Cooking For a Crowd

Welcome Back! Sorry for the lack of content for the past six(!) months, but I haven’t had a kitchen, so I couldn’t cook much. Sue me. 

Today’s post is all about cooking for a crowd. Dinner parties are fun, hosting is fun, and with a few simple recipes, you can be a great host, do very little active cooking, and focus on eating and drinking with your friends! Whenever I’m cooking for more than five or six people, my mind immediately goes to tacos. They can be as simple or as complex as you want to make them, they’re a total crowd pleaser, and your guests get to participate in the preparation and presentation process by constructing their own tacos from the taco bar that you can easily create. Let’s face it: if someone you are inviting over doesn’t like tacos, should you really like them? Most adults will eat between 2-4 tacos for a full meal, so account for that when buying tortillas. I personally am a soft shell man, always have been. There are some great options for store bought soft shell tortillas, so shop around and make sure you serve them warm. This is achieved by simply microwaving the tortillas in a stack for about a minute before serving. 

For the best low effort, high impact tacos, I always gravitate towards boneless, skinless chicken thighs. They are delicious, packed with their own flavor, cook quickly, and if you marinate them in something acidic, will shred and break down after a quick sear. Obviously, pick whatever protein you prefer - ground beef, shredded pork, lightly fried fish - there are many options. As I’ve mentioned before, a typical portion of protein is between 6-9 ounces, depending on the people you’re serving, so buy accordingly to satisfy your guests. 

For chicken tacos, I start out by making the marinade, which drives the overall flavor profile of this dish.  In a large tupperware or ziploc bag, for every pound of chicken, add ½ half of a spanish or yellow onion, diced, one half of a jalapeno, roughly chopped, a few handfuls of chopped cilantro (make sure your guests don’t hate it!), three cloves of garlic roughly chopped, a few pinches each of cumin, coriander, paprika, and chili powder, a large pinch of salt, the juice/zest of one lime, ten grinds of black pepper, and ½ cup of olive oil. This all purpose marinade serves two purposes- first, to flavor the chicken, and second, you may have noticed that there is quite a bit of onions and oil in this, which will be used for an additional condiment. While you’re cooking the chicken, extract all of the solids/oil from the marinade into a small saucepan. Cook until the onions are lightly caramelized (make sure the mixture bubbles significantly so that you cook off any raw chicken). The onions will get sweet, and become an awesome topping for any taco. To cook the chicken, simply set a skillet over medium heat with a touch of neutral oil in it, and sear on both sides until deeply browned, tender, and cooked through.

Now, everyone knows that you can’t have good tacos without fixin’s. There are a few categories here: something creamy, something spicy, something bright and acidic, and something cheesy. The cheesy piece is pretty self explanatory-get something sharp, that can stand up to all of the other bold flavors in this taco, and grate it into a bowl that your guests can dig into to top their tacos with cheese. Don’t be afraid of jarred salsa! There are some really great products out there, so similar to the tortillas, just shop around and find what works for you. I like something spicy, really bold, and not too sweet. A creamy item can be sour cream, but honestly, I think it takes up space and ruins the texture of a good taco. That’s just my opinion, take it or leave it. And lastly, the bright and acidic piece. I often opt for a slaw for this. It adds freshness, herbaceousness, and a nice punch of acidity from the metric f***ton of lime I like to put in it. To make your slaw, start by thinly shredding an entire head of cabbage. Next, thinly slice an entire yellow onion. Salt aggressively, and allow to sit in a colander for 30 minutes so that some moisture will wick out. Combine with a thinly sliced jalapeno, enough freshly cracked pepper to make your arms hurt, two zested/juiced limes, and enough olive oil to coat. This slaw works wonders in EVERYTHING you put it in, but especially on tacos. It’s fresh, bright, flavorful, acidic, and fantastic. I simply cannot recommend it enough.  Finally, arrange all of your fixin’s in bowls, next to your plate of tortillas and platter of protein, and let your guests assemble their own tacos.

All told, this will be about an hour of active cooking and prep time. Make sure you give the chicken at least three hours to marinate so the lime juice has time to break down the thighs. Enjoy, and get cooking! 

Get the Corona’s and Wine flowing and have a good time!