Dinner Party for Twelve

[Anonymous]

22:38 here.

Beef tenderloin is very simple to make but always seems special because how many times do you cook filet mignon for dinner? Salt and pepper, brown on all sides, stick it in a hot oven to finish. If you cook it to a medium temperature, it is also good served sliced, warm or at room temperature with a horseradish sauce. You can buy a large tenderloin at any Costco, Safeway, WF, etc.

If you love turkey, however, go with that - it's your day after all. For green vegetables, you could roast asparagus or hericot verts in the oven since it will be on. For something different - Giada DeLaurentiis has a recipe for butternut squash gratin with pesto. It is absolutely divine and can be assembled in advance and put into the oven as the turkey is finishing up.

Lemon ricotta cheesecake sounds fantastic (for either main) - and for some reason strikes me as less involved to make than a frosted cake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Appetizer: gorgonzola stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto and roasted.

Soup: butternut squash soup with gruyere croutons (check epicurious.com for recipe)

Main: chicken Marbella

Salad: spinach, feta, walnuts, with orange segments with raspberry vinaigrette

Dessert: strawberries dipped in chocolate

I think I know you...My foodie friend would recommend this!

[Anonymous]

I've hosted tons of dinner parties. Mostly because of my husband's job.

My suggestions:

Do NOT try anything new. Stick with recipes that you've made before.

Select recipes that you can prepare ahead of time.

Keep it simple.

See if you can hire some older teens to help out. It doesn't cost much to hire a couple of teenage girls to help serve. They can clean up while you and your guests relax after supper.

[Anonymous]

OP - I LOVE turkey and the entire Thanksgiving meal. As my birthday is in May, I love to recreate the whole thing! If you love it, do it! It is your birthday!

[Anonymous]

You all are awesome!

One more question: How far in advance should I send out invitations? And is Evite ok for a party of this type?

Ok, this is what I'm thinking for the main meal:

*EITHER Roasted turkey breast with fancied-up cranberry sauce of some kind (can I find fresh cranberries at this time of year? I'm guessing not) OR beef tenderloin served w/creamy horseradish sauce (if I can get past being intimidated by cooking it)

*Crispy potato roast: http://www.thebittenword.com/thebittenword/2010/01/crispy-potato-roast.html - I'm going to test this out soon

*Roasted haricot verts or asparagus (does anyone have a good link for this?)

*Green salad

Do I need another dish? That Giada butternut squash dish looks fab, but would it be too much?

Thanks again!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For appetizers, nothing beats a bowl of spiced nuts (google washingtonpost dot com and Kim O'Donnell) and cheese and crackers. You can go simple or fancy with the cheese -- arrange it on a couple of beautiful plates, add a cluster of grapes, maybe some chutneys or honey -- that's my idea of simple but elegant. [As PP suggested - brie wrapped in phyllo with jam can be prepped the day ahead] Serve apps with sparkling wine. [bacon wrapped figs would be an awesome companion to cheese & crackers; I can't believe I haven't tried this yet]

Michael Chiarello has a cheese dip/appetizer recipe that is awesome the next day - it's a block of parm, a block of asiago, several cloves of garlic all chopped in the food processor. Then add EVOO and a pinch of red pepper. Stir in thinly sliced scallions. Serve at room temperature in a bowl w/crackers or toasted baguette. It packs a punch but boy is it great!! Leftovers (if you have any) work with plain pasta.

Everybody has great ideas - I especially like having a soup as a first course, a roast (tenderloin/lamb), and crepes AND cake for dessert! Why not?

Have FUN and happy birthday!

Love these ideas - thanks so much!

[Anonymous]

Hi OP - this sounds so fun. I LOVE your idea of a thanksgiving style meal, bc you love it (and it is your bday) plus would be special for the guests. I love that Mark Bittman cheesecake, and you can serve it with fresh berries. You could also make ahead minicupcakes (Williams sonoma's chocolate cookbook has great adult mini choco cupcakes). Re a green, if you are having roast turkey, etc, you could steam green beans until crisp (if anything, under steam them by a couple of minutes so really crisp) the Morning of the party, refrigerate and then reheat right before serving in a mix of olive oil and butter, and sprinkle with sea salt and lemon juice before serving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP - this sounds so fun. I LOVE your idea of a thanksgiving style meal, bc you love it (and it is your bday) plus would be special for the guests. I love that Mark Bittman cheesecake, and you can serve it with fresh berries. You could also make ahead minicupcakes (Williams sonoma's chocolate cookbook has great adult mini choco cupcakes). Re a green, if you are having roast turkey, etc, you could steam green beans until crisp (if anything, under steam them by a couple of minutes so really crisp) the Morning of the party, refrigerate and then reheat right before serving in a mix of olive oil and butter, and sprinkle with sea salt and lemon juice before serving.

OP here. These are great ideas - I do have mini-muffin tins, and mini-cupcakes would be so festive! And berries on the cheesecake would be great. (Have you made that cheesecake? In my experience virtually everything Bittman is good.)

If I prepare the green beans as you suggest, do I toss them in the olive oil & butter mix, then re-heat them in the oven before sprinkling with sea salt and lemon juice? If so, for about how long?

I've only ever prepared green vegetables on the stove (sauteed, steamed), and for a dinner like this, I love the idea of throwing them in the oven, to avoid the hassle of last-minute sauteeing, steaming, etc.

Thanks so much.

[Anonymous]

The green bean idea is actually Mark Bittman's method of preparing (I love him, too, and I agree everything I've made from his recipes comes out good) - it is basically steaming the beans until crisp tender, and then reheating on the stovetop right before serving. I personally prefer steamed crisp green beans to roasted ones (which is what you'd do if you put them in the oven) - the reheating on the oven is extremely quick and easy so long as you have a big enough pan for them - simply melt a little butter and olive oil together in the pan - I use a swirl of olive oil and a knife pat of butter - then dump in the pre-steamed green beans and stir them in the butter/olive oil mix for a minute or two - they don't need to be hot, you just need to get the chill off them. Then when you put the beans in the serving dish, sprinkle sea salt and squeeze a lemon over top. I promise it is very quick and easy.

Another idea is to stem green beans before the guests arrive and leave them room temp. Serve them at room temp with a vinagrette on the side - you can mix a simple one or else sometimes I use bottles Paul Newman's balsamic vinagrette, but I always put into a little gravy boat before serving

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Appetizer: gorgonzola stuffed dates wrapped in prosciutto and roasted.

Soup: butternut squash soup with gruyere croutons (check epicurious.com for recipe)

Main: chicken Marbella

Salad: spinach, feta, walnuts, with orange segments with raspberry vinaigrette

Dessert: strawberries dipped in chocolate

I think I know you...My foodie friend would recommend this!

Aha! Maybe...what are my initials? And what are yours?