At the Merc

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At the Merc

Postby DATsBBQ » Sat Apr 07, 2007 12:03 pm

Jamestown's one & only eatery, the Jamestown Mercantile, on Thursday nights has live music and a guest chef. Using the term "chef" loosely cause most have never cooked for a crowd but the staff backs 'em up.

Well I'm be doing a Q there sometime in May, depending on the band (I don't do disco, rap, hipstick or other weird crap). Band's haven't been inked in yet.

I'm told to expect 35 - 40 meals. I'll Q the meat on Einstein over a few days prior to the big event and bring it up either in foil or Food Saver bags. We'll make the sides on site.

Thinking of doing a two meat plate. Brisket and PP. Sides will be coleslaw (a must for PP), corn bread, Busted Pintos (canned pintos as I have zero luck with dry beans) all served with my Vinegar pork sauce and store bought BBQ Sweet sauce.

Not a typical catering gig as the Merc buys the supplies and the guest chef gets $10/hr plus all the beer he can drink. Not in it for the money, rather keeping my name out there (I do real estate for a living). A little exposure for DATsBBQ LLC wouldn't be bad either :wink:

So I'm thinking a couple of 7lb butts and 12 -13lb Packer should do it.

Paper plates. A 1/4# of PP on a cheap white bun looks huge on a paper plate, and 1/4# of brisket and the sides should look very filling for a targeted $10-$12 plate.

Usually I slice brisket. If I chop it would go further but I think the novices (Q challenged) would think it was just more pork?

Give me your ideas :D

They'll want a veggie option :roll: Smoked tofu? Maybe I can convince that there is no such thing by definition :shock:

http://www.jamestownmerc.com/
Deputy Dave

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Postby OSD » Sat Apr 07, 2007 2:50 pm

Dats, two seven pound butts won't be enough. you don't want to run short. Pork butts will only yield about 50% cooked weight. So, you will need 10 to 11 pounds of PP. About 3 seven pound butts will be cutting it real close. Brisket will yield about 60% so, maybe 2 nine pound briskets for chopped beef. I would go with chopped if doing ahead of time, will be easier to reheat and serve than sliced and give a better product.
Maybe Italian sausage, brats, pulled chicken or chicken thighs for second meat, quick and easy. Pulled chicken would work great for the cook ahead and then reheat & serve.
Just a thought. Green beans cooked w/ ham bone or hocks, corn on the cob, or mac & cheese for sides.
Jim
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Postby DATsBBQ » Sat Apr 07, 2007 3:16 pm

OSD wrote:Dats, two seven pound butts won't be enough. you don't want to run short. Pork butts will only yield about 50% cooked weight. So, you will need 10 to 11 pounds of PP. About 3 seven pound butts will be cutting it real close.
Maybe Italian sausage, brats, pulled chicken or chicken thighs for second meat, quick and easy. Just a thought. Green beans cooked w/ ham bone or hocks, corn on the cob, or mac & cheese for sides.


I agree my math is wrong. I usually get about 45% yield (I like it lean without a whole lot of fat going in the mix).
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Postby OSD » Sat Apr 07, 2007 3:22 pm

I agree with you Dats. but when I have to reheat I put the juice and leave a little fat in so it doesn't dry out when reheating.
Pulled chicken works the same way. With all the people doing chicken these days, would make a good contrast to the pork and something they may not have had before. Also not heavy in the cost factor.
Forgot about potato salad or maybe cold 7 bean salad.
Portion control will be a very big factor for you as with any large cook. easy to run short if actually serving more than you think per plate.
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Postby Gator » Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:21 pm

Dave,

I get a little mixed up too when I have PP and Chopped Beef...both kind of loses their uniqueness, especially when bread and sauce is involved. You could do chicken like Jim mentioned. How about PP and REBS? Ribs are always crowd pleasing, but a little tougher to prep.

If you slice the brisket, that would be more distinguishable than chopped. Me - I cram my PP on a bun with slaw and sauce. done.

Tater Salad?

Baked beans are easy.

I have been doing high heat potatoes lately, bakin 'em with olive earl, onions, garlic, salt and peppa...they are a little more heath that tater sald too.

I been doing lots of asparagus lately too. Goes gud with beef. Real simple, hardly any prep. Chop twice, season, nuke it for 4 minutes, then let it steam until serving.

You providing desert?
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Postby DATsBBQ » Mon Apr 09, 2007 10:39 pm

Great ideas all. The Merc is the "home to the somewhat feral" :lol: , as is stated on the front of the menu. 40 plates is the max. When it's gone, its gone.

I thought of ribs but Einstein only holds 3 full racks at a time. Could fit 5 half racks on... in the end the cost factor would be too much for the proprietor. Cheap is in at the Merc! Plus, if there is a weak link in my Q talents, it would be ribs. Kinda of a hit and miss with me.

Smoked & pulled yard bird. Easy enough whats the yield on a whole bird? I guessing about 35%.

I can fit 3 eight # butts or two 10 - 11# butts on at a time. Brisket is pretty much limited to one packer at a time. Could do 2 at a time but I'd have to cut one in half... sacrilege I know.

If I food-saver. it would be reheated in the bag. Done it many time without danger of drying out. If I go the foil route, I'll pull em at 190* and bring to the Merc still in foil and reheat in the oven there at 250 until the peak at the proper temp.

Desert, it's called Saw Tooth Ale :P

Now this ain't no fancy place, but it's the only place in Jimtown.

PS: the owner is a personal friend and client.

Tators, my fav is to get some of those little russets. Nuke till done, cool, scoop out, mash the spuds with butter, add ceder and some bark, refill and toss on Einstein till done.
Deputy Dave

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Postby OSD » Tue Apr 10, 2007 4:57 am

35 - 45 % depending on weight of the bird. Sounds like a fun time. :D sorta like a twice baked potato only done in the smoker :D they ought to go over great :D :D
Jim
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Postby OSD » Fri Apr 13, 2007 5:32 am

DATs, how's your menu coming for the big cook?? :D :D
Jim
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Postby DATsBBQ » Fri Apr 13, 2007 8:39 am

I'll be meeting with Joey (the owner) tomorrow to discuss a couple of options. More later. :D
Deputy Dave

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Postby DJ » Fri Apr 13, 2007 5:29 pm

Sounds like ya got it all under control....Given Einstein's limitations on bulk, I'd be thinking seriously on the Vac sealed bags...Work Great! Bought a CG-15 entry level commercial unit, (Cabelas), takes a 15" x 18" bag, holds a full 10-12 lb brisket...enuf bout that....Somewhere on this site, there is a downloadable, (is that a word?), Catering Planner that I'm pretty impressed with! Duck Soup to work with, just plug in the numbers and it spits out what ya need for product (uncooked), to obtain per plate yield you want....Good Luck and Have Some Fun! DJ
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Postby DATsBBQ » Sat Apr 14, 2007 9:35 am

I downloaded it the day it was published :D Yesterday I saw a whole shoulder (picnic+butt) at Albertson's for .99# that weighed a little more than 25# that might fit on Einstein :idea: :roll: , would yield about 40 4oz sammies. Think I'll stick with butts though. Never have done a whole shoulder before and this ain't the time to start experimenting since I got the butt thing down pretty good :wink:
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Postby OSD » Sat Apr 14, 2007 3:06 pm

I agree DATs, better off with butts. The whole shoulder comes out a little hammy tasting when smoked. Great taste, but not for PP. IMHO. :D :D
Jim
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Postby DATsBBQ » Sun Apr 15, 2007 4:36 pm

It'll be PP for sure. Should have wrote the rest down as it was a party that it'll go down in the history books :lol: This morning during clean up it was discovered that 3 kegs of Saw Tooth Ale (local microbrewry), 1 keg of MGB, 10 liters of Rebel Yell whiskey and an unknown amount of wine were consumed. Had 2 burn barrel's going till 2am. I'm going to take a nap now... :lol:
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Postby OSD » Sun Apr 15, 2007 5:19 pm

Ya gotta hate it when you show up to work and a party starts. :shock: Image Image
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Postby DATsBBQ » Thu May 03, 2007 6:25 pm

Well, a week from today I'm on. Planning on doing PP and sliced Brisket. Target crowd is 40 but Danny Shafer is playing (he does the bbq song on the pit gallery page) so we'll sell out for sure. He's a local favorite, always puts on a great show but wouldn't stand a chance in heck of winning American Idol 8)

Capacity of an egg vs 25 lbs of packers and 25 lbs of butts makes for a long couple of days. Then it dawned on me. Long story, but one of my rentals has a BGE that's just collected dust for the last 3 years (abandoned by a former resident). The firebox is missing, but I just happen to have an extra firebox from a primo sitting in the garage. With any luck it will fit or fit good enough. I'm picking it up tomorrow.

Think to make these easy, going with a canned baked beans. I'll add some bark to doctor them up. Also, going with store bought tator salad. Toss a plastic basket full of hamburger buns in the center of each table.

I'll make up a batch of my vinegar-sauce (AKA Toso Sauce, which has garnered a following) and put it in 7oz Corona bottles along with some store bought sweet sauces for those who like that stuff.
Deputy Dave

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