jalapeños whole except for the stems. With less sugar to cut the heat, I knew that I would get a better sting. I like it hot and I knew there would be a few others at the party who would too, so I wanted to make a sauce with lots of kick. This was the chili sauce to do it with and it didn't take much to numb the lips.

The guajillo chili (pronounced wha-he-oh) is a fruity flavored pepper with mild heat, and a little brighter and less bitter than the more popular ancho chili. Made from a dried Mirasol chili it originates in central and northern Mexico but is now grown in many places around the world including China, Peru and the Untied States.

MORE POSTS RELATED TO THIS MEAL
Salsa Verde
Ancho Sauce
The Meat
Meal Overview

THE RECIPE

Salsa bar for tacos

Makes 2 Quarts
8 to 10 Tomatoes, quartered
4 Red onions, quartered
6 Jalapeños
6 to 8 Garlic cloves
10 to 12 Guajillo chilis
2 C Cilantro
1 Tbs to 1/4 C Sugar
Juice of 3 Limes

Roast or grill vegetables, soak chilis
Preheat oven or grill to 425° and boil a pot of water. Toss tomatoes, onions, garlic and jalapeños in a little olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tomatoes wilt and edges appear slightly scorched. While vegetables cook, soak chilis in a bowl of boiling water covered with plastic wrap or with tight fitting lid for at least 15 minutes or until reconstituted.

Blend, adjust taste
Remove chilis from water, carefully discard stems and seeds. IN TWO BATCHES divide and place chilis, vegetables, sugar and cilantro in blender, then liquefy. Taste, add salt if needed, if slightly bitter add more sugar and if to thick add water until desired consistency is achieved.

FOR HOT AND MILD SALSA
To make a hot salsa and a mild salsa, place more of the jalapeños in one batch than the other or adjust heat intensity by removing all, some or none of the stems and seeds.

Tacos for 125: Ancho Chili Sauce

Ancho chili sauce

Due to the ripeness of the tomatoes I was using and the natural bitterness of the ancho chili I needed a good amount of sugar in each batch to give this sauce balance. I made a mild and hot version. The mild, which was also very sweet was the most popular red sauce of the four that were put out for the party.

In the future, I want to experiment with adding ingredients to this sauce. Dark brewed coffee or even some bakers chocolate would compliment the ancho chili. For the purposes of the party though I felt like this sauce was spot on and it garnered the most compliments of all traditional taco sauces. (A special white sauce I made for the party was the biggest hit, but it was a gourmet dressing rather than a taco sauce.)

An Ancho chili is a dried poblano pepper and is the most widely used dried chili in Mexico. It has a “dark” or “rich” flavor similar to prunes or raisins with a slight amount of bitterness. It is considered to have a mild to medium heat.

MORE POSTS RELATED TO THIS MEAL
Salsa Verde
Gaujillo Sauce
The Meat
Meal Overview


THE RECIPE

Salsa bar for tacos

Makes 2 Quarts
8 to 10 Tomatoes, quartered
4 Red onions, quartered
6 Jalapeños
6 to 8 Garlic cloves
6 to 8 Ancho chilis
2 C Cilantro
2 Tbs to 1/2 C Sugar
Juice of 3 Limes

Roast or grill vegetables, soak chilis
Preheat oven or grill to 425° and boil pot of water. Toss tomatoes, onions, garlic and jalapeños in a little olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until tomatoes wilt and edges appear slightly scorched. While vegetables cook soak chilis in a bowl of boiling water covered with plastic wrap or a with tight fitting lid for at least 15 minutes or until reconstituted.

Blend, adjust taste
Remove chilis from water and carefully remove stem and seeds. IN TWO BATCHES, divide and place chilis, vegetables, sugar and cilantro in blender, then liquefy. Taste, adjust seasoning, if slightly bitter add a little more sugar and if to thick add water until desired consistency is achieved.

FOR HOT AND MILD SALSA
To make a hot salsa and a mild salsa, place more of the jalapeños in one batch than the other or adjust heat intensity by removing all, some or none of the stems and seeds.