Chef Forum banner

Elegant Chicken Dish

2K views 32 replies 21 participants last post by  chefbuba 
#1 ·
We are catering a party for 800 guests ($100 ticket) and the customer has her heart set on doing something with chicken.  Does anyone have a suggestion for an upscale chicken dish that would be executable for such a large group (this is a plated meal).  Thank you so much.
 
#8 ·
The ticket price is what our customer (a non-profit) is charging people to come to the event.  Our price is still undetermined and will be based on what we end up serving.  Last year we charged 48/person.  The event is off-site in a convention center.  We will have ovens but no stove top (although we wheeled one in last year).
 
#9 ·
Chicken roulade with a French sauce. It looks elegant and what you put inside it or on it could vary. Pre assemble them and pre sear, then finish off in the oven on site.

I like to stuff with spinach and pipperade and drizzle with fontina spiked bechamel.

Or stuff with sausage and serve wth a mushroom brown gravy.

$100 per person doesn't sound like you have a lot of wiggle room for an elegant dish. Chicken Marsala with risotto and a seasonal vegetable, is one idea. A dish that most people can relate to, is the way I would go - & considering price.
I can't get a plate of chicken for 100 bucks in your restaurant?
 
#12 · (Edited)
The ticket price is what our customer (a non-profit) is charging people to come to the event. Our price is still undetermined and will be based on what we end up serving. Last year we charged 48/person. The event is off-site in a convention center. We will have ovens but no stove top (although we wheeled one in last year).
That helps. I factored in a whole dinner (2 possible side dishes, wine and/or libations, appetizers, salad, dessert?), manhours, shopping/prepping/cleanup. An oven dish could be spatchcocked cornish hens w/ a sauce (chimichurri ? etc.) served w/ a rice dish. Coq au vin was mentioned. It made me think of coq au Riesling too. Still thinking.
 
#13 ·
Im currently in the Coq Au Vin or Chicken Masala camps as well. When you said 

you had ovens available at event site and wanted elegant, I was leaning toward 

Chicken Cordon Bleu, ham-swiss-spinach-red--pepper stuffed. And using half size

hotel makes the breading process a lot faster, or it can be prepped and transported

then baked off at the event. HOWEVER..... looking back at that "800 guests" 

made me reconsider that...unless you had a BATALLION of ovens at the gig site, 

it might be kinda tough.

Hotel pans full of Marsala, Lemon Chicken, Chicken Alfredo or Coq Au Vin would be

far easier. 
 
#16 ·
I'll throw in an old classic. Chicken Ballotine (or galantine, I can never keep them straight.)

Boneless chicken filled with chicken forcemeat with garnish (truffle?), rolled, poached or roasted.

Could be done ahead, cooked on site.
Really labor intensive for the price, although a great idea

. I was going to suggest a chicken Wellington but the lack of real oven space to cook these off makes this moot
 
#19 · (Edited)
Here is what you do.  It is not labor intensive.  It still requires oven space, but no more than if you had to finish breasts.

Get a half breast, on the bone, and use a paring knife to cut a slot.  Make a farce, use a piping bag and pipe it into the slot.  

Finish it in the oven, pull the breast off the bone and plate.

In fact you don't even have to make a farce.  Just pipe sausage into the pocket and it will be a nice surprise.
 
#21 ·
The ticket price is what our customer (a non-profit) is charging people to come to the event. Our price is still undetermined and will be based on what we end up serving. Last year we charged 48/person. The event is off-site in a convention center. We will have ovens but no stove top (although we wheeled one in last year).
Taking into consideration all the factors mentioned (budget, non-profit & cooking equipment/appliances & off site), chicken parm comes to mind. Use fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatoes (cherry, grape, heirloom in mixed colors), and fresh basil. Serve it over capellini garnished with more fresh basil - and call it chicken caprese.
 
#24 ·
Well.......elegant and chicken dont really go together, its like putting lipstick on a pig. You can throw some lobster in with it or some other kind of high dollar food in with it,....but it is still chicken.

Make the best tasting and juiciest chicken you can, fry it in italian dressing is a good move.
 
#25 ·
Since fall is approaching how about a play on a thanksgiving dinner? Chicken leg with the meat cut vertically down the bone and butterflied open, stuff with a cranberry chestnut stuffing, re wrap, freeze, bread and fry (or oven bake), similar to a cordon bleu. How's that for a run on sentence? Serve with a creamed spinach grilled polenta cake and spiced butternut squash purée with crunchy streusel topping
 
#26 ·
false
Since fall is approaching how about a play on a thanksgiving dinner? Chicken leg with the meat cut vertically down the bone and butterflied open, stuff with a cranberry chestnut stuffing, re wrap, freeze, bread and fry (or oven bake), similar to a cordon bleu. How's that for a run on sentence? Serve with a creamed spinach grilled polenta cake and spiced butternut squash purée with crunchy streusel topping
Now this is making chicken elegant!!! I dont know about the cranberry though.......will it be sweet?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top