Cooking a Chilli for 35 people!

[Acorn1]

It's my old Mum's 90th next week and she's having a party with some fireworks early evening, she has asked me to cook a Chilli & rice for 35 people.

I'm a bit daunted by the prospect, the most I've ever cooked for is 10 people at Christmas.

Any advice on pot sizes and quantities of mince, onions kidney beans etc gratefully received.

Also can you cook one massive pot of rice or will it turn into a stodgy mess at the bottom?

Edited by Acorn1 on Friday 18th October 11:21

[21TonyK]

Everyone will chip in with their favourite chilli recipe so I'll stay out of that but on the rice front. Do jacket potatoes instead, can be cooked and chilled in batches then reheated when needed. Rice needs to be done in real time and without bit pans, a big steam oven or a commercial rice cooker you will struggle.

[Acorn1]

21TonyK said:

Everyone will chip in with their favourite chilli recipe so I'll stay out of that but on the rice front. Do jacket potatoes instead, can be cooked and chilled in batches then reheated when needed. Rice needs to be done in real time and without bit pans, a big steam oven or a commercial rice cooker you will struggle.

Yes that was my first thought and suggestion but Mum wants rice

[NormalWisdom]

I have done similar a few times - Rice can be a problem unless you have the appropriate gear for keeping it warm and not stodgy (steaming works). I substitute the rice with buttered french bread.

[simon_harris]

I would do both in batches and then re-heat as needed.

[GuigiaroBertone]

Agree with the other poster about the recipe being subjective, but you really do need to add more depth of flavour than you get with just mince, beans, chilli and onions :-)

Thomasina Myers (if you can stand her) has a very good recipe that I tend to follow more or less, but I crank up the heat a bit.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/jan/...

Scale it up accordingly to feed 30-40 - if in doubt go bigger than she suggests. Be sure to fry your mince in lots of batches to caramelise propery.


Re: the trickier question of cooking rice for such a large group without multiple rice cookers- have you thought about doing a few batches during the week and quickly freezing them?

Then you can defrost and microwave on the day. You can focus on dishing out the chilli while a helper nukes the rice in batches and makes sure it is piping hot.

Serve with cheesy nachos, sour cream , lots of coriander etc to impress you mum.


Good luck and hope you all have a great day.

[21TonyK]

Acorn1 said:

21TonyK said:

Everyone will chip in with their favourite chilli recipe so I'll stay out of that but on the rice front. Do jacket potatoes instead, can be cooked and chilled in batches then reheated when needed. Rice needs to be done in real time and without bit pans, a big steam oven or a commercial rice cooker you will struggle.

Yes that was my first thought and suggestion but Mum wants rice

I understand, what Mum wants Mum gets. Just do a bit of rice so she can see it and have some with a pile of jackets for everyone else. Bowls of extras, shop bought salsa, chopped onions and coriander, grated cheese, soured cream etc etc Personally I'd be happy with a bit bowl of tortilla chips and loads of chilli and toppings to hold with a drink.

Rice on a large'ish scale takes work, I've done anything from 50-500+

You need to enjoy the party not spend your time being a caterer.

Edited by 21TonyK on Friday 18th October 11:57

[Skodillac]

Ask a local Indian restaurant if they'll do you a deal on, say, 25 portions of plain rice for £50 as a one off.

[Acorn1]

Thanks chaps, I like the idea of cooking the rice in advance in batches and nuking.

Regarding the recipe, I'm not doing "my own chilli" which I make from scratch and like quite a bit of heat.

I'm going to cheat for convenience and just chuck in a load of shwartz packets addng brown sugar at the end.

I figure roughly 4kg mince, 8 onions, 7 cans of kidney beans and a bottle of red for good measure.

[Acorn1]

Skodillac said:

Ask a local Indian restaurant if they'll do you a deal on, say, 25 portions of plain rice for £50 as a one off.

That's also a good idea!

[simon_harris]

if we are getting into chilli recipies - we usually do a chilli for about 20 people on bonfire night, I use a full joint of beef slow cooked for about 12 hours with the rest of the ingredients. Always goes down a storm, we do a big bowl of rice and 10 big jacket potatoes so people have a choice. it is surprising how many people just have the chilli on it's own.

[dundarach]

i like a nice baked spud with my chilli, they're easy to keep warm too!!

Spuds are your life saver when cooking for loads!

[Skodillac]

Acorn1 said:

Skodillac said:

Ask a local Indian restaurant if they'll do you a deal on, say, 25 portions of plain rice for £50 as a one off.

That's also a good idea!

If there's a short cut, I'll find it! No need to be a hero.

[PhilAsia]

Do the chili three days early and keep it in the fridge. Cook really slow until just cooked, then on the day heat through. Rice can be done the day before and flash fried in a wok, or a little little little water added and steamed in a microwave to wake it up.

[Mobile Chicane]

Rice is going to be the kicker. I'd suggest you use easy-cook long grain (uncle Ben's etc) as this is fairly forgiving.

[Silvanus]

Acorn1 said:

Skodillac said:

Ask a local Indian restaurant if they'll do you a deal on, say, 25 portions of plain rice for £50 as a one off.

That's also a good idea!

Microwave packet rice is an option, cheaper than a takeaway and easy to heat up then keep warm in the oven

[JKRolling]

I’m cooking a chilli for around 15 people this week. I always use this recipe but use 3kg of minced beef and up the spices according. I will also be adding 3-4 cans of kidney beans to bulk it out.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[BoRED S2upid]

simon_harris said:

I would do both in batches and then re-heat as needed.

Definitely this. Unless you have industrial sized pots you won’t be cooking 30 portions in one go so cook several over a few days and reheat on the day you could also do different heat levels.

Also I’d do rice and oven chips probably garlic bread as well. Just fill the oven with chips and bread people can help themselves.

[essayer]

Rent a rice cooker
https://www.expohire.com/product/kn-ele-rc6l/comme...

[number2]

Make a normal portion of rice for your mum and a couple of other guests and make the rest jacket potatoes . Everyone is happy.

4.5kg of lean beef mince (9 x 500g packs)... 9 large onions... 9 tins of kidney beans, 9 tins of tomatoes and 9 packs of chilli seasoning (keep it easy....).

A large stock pot.... or 2 x smaller ones... or 3x....

Keep it easy, don't even bother with your own spicing etc. There's no more than 20 minutes prep and cooking there.