[Sca-cooks] Recipe and menu ideas wanted

[Susan Fox]

Caointiarn wrote:
> Hello!  I have two questions to throw to the group:
> 1) I'll be running an all day kitchen in a couple weeks.  Asking for 
> donations, I got 2 big cans of crab meat.  It's about 2 lbs.of crab, so I 
> figure an appetizer type something, but what?   My menu theme is centered 
> around the Medetearranean, Each course that I'm setting out every couple 
> hours focused on a specific area/culture {Moorish, Spainish, Middle eastern, 
> etc} within our time period.
>   
What Elias said, deep-fry them suckers.  But I would read through the 
"Frictelle" section of Master Martino first, such as this:

"Fa allessare il pesce, et pista molto bene de la polpa sua più bianca,
et haverai un pocho di lacte d'amandole bene stretto, et un pocho
di fior di farina con del zuccharo; et queste cose distemperarai con
un poca de acqua rosata o d'altra aqua comuna; poi fa' le frittelle
in che forma di piace, et frigile in bono olio."

Crab is a "fish" in this context, yesno?  Temper it with flour and 
almond mild and sugar and rose water, then nobody will think "Maryland 
Crab Cakes".
> 2)  I want to "one-up" my supervisor.  We plan parties/special lunches 
> around the various holidays.  I work with adulis with {profound & severe} 
> developmental disabilities.  Most have either problems with chewing & 
> swallowing or have no teeth.  With summer here, her idea of the "good menu" 
> is sloppy joes, tater tots, baked beans, chips and maybe a cookie.    I'm 
> thinking to suggest pulled pork sandwiches, coleslaw {cut finely, like KFC} 
> jello salad and "sorbets"  {fruit slushies}.   Usually the budget is ~$75.00 
> to feed 30 - 35 people.
Sigh.  However tempting the notion of one-upping the boss, you want the 
guests to actually eat and enjoy the meal.  Not always an easy 
proposition with the profoundly disabled.  It might be the better part 
of wisdom to stick with what what they are expecting.   The thought just 
hit me, and this may be TMI, but the fibers of pulled pork might prove a 
challenge to the caretakers who will have to help them brush and floss 
their teeth afterwards.  More so than sloppy joes anyway.  The Jell-O as 
"Jigglers" might be fun, particularly if you have good cookie cutters. 

Best, Selene