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[bbforbis]

I have been asked to cater a rather large group of a church. They asked for Beef Wellington, not possible on their budget. Was wondering if I could use a pork chop in lieu of the beef. I have found several recipes for a whole pork tenderloin encroute, but not individual portions. 

I will need to make about 75 of them, but am concerned about the puff pastry getting soggy if made too far ahead.  Ideas anyone?

Also cooking time and temps?  Any suggestions?

[Wisconsin Limey]

I would buy whole in the bag pork loins ($1.99/Lb around here, so about $20/loin) and cut them in half to make them more manageable.  I would encroute the half loins and then slice to serve.  Individual Wellingtons would use way too much expensive pastry.  Also, this allows you to see the doneness of each serving as you slice.  Individualy wrapped portions could lead to a nasty surprise for some guests.  (When cooking 80 portions on a sheet pan or two those in the middle cook more slowly than those on the outside edge of the pans.)  If you notice that slices are too pink you can hit them with a hot pan for 30 secs on each side.

Sear the outside on a flat-top grill and pre-roast in a 350F oven until the center of the pork reaches 125F, about 2hrs for 8 half loins.  Let them cool 'til you can handle them and then coat with mushrooms, pate or whatever and wrap in pastry.  Finish when ready at 350F for 30-45 mins until GBD.  (Golden Brown & Delicious)

[bbforbis]

As mentioned I have come across several recipes for the whole tenderloin.  But, you are correct, the puff pastry would be expensive for individual.

This is for a large church group in celebration of their 100th Anniversary.  This for me will be just a "free labor" endeavor, however, at $12 a person, and their desire to have an "elegant" entree, salad and dessert, is quite challenging.  They wanted one beef and one poultry. I was planning to do glazed game hen halves for the poultry.

A "white linen" affair on a budget.  I am open to suggestions. 

[bbforbis]

Oh, and one more thing.....I will be doing a test run on these in the next couple of days.  How far ahead do I dare make these.

As said, when all is done, I will make very, very little if anything on this event, but it is for a good cause and a good marketing opportunity for me.  Due to costs, I'm pretty much on my own to do it without help, so time management will be key for me. 

Anything that can be made ahead, even a day or two would be huge for me.  I also have to do flowers etc. as well. 

[Zalbar]

I have been asked to cater a rather large group of a church. They asked for Beef Wellington, not possible on their budget. Was wondering if I could use a pork chop in lieu of the beef.

Yes, you can use pretty much any meat.

I have found several recipes for a whole pork tenderloin encroute, but not individual portions.

Don't go individual. While cute, it's a huge amount of work, and while you could prep these ahead of time and fire them to order, I'm assuming you're going to have everyone sitting down all at once. As Limey suggested, go whole, and slice.

I will need to make about 75 of them, but am concerned about the puff pastry getting soggy if made too far ahead.  Ideas anyone?

Yeah, I had that problem for a long time. Then I stumbled across the idea for wrapping the whole thing in a tortilla before putting into the pastry. Works awesomely.

The church group is going for flash over flavour.

Unfortunately for you, the only thing you can really make ahead of time that I can see is the dough. You might also want to consider changing the duxelle to something else, not sure that the flavours would match well with pork.

Salad isn't anything that needs prepping ahead of time or you'll end up with wilted everything.

I just hope you're not serving as well.

I would have suggested a crown roast of pork with wild rice filling instead, but I'm not sure if that'll be any less expensive than beef wellington. Sure looks damned impressive though, especially when carved and sauced tableside.

[Wisconsin Limey]

a good marketing opportunity for me. 

What exactly are you hoping to market???

[bbforbis]

Well, I have done some catering on the side around this small ranching town the last ten years or so more of a hobby for close friends etc, weddings etc.  I lost my job a little over a year ago, so rather than making a "hobby" from catering, I need to make it more of a business.  Catering around here is break out a bail of hay & roast a pig!  Not white linen.

After meeting with them tonight, looks like they will have a total of 150 + kids.  Youth group will feed kids in a separate area, pasta or something, so no worry for me.

No, I won't have to worry about serving, I will have volunteers for that. 

I'm kind of leaning toward a spinach filling of sort, maybe with a little ham, swiss cheese or something in it.  Pretty easy and I can probably get away with prepping that either night before or early morning ahead.

I read somewhere else that a crepe works well too.  I am liking the idea of whole, you are right, less labor & expense.  Still a little concerned with soggy....

[Wisconsin Limey]

Perhaps something a little simpler with less chance of catastrophe would be a better idea for your first function.   

How about a roulade of pork loin?   

You can stuff it with anything (even stovetop) and it will look impressive.

[Jacob Burton]

I think Limey's suggestion of a roulade is brilliant. Wellington for 150 people is REALLY tricky. Even if you're a wellington master, you'd have to have some big coconuts to give this one a shot. Also, $12 a head? I know its for a great cause and all, but sometimes your job as the hired "expert" is to give your clients a reality check. I know its a different situation when doing something for a church's anniversary, after all, its a great way to get noticed in the community. But $12 a head for wellington and a poultry dish, its hard to even break even.

Anyways, good luck on this. Let Limey be your guide. This guy knows what he's talking about, especially when it comes to large catering events like this one.

[bbforbis]

You know, I was thinking of that too.  I committed to this endeavor two months ago, with the idea that my long time catering partner would be there with me, and the menu at the time for two of us was very doable.  Sadly, not only did I lose my long partner, I lost my best friend about ten days ago to a massive heart attack.

So, now what was a pretty well planned event, is now going to be much more difficult without the extra expert hand.  What I'm left with, is just me, and some very well intentioned volunteers.  I thought of canceling, but, in good conscience, could not do that.  I have done wellington's before, but for this scale and without the extra hand, I have got to simplify things.

I will go with a buffet style rather than table service, I can get chafing dishes, linens, table skirts etc. set up day prior, but with all the extras to do now, on top of a lunch for the group during the day (sandwiches & soup), I will have a big project ahead.

[Smurfe]

Perhaps something a little simpler with less chance of catastrophe would be a better idea for your first function.   

How about a roulade of pork loin?   

You can stuff it with anything (even stovetop) and it will look impressive.

That is an excellent suggestion! Looks great to! I am going to start writing these suggestions down.