Making & Serving Mini Quiches For A Large Group

[Canthespam]

I want to make mini frittatas for our H.O.A. Finger Food Christmas party. I have never made them before, but I think I have enough recipes. I will probably figure on 4 per person (?)

All of the recipes say to serve immediately. The problem - there will be about 50 people there and it will be impossible to make or heat up anything before serving buffet style.

If I make them at home, how will they taste an hour or so later when served?

Any better suggestions for a large group - maybe made a head of time? Something easy and using my brand new mini muffin pans? I am not limited to frittatas - I can make cupcakes, muffins, etc.

Why do I always volunteer - especially to make something I've never made before????

Thanks in advance.

[hotoynoodle]

agree that quiche tastes fine at room temp. i prefer cream rather than milk when i make (and eat!) them. if you're making a variety, i suggest one that is meat-free for the vegetarians.

your quantity of 4 per person seems high though. that means you'll make 200. how many muffin tins have you got? will there be other food? is it lunch, dinner, cocktail party? will there be main course items, like a ham or a turkey? if there are other hors d'ouevres plus a main, figure 3-4 apps per person, TOTAL. if there is no main, figure 6-8 pieces per person TOTAL. all trays, not just your quiches.

[Canthespam]

hotoynoodle - I just bought two pans - 24 each. This will be strictly a finger food affair - no mains. Maybe I have bitten off more than I can chew .... 200 would take a long time to make and they would be cold before the last batch was even out of the oven. I guess I would have to make eight pans worth to get to that final number .... hmmm maybe not the best idea for a large group - what do you think?

I saw Giarda making them and they looked sooo cute that I ran down to Bed and Bath to buy my pans.

Maybe I could stand by my tray and hand out one at a time ... no seconds :-) There will be a lot of other finger foods there - I hope.

[chowser]

You can make them ahead of time, cool and freeze. Just reheat as you need.

[Dcfoodblog]

How dead set are you on having them come straight out of the oven? I would second all of the responses that say fritattas taste fine at room temp. So make them all ahead and freeze them. If you actually make mini quiches, you can make them ahead of time, freeze them, and just pop them in the oven for 15 minutes. If you put them on a cookie sheet that saves you even more time because you don't have to pry them out of the muffin tins. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to plate them if they are premade and reheated.

[hotoynoodle]

lol, they are cute, but what i've done for large groups is make big pans of them. let set and cool, then cut into servings. put each serving into a muffin paper. that way it's still finger food but in a wrapper. again, this stuff all tastes very good at room temp, so don't sweat that part.

i don't really care for the texture after they have been frozen. ymmv.

[Canthespam]

I just made a batch of 6 as a test run. They very good, but to tell the truth, I don't think that I want to make 200 of them - frozen or not. I used two eggs, plus sausage and that barely made the six. I will buy a small pan for the two of us and a few guests.

I might just make a few pans of rice frittata with green chilies, cheese, eggs and a few other things, in Pyrex 13" x 9" pans and cut them up into 2 x 2 squares. This is a very old recipe that I haven't made in 30 years ago, but it still sounds good and best of all easy.

I think I've burned myself out already researching on mini stuff!

Thanks for all of your help - but it is back to the drawing board.

[just_M]

Definitely go with the 9x13 idea. I have 8 mini pans inherited from my Gran, which have seen tons of use over the years but I now think only for tassies. I made crust less quiches for a vegetarian thing for 30 I was invited to and so help me I looked like one of those Pam commercials trying to get them out even though I a greased them thoroughly. I even stabbed a whole in one tin with a butter knife mind you. I don't think my Gran is happy. Go for the simply delicious you will be so happy you did.

[hotoynoodle]

only 6 minis with 2 eggs? did you add any liquid? i think the rice is too weirdly retro and would use traditional potato or no starch at all.

[Canthespam]

I divided Giarda's recipe and instead of 8 eggs and 1/2 cup of milk, I used 2 eggs and 1 oz. (1/8 of a cup), so the proportions were correct. They were very light and soft, so I think that I used the right amount of milk - It barely made the six frittatas.

I noticed that the Calphalon mini pan was deeper that the other pan they had at Bed and Bath - Chicago Metallic. My frittatas were came out bigger than I expected - although of course they were still mini. They deflated and went down after I took them out of the pan.

I used Pam as per Giada, and filled the cups almost to the top, maybe 3/4 full. They took on a life of their own and as they baked, they looked like they were trying to escape from the pan. They went way over the top and were kind of tilted. They settled down as they cooled.

My husband loved them and has been coming up with all sorts of variations all day.

[Cherylptw]

I agree; they can be made ahead and served at room temperature & still taste great

[Canthespam]

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gi...

Sorry, I don't know where the link that I posted before came from. This is Giada's recipe. Since I have never made mini frittatas before, when I came across it, I decided to try it.

[free sample addict aka Tracy L]

Without looking at the recipe it is hard to answer this question; however, frittatas made in mini muffin tins usually come out well. I suggest that you make sure you grease the tins really well. Lastly, frittatas are tasty even at room temp. A friend makes a big frittata in a large pan and once it is done and cooled she cuts them up in app size squares or diamonds.

[Canthespam]

http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1-1,mi...

Thanks for the fast response. The above link is for Giardi's mini frittatas looked soooo good and so easy. There is a video for it too.

I am open to all suggestions. I used to make a large pan frittata years ago and had forgotten until you reminded me that it was served and eaten at room temp.