I LOVE dinner parties! They give me the opportunity to make roasts, braised meats, or anything else deemed too large or time consuming for just Reno & myself. I also use dinner parties as a stage for showing off some fancier techniques and presentation. The drawback to the dinner party, though, is the number of people you can invite. Although most people have table capacity of just 6-8 people, I find my tight twelve-seater inadequate. That may seem like a lot of people to some, but if you count Reno & me, that leaves only 10 spots, which equals 5 couples, and sometimes you just want to add one more person...you see where I'm going.
The beauty part of the cocktail party, on the other hand, is that you can have way more people over than you can sit at a table. It's also a great way to host a different groups of friends together, since the layout encourages everyone to mix and mingle. I always assumed that was the grown-up way to "party." As a child, I watched tv shows and movies where adults hosted and attended cocktail parties, and they always looked so chic. Granted they were probably rife with aspic and deviled eggs, but let's stay focused on the spirit of the party. Everyone would be dressed up, suit and ties for the gents, cocktail dresses for the ladies. (I'm thrilled dresses are coming back, btw,I missed them. ) People would eat, drink and be merry while cool music played in the background.
Nowadays, so many people's idea of entertaining is to show a game on the big screen tv, while guests gobble up 6 foot subs and chug beer. A far cry from the cocktail party of yester year, n'est pas? So where did we lose our way?
I, myself, can count on one hand the number of cocktail parties I have attended in the last 10 years. I don't even hear my more fashionable city friends talk about going to cocktail parties that aren't work related. The only place I ever hear about cocktail parties are in gossip magazines, and they're hosted exclusively by and for celebrities and socialites. What about us regular folk, though? It is up to us to resurrect the cocktail party, and to bring finesse and style back to entertaining! Average Joes unite!
Like a dinner party, a cocktail party can be as relaxed or formal as you make it. And, depending on your culinary skills, the food can be as easy or complicated as you'd like too. This is a good opportunity to get creative with serving food (cake plates and silver trays would be nice), and if done right, can actually eliminate a lot of the clean-up afterwards (think non-messy foods that don't require plates).
I generally like to go the more formal route with only utensil-free finger foods, which make it easy to eat while standing and chatting. The menu is where I like to have fun and mix up fancy and casual food. I would easily do a nice pig in a blanket and a wild mushroom vol-au-vent for the same party. Even the pig in a blanket can get dressed up when you use an artisanal mini sausage wrapped in puff pastry and serve it with whole grain mustard. If you put some thought and creativity into it, many of your favorite recipes can be made finger friendly if made into bite-sized portions. Just think mom's meatloaf can be a nostalgic canape if cut into little squares or made in mini muffin tin.
My main rule, though, is to have enough food, and enough menu variety, to constitute a whole meal. Keep cooking methods in mind while menu planning as well. You don't want everything to come out of the oven or deep fryer. Cold dishes can be prepped and plated before the first guests even arrive so you can spend less time in the kitchen during the party. Everyone likes some hot food for dinner, so be sure to have some. The drinks can be simple wine (red & white), something non-alcoholic and water. And the music can be anything you like, so long as it doesn't preclude people from chatting and hearing each other, which is the whole point of the party.
The following are some easy menu ideas:
I, myself, can count on one hand the number of cocktail parties I have attended in the last 10 years. I don't even hear my more fashionable city friends talk about going to cocktail parties that aren't work related. The only place I ever hear about cocktail parties are in gossip magazines, and they're hosted exclusively by and for celebrities and socialites. What about us regular folk, though? It is up to us to resurrect the cocktail party, and to bring finesse and style back to entertaining! Average Joes unite!
Like a dinner party, a cocktail party can be as relaxed or formal as you make it. And, depending on your culinary skills, the food can be as easy or complicated as you'd like too. This is a good opportunity to get creative with serving food (cake plates and silver trays would be nice), and if done right, can actually eliminate a lot of the clean-up afterwards (think non-messy foods that don't require plates).
I generally like to go the more formal route with only utensil-free finger foods, which make it easy to eat while standing and chatting. The menu is where I like to have fun and mix up fancy and casual food. I would easily do a nice pig in a blanket and a wild mushroom vol-au-vent for the same party. Even the pig in a blanket can get dressed up when you use an artisanal mini sausage wrapped in puff pastry and serve it with whole grain mustard. If you put some thought and creativity into it, many of your favorite recipes can be made finger friendly if made into bite-sized portions. Just think mom's meatloaf can be a nostalgic canape if cut into little squares or made in mini muffin tin.
My main rule, though, is to have enough food, and enough menu variety, to constitute a whole meal. Keep cooking methods in mind while menu planning as well. You don't want everything to come out of the oven or deep fryer. Cold dishes can be prepped and plated before the first guests even arrive so you can spend less time in the kitchen during the party. Everyone likes some hot food for dinner, so be sure to have some. The drinks can be simple wine (red & white), something non-alcoholic and water. And the music can be anything you like, so long as it doesn't preclude people from chatting and hearing each other, which is the whole point of the party.
The following are some easy menu ideas:
- An anti-pasta/cheese platter: The nice thing here is that you can really go all out on this one, with cheeses, salami, pate, olive, roasted peppers, cured anchovies, roasted peppers, artichokes, etc. Just don't forget the bread!
- Even salad can be make finger friendly if served on endive spears, radicchio leaves or Boston/bibb lettuce leaves
- Crudite - almost any veggie / dip combination works here.
- Mini smoked sausages, skewered with mini (pre-boiled) potatoes, then pan fried and served with nice mustard. Here you can add all sorts of veggies too.
- Smoked salmon with little toasts or blinis, served with creme fraiche, capers, mined red onion, dill, lemon, etc.
- Shrimp cocktail anyone? Yes, people still love the shrimp cocktail. Keep it from being too Vegas buffet by making your own sauce, or serving with different sauces.
- Chicken wings - you should at least cut them at the joint and use a not-too-messy-to-eat recipe. Or a more sophisticated option would be to do a chicken skewer. I think chunks are easier to slide off the stick than whole strips of flesh. Keep the eater in mind!
- "Spaghetti & meatballs" - I recently did a take on this by skewering cooked tortellini, and making tiny meatballs, and serving them with a tomato dipping sauce. Che buono!
- Lamb chops. So many stores sell the whole rack with frenched bones, that all you have to do is cut them into individual chops, and the bone acts as a natural handle. What could be more fun or tasty than gnawing on the bone??? It's not as trashy as you might think.
- Mini panini/grilled cheese - if you use sliced baguette for your bread, the filling options are endless, and you have neat mini sandwiches. A variation on this would be to grill the bread slices first (crostini style), then serve them topped with chopped tomato and basil, or anything else you can imagine.
- Cherry tomatoes are great for filling (once you remove the inside pulp & seeds, of course). You can fill it with either a bean puree (canellini beans, sage, olive oil, salt & pepper to taste), goat cheese mouse (goat cheese, olive oil, salt & pepper to taste) or smoked trout mousse (smoked trout, cream cheese, lemon juice, lemon zest, pepper). And the options go on.
- Soup is ideal for serving in shot glasses or sake cups. Think small clear plastic cups (sold at party stores) if you don't want to make the investment.
- If you make a mean risotto, try serving bite sized portions on Asian soup spoons.
- Want an Asian flare? How about finger friendly spring rolls rolls or sushi?
- Chocolates & cookies - sweets are v. important. You don't want to forget dessert!
- Any cake would be nice, just don't make it too high, and pre-cut into 1" pieces. I would frost/glaze the pieces after you cut them.
- If you can find pre-made tart shells or other pastries of the likes, they would give you even more possibilities.
