Post by kickingfrog on Jan 17, 2011 11:19:44 GMT
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…Here are basic guidelines for individual serving sizes of various foods. Multiply these estimates by your number of guests and, once again, always round up your estimates.
Portion Size Per Person
Hors D'oeuvres
6 bites when preceeding a meal.
4 - 6 bites per hour when hors d'oeuvres are the meal.
The longer your party and the larger your guest list, the greater the number of selections you should offer.
The Main Meal
Poultry, meat or fish - 6 ounces when you have one main dish, 8 ounces when you offer two or more main courses.
Rice, grains - 1.5 ounces as a side dish, 2 ounces in a main dish such as risotto.
Potatoes - 5 ounces
Vegetables - 4 ounces
Beans - 2 ounces as a side dish …
Green Salad - 1 ounce undressed weight
Desserts
1 slice cake, tart or pastry
4 ounces creamy dessert such as pudding or mousse
5 ounces ice cream
When serving two of the above, reduce each by a little less than half.
A Few Other Menu Planning Tips
Don't repeat a main ingredient. For example, don't serve a shrimp appetizer and shrimp main dish.
Consider the colors of the food that will be served together and make sure there is variety.
Offer both hot and cold foods on a buffet.
Mix textures such as a crisp potato galette served with a soft vegetable puree as side dishes
entertaining.about.com/cs/recipesandmenus/a/foodquantity.htm