Day 31
First, my sincere apologies to everyone who has checked this blog faithfully over the past 31 days. I fell short at the end — I tried to keep posting, but the last few days were simply too busy.
I was busier than a beaver, cooking for a wonderfully grateful group of women. If every group were as cheerful and appreciative as they were, cooking for a crowd would be pure joy.
After a month of cooking for large groups, the basic meal plans feel familiar. A rhythm and routine have developed, and preparing dishes I’ve done before is less intimidating. Still, every so often I like to try something new.
Yesterday I had one of those days. A scheduled lunch couldn’t happen because a key ingredient was running low, so I needed an immediate Plan B. While searching for inspiration I found a recipe titled “Chipotle Pumpkin Soup with Barley and Chicken.” The description sounded irresistible and, best of all, we already had most of the ingredients. (If you want the original recipe for a normal-sized batch, the post I found includes a printable version with a photo.)
The recipe didn’t list a yield, which left me guessing how much to scale it for the 45 people I was feeding. I decided to multiply the recipe by ten to be safe. As it turned out, improvisation was required at nearly every step. Below is how the day unfolded and what I learned while making a very large batch of pumpkin-chipotle-style soup.
- Before breakfast was served, begin chopping vegetables. My sous chef Holly worked quickly and did an amazing job. For this scaled batch I sliced 10 jumbo carrots, diced 3 large onions, minced about 30 garlic cloves (using a food processor), and trimmed and sliced roughly three bunches of celery.
- Prepare a large quantity of chicken broth — I ended up with around 20 liters. (Note: double-check whether you’re pulling beef or chicken broth from storage; I almost grabbed beef by accident.)
- Set out the rest of the ingredients: one gallon can of pumpkin puree, about 2.5 cups of barley, a big bowl of diced baby potatoes (skins on), and two small cans of diced green chiles. The recipe called for diced chipotle chiles, but they weren’t available that day, so green chiles worked well as a substitute.
- Take a breath and offer a quick prayer or moment of calm—large-batch cooking benefits from patience.
- Bring out the enormous soup pot. It’s heavy even when empty; be prepared to grunt a little as you lift it.
- Light the burner and start with a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Once the pot is on the heat, it becomes clear that you’ll need a step stool to see and work comfortably over it.
- Stand on the step stool and add about 4 tablespoons of butter, then dump in the large heap of chopped vegetables (hold the potatoes for now). Sauté and stir, seasoning generously with salt.
- If the vegetables begin to stick or scorch, add some of the prepared chicken broth to deglaze and lower the heat. That simple step kept the vegetables from burning and saved the batch.
- When the carrots are tender, attempt to add more broth. I initially planned to pour in another 10 liters, then realized the pot simply couldn’t hold that much liquid. Instead, add what fits and then incorporate the other ingredients: the gallon of pumpkin puree, 2.5 cups barley, the diced potatoes (about 30 baby potatoes), and the two cans of diced chiles.
- Season with salt, a touch of nutmeg, about 2 teaspoons of chili powder, and fresh black pepper. Taste frequently and adjust as you go.
- The first tasting showed the soup was too mild, so I added cayenne—about 2 teaspoons. That pushed the heat level up more than expected.
- To tame the spiciness, add a bit of honey, a little at a time, tasting after each addition until the balance is right. Enlist others in the kitchen for tasting feedback; multiple palates help dial in the flavor for a crowd.
- Once the seasoning is balanced, lower the flame to a very low simmer and let the soup rest for a few hours. This slow meld of flavors improves the texture and depth.
- Serve garnished with sour cream and let guests add their own toppings. If you skip dairy garnishes, the soup freezes and reheats well for another meal.
- When it’s time to bring the pot to the serving area, recruit a strong helper—the fully loaded pot can be immovable for one person alone.
Despite all the improvisation, the soup turned out surprisingly well and was popular with the guests. For future reference, a batch that size could probably feed approximately 80 people if served alongside a sandwich bar. If you plan to freeze leftovers, omit dairy garnishes until reheating.
Key takeaways for cooking for a crowd: plan quantity conservatively but be ready to improvise, taste and adjust seasonings continually, use heavy-duty equipment and a step stool for large pots, and recruit helpers for lifting and serving. A little flexibility and teamwork make scaling recipes manageable and often lead to delicious results.
