October Fest Menu

[flyinbayou]

Firstly, thanks for the invite over to this board! It's great!!

I've been asked to come up with an October Fest menu for a fund raiser for our school this fall. Think 'mini-fair'.

I was thinking of no more than 5 different dishes with an equal number of side dishes that can be mixed and matched with the entrees.

These dishes will have to either be easily prepared onsite or pre-made ahead of time and served cold or re-heated.

A friend of mine (part-German) suggested the following items:

sauerbraten
brats cooked in kraut or beer
chicken goulash
braised pig knuckles (?)

spaetzle
red cabbage
suaerkraut
potato pancakes
german potato salad
pretzels w/german mustard

Could you add to (or subtract from if the dish will be too hard to cook) this list? I have never cooked any of this although boiling brats shouldn't be too hard.
Another consideration is that we deal with Sysco and they would have to have availability of most of the products. Not too sure they carry pig knuckles.

Thanks for the suggestions.

[PNG]

Grill the Brats!

[NoNoNanette]

Hi there!

I think that your side dishes are right on the money.

But, I question a goulash.... that might be more Hungarian or Slovak. And, being half German, I never saw a pig knuckle, much less tasted one.

How about cooking a pork loin roast in kraut? I agree with grilling the brats!

Sounds fun.

** edited to suggest baked apples or applesauce if you do a pork loin/kraut **

[edible complex]

Loosen your Lederhosen...Chef Marc at Santa Fe always did a great braised red cabbage during his October Fest, but his dumplings could have been used for bondo. He also did an amazing duck that time of year. What's your budget and how many people?

for some recipes and ideas:
http://recipesbycindy.homestead.com/GermanRecipes.html

[flyinbayou]

What's your budget and how many people?

That has yet to be set. I am given a budget of about $1500 for a much larger fundraising event but at that event I am only 1 of 12 food booths. With that said, I expect to be allotted $2500 - $3000, excluding beer and paper. (FWIW, most import German kegs are in the $130-$170 range)

Besides some kiddie food (hamburger and hot dogs, that's kinda German, huh?) this will be the only food available for purchase.

Also, since this is not a Sacred Heart or St. Catherine, we have almost nothing donated (Just kidding!) There will be some donations but since this is the inaugural it's hard to nail the donors down until they know how the event will be accepted.

1 day event with 1000 people is what we anticipate.

Thanks for the link to the recipes.