(and a guide to help you pull off the night perfectly!)
There are those dinner rituals reserved for winter, the ones that involve an extra-stuffed grilled cheese sandwich, chowder, hot chocolate–sometimes all in the same night. I’m all for those. This menu, however, is nothing like those dinners. Even more indulgent, melted in butter, tossed around in cream, topped with crispy caramelized things, this menu, rather than embracing and cozying up to winter, is about defying winter with a dinner party. It’s about setting a fabulous table with the holidays long past, dragging your friends out of their homes 3 hours after the sun’s set, putting on nice shoes and rewarding yourself for not letting winter beat you down. It’s celebration just for the sake of it, and a justifiable rich balance to flat, grey February.
So I give you:
an indugent, deep-winter dinner party menu…
risotto-stuffed chard bundles with browned butter oyster mushrooms
sauteed brussels sprouts with fried shallots & toasted almonds
…and the guide to help you pull it off with ease!
This work-back is tried and tested.It’s exactly how I tackled this menu without stress, ensured that I could get dinner on the table when planned and still have time to get dressed and hang with guests almost the entire time. This is new for me. After years of hosting dinners, I finally am getting pretty good at that. Too bad I have a reputation for the complete opposite to work off. I basically have to have everyone I’ve ever had over for dinner before back again to prove myself. Check your mail for invitations.
I hope this guide, which is just taking the organizing and timing off of your plate (pun actually not intended), will let you pull this dinner party menu off like a pro your first time.
the guide
guests arrive: around 6.45/7ish? cocktails and light nibbles since this dinner is rich (suggestions: cava, a warming house cocktail, spiced nuts, your favourite pickles or seedy crackers with a strong cheese that doesn’t encourage over-indulging–although who can resist, it’s cheese, it’s true…)
dinner: 8 sharp