cooking for bands or large groups (2 Viewers)

[love jones]

yo,
i'd like to open up this thread to discuss food and cooking for bands and large groups. Hopefully we can use this to move away from the boiled vegetables, tinned tomatoes and curry powder recipe. There are other meals just as cheap to prepare and a lot more tastier. for those of you who have toured with a band,you'll know what i mean. And this is a global problem!

veggie/vegan doesn't mean yuck!
.|..|+!cheezy=

 

[mr pharmacist!!!!1]

hit the hut

 

[love jones]

oh, this is mostly meant to be for gig promoters etc

 

[frona]

It's a not a global problem. It's an Ireland and Britain problem. The food the give you in mainland Europe, expecially Holland and especially, especially Germany is yuuuuuum!!! I didn't get served one dish involving a tin of tomatos while we were on tour. I did however get handed a fiver in London for chips for the whole band. It's us and the next door neighbours who need to pull our socks up.

Nice stuff I've had abroad were millions of different salads, fresh bread, home made hummous, noodles (cold or warm), nice soups, , nice tofu stuff, home made veggie sausage rolls awwwww maaaaaaan, I'm staaaaarvin.....

I hope this thread throws up some ideas. I felt really guilty for giving all bands the giant pot of boring pasta after all the lovely food we got on tour.

 

[billygannon]

Do a Daal. It's the bollix of the madra.

What you need is:
A few tins of lentils
Some onions
Some peppers
Beans of some sort (kidney beans... maybe Mixed beans)
Butternut Squash
Spinach
Some nuts... maybe pine nuts or cashew nuts
Cauliflower - maybe!?
Tinned tomatoes
Balti Curry Paste
Maybe some raisins.

Just chop up everything and put the butternut squash in a bowl with a small bit of water. Stick it in the microwave for about five minutes (until it's soft-ish - like a regular spud).

Then fry up the onions with the peppers in the pot. Put the tinned tomatoes in. Then the butternut squash. Then the beans. Then the lentils. Then the cauliflower (if you want it). Then the nuts (if you want them). Then add maybe two or three spoonfuls of the curry paste. Then let it boil up and then simmer for about 10 or 15 minutes (maybe 20 if there is a lot). Stir quite a bit.

Then bob's your uncle. You can have loads of stuff in really. Sultanas could really work with it too. But yeah.... just make a heap of it. Then do some rice. And everyone is happy - possibly even for ten days in a row!! And it doesn't cost very much to do.

Daal is the business. Just do it!

 

[egg_]

Does it have to be veggie?
A roast is about the easiest thing to cook for a largish group ...

 

[M. Stratosphere]

Nice stuff I've had abroad were millions of different salads, fresh bread, home made hummous, noodles (cold or warm), nice soups,
.

yeah would cook stuff like this, would do a shepards pie if theres meatys...cous cous is a good one too, can be made in advance for a salad with some leaves, don't buy those ready mixed bags too expensive, mix one of those baby spinach bags with some other leaf type and make your own dressing.
to add to couscous, varity of, garlic (whole, brown in some oil in pan, crush and cop) half moon sized courgettes fryed in pan then fry some mushrooms, chick peas, pealed chopped tomatoes, spring oniions and season with lemon juice, corriander leaves and chicken if ya want.
also another good one is cubed sweet potato and aubergine and baked with some chilli flakes and add some fryed red onion too and the garlic as above...mmmh tasty.
soup is a piece o'piss and use those packets of brown bread where you just add water, handy number
or if your stuck make a currywith tinned tomatoes of cource

 

[M. Stratosphere]

that daal sounds tasty alright, sweet cheers.

 

[Buzzo]

Nice stuff I've had abroad were millions of different salads, fresh bread, home made hummous, noodles (cold or warm), nice soups, , nice tofu stuff, home made veggie sausage rolls awwwww maaaaaaan, I'm staaaaarvin.....

What me and my housemates did the other night (it wasn't for bands but for loads of mates) was similar:

3 great big uncomplicated bowls of different kinds of fresh salads = lots of raw health for sustenance. Minimum work involved because you chop stuff, open some tins of beans, and make nice dressings.

1 big bowl of pasta salad and tons of nice breads for booze soakage

1 big vat of soup for people who can't deal with dinner being cold.

On careful consideration beforehand, this shit involved little preparation, was fairly cheap and provided some protection against fading or hangovers.


Edit: disclaimer: for my friends who read this and weren't there, it was girls, before we went out and met you pricks.

 

[billygannon]

Here's a link which has loads more links for Indian Bean recipes:
http://www.ivu.org/recipes/indian-beans/

Daal (or is that Dal, or Dahl?) is basically just loads of stuff in a pot.

Maybe you could roast Sophie Dahl? As an activity rather than as a meal.

 

[frona]

Here's a link which has loads more links for Indian Bean recipes:
http://www.ivu.org/recipes/indian-beans/

Daal (or is that Dal, or Dahl?) is basically just loads of stuff in a pot.

Maybe you could roast Sophie Dahl? As an activity rather than as a meal.

What, no! I thought dhal meant lentils. In fact, I still think it.

 

[billygannon]

What, no! I thought dhal meant lentils. In fact, I still think it.

Oh.. yeah... I think it does. Okay. Let me re-phrase that. It's anything in a pot with lentils.

All I know is that it's delicious.

 

[jillface]

really if you have the time and the foresight you can cook anything for bands. it's really nice if you can put the effort in as i find more often than not they're really appreciative.
so if you can try stay away from pasta/rice based dishes it shows effort.

something like a really nice homemade soup/stew with fresh bread can be good. if it's a stew type deal then you've still got the stodge from the spuds, which is kind of what you need for feeding a band on tour. a good meal before the gig goes a long way.

or things like home made veggie sausage rolls are good.
but you've to make up your sausages first, be it linda mac's or sosmix lads, and then get your pastry on .

or stuffed peppers don't take too long and are really tasty.

along with that a good mix of roast veg, carrots, parsnips, spuds, red onion, sweet potatoes, whatever you have...
throw in a few full cloves of garlic while they're a-roastin' to use for homemade garlic bread as a side.

while your veg and your sausies/stuffed peppers are in the oven, you can get to work on a fresh salad and slicing a fresh baguette for your garlic bread.

then you're done!
tote delish.

 

[billygannon]

things like home made veggie sausage rolls are good.
but you've to make up your sausages first, be it linda mac's or sosmix lads, and then get your pastry on .

Just buy some Quorn sausage rolls. They're nice. They are, you know. You might say they're not, but you'd be wrong. Wrongface.

 

[jillface]

would if i could billy....
as far as i know it's still hard to get them here..
they've always been something i drool over when i'm in engerland.

 

[billygannon]

would if i could billy....
as far as i know it's still hard to get them here..
they've always been something i drool over when i'm in engerland.

Well then, fuck Ireland!

 

[nofunchee]

urgh, shit food on tour is depressing. i mean you really appreciate people organising gigs and places for you to stay and a bit of a party buzz but jaysus. one tour i was on we got baked beans EVERY DAY for breakfast/lunch and sometimes as part of dinner.

any kind of bake is good 'cos it can be prepared ages beforehand and it's easy to transport around if need be. if you can't be all that arsed or if you're too busy to go to much trouble then replacing tins of tomatos with tins of coconut milk for a curry makes a big difference.

 

[love jones]

i've always wanted to try baked potatoes and a selection of salads. really easy and super cheap. tasty also.

 

[It Will Never Last]

Well then, fuck Ireland!

MODERATOR!

Here, ya can't be an aul Chili.

Ingredients:


2 medium onions
1 garlic clove
olive oil
2 tsp chilli powder
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin (or crushed cumin seeds)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
450g/1lb chuck steak, minced or best minced beef
200g/7oz sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
½ stick cinnamon
2 x 400g cans red kidney beans, drained




Method:


1. To cook this I use a metal pan or casserole with a lid, which you can use on the hob and in the oven. If you are going to use the oven method then preheat the oven to 150C/ 300F/Gas 2.
2. Blitz the onions and garlic in the food processor until finely chopped, then fry in a little olive oil until softened. Add the chilli powder, fresh chilli, cumin and a little seasoning. Then add the minced chuck steak or beef and continue to cook, stirring, until it has browned.
3. Blitz the sun-dried tomatoes in the food processor with enough oil from the jar to loosen into a paste. Add these to the beef with the tomatoes, cinnamon stick and a wine glass of water. Season a little more if need be.
4. Bring to the boil, cover with greaseproof paper and the lid, then either turn the heat down to a simmer and cook for 1 ½ hours or transfer the pan to the oven for about 1 ½ hours. Add the tinned kidney beans 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time - they are already cooked and only need warming up.
5. This always tastes better if you cook it the day before (to give the flavours time to develop), so its really handy if you've got friends coming round and don't want to be stuck in the kitchen. Just take it out of the fridge and warm it up - serve with lots of fresh crusty bread, a nice tossed salad, and a big blob of natural yoghurt or guacamole.

That'll give you 5-6 good sized servings, and I suppose you could replace the meat with not-meat though why you'd do that...

 

[krystal]

I second chilli - and you can veggize it with tons o beans too. serve up with sweet easy to make home made salsa, sour cream and rice or wraps.

or something like bombay potatoes, loadsa rice, chutneys and cucumber and onion salad is good too.

a big potato tortilla is yum and filling and you can have it hot or cold.