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As anyone who has had experience feeding a crew of people on a movie or video shoot well knows, it is neither a cheap nor convenient task to pull off. Add to this out of the way logistics and you have amplified the toil and expenses.
Having your crew catered to by professionals is great, however many independent films simply do not have the budget for that luxury. Having your crew leave the studio or location for their own fast food has numerous complications of its own, if such places even exist within reasonable distances to the filming location.
This article is for those people who are trying to feed 50 or less people. The following recipes are relatively inexpensive, fairly simple to prepare and most importantly, can be prepared at home in a domestic kitchen. There remains the need for equipment to transport the food to your shoot site, usually an insulated ice chest or tow and a large electrical toaster oven and one or more large microwave ovens. These are one-time purchases that will pay for themselves in a short time.
The following are three recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner that are classic crowd pleasers and come out to less than $100 per meal. After some intensive investigative market shopping, I found the best prices for our menu items as well as convenient locations. Costco and Sam's club are great stores, however their hours of operation are not always conducive to a hectic shooting schedule and you also have a tendency to purchase more than what is needed. For the following listed menu items, I chose a combination of three local stores that provided some very nice bargains. The first store being the popular $.99 Stores that abound throughout the greater Los Angeles area. The next, a newer up and coming market chain, is Vallarta. Vallarta has a full service bakery and butcher shop with surprisingly low prices when compared to the larger chain super markets. Finally, good ole Smart and Final is a great store to purchase bulk items.
Breakfast Burritos:
When setting out to make a burrito the large size is usually the wrap of choice. However, in the interest of cutting waste and food cost, we'll be using the smaller sized flour tortilla. The smaller sized tortillas provide tighter portion control and offer the option of second helpings for your more ravenous cast and crew.
I found these tortillas at the $.99 Store, all other items for the burrito were purchased at Smart and Final.
Although bacon and breakfast sausage are common favorites to most Americans, I chose to use Mexican Chorizo Sausage because it is less expensive and lends a better flavor to the burrito. I recommend that you prepare some burritos without meat for our non-carnivorous friends and for our orthodox vegans I would delete the egg and cheese as well and simply put in more potatoes and beans to make up the difference.
80 burritos should be ample to feed 50 people. It would be helpful to know how many vegetarians and vegans you have, but if this information is not available you can try this make up of 55 fully loaded burritos, 15 with no meat, and 10 with no meat, eggs or cheese.
Preparation: Start by thinly slicing or small dicing the potatoes (note that peeling them is unnecessary and submerging them in cold water immediately after cutting will prevent them from turning brown). Lightly season them with salt and pepper and then spray with a non-stick spray or lightly coat them with cooking oil. Place on cookie sheets or roasting pans and bake at 350 degrees until fully cooked. Set aside and let cool. Next crack and scramble the eggs. They can be pan fried on the stove w/multiple pans, in batches, or poured into a roasting pan and lightly coat with oil, put in the oven at 365 degrees. I ADVISE THAT whichever method you choose, you remove the eggs just before they are fully cooked so they are slightly loose and runny, as they will finish cooking when the burritos are heated for service.
The chorizo sausage can be oven roasted in a roasting pan w/your oven at 350 degrees until fully cooked, approx. 15 minutes. Set aside and let cool then chop into workable pieces.
On a clean sanitary surface layout your tortilla. Place your desired ingredients in a long small pile running from side to side or from the 9:00 side to the 3:00 side being careful to leave about an inch from the edges. Wrap the burrito by folding in the one-inch flap on the right. Hold the left side of the tortilla in place with your middle fingers, then with the thumb and index fingers of each hand roll the tortilla from the bottom up until you have a tightly rolled burrito. Repeat the process with each burrito until finished and wrap individually in aluminum foil for reheating in your toaster oven or in c
lear plastic for microwave. Also, set out the salsa on the side as a condiment as it tends to make the burrito soggy and not everyone likes salsa.
Ingredients:
Tortillas 80 count $7.92 .99 cent store
Eggs 90 count $8.91 .99 cent store
Potatoes 10 lbs $2.49 smart and final
Cheese 5 lbs $11.39 smart and final
Chorizo sausage 6 lbs $6.78 smart and final
Beans refried 7 lb can $3.15 smart and final
Salsa 64 oz jug $3.89 smart and final
Total: $44.53
Chicken Caesar Salad
Caesar salad, since it's invention in Tijuana, Mexico some years ago has remained one of the tastiest and simplest salads to prepare.
Romaine lettuce is a healthy hearty green and at the time of this writing was purchased for .69 cents a head. Vallarta markets sometimes have it on sale 2 for a dollar. The Caesar dressing, croutons, and Parmesan cheese required to make the basic Caesar were purchased from smart and final. Boneless skinless chicken breasts are traditional in a chicken Caesar but in the interest of cost you can opt for boneless skinless chicken thighs. Which are considerably cheaper than breast meat. I realize there are some who don't care for the dark meat on a chicken but aside from it being served for free, a properly trimmed, seasoned, and prepared thigh filet can be just as tasty.
Begin by lightly coating the filets with salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder. Grill on a barbeque or in your oven at 350 degrees. Cook until done. Set the meat aside and let cool, then cut into half strips. Place in larger zip lock bags and refrigerate immediately.
Start by holding the lettuce bunch by its stalk or stem with one hand and with the other hand use a sharp knife to cut from the bottom up in the center in a straight line while the head is lying flat on the cutting board. Turn the head 90 degrees or one quarter over and repeat. Chop by cutting across the first 2 length cuts to achieve one square inch pieces. Wash the chopped lettuce thoroughly in cold water, dry and place in new, unused plastic garbage bags for ice chest storage and transport. When assembling the salad at the shoot, I'd recommend setting out 2 bowls of the dressed salad. One w/dressing, croutons, and cheese and one w/lettuce and Caesar dressing. Definitely serve the meat in a separate bowl to appease the widely varying taste buds. It's also a good idea to put out individual bowls of Parmesan cheese and croutons for the same reason.
Ingredients :
Boneless skinless thighs 25 lbs $32.25 vallarta
Romaine lettuce 25 heads $17.25 vallarta
Caesar dressing 2 gallons $27.98 smart and final
Parmesan cheese 3 lbs $10.99 smart and final
Croutons 4 lbs $7.78 smart and final
Garlic powder 2 oz $1.18 vallarta
Total: $99.43
Dinner Sandwiches
Sandwiches were selected as a dinner item keeping in step with a simple, low cost, self contained meal with minimum utensil and condiment requirements. Here I have listed three choices. The first, a meatball sub on an 8-inch French roll. Next, good old tuna salad on wheat, rye, or sourdough. And for the vegetarians, a tomato, cucumber, red onion salad with fresh dill and sour cream. (Note: I would make a small batch of these vegetables with a little of the Caesar dressing for the hardcore vegans and the lactose intolerant.)
Meatball subs
The meatballs in this recipe were purchased from smart and final using the house brand at $8.99 for a 4-pound bag. Frozen meatballs are a fully precooked product. Defrost in your refrigerator overnight, as this will make reheating quicker and easier. They can also be heated in your microwave or toaster oven. Place meatballs inside your chosen cooking vessel, then pour canned sauce on top, enough to completely cover the meatballs. Cooking times will vary depending upon the heating power of your oven and how much you're cooking per batch. Too hot to the touch is a good rule of thumb just to be sure they're done. You can use an inexpensive thermometer ($5-$10) for peace of mind. Place it in the center of your meatball sauce mix looking for it to register 145 degrees will be adequate for service. I've selected 8-inch French bread rolls from Vallarta markets that are baked fresh daily and sell regularly for $100 for 5. U can add some Parmesan cheese and mix it in with the meat and sauce just after cooking and /or set out on the side.
Ingredients:
Meatballs 12 lbs $12.97 smart and final
Sauce 2 lg cans $8.58 smart and final
French rolls 50 rolls $10.00 vallarta
Parmesan cheese 3 lbs $10.99 smart and final
Total: $56.44
Tuna Salad Sandwich
Open your tuna cans and drain off the water, place meat in a bowl and break it up with a fork until you achieve the desired size pieces. Then finely chop the onions and celery and place in the bowl with the tuna and pickle relish and mayonnaise. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, approx. a tablespoon each. Mix by latex gloved hands or a big spoon until thoroughly blended. Add more salt and pepper as you feel you need it. This salad can be served with the same French rolls as the meatball sandwiches. Also place out additional sliced breads out as well such as rye, wheat, and sour dough.
Ingredients:
Tuna Fish 1 4 lb can $5.45 smart and final
Onion 2 large .79 vallarta
Celery one stock .59 vallarta
Pickle relish 24 oz jar $1.89 smart and final
Mayonnaise 1 gallon $4.35 smart and final
Wheat, rye, sourdough 1 loaf each $2.19 vallarta
Total: $19.64
Veggie Sandwich
Start by removing the tomatoe cores and dice the tomatoes into half-inch cubes. Next peel the cucumbers and dice then into half-inch cubes. If you feel you have the time and can take the trouble pre-flavoring the cucumbers is a nice touch. This is easily accomplished by soaking them in a bowl of cold water with a little vinegar, salt, and sugar for 10-15 minutes, then letting drain off thoroughly. Next, peel and slice your onions anyway you prefer and place in a bowl with the tomatoes and cucumbers, some finely chopped dill, salt, and pepper, a teaspoon each and mix all together until ingredients are evenly distributed. Then add half of your sour cream, enough to evenly coat the vegetables. This salad can also be served on the bread of your choice. Add a variety of fried and baked chips.
Ingredients:
Tomatoes 3 lbs $1.50
Cucumbers 3 lbs $1.50
Red onions 1lb .79
Fresh dill 1 bunch .99
Sour cream 24 oz. $2.79
Rye 1 loaf $2.19
Wheat 1 loaf $2.19
Sourdough 1 loaf $2.19
Total: $14.14
&nbs
p; Each of these 3 meals can be produced for under $100. All are tasty, nutritious, and reasonably simple to prepare and serve. Providing your cast and crew with variety and energy to keep them going.
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