Is the dinner party dead? Part 2
The goddess’ mailbox has been overflowing with missives from her minions enlightening her beyond belief about issues we’ve recently discussed.
First, here are some very helpful hints for entertaining from Noah Lekas of Kennesaw, who assures us the dinner party is anything but dead.
Lekas, a bit of a whiz in the kitchen -- with the added benefit of being a restaurateur for seven years -- has a leg up on most mortals when it comes to throwing a dinner party. He writes, “I find entertaining easy. Most of the ‘fancy' comes in the presentation. The food does not have to be expensive, just taste good and be well laid out.”
Lekas plans his menus ahead of time and divides the work throughout the week so when the big day arrives, he, too, can enjoy it.
He writes, “My secret is making sure that you are prepped for the event. During the week I will do a little bit of work while I make dinner each night. That way, on the night of the event I already have all my veggies cut up, stock made, meat marinated, etc. If I have something that involves a stuffing, I will prepare the stuffing on Thursday, stuff the meat on Friday and be ready to bake the dish on Saturday.”
His goal for the night of the event is just to do a final sauté, bake, braising or grilling for the different dishes.
Lekas also recommends multitasking in the kitchen -- for example, using the time while things are cooking to clean up. A great recommendation for party night is to make sure to start with an empty dishwasher. That way, when you put the pre-prepped items on to cook you just have to put the Tupperware in the dishwasher.
What about you? Share your best entertaining tips with the holy hostess and her dear readers.
Now, on to a meatloaf update.
How many languages can you say meatloaf in? The goddess has certainly learned a few more this week, thanks to her wonderful followers who have taken the culinary queen on a gastronomic jaunt around the world through their letters.
As we all remember, Judith Shelton of Duluth was looking for what the goddess thought was an American-as-apple-pie recipe for a meatloaf made with rice that could be shaped around a boiled egg. The goddess was happy to provide that recipe and thought the discussion was closed.
But, as always, her dear readers opened her eyes to a world far beyond the U.S. borders. Renee Reese of Smyrna writes, “I realize I’m several weeks late on this one, but I wonder if you ran across recipes for embutido, a Filipino style of meatloaf? It’s a very common food from the Philippines. Growing up, I wanted regular meatloaf with ketchup on top, like my friends got, but my mom stuck to her guns and her hard-boiled eggs. All these years later, I’m glad she kept it real.”
Marcine Johnson of Woodstock sent in a recipe from a Hungarian cookbook for toltott fasirozott, another meatloaf wrapped around boiled eggs that her mother used to make.
And lastly, Deb Swiggum of Oakwood gives a shout out to the U.K. classic Scotch eggs -- hard-boiled eggs surrounded by a “sausage sort of meatball.”
It shows that when it comes to dining, from the heavens to the earth we truly are all one.
About the Author
