Church picnic- feedback please on broccoli prep/serving

(jim Chiodo) #1

I’m going to a church fall picnic tomorrow evening. There will be pulled pork for the main course, (hopefully without too much sugary bbq sauce.)

Members are bringing side dishes. My contribution will be a couple dozen deviled eggs and “something else”. For the something else, my idea is broccoli with cheese sauce. How to take and keep it hot without broccoli getting overcooked and soggy is a challenge. There are no cooking facilities at the picnic location. There is electricity and I could do a crock pot, but not sure if that is the best bet.

I have several chaffing racks / pans and little burner things you light. I’ll be using two, one pound bags of frozen broccoli flourettes. If I put broccoli in shallow pans on a deeper pan with 1" of water it will simmer, almost boil. If the broccoli is in a shallow pan on top, I don’t know if broccoli will cook enough. Food can be set up an hour before we eat. Maybe a better idea is to poke holes in the shallow pan with the broccoli so that the steam from simmering water comes up through the holes and cooks it. Does that sound like a better plan?

Cheese sauce will be made ahead and it can be in a shallow pan (no holes). People could take what broccoli they want and spoon the cheese sauce on.

Any other suggestions on cooking or keeping hot to serve? I’m trying to avoid broccoli cooling off too quickly or getting mushy overcooked.

Any other suggestions of a hot, (vegetable) side dish to serve that is keto friendly?

#2

Sounds good to me. It also will depend on how long you cook it ahead of time, how much water, temp of water you put in bottom pan and how many burners you use and how far apart the burners are from the pan

(jim Chiodo) #3

Dumb luck on timing of heating, etc. Needed to be at picnic at 4:PM

At 2:PM, blanched frozen broccoli 2 minutes, put in 10x10 tin pan in fridge
then made the sauce and put in glass dish in fridge.

Poked dozens of holes in bottom of another 10x10 pan

cut a round hole in another 10x10 tin pan same size as glass dish
.
3:35 put chaffing rack, 10x20 tin pan, sternos, lighter, serving spoons in car

Arrived picnic at 4:Pm, put 1/2" water in 10x20 pan, lit the sternos and put pan on rack

Transferred broccoli, (still slightly warm) to perforated 10x10 pan and set on one side of 10x20 pan with water

Put other 10x10 pan with hole on other side

Microwaved cheese sauce for couple minutes till bubbled slightly and put in (through) pan with hole so that it sat in the water

5:15 PM all guests arrived with various cold or hot dishes in crock pots.

Water under broccoli and sauce was simmering, steam coming up through holes. Broccoli perfect (hot , slightly crunchy and not at all mushy)

Sauce was very hot.

Pastor said a few words and gravitated around the food tables. There were lots of kids and mommies. I didn’t get to food tables right away and was surprised to see broccoli almost disappeared but still enough left for me with a generous ladle of cheese sauce on top.

By the time, I went back for a second helping of pulled pork, broccoli was gone as were both 20 count containers of deviled eggs.

Cheese sauce lasted longer and kids were putting it on taco type chips.

We ate inside a barn type building used for processing blueberries as it was cold and windy. Rained a little and hardier adults and kids rod around the large farm on 4 wheelers

.

(Laurie) #4

Glad it all worked out! Sounds yummy.

(Brian) #5

I’ve never seen an overabundance of deviled eggs. They’re the potluck hors d’oeuvres of choice in any potluck I’ve ever been to. :slight_smile:

Glad it worked out well with the broccoli, too. Good choices.

(Laurie) #6

Yes, deviled eggs. When I lived in Mexico I made some for a party. No one had ever tried them before, but everyone liked them. One woman said, “Even my husband liked them!”