Little big food

June 11, 2015 8:30 AM

I want your best tried-and-true recipes for BIG versions of snack foods. Supersize me!

This is more or less a follow-up to my last question about cocktail club (which y'all rocked the house on, yes you did). Since then, we've been having a lot of fun with BIG sandwiches, like last night I made a cubano the size of a toddler on an entire cuban loaf, grilled the whole thing under several bricks, and cut it into wedges. Super easy to make (because you only have to make ONE thing), easy to eat with one hand (because it's all squashed together and compact), perfect party food (because it's amusing to look at and also delicious!).

This has me thinking about more make-one-giant-thing-to-cut-or-pull-apart ideas but I'm kind of stalling out—a king-size version of, say, an empanada would be hard to eat because the filling would fall out all over the place once sliced. Or maybe there's a way to shape it to prevent that? A giant pig in a blanket? Savory monkey breads? Basically any ideas to batch cook/reimagine finger foods that are usually assembled in individual portions are welcome!

Requirements: Must have some sort of party-appropriate form factor, i.e., novelty (giant samosa?!) or spectacle. Must be okay to pick at over a couple of hours, though it's fine if it tastes best hot and fresh. Must be reasonably neat to eat—it can be a fork thing but finger foods are better. Knives are right out. Must NOT be one of those ghastly sandwich loaves frosted with Miracle Whip, what even is that thing?!

That's about it. Scaled-up snack foods worthy of the final boss fight. Go for it! I'll be over here, dreaming of a bathtub-size jalapeño popper.

posted by peachfuzz to Food & Drink (11 answers total)

Previously.
posted by Bruce H. at 8:35 AM on June 11, 2015

I was going to recommend the Giant Jaffa Cake but realized you actually need to check the entire "Pimp That Snack" website.
posted by aimedwander at 8:36 AM on June 11, 2015

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Cake. Although maybe that fails your requirements, as it's a cake rather than a sandwich.
posted by pie ninja at 8:38 AM on June 11, 2015

What if you made one giant tamal, rolled up in a spiral like a jelly roll? You could wrap it in a big piece of cheesecloth and steam it in, like, a Dutch oven? Slice and serve with a pitcher of margaritas.
posted by clavicle at 8:40 AM on June 11, 2015

I once made a burrito-themed pizza (refried beans instead of sauce, chorizo instead of sausage, etc), then rolled it up and served jelly-roll-like slices of it at a party. GIANT PIZZA BURRITO.
posted by Juliet Banana at 9:09 AM on June 11, 2015

You just made me do a google search to find out if Pimp That Snack is still a thing (it's still a thing). It's primarily focused on sugary snacks, and I question the edibility of some of the creations. But there it is.
posted by sparklemotion at 9:24 AM on June 11, 2015

I've been getting into the How To Cook That web site and youtube channel; she has a few "giant-sized versions of [bluh]" recipes:

Giant Milky Way Bar
Giant Gummy Bear (in her case it's a giant gummi Lego Minifig but whatevs)
Giant Ferro Rocher
Giant Twix Bar
Giant Kit Kat
Giant Oreo-Cookie Cheesecake
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:00 AM on June 11, 2015

Oh, sorry - just noticed that for the "How To Cook That" links, the page itself gives the ingredients list, but you have to watch the video for the process. fortunately the videos are really clear about the process.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:02 AM on June 11, 2015

OMG BEST IDEA: Buy some corn tortillas and deep-fry them whole to make your own giant tortilla chips. Layer with beans and cheese on the biggest baking sheet you own, toast in oven, dress with pico de gallo and guacamole: GIANT NACHOS.

Could you conceivably bake a giant bagel? Slice horizontally, put the halves face-up and dress them with cream cheese, lox, red onions and capers, let people cut wedges like you would a pizza.

Similarly, you could make a giant pretzel and provide cheese sauce, mustard, etc for people to dip torn-off bits into.

On the off chance that you live somewhere where you can get them, I would dearly love to see a deviled ostrich egg.

Hostess cupcake the size of a large watermelon! Recipes abound on the Internet.
posted by ostro at 10:04 AM on June 11, 2015

Tea party for giants? You could definitely do giant cucumber sandwiches, giant scones, etc.
posted by yarntheory at 10:59 AM on June 11, 2015

This may be obvious to you if you've already created some basic giant sandwiches but: giant cheeseburger! Bake/broil a beef patty the size of a dinner plate, use a whole round loaf of bread (King's Hawaiian works well) and then put on toppings like a normal burger. When making giant sandwiches like this, bamboo skewers can help all the layers stay intact when you slice, you can glue a little tissue paper to the skewers to look like giant party picks.

Sliders are the opposite of giant but can be an easy way to cook a batch of things if you do it in a casserole dish. Here are several examples: ham and cheese, cheeseburger, meatball sandwich...

Also not giant but you can make a big batch of meat in the crock pot and provide rolls or tortillas and let people assemble. I've done pulled pork this way with pork shoulder, roast beef with balsamic and onions, and I've eat someone's delicious buffalo chicken version, recipes abound on the internet.
posted by dahliachewswell at 10:56 AM on June 13, 2015