By Chuck Martin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

INFOGRAPHIC

• Our big grocery survey (PDF file)

Big holiday parties sometimes require shopping at big stores - monstrous groceries that offer virtually everything for entertaining, including paper products, serving ware and of course, plenty of food and drink.

To see what was available, we surveyed seven big grocery stores in Greater Cincinnati, including Costco and Sam's Club. We visited the stores on the same day, shopping as if we were throwing a party for 24-plus guests. We looked for party basics - paper plates, deli platters, shrimp and frozen appetizers. And because these would be special party guests, we spared no expense and sought out beef tenderloin and cheesecake.

The point of our survey was not only to check prices, but to see what was available. We discovered there is no clear-cut winner among the grocery giants: If you're hosting a party during the holidays, you might have to make more than one stop - especially if you're searching for the best prices.

See for yourself.

Party buying tips

• Watch for sales and special offers. If you catch a sale on a product - on ground beef, for instance - buy a large amount and build your party menu around it. Make chili or tacos.

• Although warehouse clubs typically offer the lowest prices on paper products, make sure you can use the large number of paper plates you'll have to buy from the club, or at least have room to store them.

• Stretch your shrimp. For most, the larger the shrimp (jumbo or extra-large) the better. But if you're hosting a large party, you may want to spend the same amount of money on smaller shrimp ("large" or "medium"). This means there will be more shrimp to go around for everyone.

• Remember that virtually all shrimp has been frozen. For the best flavor and texture, buy shrimp that has been recently thawed, or if you have time, buy it frozen and thaw it yourself.

• Many stores have prepared vegetable, cheese and other party trays ready-to-go in the deli. But don't count on it. Order your party trays at least a day ahead and pick them up the day of your party. The products in the trays are bound to be fresher.

• Reserve your beef. If you're willing to spend the big bucks on beef tenderloin, order it ahead and specify the amount you want and if you want it trimmed and tied.

• If your wine store offers a discount, buy a case. With a 10 percent discount, you should recoup the price of one bottle. And the good thing is, even if you don't serve the entire case at your party, you can drink it later. Some stores will also allow you to mix different wines in the discount case.

Recipes

Marinated Shrimp

5 pounds shrimp, steamed and peeled

1 red onion, sliced into thin rings

1 31/2-ounce jar nonpareil (small) capers

SAUCE

1 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup white wine vinegar

11/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Chopped parsley (garnish)

Place shrimp, onion rings and capers in large shallow container.

Combine sauce ingredients and pour over shrimp. Cover and refrigerate 24 hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove shrimp to serving dish with slotted spoon. Sprinkle some capers and onion rings over shrimp. Garnish with chopped parsley. Makes 20 to 25 appetizer servings.

Tidewater on the Half Shell (Junior League of Norfolk-Virginia Beach; $18.95)

Roast Beef Tenderloin with Parsley, Cornichons and Capers

1 whole beef tenderloin (5-6 pounds), patted dry

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon kosher salt or 2 teaspoons table salt

2 tablespoons coarse-ground black pepper

SAUCE

3/4 cup minced parsley

12 cornichons (small dill pickles), minced (about 6 tablespoons), plus 1 teaspoon cornichon juice

1/4 cup capers, chopped coarsely

2 medium scallions, white and light green parts, minced

Pinch salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Remove tenderloin from refrigerator 1 hour before roasting. Use knife to carefully nick silver skin on the side opposite the tip with shallow gashes at 11/2-inch intervals. Tuck tip up and under and tie roast cross-wise, tying at 11/2-inch intervals.

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Set meat on a sheet of plastic wrap and rub all over with oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper all over and press to make seasonings adhere.

Transfer tenderloin to oven rack in shallow roasting pan. Roast until thickest part of tenderloin registers about 125 degrees (for medium-rare to medium), about 45 minutes. Let stand about 35 minutes before carving. (Can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to two days before slicing and serving chilled.) Makes about 24 appetizer servings.

To make sauce, mix parsley, cornichons, capers, scallions, salt, pepper and oil in bowl. Slice roast and serve with room-temperature sauce.

The Best Recipe (Boston Common Press; $29.95)

• If you can't afford to serve beef tenderloin at this year's party, try eye of round, a leaner cut of beef that usually costs less than half as much.

Latin-Flavored Eye of Round

1 4- to 5-pound beef eye of round

5 large garlic cloves, sliced thinly to create about 20 slivers

Olive oil

4 tablespoons cumin seed

2 tablespoons coriander seed

2 tablespoons paprika

2 tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons cracked black pepper

Dry meat with paper towels. (If there is any fat on beef, do not trim it. Fat will add flavor during cooking.) With tip of paring knife, make tiny slits all over surface of beef. Insert garlic slivers. Rub beef generously with olive oil.

Toast cumin seed and coriander seed in pan over medium heat until fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes. Pour seeds onto plate to cool completely before crushing coarsely by hand or with electric spice grinder.

Mix crushed seeds with paprika, salt and pepper. Rub beef all over with spice mixture. Cover beef with plastic wrap and refrigerate until using. (This can be done up to a day in advance.)

To cook in oven: Preheat oven to 500 degrees for 15 minutes. Place beef on rack in pan and roast until browned, about 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 300 degrees and cook until desired doneness, about 30 to 45 minutes. (Because it's so lean, eye of round tastes best cooked rare or medium rare - to an internal temperature of 122 to 126 degrees.)

To grill-roast: Build hot fire on one side of grill. Sear beef over coals about 5 to 7 minutes per side, then move to cool side of grill. Cover grill and cook slowly about 45 minutes to an hour until desired doneness. Add wood chips or chunks to add smoke flavor during grilling.

After cooking, allow roast to rest at least 15 minutes before cutting. Slice very thinly across the grain. Beef can be served cold or at room temperature on rolls or in tortillas with Lime-Chipotle Marmalade or other sauces.

Adapted from How to Cook Meat (Morrow; $35)

Lime-Chipotle Marmalade

4 plum tomatoes, cored, seeded and diced large

2 small limes, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced

11/4 cups sugar

1 tablespoon minced canned chipotles in adobo sauce

1 tablespoon adobo sauce from chipotles

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Kosher salt, to taste

Combine tomatoes, sliced limes and sugar in saucepan and cook slowly over low heat, stirring occasionally, about 3 hours, until jam-thick and glossy. Add chipotles, adobo sauce, lime juice and salt and mix well. Set aside to cool to room temperature. (Marmalade can be covered and refrigerated for up to two weeks.)

How to Cook Meat

The stores we surveyed

• Bigg's, 550 Forest Fair Drive, Forest Park; 671-0550. (10 Greater Cincinnati locations) www.biggs.com.

• Costco Wholesale, 1100 E. Kemper Road, Springdale; 346-7943. Other location: 9691 Waterstone Blvd., Deerfield Township; 774-9259. www.costco.com.

• Gordon Food Service, 5201 Bardes Road, Deerfield Township; 229-7650. (four locations) www.gordonfoodservice.com.

• Jungle Jim's Market, 5440 Dixie Highway, Fairfield; 674-6000. www.junglejims.com.

• Kroger, 3760 Paxton Ave., Hyde Park Plaza, Oakley; 871-4142. (71 locations) www.kroger.com .

• Meijer, 4825B Marburg Ave., Oakley; 458-2400. ( nine locations) www.meijer.com.

• Sam's Club, 4825 Marburg Ave., Oakley, 631-4732; (six locations) www.samsclub.com.

A shrimp sampler

What do those weird numbers on the shrimp case mean?

Shrimp are labeled according to size or weight per pound. The lower the number, the larger and heavier the shrimp.

So a number "10" means there are 10 or fewer shrimp per pound ("colossal"). Numbers "36-45" mean there are 36 to 45 shrimp per pound ("small").

Other shrimp sizes:

Jumbo: 11-15

Extra-large: 16-20

Large: 21-30

Medium: 31-35

Miniature: 100