Cooking for a crowd - Part 2

The challenge: Prepare a dinner party for FOURTEEN people AND still attend the Orioles-Pirates game that gets me home an hour before the party starts.

The solution(s): Make my famous Hot Dog Bar AND make the side salads the day before or before leaving for the baseball game.

The result: Well, read on and see for yourself. I even detail when I made each component which allowed me to be successful in this challenge!

A hot dog party is great for a large crowd because they cook fast and are always a hit. During the morning of the party, I preheated my smoker and put the dogs in a large aluminum pan in the smoker. I let them go for about two hours and then right before the party, I stuck them on a preheated grill for some grill marks and to heat them through again.

A BLT Dog was something that I had never tried but once I did, it became an instant favorite. So I was sure to have crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise as part of the toppings tray. I also prepared all of the toppings necessary for a Chicago-style dog, or any other combination! You can check out yesterday's post for details on how I made the Pickled Red Onions. The rest of the toppings were from a jar. I prepared the onions the day before, and the rest of the tray before I left for the baseball game, and fried the bacon as soon as I got home from the game.

The Chili-Cheese Dogs however, were probably my personal favorite...possibly because the Queso and Chili were homemade. To make the chili, I started by browning about a pound of ground beef (85/15). Once the meat was broken up and almost browned, I added diced onions and chopped garlic.

Then it was time to spice things up including a packet of taco seasoning, an extra tablespoon of chili powder, an extra two teaspoons of ground cumin, salt, and pepper.

The final step was to add some of the homemade queso and about one half cup of jarred salsa. Once it cooked together, this is what it looked like and trust me, it is worth the effort!

The queso could not be easier. I melted together a pound of processed cheese with a can of diced tomatoes with chiles, and I also added some chopped pimientos, and a pinch of chili powder and cumin. You can even add a diced fresh jalapeño if you want to kick up the heat. I made the queso and the chili in the morning and let them sit in the crock pot while I was at the game.

No hot dog bar is complete without a variety of side dishes. I started with a simple Homemade Cole Slaw. I used bagged slaw mix and made the creamy dressing from mayonnaise, sour cream, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, celery seed, salt and pepper. I made this in the morning before the game and let it sit in the refrigerator which only made it better.

Hot dogs and baked beans go together like.....hot dogs and baked beans. My recipe is actually Double Pork Baked Beans and it is really easy! I sautéed diced onions and garlic with fresh chorizo and once cooked, I added it to several cans of baked beans. I made the sauce from ketchup, yellow mustard, barbeque sauce, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, maple syrup, salt, and pepper. Once it was baked, I turned on the broiler for a few minutes to crisp up the bacon which had already cooked and given the beans even more flavor. I personally am not a huge fan of beans, but I would eat these every single day. I made this the night before and popped into the 325 degree oven as soon as I got home from the game.

I felt we also needed a pasta salad so I made my new Mexican Street Corn Macaroni Salad. All I can say is, THIS IS A WINNER. Mexican Street Corn is often grilled and served with chili powder, lime, and other spices so I thought it would make for a great salad. I started by cutting the corn off of eight ears and then I threw the stalks into the boiling pasta water so that the corn flavor would infuse into the macaroni when I cooked it. While the macaroni cooked, I made a Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette for the salad. Even though Mexican Street Corn is often served with a mayonnaise based sauce, I opted to do this dressing instead because we already had the creamy cole slaw. The dressing is just fresh chopped cilantro, olive oil, fresh lime juice, salt, and pepper.

I sautéed the corn kernels in some butter and olive oil and then added some diced red onions, fresh jalapeños, and a can of diced tomatoes and chiles. I also added some chili powder and ground cumin. Once it was cooked through, I combined it with the cooked macaroni and the dressing. To finish, I tossed in some crispy bacon, grated cotija cheese, and more fresh cilantro. I made this before the game and added the bacon and cheese just before serving.

The final salad is a spin on one of my favorite summer salads, panzanella which is made of fresh vegetables and chunks of toasted bread. The bread soaks up the dressing and is absolutely delicious. For my take on this classic, I thought that garlic oil and shrimp would work well so I made Scampi Panzanella Salad. The first step was to make the garlic oil which is just olive oil with minced garlic heated until infused, but before the garlic browns. I used this oil three ways. First, I sautéed the cubed French bread in the oil until golden and toasted and then set aside. Second, I sautéed fresh shrimp (with salt and pepper) until just cooked through as overcooking shrimp will make them tough. Third, I used the remaining oil to make the dressing which also consisted of Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. I made a bed of sliced red and yellow cherry tomatoes, red onions, capers, and then I added the shrimp, bread, dressing, and tossed. I finished with fresh basil leaves. It was as delicious as it was beautiful. This was the only menu item that I fully made after the game as I did not want the shrimp to be tough or the bread to be mushy. Fortunately, this only takes fifteen minutes so I had plenty of time.

So there you have it! A dinner party for fourteen people and still attended a baseball game with time to spare and ZERO stress. I call that a success!