Food
and cooking articles and information:
Entertain,
Sane
 Entertaining
with terrific food, prepared in limited time, is not
only possible, it’s critical if you are to enjoy your
own party.
These
tips and web resources will help you shine, while maintaining
composure.
by
Tod Dimmick
- to find out more about Tod
<click
here>
A
gathering of friends presents a unique challenge for
those who aspire to good cooking. Magazines, newspapers,
and television cooking shows are filled with images
of perfect tables, arrayed with carefully prepared,
gorgeous gourmet dishes. Many such occasions focus on
food, and we have a huge desire to impress our friends
and family with our efforts. Of course, it would be
nice to be able to enjoy our own party at the same time.
No
pressure.
With
these realities in mind, consider these seven tips for
entertainment cooking sanity:
| 1. |
Be
Realistic
We
have steadily reduced the sheer number of offerings
at our party table. With two or three main dishes,
rather than six or seven, we now focus on preparation
and quality while at the same time keeping blood
pressure in check. Guest compliments have only
increased.
|
| 2. |
Prepare
in advance
Many
irresistible menu items lend themselves to advance
preparation, such as casseroles and pasta dishes,
and many actually improve with time to allow
the flavors to meld. Think of rich, savory stews
such as Boeuf en Daube or Coq au Vin. Imagine
how impressed your guests will be; they arrive,
you chat for an hour, and then suddenly you
produce a succulent masterpiece… that you’ve
prepared beforehand.
|
| 3. |
Familiar
themes, unusual twists
People
bring expectations. These expectations can be
respected, and delighted, by variations on a
theme. Keep in mind that you should appeal to
most (if not all). This is likely not the time
to spring raw octopus on your guests. If your
group loves roast turkey, however, a quick search
on epicurious.com turns up eighty-four variations,
including such tempting recipes as 'roast turkey
with port wine gravy' and 'mustard-rubbed roast
turkey with mushroom gravy'.
|
| 4. |
Keep
Cool
Or
at least keep room temperature. Serving up a
combination of dishes that need to be hot, or
cold, for a long period of time means that you
will be checking temperature rather than enjoying
yourself at your own party. There are a myriad
of dishes that are delicious served at room
temperature. And you get to socialize. My favorite
is a whole cold poached salmon, magnificent,
delicious, and unusual
|
| 5. |
Many
hands make light work
Ouch,
okay, so it’s a cliché. It’s also true. Guests,
friends and family often want to contribute
by bringing or making something. Let them.
|
| 6. |
Learn
from history
If
you hold an event each year, record what was
a hit, what wasn’t, and how much to make. The
hits become your 'traditions'. Discard what
didn’t work, and replace it with something new.
File the list away in real files, or on your
computer. For specific recipes, you can keep
a 'recipe box' of your favorites on many cooking
web sites, including Epicurious and AllRecipes.
|
| 7. |
Don’t
reinvent the wheel
When
you need ideas, inspiration, and practical 'how
to' guidance, take advantage of the collective
experience of others. These web resources go
a long way towards enabling a delicious meal
with limited time.
|
Theme
Menus
Here’s
a terrific site for theme menus. Christmas, Chanukah
. . . a menu for Van Gogh? Talk about theme cuisine.
Emphasis is on simplicity, taste, and 'scalability'
(quantities can be increased for large gatherings).
Menus requiring time can able to be made a day or so
ahead. (Check out Braised Beef with Anchovies and Oranges,
part of the 'Menu for Van Gogh')
http://www.foodstyles.com/Indices/menu_index.htm
The
story of a meal
Most
of us recognize that the appeal of a terrific meal is
not just in the ingredients, but in the environment
and history that accompany that proudly prepared dish.
In that vein pay a visit to Hub-UK,
a site that makes no claim of capturing all recipes
for all events, but rather delves deeply into a selection
of pleasing dishes, with a dash of history to add flavor.
Check out Bobotee, the South African meat dish . . .
http://www.hub-uk.com/pages/food04.htm
Epicurious
Epicurious,
a web standard for years, draws on the extensive resources
of Bon Appetit and Gourmet for recipes,
techniques, product and restaurant reviews, and more.
The sophisticated search engine enables mix-and-match
creativity; think porcini and veal, or figs and cream.
Tap them in and inspiration flows.
www.epicurious.com
AllRecipes
AllRecipes
offers up a truly massive recipe database that can be
sliced and diced by type of cuisine (Indian, Seafood,
'Healthy'), which course, and holiday. Pay close attention
to the entertaining reader reviews.
www.allrecipes.com
"Coming
together at the table is a reminder
that you are part of something bigger than yourself"
- Marion Cunningham, from The Shaker Table,
Saveur, April 2001
 Freelance
author Tod Dimmick writes about food, wine, and family
travel. His new book, the Complete Idiot's Guide
to 20-minute Meals (Alpha Books) has just been published,
and strong demand has already led to a second printing.
He also covers wine and food for TastingTimes.com, a
food and wine publication (and now website) he founded
in 1991. To learn more <click
here>
©
Tod Dimmick 2002
Meet
Tod Dimmick the author of the Complete Idiot's Guide
to 20-minute Meals
Since
1984, when Tod and his then girlfriend (now wife) spent
the summer in a tiny Fiat driving across Europe, he's
delighted in experimenting with the food from different
cultures. He also caught the travel bug - bad.
Flash
forward to today: after years of practice, Chef Dimmick
has learned a lot about how to make people happy with
good food. And with a family, Tod discovered that traveling
with children actually helps him meet the locals.
He
delights in exploring the world, both in a physical
and culinary sense; and he's not shy about sharing his
enthusiasm. If only the kids would eat that dish with
the tentacles coming out of it . . .
Freelance
author Tod Dimmick writes about food, wine, and family
travel. His new book, the Complete Idiot's Guide to
20-minute Meals (Alpha Books) has just been published,
and strong demand has already led to a second printing.He
also covers wine and food for TastingTimes.com, a food
and wine publication (and now website) he founded in
1991. To learn more, <click
here>
Two
years ago, he agreed to design and write The Busy Person¹s
Guide to Gourmet Cooking on a Budget for WZ.com, the
well-known web guide site. In less than a year, subscribership
to this email newsletter ("zine" in online
lingo) rose from 0 to over 75,000.
He
is the author of the Gourmet Cooking on a Budget, made
Simple, Healthy, and Fun (WZ.com). His writing and photography
has also appeared in publications including Cape Cod
Life, Cape Cod Home, Townonline.com, and the MetroWest
Daily News.
Tod
is also, most days, a dad. He lives with his family
West of Boston. He and his wife entertain frequently,
and invitations to dinner at his house are coveted throughout
the area.
Interested
in subscribing to Tasting Times?
This
is how the service is described:
Many
people would like to learn about wine, but are intimidated
by both the complexity and the cost, and do not have
time to read extensively and take courses to become
"fluent" in wine. As a result, they risk either
sticking with what they know they like, or avoiding
wine altogether, outcomes sad for the people who miss
exciting wine opportunities.
TastingTimes.com
is devoted to providing "wine intelligence for
the budget enthusiast". Wines we review will generally
be under $15, and we will always look for ways to provide
just enough background information to add to the romance,
enjoyment, and learning related to the wine at hand.
If
you would like to subscribe to the Newsletter visit
the site <click
here>
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