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Planning the Perfect Dinner Party
Dinner parties are fun, but they can also be a source of stress and disappointment for the cook. The way to avoid this is through careful planning. Obviously you will give careful consideration to your guests, their likes, dislikes and even any allergies they may have. But it’s just as important to consider your own needs, what you like to cook and what you are good at. It’s better by far to create dishes you are familiar with than to attempt something new because you are hoping to impress. The trick is to make everything look simple, and the way to do that is to use variations on recipes you already know backwards. On the other hand, if that means no improvement on spaghetti Bolognaise, another approach may be called for and a little more planning may be needed. Select your recipes with care. Decide very early on how many courses you intend to serve. It is by no means essential to serve three courses plus cheese just because that tends to be the norm. But if you do decide to follow that convention there are few things it would be helpful to consider. Avoid, for example, using the same main ingredient in more than one dish. i.e. don’t serve a quiche followed by something else in pastry, or add a strong flavor like chili to more than one dish. Plan, also, how you intend to cope with both preparing and serving the food. If your menu means that you will need to spend more time in the kitchen than you do with your guests, you need to re-think Design your courses so that as much as possible can be prepared in advance. A simple way to do that is to serve only one hot dish, perhaps the main course, one course at room temperature and one straight from the fridge. The cheese can take care of itself. Speaking of which, here is something you might like to consider. In Australia and the UK, cheese is served at the end of the meal. In France it is served before the dessert. I recommend the latter course. The reason for this is because it puts the timing firmly in your hands as to when the meal is over and it’s time for the guests to go home. Let them linger over the cheese until you are ready to bring the evening to a close. Then serve the dessert with just one bottle of good pudding wine, having cleared all the other dishes, including the cheese board. As soon as the dessert is finished, offer coffee. Most people will understand that as the final part of what has been a perfect evening.
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PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
The Cool Cook
Taking the heat out of the kitchen
www.all-about-cooking.com
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