Basics: Throw the Perfect Dinner Party (Part 1)
Most everyone is intimidated by the thought of cooking for others, let alone in masse. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
Here are simple tips to flawlessly plan a multi-course meal for multiple guests. (In Part 2, I’ll address how to execute your perfect dinner party plan.)
Be cognizant of who’s coming and what their dietary restrictions are. If you have one guest who’s pregnant and another who doesn’t do poultry or red meat, you need to find the common denominator of what everyone can eat (like a low-mercury fish).
I recently tried going vegan (and spoiler alert) – this doesn’t work when hosting a dinner party, unless all of your guests subscribe to that way of eating too. Unless of course you don’t want anyone to come back again for dinner. If that’s the case, then hey, knock yourself out with tofurkey.
But in all seriousness, the key here is to know what you’re dealing with ahead of time so you have time to plan.
Plan your menu and shop in advance. This seems fairly obvious, but is crucial. You’ll begin to spot a theme here…. stress-free hosting is all thanks to PLANNING AHEAD!
If you’re making a dish with specialty or exotic ingredients, I’d suggest shopping two days prior in case the first store (or two) doesn’t have what you need.
A successful dinner party doesn’t need several elaborate courses. All you really need are the following:
Appetizer(s). Keep the apps simple – meaning ideally, they don’t require cooking prior to guest arrival, only assembly. My favorite appetizer is a veggie tray with hummus and white bean dip pictured above, as inspired by Emily Schuman. (I’ve also noticed that healthy apps like this tend to be bigger hits, since your guests will likely be overindulging the rest of the meal.)
My other go-to appetizer is a cheese board with olives, assorted crackers, and local honey or jam. If you’re feeling creative, you could assemble a beautiful charcuterie and cheese board, like my friend Jackie brought to our New Year’s Eve party.
Main dish. Fish, poultry or red meat all work well here – the key is to find one that is easy to make. As luck would have it, the recipes with the fewest ingredients are often the best!
Side dish(es). In Italian, we call this contorno, and it’s vegetables that highlight the main event. If I’m hosting a big dinner, like Christmas for example, I might make three side dishes, but for a simple dinner party, one is all that’s needed.
Here’s the key with sides:
A) They can’t steal the show from the main dish. Don’t use competing flavors, but rather complementary ones.
B) Sides should have different colors if you’re making more than one. For example, when I hosted Christmas this year I made goat cheese mashed potatoes, a red beet salad with arugula, and green beans gremolata. We’ve all heard you should eat the colors of the rainbow, right? Well there’s a reason that red, green and white look beautiful together (and not just because they make up the Italian flag!).
Dessert. If you aren’t much of a baker, ice cream with fresh berries (topped with Chambord, if you’re feeling fancy) are a perfect ending to a meal.
Game plan. Have I mentioned yet that stress-free hosting is thanks to planning ahead? A game plan is simple and will make your life much easier when party time rolls around.
How I create my game plan is through reverse engineering. Figure out the goal time to serve dinner and work backwards. For instance, when do I want guests seated and served? How long does the main dish take to cook? How long does the side dish take? What time do they need to begin cooking on the stovetop or go into the oven? This is also a crucial step because you’ll quickly determine if you’re short on real estate in the oven or stove. (Example below.)
More to come soon with Part 2!