[Sca-cooks] Meat: Cooked vs. Raw, & Waste

[Huette von Ahrens]

--- lilinah at earthlink.net wrote:
> I'm working out the details of the Greco-Roman
> feast i'm doing Sept 6 
> - calculating quantities of ingredients, making
> shopping lists, etc.
> 
> I anticipate 80 diners, although i think i
> could feed 90 - and i 
> estimate about 10 per cent vegetarians...
> 
> I found
> fresh tuna - $6.99/lb
> lamb - $1.99/lb
> chicken - usually around $2/lb
> ham - $5.09/lb
> 
> Since the tuna is so expensive, it'll be an
> appetizer - i'm getting 
> 10 lb., cutting it in 2 oz chunks, searing it
> and serving it with 
> date sauce. I imagine there won't be a huge
> loss in weight when 
> cooked - or am i wrong?
> 
> Chicken - right now i'm thinking about 30 lb.
> It'll be simmered and 
> sauced. How do i estimate waste (bone and skin)
> - i'm guessing 5 lb.

I think that you are over estimating on the
chicken.  And your price sound pretty high.  Here
in LA, you can get whole chickens for .89 per
pound.  And chicken leg quarters for .39 per lb.
I usually estimate 4 people per one whole
chicken.  If you are getting pieces, then
estimate one piece per person.  Remember that you
are serving lots of other meats and that most
people mundanely are satisfied with just eating a
quarter pound hamburger.

> 
> Lamb will be ground for sausages - it's so
> cheap, i'll be getting 
> more than i originally planned, right now i'm
> estimating 15 lb.

How much meat will be in one sausage?  Again,
plan on one sausage per person, if the sausage is
about 4 to 5 inches in length and about 1" in
diameter. 
> 
> Finally, ham - i want 10 chunks (one for each
> tables), which will be 
> simmered with herbs and spices and figs, then
> drained, slits cut it 
> it and have figs and honey packed into the
> slits, then wrapped in 
> pastry and baked. This is tricky, since big
> hams come on a bone. I 
> was told there is about 5-6 lb bone in a 20-25
> lb ham. Is there some 
> kind of ham that isn't rubbery (like canned
> hams often are) and might 
> be cheaper?

Yikes!  _one_ 25 lb. ham with a 5 lb. bone should
feed 80 people.  Have you considered ham steaks?
They are a lot cheaper than $5.09 per lb.  My
local Ralph's has fresh boneless pork loin roasts
for $3.99 per lb.  Not quite the same as ham, but
it would still taste yummy with the figs and
honey.  And they usually come in 2 to 3 lb. cuts,
so you could have one roast per table.

Also, have you considered salmon instead of tuna?
Salmon is coming into season now and I have seen
whole and half salmons for $1.99 per lb.  That
would save a lot on your budget.

Huette




=====
Blessed are they who can laugh at themselves for they 
shall never cease to be amused.

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