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ideas for company cookout

My company holds monthly cookouts for the employees -- the company pays for the burgers, dogs, sausages, drinks, etc. Managers take turns tending grill for the 3 shifts. Employees and managers usually contribute pot-luck style side dishes, salads, desserts, etc.

I'm looking for some ideas. I've contributed grilling master time and also chili and potato salads, etc. I'm looking for ideas for something different.
Difficulty:
needs to be easily transportable
Able to made the night before
Able hold up through at least lunch and dinner times. (refrigerator available in between shifts)
Since there are a bunch of people contributing, it doesn't have to make a ton.

Can be a salad, side dish, or other accompaniment. Not big on making desserts.


Ideas, guys?
 
How about some home-baked bread?

You can probably make six or eight loaves in the average size oven at one time. The raw ingredients are cheap and readily obtainable, and you can fancy it up with nuts and raisins and spices or anything you can imagine.

Recipe books abound, just be very careful about precisely measuring the ingredients and watching the baking time. The process is really simple, but if you've never done it before, you'll want to do a few practice runs to work out the kinks.
 

simon1

Self Ignored by Vista
Boston baked beans? Just put 'em in a slow cooker the night before and they should be ready the next morning.
 
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TexLaw

Fussy Evil Genius
This never fails. There are a lot of ways to play around with it, too, so have fun with it.

BILL’S SURPRISE POTATOES


1 full size aluminum-serving pan – this will serve about 50 to 75 people

10 pounds of whole potatoes (I have used Idaho’s, russets, and others)

1 family size can (27oz) of cream of mushroom soup (can sub dry mix, but mind moisture)

1 family size can (27oz) of cream of chicken soup (can sub dry mix, but mind moisture)

2 cups of sour cream

½ cup of Texas BBQ Rub (can get that on-line)

¼ cup of paprika

3 cups of shredded cheese (use cheddar or a blend of Monterey jack and cheddar)

¼ cup of granulated garlic (use this to your flavor liking)

Alt. Ingredient – your choice of chopped meat (brisket, butt, sausage)

First cut the potatoes in half (this will speed up the cooking time) and I leave the skin on the potatoes.

In a large pot, boil the potatoes. Cooking time on the potatoes is about 30 to 45 minutes. When the potatoes are done, drain off the water and pour them into the serving pan.

While the potatoes are still hot, crumble the potatoes into pieces. Add both cans of soup, the sour cream, Texas BBQ Rub, and the granulated garlic and mix into the potatoes. Now add about ½ of the cheese and mix that into the potato mix. Spread this out in the pan and top with a large portion of cheese and then sprinkle with the paprika.

Cover with aluminum foil and you can heat this in the oven at 225 degrees for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours (till all the cheese melts) or I stick mine on the pit and melt the cheese on the pit.
 

DoctorShavegood

"A Boy Named Sue"
Boston baked beans? Just put 'em in a slow cooker the night before and they should be ready the next morning.

+1 on the baked beans.

Jim, here's a dump recipe that's easy, very tasty and fast.

Bean Soup
Ingredients
1 Lb ground beef or turkey
2 can of Pinto Beans
1 can of Black Beans
1 can of Corn
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of Rotel Tomatoes
1 small can of diced black olives
1 Package of Ranch Dressing
1 Package of your favorite Taco Seasoning
Process
In a large pot brown the beef or turkey. Throw all ingredients into pot except the Ranch Dress pack. Bring everything to a boil them throw in Ranch Dressing Pack. Simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour. S&P to taste.

$IMG_0367.jpg
 
Here's one that's really easy.

My wife mixes up a Dorito salad for events like this and people absolutely love the stuff. I have to admit it's really good and the best part is it's super simple to make with zero cooking involved. It takes all of about 5 minutes to make. Great for picnics and things like that. People who have had it before asked her to bring it specifically on more than one occasion.

I've bought the ingredients for it tons of times and know that they are as follow:

One large bag of Doritos of which she crushes up about 3/4 of the bag for the salad.
A couple bags of you standard iceburg lettuce (she swears it comes out better with the bagged lettuce)
A good amount of a large bag of a finely shreaded Mexican cheese blend. (everybody loves cheese)
A package of cherry tomatoes (just cut each of the tomatoes in half).
A large bottle of ranch dressing (you won't use all of it).

This all gets gently mixed together in the largest stainless steel bowl that I own and the dressing is added to it until it's about right. Keep mixing it until the dressing is lightly coating the chips, lettuce, cheese and tomatoes but don't overdo it with the dressing. You wouldn't know it's coated in ranch unless I told you the ingredients. I don't think she uses the whole bottle of ranch, somewhere about half to maybe three quarters of it and it makes a lot considering you've got a whole bag of crushed chips, two bags of lettuce, cheese and tomatoes.

Just don't mix it the night before. The closer you mix it to the time it's eaten the better. But it only takes about 5 minutes so no big deal there. It will hold up for several hours but if you're going to do lunch and dinner then maybe make one for each or half at a time.
 
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Luc

"To Wiki or Not To Wiki, That's The Question".
Staff member
What I saw at those cookouts over the years

any type of salad usually works
I would avoid soups or something with a lot of liquids, transportation might be difficult depending on how you get there.
I've seen some roast something on the BBQ and then pre-cut in bite size
Cream cheese, smoked salmon and bread always works well

If you can think of something that can be eaten easily, that's the one.
 
Wow! Some great ideas in this thread! You guys always come through.

I think I'm going to go with the Gazpacho idea though. It's easy to make ahead of time, can withstand sitting out un-refrigerated for a while during each lunch and is something totally different than I've seen there -- someone always makes salads, chilis, beans, etc.

I figure a big plastic serving bowl, a few packages of small cups and plastic spoons. Maybe some croutons...
 
When I go to pot-luck style things, I like to do a salsa trio. You can make a generic base salsa and make three heat levels, or make three different kinds. I do one mild, one medium/hot, and one "melt your face off" hot. They usually go pretty well, and they keep well. People that don't like spicy foods appreciate the mild, and people who like spicy food, or have ego issues, go for the hottest. It's also entertaining for the group to watch people who think they can handle hot stuff, but cannot.

Edit to add : I find this is one of those things that is actually better if you make it a day or two ahead of time.
 
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