Buying for potlucks.

March 11, 2006 3:54 AM

What to bring to a potluck if one is completely inept in the kitchen?

It seems like almost all the get-togethers among my friends -- regardless of which social circle -- are potlucks of one sort or another. I love this in concept but am always at a loss for how to contribute, given that I can barely cook pasta for myself without burning the kitchen down. Although I always bring beer for myself, I don't bring booze for others since just about everyone else is more discerning/knowledgable about wines/liquor than I am. Therefore, what are some suggestions for tasty foodstuff to pick up somewhere, items that can travel a bit (i.e. that don't have to be prepared hot in the kitchen) and won't seem too out of place next to home-cooked dishes? For example, maybe something special from an out-of-the-way local bakery? I'm in the SF Bay Area, for those who would like to share their favorite shops and specialties.

posted by DaShiv to food & drink (42 comments total)

I hate cooking, and find it nervewracking. While I'm sure others will have great suggestions for what to buy, I'm not sure this would have gone over well at some of the parties I've been to—I don't think it really fits with the spirit exactly.

Wouldn't you like to get over your fear of cooking just a little? Get something that can be made from a mix, and that you can follow exact directions for so you don't have to worry about making misjudgments. My favorite for this is Near East Taboule. It's really easy, and tastes good. Betty Crocker cookie mix is also incredibly easy to use. All you add is an egg, a stick of butter, and water. Both of these are really big hits at parties (especially the cookies), and don't require being cooked right there. It's really hard to screw these things up. I keep some in stock at all time for potluck emergencies.
posted by grouse at 4:09 AM on March 11, 2006

Discuss the problem with your friends and ask if they have suggestions. You CAN learn to cool. You can always pick up a bucket of chicken or a pizza, but that does seem pretty lame if the others are all cooking. If there are a few kids though, pizza is pretty popular.
posted by JamesMessick at 4:19 AM on March 11, 2006

Make a big bowl of salad. You can just cut up a variety of lettuces and bring a bag of croutons and bacon bits that people can add on their own. I suppose you'll also need to bring dressing. This has two advantages. 1. Lettuce is fairly cheap. 2. Salad doesn't require any open flame.
posted by Apoch at 4:29 AM on March 11, 2006

A big bag of tortilla cornchips; a container of store bought salsa; a can of refried beans; a jar of guacomole dip.

Really ambitious? Block of cheddar, use their microwave when you get there.
posted by Meatbomb at 4:59 AM on March 11, 2006

The beer and wine.
posted by caddis at 5:10 AM on March 11, 2006

I always volunteer for the fresh veggie plate. Gather some colorful vegetables, use a knife to make them smaller, arrange on a platter with dip in the middle. A nicely arranged veggie platter can prove the axiom that, in cooking, presentation is everything.
posted by klarck at 5:10 AM on March 11, 2006

salad.
posted by tiamat at 5:18 AM on March 11, 2006

When I was in the dorms, fruit salad was my standby - no cooking, and all you have to do is not cut a finger off. Just hack stuff up, throw it in a bowl, and you're done.
posted by kalimac at 5:25 AM on March 11, 2006

A cheese platter is usually a good safe bet, especially if it includes a mix of traditional and a few more exotic varieties. Ask at a deli for recommendations. Add a pack or two of water crackers or a fresh crusty stick of french bread. The best part is that cheeses don't meet with the same 'must be home cooked' thing that grouse mentions (nobody expects you to make your own cheese!). Also goes over well with the specialist wine crowd :)
posted by harmless at 5:32 AM on March 11, 2006

Some nice crusty bread with olive oil is always a hit at pot lucks. You want a flavorful olive oil - oils infused with herbs and garlic are great, but you can also go for basic olive oil. Goya extra virgin olive oil with a pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground red and black pepper corns is very easy, cheap, and super tasty.
posted by a22lamia at 5:40 AM on March 11, 2006

Ready-to-eat stuff from Trader Joe's or a fancy foods store
posted by rxrfrx at 5:47 AM on March 11, 2006

On a larger scale, if you want to bing something you made yourself, it sounds like you should look for recipes that involve assembling rather than cooking.

The Barefoot Contessa (Ina Garten) is a big proponent of assembling dishes for parties. Browse through her books at a local bookstore; I know there are some easy assembly dishes in her party book. You can also check her page at the Food Network website, but it looks like most of that stuff is cooking-cooking.

Another Food Network show with easy assembly recipes is Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee. For instance, this recipe involves buying pre-cooked chicken. Some of her stuff might be too ambitious for you, but she has some great cocktail recipes. You could whip up a great batch of cocktails for the potluck, instead of just bringing extra beer/wine. Just be sure to do a test-run of the drink a few days ahead of time to make sure it will have broad appeal.
posted by Sprout the Vulgarian at 6:16 AM on March 11, 2006

1 3lb+ pork roast
1 bottle of barbecue sauce
1 red onion

Cut the pork roast into 3-4 pieces. Dice the onion. Dump all this in a crock pot with the sauce. You'll have to start this in th e morning. About an hour before you leave, shred the pork, let it crock for another hour. People love this stuff on cheap ass white buns.

I think I had this on cooking for losers.
posted by pieoverdone at 6:29 AM on March 11, 2006 [2 favorites]

(sorry for the off-topic, but pieoverdone is going to have me buying a crock pot later today, I swear. Yummmm....)
posted by kalimac at 6:32 AM on March 11, 2006

If you do want to cook, maybe check out cooking for engineers the instructions are laid out really simply with good explanations.

Otherwise some easy things to take are:
Olive oil, good bread and dukkah.

Cream-cheese and sweet chilli sauce: upturn the cream cheese container on a plate pour on a few tablespoons of sweet chilli sauce, surround with crackers and chopped vegies for dipping.

Ice cream with extra bits: smash up your favourite chocolate bar or chop up some fruit and mix through a matching flavour ice-cream which has been slightly softened.

Hummus is easy to make if you have a blender or food processor just chuck in the following and blend to a dip:
a can of chickpeas (rinsed and drained), tahini (about 1 tablespoon), a good squeeze of lemon juice (about 1/2 cup- you can buy pre-squeezed in bottles), 2 cloves of crushed garlic (you can buy pre-crushed in jars), olive oil (a shake). Serve with freshly bought/baked flat bread

These are my stand-bys most of this stuff I just keep in the cupboard or fridge.

Goodluck
posted by mule at 6:47 AM on March 11, 2006

Stop by Cowgirl Creamery Cheese Shop in the Ferry Building and pick up some Stilton, then walk over to the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant in the same building and tell them you need a nice port to go with the Stilton.

Stilton and port: you'll be the hit of the party!
posted by trip and a half at 7:02 AM on March 11, 2006

As someone who is in fact ept in the kitchen, I've appeared at a potluck gathering with two boxes of Lucky Charms and a gallon of decent organic whole milk.

Your crowd may or may not be the kind of folks to appreciate this. In my case it surprised people -- they'd been suspecting I'd show up with my famous fried chicken -- and gave some grown adults a chance to eat something they might not normally have.
posted by majick at 7:23 AM on March 11, 2006

I don't see a problem with bringing something that you get from a bakery or deli. My current favorite is to hit up an international market with an olive bar. Good cheese is always welcome but you can run into problems if you have four people showing up with Brie.

Oh, and a food group I find chronically under-represented at potlucks is fresh fruit.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 7:56 AM on March 11, 2006

2 pints cherry tomatoes
2 small tubs of bocconcini or "baby" fresh mozarella
fresh basil
olive oil
salt to taste

rinse tomatoes. dump in a bowl. drain mozarella, add to tomatoes. rinse basil, tear into little bits with your fingers (not a knife!) and sprinkle over tomatoes and mozarella. drizzle with olive oil. toss and serve.

Add a baguette on the side, and you are all set. Andronico's often sells this combination in their deli section at an eye-popping price per pound. You can get all the same ingredients there and put it together yourself for a fraction of the cost. Then again, you can often get all the same ingredients at Trader Joe's for a fraction of what it would run you at Andronico's.

No open flame, no sharp implements required. All you need is a sink and a presentable dish to serve it.

trip and a half's suggestion about the Ferry Building Stilton 'n' port combo is an excellent one, as well, even if it means you have to cross the Bay. The Ferry Building Wine Merchant has steered me towards some astonishingly good bottles of wine.
posted by ambrosia at 8:39 AM on March 11, 2006 [1 favorite]

You can buy fruit or veggie trays at some big grocery stores - you don't even have to cut the stuff up yourself. The are often little tubs of dip for sale near them, too.
posted by dilettante at 9:33 AM on March 11, 2006

Cornbread is really, really, really easy to make, and everybody likes cornbread.

Or you can't go wrong with a collection of olives, cheeses and crackers. I'm going to assume since you don't cook that your idea of "cheese" translates to "cheddar jack or (shudder) american"... some non-scary but still festive cheeses you might want to try: mozzarella (the real kind, round balls floating in water. Slice it up with tomato, maybe some fresh basil and a little balsamic vinegar. Yum. On preview, ambrosia just gave the exact same recipe.) Queso fresco or parmesan are good with slices of apple. Emmentaler is like swiss cheese but sharper, also good with bread or apples. Brie ranges from smelly to buttery blandness; it might take a little experimenting to find a brand you like, but it's great spread on bread or crackers.
posted by ook at 10:17 AM on March 11, 2006

Go to Arizmendi Bakery (9th and Irving) and pick up a couple of their wonderful baguettes (or other breads), and a selection of cheeses. Arizmendi sells some nice cheeses, and there's also a specialty cheese store a little further west on Irving.

Also seconding Trader Joe's snack foods.
posted by purplefiber at 10:44 AM on March 11, 2006

People like pie so much that you'd be excused bringing a store one rather than a home-made one. Add some ice-cream/frozen yoghurt/whipped cream, maybe.

If you want to cook, buy a crockpot and a crockpot recipe book. It's usually pretty foolproof stuff, just a little prep, but once you throw everything in, that's it. Crockpots can make large-ish volumes of stuff people like, and you can transport and present in the crockpot - it'll keep the food warm and you won't have to reheat in another pot when you arrive. Remember to tape the lid down!

And do as pieoverdone suggests above, bring buns as well.
posted by carter at 10:46 AM on March 11, 2006

Volunteer to bring the plastic cups, plates and cutlery.
posted by Coffeemate at 10:52 AM on March 11, 2006

In cases like these, Trader Joe's is your friend. For example, if you go with ook's suggestion of corn bread, TJ has a fantastic corn bread mix that tastes great and takes little effort to prepare.

But if you want to go for an entire dish, check out their sauces (the stir-fries are great for vegetables, pesto for pasta dishes.) Many of them offer advice on how to use them on the label.

Next time you're bored, just spend a good amount of time going up and down each aisle. Take the time to really look at everything you want. Sure, it may be crowded with people rushing to get dinner on the table - but that in itself should tell you something about the tastiness and appeal of the products.

Good luck! And remember, before you leave the house double-check to make sure everything's turned off:-)
posted by invisible ink at 10:57 AM on March 11, 2006

Argh. Apparently final exams have compromised my ability to properly read posts. I noticed you said you wanted stuff that can keep for long travel - ignore my second paragraph.
posted by invisible ink at 11:02 AM on March 11, 2006

Just remembered - I once took ice cream and jars of toppings to a potluck. For some reason I knew there wouldn't be trouble about it melting before people got to it - there may have been freezer space, or I may have known people would eat quickly enough that it wouldn't matter.
posted by dilettante at 11:03 AM on March 11, 2006

I agree in principle with the general sentiment expressed in most of the responses so far. However, I think I'm the same sort of person as you are. I'm building a pretty extensive database of high quality food from all over my area. Anyway, I was in SF for a week recently and I did find a good bakery: La Farine.

There's more at the Ferry Building besides Cowgirl Creamery. People pay good money to ship products from many merchants at the the Ferry to all parts of the world. Almost every merchant sells tshirts. Whereas some people come to Cleveland and buy a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tshirt, other people go to SF and buy Rechiuti confection tshirts. I was aware of the inesteemable reputations of Frog Hollow Farm, The Fatted Calf and Scharffen-Berger before I ever considered planning a trip to SF. (Many of these merchants are only at the Ferry for market days.)

So far that's mostly treats or desserts. For sides and main courses you still don't even have to leave the Ferry Building. Boulette's Larder has basics, semi-prepared and fully prepared meals and was just recognized in the 2006 Taste Everything awards. SF is very well represented in those awards. The chef at Mistral, also in the Ferry, was previously a chef at a Paul Bocuse restaurant. I think Mistral is a "meal replacement" type shop which is perfect for potlucks.

These foods are only semi-homemade from your perspective. In terms of quality, they're just like scratch and I'd recommend them over any supermarket-type mix or high-end chain market prepared foods. I don't know if any of these would be considered out-of-the-way "finds" but you could keep going back to them time and time again and generally be guaranteed that you're bringing some of the tastiest food at every potluck.

On preview: diletattante reminds me of this: goat's milk ice cream. Some people may not like it or even refuse to try it but others will love it.
posted by stuart_s at 11:19 AM on March 11, 2006

I am not that big on cooking, so I solved this issue by being an expert shopper. I am good at finding some of the best and most unusual take-out around. There's a Lebanese restaurant where I can order fabulous grape leaves or baba ghanooj, a BBQ joint that has killer baked beans, a bakery that sells to-die-for mini-canoli in various flavors ...I never pretend these creations are mine, but I often put the dish on a pretty plate or enhance the presentation with a garnish. No one minds! Find your local treasures.

Also, find the best things available at little specialty shops and gourmet food sections, little luxuries - special cheeses, olive mixes, nuts, candies. For example, Stonewall Kitchens has some wonderful delicacies - bring some sauces and a container of ice cream, or some fancy relishes. I often bring one of these crowd-pleasing tortas on a pretty plate garnished with sides of fancy crackers, olives, and scallions. Or it isn't too bad to make your own goat cheese torta. Appetizers are a good place to start if you aren't really comfortable in the kitchen. Try some of these favorite dip recipes from a recent askme thread.

On preview, what stuart_s said too!
posted by madamjujujive at 12:42 PM on March 11, 2006

In my mind, this is why god invented Bi-Rite on 18th at Dolores. (And I *like* to cook!) They have great ready-to-cook stuff (skewered seasoned meats for a barbecue, for example) as well as vegetable sides and salads that are fresh, well seasoned, good, and generally organic. They also have a good wine section (and beer, I think) with lots of low-priced but high-quality selections.

Also the best sandwiches I've had in SF.

Whenever I don't have time to put something together myself, that's where I head.
posted by occhiblu at 12:44 PM on March 11, 2006

bring good organic fresh fruit, they'll love you for that
posted by matteo at 1:06 PM on March 11, 2006

Comforts Chinese Chicken Salad is AMAZING. It's in San Anselmo so you'll have to drive over the bridge, but it's totally worth it. I'm serious. I always bring that to potlucks when I'm back in Cali because I as well am similarly kitchen-handicapped.
posted by radioamy at 2:04 PM on March 11, 2006

A bit seasonal I know, but try slicing strawberries and adding a little white wine. The berries get soft, and the alcohol makes everyone think it's sophisticated while drawing out the sugar. This works fairly well with blackberries and/or raspberries too if you don't even want to wield a knife. If the fruit is really tart, you can sprinkle a little sugar into the mix.

If you're comfortable with an electric mixer/beater, buy a pint of heavy whipping cream, and make whipped cream fresh to go with the whole thing. You don't have to add anything to the cream. I swear, the berries in wine, a little of the whipped cream and everyone thought I was a gourmet chef.
posted by synapse at 2:34 PM on March 11, 2006 [1 favorite]

oh - I almost forgot! The fruit has to sit in the wine for at least 30-45 minutes prior to serving so that it softens, but can be left there with delcious results for at least a day or two.
posted by synapse at 2:38 PM on March 11, 2006

meatballs! they have frozen ones at trader joes. just drop them in some bbq sauce. everyone loves meatballs!
posted by kooop at 3:51 PM on March 11, 2006

I like the ideas presented above about "assembling" rather than "cooking" a meal. A lot of great stuff can be made using little to no heat. Off the top of my head...

1) Pick up some frozen strips of grilled chicken breast, croutons, Romaine lettuce, a block of parmesean, and some crusty french bread. Then either pick up a pre-made ceaser dressing, or follow this recipe to make your own. (Relax, it's easy. If you can handle a wisk, you can make it.)

Lay a few leaves of romaine on a plate, some strips of chicken and croutons on top, and drizzle with dressing. Top with a few large shavings of parmesean. Accompany with a thick slice of bread. (Or, for less classy gatherings, just mix it all in a salad bowl.)

2) Here's a recipe for a Sangria Fruit Salad. An inexpensive red wine will serve you well enough, since you'll be flavoring it with sugar and fruits. Another dish that seems classy, but couldn't be simpler.

3) Hummus. Middle-eastern flavors probably aren't common at potlucks, but it's very tasty, and very healthy too. You'll need a food processor for this one, though I've gotten away with one of those little choppers that's shaped like a food processor. (It basically is a food processor, but only holds about a cup.) It made my blender choke, though.

This hummus recipe works well for me, though I use far less tahini. Use a half cup like it calls for, and you end up with hummus that tastes like sesame oil. I also recommend adding olive oil to loosen up the hummus, instead of extra chickpea liquid. Taste it a few times while you're adding it, though, to be sure you don't add too much.
posted by CrayDrygu at 4:01 PM on March 11, 2006

Don't bring pate. I'm bringing the pate.
posted by ikkyu2 at 4:46 PM on March 11, 2006

Chocolate.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 5:52 PM on March 11, 2006

This thread is making me hungry. Maybe the next Bay Area meetup should be a potluck?
posted by ambrosia at 6:10 PM on March 11, 2006

I cook well--but if I'm feeling lazy, all I have to do is bring chocolate-dipped strawberries to a potluck and I am a HERO. They're ridiculously easy--just melt a big bag of SEMISWEET chocolate chips over low heat (keep stirring so it doesn't stick and burn, and that's the hardest part). Wash your strawberries and dry them well (very important), dunk them, plop them on waxed paper and chill (you can use your garage, porch, etc. for this if it's cold and you don't have fridge space). Once the choc is solid, just put them in a big Tupperware and you're done.
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:30 AM on March 12, 2006 [1 favorite]

This answer may be coming a bit late but I'm a big fan of the custom frozen cookie dough that the Teacake Bake Shop in Emeryville sells. You get a tub of 12 balls of basic sugar cookie or oatmeal cookie dough and 1 mix-in ingredient for $20. They use really high-quality ingredients so the cookies are absolutely delicious (in-store cupcakes are just so-so). At the potluck put them on a baking sheet, throw them in a 350 oven, and they're ready in 20 minutes.

I've brought them to parties and given them as gifts and everyone's loved em.
posted by junesix at 2:50 AM on March 13, 2006

Don't bring pate. I'm bringing the pate.
posted by ikkyu2 Yesterday

:)
posted by caddis at 7:23 AM on March 13, 2006