Having friends for dinner, I can never seem to time it right to have all the dishes ready at once. Any tips?
Answers:
Plan on some stuff that can be made ahead of time then just kept warm until needed.One pot dishes such as casseroles,stews,chillis etc, cut down on timing problems. Don't plan over-elaborate menus and do a practise run a few days before if you're not sure.Never try anything for the first time for guests.
Serve a single dish meal such as pizza or sloppy Joes.
depending what you cook, start the things that take the longest to cook first, like the meats. Blanch the vegetables ahead of time, then just before you serve the meal, drop them back into boiling water for about 20 seconds.
Cook the meat the night before, the potatoes 1 hour before you need them and the veggies just put in the microwave. The day of your dinner just heat the meat, then mash the potatoes and heat the veggies them put ever thing in the oven on keep warm until you are ready to serve. Any other side dishes like salad or desserts can also be made the day before.
Actually sit down ahead of time and do a timetable. For example
Wed. buy food. Thurs. make cookies and put in freezer. Fri. make bread wash salad greens. Sat. Have turkey in oven by 3PM
While turkey is roasting mix salad greens but do not add dressing yet. etc. You will have to go back and change your timetable so do it well in advance probably as soon as you have made up your mind to have a dinner party. Some people work backwards from the time you are expecting guests to the time you want appetizers and and drinks ready etc. As you work with it you will devise which way works best for you.
Design a menu that can be served in stages, like a soup or salad follwed by an entree and then dessert and then coffee. Have enough drinks on hand to occupy your guests during the "intermissions" between courses, and act like any delays are all part of the "dining and socializing" concept. If the conversation is good nobody will mind waiting a bit!
It depends how big your friends are the bigger they are the longer they'l take to cook.lol
ask your best friend to help out with you
2 is better than 1.
Assuming you mean individual plates with food for each person,the almost production line is best,meaning having space to put the plates in a line .spooning or placing the same ingredient
along each plate then adding another ingredient ,and so on till each plate is as should be, then serve,
Big lavish dinners ,of course would be easier placing everything in the middle and each serves him or herself.
well good luck and bon appetite
order out
cook all of your friends at once, they should all be ready at the same time.
The French call it Mis en Place (mies in plass). Have everything ready to go onions diced spices measured into little cups meat trimmed and ready to go. Each corse should have its own tray. Some things like salad and soup can be all ready ready all ready!! Most salads keep weel without the dressing in the fridge and soup only improves with a little simmering on the back burner. Keeping your plates in the oven on warm (if you dont already have a roast in there) is a perfect way to insure you serve hot food. Have all your plates staged for each corse, walk thru each corse and know every tool youll need4 (have them sitting on the conter ready to go). If you are trying somthing you have never made before MAKE IT!! At least one portion.
Now assuming you dont want to spnend all night in the kitchen while your guests enjoya faboulous meal..
Appatizer.. Grilled Procutio wrpped asparugus toped with a tomato salsa (ready to go in the fridge, flavor the salsa as you like fennel and black olive work well)
Salad. Mescalune (or any mixed green) topped with crumbled blu cheese and a balsamic minuete garnished with tomatos or whatever looks really good in the produce section. (minuete is a shalot dressing somtimes made with bacon email me for a recipie) Salad plated in the fridge dressing ready to go in a squeeze bottle.
Soup you name it.. (I like seafood clam chowder or maybe a Woodsman With mushroom thyme and sherry) Simmering on the back burner.
Main Corse. Pick A roasted meat.. Pork loin seared with sesame topped with a pinapple soy sitting atop a stir fry of mixed chinease veg. (this one you may have to be in the kitchen while your guesats enjoy the soup but its worth it. Keep the oven low and slow. Start about 1 and 1/2 - 2 hrs before servive starts. coat the loin in sesame seeds put in a pre heated oven 500 degrees for 15-20 mins or until it develops a nice golden color looking for caramel not carbon.. Drop the oven to about 250 (open the door and let out a little heat for 5 mins or so) use a remote thermometer to 135 degrees farinhiet. Check it after an hr if it seems to be taking to long to rise in temp turn the oven temp up to quick turn it down.. you get the idea. Open the door to the oven while you wrap the roast in tinfoil make sure the oven goes below 150 (use an oven thermometer) put the roast back in the oven to "rest" This can happen anytime thru the dinner but preferably about the time the salads are served. (Im sure your guests wont mind you excusing yourselfe for a couple of mins.) While the soup is being raved about by your guests your in the kitchen. Your roast resting in a warm oven.. Your Veggies all prepped and ready to go, trimmed sliced and diced. blanched if necesary (brocolli and carrots for instance..) Wok is on the burner spatula by its side. Plates are ready in the oven (you put them in when you put the roast back right..?? You walk into the kitchen turn the walk on high take the roast and the plates out of the oven while the wok heats.. throw the veggies into the wok one at a time in cooking order.. longest to shortest.. just as the veggies are almost done you add (from your squeeze bottle # 2) The pinapple reduction flavored witrh soy and ginger. Plate the veggies place a slice of the roast on top sprinkle with a few sliced green onions. you know the ones on youe mis en place tray ready to go.. drizzle with the pinapple reduction and serve.
Desert. ummm you figure it out lol.
This is easy. prepare! for example if you are having an entree amke the soup a few days before your dinner, soups can be frozen and thawed out on the day of your dinner. all you need is a loaf of bread and butter to serve with it. the mains. this can be done the morning .. example one main dish and everyone can share, a roast maybe?? cook it slow throughout the daya nd bring out at the time of serving.. desert is easy, a tub of ice cream and some frozen berries.. takes about 10min to serve. you won't be rushing off your feet this way! just take your time, don't stress and make it easy for yourself.
Prep and cook what can be reheated well the night before. The side dishes can be reheated in the last 10 minutes of the main dish cooking.
:Go Cold have gazpacho,
antipasto with losts of cheese cubes and cold cuts
,herbed bread sticks,
ice cream with hot fudge ( just pop the lid and set in a bowl of hot water while you dine) coffee so easy
figure out the times the dishes will taketo cook then start with the one dish that will take longer. if it takes 45 minutes and another takes 33minutes set it accordingly so they will both finish at the same time. so all the food is hot and ready when your friends show up
do most of the preperation the night before and if possible cook the food the night before so you just have to reheat this should make it easier ie if you are cooking meat reheat it in the oven wrapped in tin foil so in a tray with the sauce. choose carefully what you are making and make your decision based on the cooking time, prep time so that everything roughly takes the same amount of time. You could also buy a steamer for your veg so that you don't have to cook them on the hob and this frees it up for something else. choose something that is easy to make but nice to eat dont make anything too complicated. If you are foing a fancy dinner ie starters,main course and dessert. have a starter that you dont have to cook like prawn cocktail, small salad or melon so these can be ready in the fridge, then for dessert have ice cream or cake so these can also be prepared before hand and stored in the fridge/freezer then you only have to worry about the main course.
Start with the menu, pick dishes that can go in the oven and cook at the same temps and approx. same time. While cooking, you can prep a salad, set a table, fix drinks. You can have an appetizer ready to buy you more time, a simple cheese and fruit tray with special bread/crackers will work and can be made ahead of time.
hire a chef to do all that 4 u - your friends will be well impressed
prepare salad without dressing, keep in fridge.
have prepared lasange(either from shop or made the day before) in warmer or on warmer plate.
have condiments/dishing spoons/ wine glasses/salad dressing and table set .
have 2 apple pies put on homemade plates with dishes and spoons on a side table, Icecream in freezer ready to pull out.
before guests come set out chips, biscuits, open a couple cans of salsa, cheese on a plate w/grapes and knife and mayve some spring rolls in the oven/warmer to bring out.
have your wine/sodas/ice/glasses and any drinks set on a seperate table for people to help themselves.
so now all you have to do is pour yourself a glass of wine, enjoy the appertisers, remember to take out the spring rolls.
when you are ready to eat pull out the salad and lasagne, desert will be close by a table and all you have to do is pull out the icecream and enjoy your guests without too much fuss.
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