Paul McKeon spent nearly three decades building high performance sales and marketing teams and decided to combine his love of food with effective business processes, leadership skills, and team building. That’s when he co-founded Team Building with Taste.
A few years ago, I invited ten friends over to my house for a dinner party. I was the cook. They were the guests.
But unlike good guests who are supposed to go into the living room to chat or stroll out to the backyard (while I cook), they kept lingering at the kitchen island. Of course, they were drinking, but also asking me a million questions about dinner, the recipes, seasoning, cooking techniques and more.
Now, even if you’re a good cook, you know cooking takes concentration. Between prep time, cook time, temperature taking and just staying organized, you have to focus. With this crowd—and the pressure to make my guests a good meal—concentration was tough.
That’s when I had an epiphany. Why not shift the dynamic from cook to head chef? Let them do the cooking. Before long I was bossing them around and they were loving it. One friend was doing a small dice on an onion, the other was toasting rice for the risotto and three others were tossing whatever they could find into the grill pan for the roasted vegetables.
Soon, I was the one drinking the wine and doing all the talking. They were cooking—immersed and engaged. Not surprisingly, the food turned out great. It tasted even better because they had prepared it in their own way, with their own hands.
That experience, plus thirty years of building high performing sales and marketing teams in the business world, was what led me to realize that there is no place better for building esprit de corps and teamwork than a kitchen.
In the series posts that follow, we are going to share with you not only recipes, but organizing tips, props, drinks and venues and other secrets from Team Building with Taste that are well suited not just for cooking for a crowd, but for cooking with a crowd.
For now, I’d like to share one of my favorite recipes for creating magic in the kitchen with a group. Mostly, because it’s hard for anyone to mess up. So, if you’re having a dinner party soon, and want to direct your guests in the kitchen as part of the fun, then give this a shot because it’s a fun team activity and the perfect place to start.
Fried Vietnamese Spring Rolls
The ideal collaborative recipe is one that offers many options for how people can participate, numerous alternatives for ingredients and even choices of what the final dish will look like.
Of course, the dish should also taste good and be fun to make. That’s why these Vietnamese spring rolls are perfect when cooking with a crowd.
Something for everyone
It’s important to have plenty to do so everyone has a job. Spring rolls are perfect. Here are just a few reasons why we like them:
There’s something for everyone to do: chopping, mixing, wrapping or mixing the dipping sauce.
There are many options for ingredients, including those in the recipe below, plus carrots, cabbage, bean sprouts, garlic and more. Really, whatever you want to roll with, you can!
Create whatever dipping sauces the group likes. You can go with the recipe below or a classic sweet chili garlic sauce or a variation of a hoisin sauce.
Wrap options
There are a lot of options for any style wrapping or rolling, including wonton-like or classic roll-ups, or even triangle roll-ups.
The recipe below calls for fried spring rolls using a “wet” pastry dough, but you could also use dry rice paper and not fry them. Why not make them both?
Finally, talk about collaboration. Make a few test rolls. Taste, adjust cook again. When it’s just the way everyone likes it, pour more wine and start rolling!
Fried Vietnamese Spring Roll Recipe
Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes To open printable version, click here.
Ingredients:
1 package spring roll wrappers or shells (found in the frozen or refrigerated section). Get them as “thin” as you can find.
2 pounds ground pork or chicken
1 cup mushrooms, chopped
3 green onions, minced
1 small onion, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon pepper
¼ cup oyster sauce
1 egg (lightly beaten)
Spicy Dipping Sauce (recipe follows)
Sweet chili sauce (optional)
Instructions:
Mix together the meat, mushrooms, green and white onions, salt, pepper and oyster sauce.
To assemble: place 2 tablespoons of the mix into one corner of the wrapper. Roll once and then bring the sides in. Brush the corner of the wrapper and roll to seal. Continue with the rest of the filling.
(While some are filling the wrappers, others can start on the sauce recipe below.)
Heat your fryer oil to 325-350 degrees. If you don’t have a deep fryer, use a Dutch oven or wok and pour 1” of your choice of oil (peanut, canola, or another oil that can withstand high heat).
Once the oil is heated, add the rolls to the oil in batches. Cook for 8-10 minutes until rolls are golden brown. Be sure not to put too many rolls in the oil at once; you don’t want them to touch or they might stick together.
Once you see them starting to brown (you’ll begin to see crispy “bubbles” on the wrappers), turn them over to cook evenly on the other side.
Remove from oil and place on a paper-lined sheet pan. Serve with prepared sauce(s).
Spicy Soy Dipping Sauce
Ingredients:
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup scallions, sliced thinly
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon Sriracha
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
Place all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
Paul McKeon spent nearly three decades building high performance sales and marketing teams and decided to combine his love of food with effective business processes, leadership skills, and team building. That’s when he co-founded Team Building with Taste.
