December 11, 2006
SEE JOE SHOP. SEE JOE COOK. COOK, JOE, COOK.
Sunday was Sports Food Day for me. After I got finished shooting the tailgating video for TBO.com, I ran down to the Sam's Club on south Dale Mabry in Tampa to go shopping with Tampa Bay Devil Rays manager Joe Maddon.
Maddon is a huge food and wine aficionado, so he told the Devil Rays he he wanted to cook for needy people this holiday season. They hooked him up with St. Vincent De Paul parish in downtown St. Petersburg, and Maddon will be cooking a spaghetti dinner on Tuesday for about 300 people.
That led to a shopping trip on Sunday afternoon with Stephanie Renica, the D-Rays' community relations manager, team communications V.P. Rick Vaughn and bullpen catcher Scott Cursi.
(Can't fault a guy for checking out the non-food merchandise.)
What does the shopping list look like when you're cooking for 300?
Try this list, courtesy of the head chef at Tropicana Field, on for size:
SALAD
30 pounds iceberg lettuce mix (If using other mix, you could cut down to 20 – 25 pounds ... the other mixes are lighter and fluffier, so it takes less to fill the plate)
16 pints grape tomatoes
16 cucumbers
8 red onions
3 pounds shredded carrots
5 boxes croutons
Salad dressing – (2 gallons if you are putting on before serving, 3 gallons if they are putting their own dressing on)
MEATBALLS
50 pounds ground beef
20 pounds ground pork
50 eggs
3 cup dry parsley
5 pounds Parmesan cheese
6 pounds bread crumbs
1 cup granulated garlic
Salt & pepper to taste
(It will take approx 15 man-hours to make 600 – 2-ounce meatballs)
SAUSAGE 75 pounds, 4-ounce sausage
SAUCE
6 No. 10 cans tomato puree
6 No. 10 cans whole tomatoes
6 No. 10 cans crushed tomatoes
6 No. 10 cans tomato sauce
2 quarts olive oil
4 No. 10 cans water
2 cups basil
2 quarts red wine
4 cups garlic
1 cup sugar
Salt & pepper to taste
PASTA
60 pounds (If there will be a lot of kids, you can cut down to 50 pounds)
BREAD
38 20-inch loaves Italian bread
What was the damage at the register?
You'll have to check out the multimedia report by Julie Pace on Tuesday on TBO.com. (I'll link to it from here when it's posted.)