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12/04/2001 Archived Entry: "A Buffet Menu: Plus Couscous and Bean Salad"

I composed the following buffet menu more as an example than as a directive. In other words, it is not a real menu, but simply to give you ideas. I have had success with all of the dishes and their recipes. I have certainly prepared them all, most of them many times, but I have not served them altogether at one party.

Unless I was having a vast crowd, for example, I wouldn’t have both a smoked turkey and a baked ham. One or the other is sufficient as a hunky centerpiece. Serving both shrimp and the carpaccio of salmon is unnecessary, too. On the other hand, at a party, the more food the better .

What you can count on is that everything listed here is fairly simple to prepare, if not downright easy, that it can be prepared ahead, that it can sit out on a buffet table for at least a couple of hours deliciously and safely, and that it is a good mix of foods you make from scratch, that you merely assemble, and that you can buy.

Some of the recipes can be found on this website and links to them are provided. Just click on the highlighted name. Some of the foods are mail-order and can be ordered from the highlighted websites. The Couscous and Bean Salad follows. It would be the vegetarian dish that is always required these days. It started out as a dish with shrimp, however. Rozanne Gold developed it for Bon Appetit magazine last year. This year, at a buffet she gave herself (just a few weeks ago), she did it with chicken. If you want to do it with shrimp or chicken (cubes of ham would be good, too), substitute a couple pounds of shrimp, each cut in half as if you were butterflying them, or a shredded, roasted or poached chicken for the kidney beans and peas. I’ve made a couple of other slight changes, but Rozanne will forgive me.

The Gingered Pear and Apricot Crisp will appear here tomorrow.


SUGGESTED MENU
FOR A BIG HOLIDAY BUFFET

Manly Meatballs
Mushroom Strudel
Boiled Shrimp (can be shell-your-own or not) with Assorted Dips
(including Green Goddess Dressing and Chinese Ginger Scallion Dipping Sauce)
Carpaccio of Salmon
Bowls of Cherry Tomatoes, Green Peppers, Celery and Carrot Sticks
Served with a Bowl of Vodka to Moisten Them
and a Spice Dip (for instance curry powder) to Season Them
Assorted Nuts
Assorted Olives
A Couple of Spreads, Like Hummus and Taromasalata
Circassian Chicken
Couscous and Bean Salad with Toasted Almonds and Mandarins (see below)
Pastiera Rustica di Taglionlini (see Naples at Table)
Ann Nurse’s Baked Ham or Eighteen Hour Pork Roast
Smoked Turkey
(can be ordered from www.Nodine’s Smokehouse)
Assorted Breads, Mustards, Condiments

Assorted Cakes, Cookies and Pies
(can be store-bought)
Gingered Pear and Apricot Crisp
(see the recipe Tomorrow)


Couscous and Bean Salad
with Toasted Almonds and Mandarins

Makes about 24 servings

For the dressing:
3 cups plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil (not to heavily flavored)
2 to 3 tablespoons ground cumin (depending on taste and the freshness of the cumin)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
4 large cloves garlic, crushed with the side of a knife or pushed through a garlic press
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper, or more to taste

For the salad:
6 cups water
3 10-ounce packages plain “instant” couscous
8 mandarins or tangerines, peeled, seeded, cut into 1/4-inch pieces (about 4 cups)
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas (garbanzos), drained
2 15-ounce cans kidney beans, drained
2 10-ounce boxes frozen peas, cooked
1 cup golden raisins
2 cups finely chopped scallions
1 1/2 cups sliced or slivered almonds, toasted (see note)

To make the dressing:
Pour the yogurt into a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the remaining dressing ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and chill. (May be made a day or so ahead.)

To cook the couscous:
To cook the couscous, in a 4-quart very large saucepan, bring 6 cups of water to a rolling boil with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Stir in the couscous. Remove from heat. Cover; let stand until water is absorbed and couscous is tender, about 10 minutes. Do not let stand much longer or the couscous will clump up.

Transfer the couscous to a large bowl or other receptacle and fluff it with a fork. (If you don’t have a huge mixing bowl, a large foil roasting pan that can be bought in the supermarket is a good receptacle for mixing the salad.) If necessary, use your hands to separate the grains. Cool to room temperature.

To assemble the salad:
Gently mix in most but not all of the mandarins or tangerines, the chickpeas, kidney beans, peas, raisins, the scallions, and toasted almonds. Reserve some of each to garnish the platters.

Stir the dressing into the salad. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if necessary. (Can be made a day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.)

Transfer the salad to a large serving platter or several platters. Just before serving, garnish with ingredients reserved for the purpose.

Note: Buy either blanched sliced almonds or blanched slivered almonds. Spread them on a baking sheet and place in a preheated 350-degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned.