Tom Douglas

The Nightly Dinner Party/ by Kathleen Gibbons, Palace Line Cook

One of the things I love most about working in the back kitchen on a Saturday night is that I get my chance to throw a dinner party for my coworkers.  In a short amount of time, I have to put up enough food to satisfy about 15 to 20 people; it must be quick, delicious, and efficient.  The basic principles of creating family meal are the same as they are for a casual dinner party at home.  As cheesy as it sounds, T.A.S.T.E sums it up:

Tasty: Always make it delicious. There may not be a lot to work with, but trust me, everyone really appreciates a good meal when they’re working hard.  Another motivation for making a delicious family meal?  Chances are that everyone will like you a little more, which roughly translates to “someone might buy you a cocktail after work.”

Appetite: Never underestimate how much people can eat.  I’ve learned it’s better to make too much than too little.  Made 3 enormous pans of nachos? No worries.  THEY WILL BE EATEN.

Salad:  I serve a salad with every family meal I make.  It gives the illusion that the Frito Pie or cheesy pasta wasn’t all that bad for you.

Time: It’s always important to remember that one must act quickly.  If you are having a dinner party, you want to spend a majority of your night with guests, not making hte perfect coq au vin.  If you are making family meal, you want to spend a majority of your night peeling and roasting fifty pounds of turnips, not making perfect coq au kitchen wine.

Efficiency: Use what’s around.  Try to keep things simple so as to avoid using too many ingredients from all over the kitchen and making things more complicated than they need to be, thus resulting in a minor, yet annoying, stress overload.  Use leftover chicken or pasta; keep things casual.  On Halloween, while dressed as a lumberjack, I made super simple tortilla soup: Saute a few diced onions with a fistful of spices- I used Rub with Love Pork Rub- all the spices already combined, and it makes everything way easier (spices like cumin, coriander, paprika, dried thyme, red pepper flake, and cayenne work beautifully.)  I added two quarts of canned whole tomatoes and one quart of chicken stock, let it simmer a few minutes, then added a few pounds of leftover cooked and cubed chicken.  Done.  Easy, totally delicious, and fast.  Another good tip to feeding the masses? CONDIMENTS!!! Sour cream, cheese, scallions, tortilla strips, diced pepper, cabbage.  People love personalizing things, especially food.

It all comes down to trusting yourself and what’s around.  Save the super fancy stuff for when you’ve mentally prepared yourself for a crippling panic attack.  Cook what you like, cook what you know, and everything else just falls into place.

November 18th, 2009