My Entertaining Season Begins

[Marlene]

Oh yeah -- as a final garnish, something I learned from MatthewB: sprinkle some Durkee's French-fried onions on top.

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Must be an American thing

[Dave the Cook]

Oh yeah -- as a final garnish, something I learned from MatthewB: sprinkle some Durkee's French-fried onions on top.

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Must be an American thing

Well, you could break out that deep fryer and do it right, but Durkee's are a decent substitute, and kind of witty, when you think about it (OK, maybe it's an American kind of wit).

So, what time is dinner?

[Marlene]

Fine, I'll do your experiment for you except of course getting creme fraiche made today could be interesting.

[Marlene]

Dave a quick question. I normally brush my tenderloin with a butter, wine garlic sauce while it's spit roasting. Should I still do that or will it interfere with the other flavours?

[Dave the Cook]

Go for it, though maybe substitute shallots for the garlic, if you've got enough. If you don't, garlic is fine. Maybe a bit of Worcestershire, too. It browns nicely, and will echo the stuffing.

[Marlene]

The dinner party was cancelled due to the fact that one of our guests was ill. Since we had all this food, we decided to prepare it anyway . I'll post pics later, probably tomorrow, but I have to tell you that the Blue Cheese Stuffing was a spectacular success.

The flavours worked very well together and with the port wine reduction sauce it was just about perfect. I need to do a better job of hollowing out the roast next time, and the first time around I didn't reduce the sauce enough, and we had a couple of issues with our rotisserie, but it really was spectacular.

[Marlene]

while everyone is waiting with baited breath for my photos, and while I'm out in my formal gear tonight, I'd be very interested in hearing about others entertaining and how you plan your menu etc.

[snowangel]

while everyone is waiting with baited breath for my photos, and while I'm out in my formal gear tonight, I'd be very interested in hearing about others entertaining and how you plan your menu etc. 

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Interesting you ask this.

Later this month, I will be hosting a series of luncheons for my mother's 70th birthday. I thought about hosting one big luncheon. My mother is a remarkable woman. She's the one who biked (15 miles each way) to her radiation treatments for breast cancer three years ago. She has been there every step of the way with Heidi. She provides the place my kids beg to go and spend the night. She's the one who keeps up with, and still sends birthday cards to friends she went to elementary school with. Remarkable enough that when I was at the grocery store in Orr, MN, a woman comes up to me and asks if I am her daughter (there is an uncanny physical resemblence), and when I said "yes" this woman goes on for about 10 minutes about how important my mom has been to her. So, it seemed more appropriate to have four smaller luncheons for her, so that she could actually enjoy and spend time with the guests.

So, just what do I fix? Desperately seeking ideas. This a very special occasion, and I want to do it up right, but I don't want to do a lot of last minute futzing (sp?). These will be small affairs -- 4-6 plus my mom (and me) -- each.

[NVNVGirl]

while everyone is waiting with baited breath for my photos, and while I'm out in my formal gear tonight, I'd be very interested in hearing about others entertaining and how you plan your menu etc.  

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So, just what do I fix? Desperately seeking ideas. This a very special occasion, and I want to do it up right, but I don't want to do a lot of last minute futzing (sp?). These will be small affairs -- 4-6 plus my mom (and me) -- each.

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Susan~ you're planning on doing different menus etc, for each one? Are they divided into specific interest groups of your Mom's?

[NVNVGirl]

while everyone is waiting with baited breath for my photos, and while I'm out in my formal gear tonight, I'd be very interested in hearing about others entertaining and how you plan your menu etc. 

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I usually decide on a theme for my menus when I entertain. It all just sort of evolves usually....I either come up with a color theme in my head and start with the tablesetting and then go to the menu from there OR I plan my menu sort of according to the invitees and what type of group it will be and then go from there forward (usually ). I rarely do any theme drink, as I have found with the older, more set in their ways, people here, they tend to drink vodka or scotch...occasionally gin. So that's one thing I don't need to worry about. I always like the idea of doing a main drink, but found that I was the only one drinking them So, I stick with my wine and leave the drinks to the bartender.

But I do plan everything down to the last detail myself and I usually set up for it to see how things will look when it's all done. I plan the menu, find the recipes, have them at hand, make a grocery list for each menu item so that I know how much I need .....instead of writing "green onions" and coming home 3 bunches short. And I try to get as many things prepared as much ahead of time as I can so that I'm not in the kitchen for very much time. There's so much that can be done ahead and it's really helped me when entertaining....even if you do work your tush off the couple of days before, it's definitely worth it when your guests remark "You make it look so easy and you were out here with us the whole time". That's my benchmark

[amccomb]

So, just what do I fix?  Desperately seeking ideas.  This a very special occasion, and I want to do it up right, but I don't want to do a lot of last minute futzing (sp?).  These will be small affairs -- 4-6 plus my mom (and me)  -- each.

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Are you thinking something fancy, casual, themed? You could do a different theme for each - maybe asian for one, french for another, etc. Are you going for a light lunch, or mulitple courses? Or maybe more of a brunch with an egg dish or more of a finger-food thing, like a cocktail party or tea party?

[snowangel]

So, just what do I fix?  Desperately seeking ideas.  This a very special occasion, and I want to do it up right, but I don't want to do a lot of last minute futzing (sp?).  These will be small affairs -- 4-6 plus my mom (and me)  -- each.

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Are you thinking something fancy, casual, themed? You could do a different theme for each - maybe asian for one, french for another, etc. Are you going for a light lunch, or mulitple courses? Or maybe more of a brunch with an egg dish or more of a finger-food thing, like a cocktail party or tea party?

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I am seeking light. Elegant. I could repeat meals, or not.

HELP!

[Behemoth]

I am seeking light.  Elegant.  I could repeat meals, or not.

HELP!

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How about picking things your mom really loves but doesn't get that often, and then maybe tweaking them a little?

E.g., my dad loves gorgonzola, and blood oranges. When my parents visited us we had a dinner party for them and a few other people. Two of the dishes were belgian endive filled with a little blue cheese, and a savory salad of blood oranges and red onion, very thinly sliced on a plate topped with a good vinegar and olive oil dressing. My dad caught the references, so it was a nice inside "wink".

Edit: also, my mom always sends me off with giant bags of herbs from her garden. So once when they were invited over for another dinner party, I incorporated herbs from her garden into each of the dishes. That was also pretty nice.

I have a friend visiting soon with whom I always used to go out for jamaican food. We have both since moved from that city, so when he comes to visit next month I will be making jerk pork (hopefully weather will be BBQ friendly) & fried plantains. That kind of thing...

Edited November 7, 2004 by Behemoth (log)

[amccomb]

I am seeking light.  Elegant.  I could repeat meals, or not.

HELP!

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Hmm...I like to do seasonal foods, but fall foods are a little heavier.

Let's see, you if you go seasonal you could maybe have a light salad with dried cranberries and goat cheese, or a butternut squash soup topped with creme fraiche and crushed hazelnuts. For a main dish, sliced duck breast with a pomegranate sauce or port and cherry sauce with wild rice on the side with celery, onion, apples, sage, and pecans or a gratin of baby turnips and poached pears for dessert.

Another fall-ish menu might be a salad with a pumpkin seed vinaigrette or chestnut puree soup, herb roasted pork tenderloin cut into medalions, a ragout of wild mushrooms served over polenta, and an apple tart.

Or a chestnut, squash, and sage risotto or an acorn squash stuffed with sausage, wild rice, dried apricots, herbs and nuts with a side of roasted beets with rosemary and goat cheese and a pumpkin mousse or pumpkin or maple panna cotta

You could do an asian theme and have a nice ginger-y salad with mandarin oranges and almonds or sesame seeds, duck potstickers, salmon or tuna with a teriyaki or wasabi flavor, sauteed snowpeas with soy sauce and sesame seeds, and then a nice light dessert like a sorbet or ice cream or fruit topped with custard.

You could have a mexican theme and have empanadas with any number of fillings or tamales, turkey with a pumpkin seed mole, a quinoa pilaf, and flan for dessert.

Is this along the lines of what you had in mind at all? Or are these all too heavy?

[Dave the Cook]

The dinner party was cancelled due to the fact that one of our guests was ill.  Since we had all this food, we decided to prepare it anyway .  I'll post pics later, probably tomorrow, but I have to tell you that the Blue Cheese Stuffing was a spectacular success.

The flavours worked very well together and with the port wine reduction sauce it was just about perfect.  I need to do a better job of hollowing out the roast next time, and the first time around I didn't reduce the sauce enough, and we had a couple of issues with our rotisserie, but it really was spectacular.

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I am thrilled that this turned out well, though maybe it's good that you had a chance to try it on a forgiving family first.

Pictures?

Please elaborate on the troubles you had. How did you go about following my inept instructions for creating a hole for the stuffing? What made you think that your reduction wasn't done? Most importantly, what would you change? What didn't work?

[Marlene]

Omelettes, Waldorf Salad, Fritattas, soups and salads, or French onion soup, sandwiches on wonderful crusty breads or baquettes. Chicken Ceasar Salad.

[Marlene]

I am thrilled that this turned out well, though maybe it's good that you had a chance to try it on a forgiving family first.

Pictures?

Please elaborate on the troubles you had. How did you go about following my inept instructions for creating a hole for the stuffing? What made you think that your reduction wasn't done? Most importantly, what would you change? What didn't work?

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In the end, it all worked. It just took me a while to get there

To answer, I do have pics, I just have to re-size them etc. I also have pics of the Gala event last so I'll get to those too.

I didn't have a proper meat slicer, so hollowing out the roast was a challenge. You'll see in the pictures that it's a little uneven, and a little high. I'd be almost tempted to use my sharpening steel next time, although I suppose that's not a good idea.

I knew the reduction wasn't done when I ended up with the same amount of liquid I started with I haven't done a lot of reductions, so I had trouble gauging the results.

Oh and our rotisserie. We have a really expensive bbq that came with a really cheap rotisserie. Sometimes the damn thing stops turning, and we don't realize it till we go check the roast and it's crisping up nicely on one side but not any of the others.

So in a way, I'm glad my guests cancelled, because I wouldn't have been happy with the presentation, although it tasted amazing. Pics will follow. Really.

[amccomb]

Another menu idea - A salad with arugula, pomegranate seeds, shaved fennel, red onion, feta, and a honey red wine dressing, seared scallops with braised lentils, various root veggies, and wilted swiss chard with a light mustard sauce, and semolina cake topped with a fig, almond, date compote with honeyed yogurt sauce.

[snowangel]

Thanks to everyone for ideas. I think I need to get the kids in bed (yes, it's way early, but it's way dark) and mull these ideas over. Yes, themed luncheons chould be a great thing.

And, tomorrow or Monday, after I've done doodling, be prepared to give more advice.

You folks are gold.

[Marlene]

Yes, yes. The photos are coming . In the meantime, the crown roast experiment looms. The roast is ordered from the butcher and I will pick it up fresh on Saturday morning.

I have noted Jamie's most excellent suggestion for stuffing this roast. Are there any other variations I should consider?

I'm considering as sides, Potato puff, glazed carrots, tomato, blue cheese and onion salad. Apps might be the brie in phyllo again as my son is asking for it, and these guests have not had it before, in addition to perhaps some bacon cheddar toast points, or maybe there's something interesting I haven't considered.

These particular guests are close friends. In fact Therese was my best woman (as she likes to be called) at my wedding.(There's an italian word I'm looking for here to denote best friend, but I can't thinkof it at the moment) They are Italian, and we do tend to "compete" with each other when we cook. For example, she's bringing dessert, and she won't tell me what she's bringing!

Suggestions on all aspects of this meal are welcome.

[amccomb]

I like cabbage with pork, and I have an easy cabbage strudel that I make that might work. You sautee some cabbage with green onions, salt, pepper, and caraway seeds, then let the mixture drain. Meanwhile, melt a bunch of butter and pulse some rye bread in the food processor to make breadcrumbs. After the cabbage has drained a bit, you take a sheet of phyllo dough, slather with butter then sprinkle with breadcrumbs, top with another sheet and repeat until you have...I dunno, maybe 8-10 sheets. Then plop the drained cabbage onto the stacks of phyllo dough and roll up like a strudel or a huge egg roll. Slather with more butter, then bake until golden. Slice and serve!

[Jake]

Sounds wonderful, Marlene. I'm not sure what your potato puff consists of but it might be a bit heavy/rich with the pork. The carrots sound wonderful. For some reason I always think of carrots with pork, especially crown roasts. They just seem to go together for me, who knows why.

[Marlene]

I'm not a fan of cabbage unless it's saurkraut I'm afraid.

Jake, you may be right in your observations on the Potato Puff. I like this dish because I can make it ahead the day before, but maybe I should think about something else. The carrots are done in the slow cooker so I don't have to worry about them too much.

Potato dish anyone? More stuffing thoughts?

[Jake]

With all the flavours in Jamie's stuffing (I think that's what you were considering using, no?) and the sweetness of the carrots I think I would just do a simple turned potato on the side. Parsley for colour, perhaps.

[Marlene]

Thanks Jake. I'm not sure I'm good enough to attempt Jamie's stuffing , but yes, I'm considering it. Perhaps the same parisianne potatoes I did in my first dinner do you think? They are pretty simple to do, and aren't overpowering in taste. On the other hand, I'm feeling adventurous these days in terms of trying out more complex things, so if there's a potato dish out there that would work well with this, I'm all ears.