Dinner Party!

An enjoyable occasion or a social gauntlet to be survived?

You may recognize the picture here.  It is from the hilarious movie Bridget Jones' Diary (2001), starring Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth, & Hugh Grant.  Bridget plays a single woman who has been invited to a dinner party of couples.  She laments that the only thing worse than "smug" couples, are lots of smug couples in one room. The clever blogger Christian Landers also takes a shot at the institution of dinner parties on his blog, Stuff White People Like.  I suggest you give a quick read, it's well worth the effort.  

My most recent soiree was to celebrate my wife's 35th birthday as well as the Christmas season; not to mention, I hadn't really thrown a real dinner party in several years.  It's expensive, the prep work is exhausting, but the payoff can be very rewarding when done properly.  When the alcohol flows properly, the appetizers are actually consumed, and the conversation goes well, one is reminded that social occasions can actually be enjoyable.  Who knew?  I'd certainly forgotten.  

Now there is the ambitious home cook (I'm one of them.) who will turn to the back of Bon Appetit magazine and make the suggested dinner listed there.  It is usually multiple courses that take days in advance to prepare and shop for.  Occasionally, I have enjoyed this task.  However, I've learned over the years that most people don't really notice if everything has 20 ingredients in it, or two.  Also, your guests really don't like it all that much if they can't have a drink and chit chat with you because you're busy hovering over a last minute Hollandaise.  (Although, I do love Hollandaise and there is actually a way to prep it ahead of time. Tip: Store it in a thermos and whip with a titch of hot water right before dinner.) In fact, it makes them feel a bit stressed, or possibly even guilty, when you're slaving away while they are trying to relax and enjoy your company.  It's not all about the chef, and it's not, shockingly, all about the food.  

SOME TIPS FOR SUCCESS: 

• Prepare one large centerpiece, such as a roast, large poultry, or whole fish.
• Make several side dishes, such as additional vegetable dishes.  
• Don't plan a menu in which each element has to be served hot at the same time, use cold or room temperature dishes.
• Do plan a menu that can be made mostly ahead of time. 
• Don't break the bank to impress.  It won't impress.  In fact, it may stress your guests.
• Appetizers or cocktail nibbles come from the deli counter-meats, olives, large wedges of cheese, and salted nuts.  
• Dessert can come from the patisserie.  
• Prepare one pre-mixed cocktail or large punch bowl.  

Of course, the menu planning takes a bit of thinking ahead of time.  Pick one centerpiece, such as a roast.  Again, while plating individual entrees can be rewarding, the general idea is to enjoy your guests' company, something that is not necessarily accomplished by arranging micro-greens on a plate in order to recreate the visage of the Virgin Mary.  Another satisfaction of a large roast is the dramatic presentation that it makes table-side.  If you think of old English paintings of table-scapes, its never of individual platings, it's of one large center element.  For this particular occasion I ordered a Southern dry-cured country ham several weeks ahead of time.  It was a generous 14 lbs. with the whole bone-in attached.  Bones almost always make for a more aesthetic presentation.  Note: If you're going to carve table-side, make sure you know what you're doing.  You don't want to be fumbling, swearing, and or destroying an expensive cut of meat in front of your hungry dinner guests.  And have a wicked sharp knife, otherwise the panache and theater of carving is completely obliterated.  

A traditional (American) meal is generally thought of as one each: protein, starch, and vegetable.  The dinner party is not the time to adhere to this triangle.  It will come across as less than festive and generous--which is the opposite effect of what you're trying to achieve.  I generally find that making two vegetable dishes is really a good way to round out the meal.  It also serves the purpose of catering to vegetarians should you have any at the table.  

THE MENU

Cheese, Salami, Olives, and Rosemary Cashews

Christmas Punch

champagne

Country Ham with Major Grey Chutney Glaze

Garlic-Cream Scalloped Potatoes

Orange-Braised Carrots & Parsnips

Lemony Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Pecorino & Almonds

Thyme Popovers

red & white wines

Coconut Layer Cake

coffee

whiskey

more champagne!

more whiskey!

All in all, it went quite well.  I made everything ahead of time, well before any guests arrived.  The only thing I had to do was saute the Brussels sprouts, and pour the popover batter into the pan.  Ham can be served at room temperature so it had been done for hours. The potatoes and carrots had been slow-baked and then set on the back of the stove with the oven on to stay warm.  The Brussels sprouts had been trimmed and dressed with lemon and olive oil so that they just had to be tossed in a hot saute pan before serving, more of a wilted salad that only needed some warming.  Popover batter had been prepped ahead of time.  In fact, popovers work much better when the batter is at room temperature.  

But the punch .  .  . the punch was genius.  I will never set out multiple liquors and mixers again.  (Okay, never say never.) We're all adults.  You drink what is provided.  And it went fantastically, as everyone walked in and hung their coats, I simply ladeled out the chilly, tart, deeply red & festive punch that had been mixed hours ago and chilled out on the porch.  Everyone had a full drink immediately, I wasn't stressed, and everyone raised their full drinks in a festive cheer.  I leave you with the punch recipe, and Salut!

 Christmas Punch

·         (1) .750 ml bottle inexpensive but descent vodka such as Sobieski, Tito’s, etc.

·         (1) .375 ml bottle of Cointreau, Grand Marnier, or Spanish orange brandy such as Torres

·         (1) .750 ml bottle of inexpensive dry sparkling wine such as Freixenet, Any reasonably priced Prosecco, Cava, or domestic sparkling will suffice as long as it’s labeled dry or Brut.

·         4 c. pomegranate juice, suggest R.W. Knudsen Just Pomegranate

·         (1) 32 oz. bottle of R.W. Knudsen brand Just Cranberry juice (Note: There is not a substitute for this style of cranberry juice.  If you use another brand, it will not taste the same.  Knudsen is a very concentrated, tart, and unsweetened cranberry juice. It is available at Whole Foods.)

·         1 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice, Do not used bottled lemon juice; it will detrimentally affect the flavor

·         1 L club soda

·         1 c. simple syrup (2/3 c. water + 2/3 c. sugar, dissolved)

·         1 lb. of fresh cranberries, frozen

·         2 lg. oranges sliced, frozen

Put all ingredients in punch bowl and stir.  Frozen fruit serve as ice cubes and garnish.  This recipe is based off a recipe from Martha Stewart that I doubled and slightly modified.  I had a dinner party for 10 guests a couple nights ago and the punch disappeared at an alarming rate.  I’m pretty sure most of the guests had 2+ rounds in about 20 minutes and it was gone.  Chilling such a massive volume of beverage can be a bit challenging in a refrigerator, especially when you’re entertaining and refrigerators tend to be full.  I simply made this ahead of time and put it out on the porch which worked fantastically.  And danger, this punch is very refreshing and you cannot taste the alcohol.  Sip with holiday cheer, but a bit of caution as well.