In my experience, I have attended and thrown quite a few
dinner parties. Of course you want to impress your guests if you are cooking,
and on the flip side you don’t want to feel uncomfortable as the host or
hostess runs around trying to do everything at once. First let’s talk about the
style of the dinner that is the most easy to execute.
Family style is a great way to present and eat food if you
are entertaining 4-10 people. This kind of dinner does not require plating of
food but rather assembling each dish on a platter or large plate. People can
help themselves to what they want and no one is forced to eat something if they
don’t want to. Restaurants even use this style from Chinese multi-course meals
to Craft, by Tom Colicchio, in New York. If you’re having trouble picturing
what I mean, take a look at the food and the menu:
Notice that menu choices and presentation are very simple and
that they are not necessarily whole dishes but parts of dishes. If you were making this, you could cook the potatoes and slice mushrooms before the guests arrived. Then when you're ready to serve, saute potatoes and mushrooms while the meat is resting, how easy is that? Who wouldn’t
want beautiful food at their fingertips which they can pick and choose from
while having a liquor or wine filled get together? The act of simply sitting
down together around choices of great food creates a more social get together
and allows everyone at the table, host included, to have a good time. This is
my preferred style of entertaining at home because of the versatility and extra
time I get to spend with my guests.
I know, this is great and seems so simple that it is too
good to be true. So you may ask, what makes a dinner like this difficult for
the host if they can simply put platters together and sit back and get tipsy
with the guests? Or you may even ask, why has this not worked for me when I
have done it in the past? I am not going to lie, my experience cooking full
time in professional kitchens definitely makes this task a little less
daunting, but I do have some tricks up my sleeve to help anyone entertain with
ease.
1)
Do a roast or a braise! Because roasting meats
requires a fair amount of resting time (time needed for the meat to stop
cooking), it allows the cook to take time (15-20 min) to reheat or cook side
dishes that are going with the meal. As for a braise, the process of braising
is basically cooking meats that are tough for a long period of time until it is
tender. This is an awesome entrée for parties because it actually tastes better
if made a day before and can be reheated quickly without worrying about if the
meat is done or not. I can also be reheated first, held on the stove top at a
temperature of 145-165 degrees, without worrying about it being over cooked.
Don’t do this more than an hour in advance.
2)
If doing a roast, use an instant read digital thermometer
that has an extension (probe) which can be in the oven and meat at all times.
This thermometer can be set to a specific temperature which will sound an alarm
once it has reached it. It seems counter intuitive to leave a thermometer in a
roast and lead a wire outside an oven but have no worries, it is heat safe! Forget
using a timer and opening the oven multiple times to check the internal
temperature, this is superior! Take a look at what I am talking about:
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| $20.00-30.00 |
3)
Serve starches that can be held such as polenta
or mashed potatoes. These can be held in a pot set inside another pot with
simmering water that comes halfway up the pot with the contents. This is called a double boiler.
4)
Lastly, if not doing a starch that can be held,
blanch potatoes and vegetables prior to the party so that you’re just seasoning
and reheating when it comes time to serve. For vegetables you will need to
shock them in ice water to maintain the bright colors, potatoes you can simply
remove from water and place on a plate or sheet pan.
5)
Other ways of dealing with side dishes are using
vegetables that can be served room temperature as salads.
I am sure by now you’re wondering, what if I want to make
fish or pasta? I would recommend trying roasts or braises before fish because
it allows you time to focus on side dishes while it is resting rather than
doing everything at once. As for pasta, choose a sauce that can be premade and
have your oven set at 200 degrees. Put your pasta in water and cook, meanwhile
finishing your vegetables and side dishes. Hold sides and vegetables in oven
safe dishes in the oven while straining and finishing your pasta in a premade
sauce. Then serve!
Now let’s get inebriated and do the dishes together!
