Page 31 - Scene Magazine 42-06 June 2017

Fun With Food
BY JOANNA STELLOH PHELPS
June is gradua- tion month and the start to the sum- mer party season. Often I get asked, ‘How do you feed a crowd?’ One of the easiest ways is with a taco bar. You
can either purchase toppings already prepared or can chopped them ahead of time, and you can make it even easier by cooking the meat in a slow cooker. To serve cold toppings, put them into individual dishes and place in a large tub filled with ice to keep them cool. To serve hot items, cook and put in chaffing dishes or crockpots to keep warm. I also recommend keeping food on a screened- in porch to keep pests away (the flying kind) and the food out of the sun.
Taco Bar Ideas for 50 servings
• Shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese (4 pound bag)
• Shredded lettuce (large bag from food service like GFS or chop 2-3 heads of lettuce)
• Sour cream (48- 64-ounce tub)
• Black Olives (food service has cans already sliced – save your time and
fingers!)
• Salsa (You can purchase those at food
service too. Look at jar to see how many it serves. Add several diced ripe tomatoes and one bunch of fresh cilantro to give it a homemade taste.)
• Chopped onions (3 large onions)
• Refried beans (food service has one in a packet that you mix with water,
cover and bake – very easy)
• Mexican rice (also large box of Uncle
Ben’s at food service, follow direc-
tions on the box)
• Assorted corn and flour tortillas
• Bags of tortilla chips
• Guacamole (purchase to save time)
• Crockpot taco meat (recipe follows)
TACO BAR
Crockpot Taco Meat
• 5 pounds raw ground beef • 5 packages taco seasoning • 3 cups water
• 1 1⁄2 onion, chopped Preperation:
Put thawed ground beef in crockpot; add
seasonings, water, and onions, using fork to mix in seasonings. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6, stirring oc- casionally to break up chunks of meat. Drain, return to crockpot and keep on warm to serve. Makes about 50 tacos us- ing 1.5 ounces of meat per taco.
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