In the many years that I have taught cooking, a common concern from students was the stress of hosting a dinner party. I believe that cooking should be fun, and for me there is no better feeling than sharing a delicious meal with family and friends. In this next series of posts, I’m offering suggestions that hopefully will help make your dinner parties fun and almost stress free. We will start with timing and planning your menu.
Menu Planning
The first part of planning your menu is actually not the menu itself but time, comfort level and equipment at your disposal. Let’s take the issue of “time” first. While these tips might be common practice for most of you, some might be very helpful.
Time
Time is an important consideration. Be very clear with yourself about the time you feel you can devote to the preparation of the meal. This includes shopping, prepping, table setting and of course cooking. First, pick something within your comfort level, and that fits the time you are able to spend. If you want to try something new, do a “test run” a week or so prior to the dinner.
There are also many things you can do ahead of the dinner.
- Soups, stews and braised dishes can be made a day or two ahead and gently heated prior to the dinner. Most are actually best when they are allowed to set at least 24 hours.
- Salad greens can be washed, wrapped in a damp kitchen towel and stored in a plastic bag in the refrigerator a day in advance. The salad dressing can also be made a day or two ahead and kept in a sealed jar.
- Many vegetables (green beans, carrots, broccoli) can be partially cooked earlier in the day. Simply par boil in salted water, chilled in an ice water bath and then drained. A quick sauté with seasonings and butter or oil just prior to dinner is all it takes. This gives you less time in front of your stove when your guests are there, and one less pot to clean.
- If you are making your own dessert remember that cake layers can be frozen as much as a week ahead. Pie/tart pastry can be rolled out and placed in the tart pan and frozen. Fruit pies and tarts can be completely assembled, wrapped and frozen then baked the day of the dinner.
- If your dining area isn’t used on a regular daily basis, it also saves time to set the table a day or two before the dinner.
- You don’t have to do it all yourself. If you are not comfortable asking your quests to bring something, have your local deli fashion a plate of cheese or meats. Cooking and baking use two different parts of our brains, and while you might love to cook, baking is a chore, so buy a tart or a cake from your favorite pastry shop.
So, be honest about the time you have, pick some things that fit that time frame, choose an item or two that can be made in advance, and find things that fit your comfort level.
Stay tuned for next time when we look at equipment and suitable menus tailored to number of guests, space and season.