There are lots of reasons to host friends and family at your home: to bask in the camaraderie of those you love, to celebrate an event or milestone, or just to have fun. I think for a lot of those reading this post there may be another reason as well: to show those people in your life that you care for them by making them food. I know for me the first thing I think of when I want to do something nice for someone else is to cook for them. Not only that, but when you’ve done a good job cooking for someone else, it is so gratifying when they sing the praises of the food you’ve made; when you get to ‘flex on them’ as I believe the kids refer to it.
When deciding what to make for an occasion, I am usually a proponent of keeping things simple, or sticking to what you have done before and are comfortable with. This is the best way to ensure success and to be able to enjoy your company without stressing too much about your position as host. However, there is another side to this coin. If we’re always pulling from the same repertoire, then we run the risk of eventually boring our guests, and also letting our skills stagnate. If you love food and cooking, then getting the opportunity to cook for others can also be a great way to expand your horizons and push the boundaries of what you thought you could accomplish.
So I want to use this post to encourage you to, at least occasionally, step outside your comfort zone and tackle something that seems ambitious. Perhaps to the point of absurdity. Be creative, make up a new dish, tweak a recipe, present something in a new way, use ingredients you've never tried before, make it an excuse to buy those fancy products you’ve always dreamed of cooking with. Usually, even if what you make doesn't come out exactly as you imagined it, chances are that it will still be delicious, and well worth the effort of having tried making it for how much you learn along the way. Not to mention that if an ambitious project does go well, the accolades are all the sweeter.
As an example of what I mean, I wanted to share with you a look at a meal I made recently to celebrate my wedding anniversary. Many years ago when I was first courting the woman who would become my wife, I didn’t have a whole lot going for me. Working in restaurants, I was unavailable basically all the time. I missed vacations, birthdays, weddings, and was at work until 1am six days a week all for a pittance. I figured given the circumstances, I should probably play to my strengths. I figured if I wanted to lock it down my best bet would be to demonstrate my value by cooking an elaborate meal. It worked, and almost a decade (!) later, I still mark our anniversary by making a meal that is, frankly, ridiculous. With all that back story out of the way, let's take a look at what I cooked up most recently.
I usually present the dinner as a tasting menu-style fine dining meal. I'll take you course by source and just say a little about what is going on.
I usually open with a small, but intense dish to set the tone for the meal. This is a sweet corn flan with grape molasses, 40 year old balsamic, pistachio oil, tulsi basil, and a foie gras mousse.
The next course was a celebration of summer produce: broccolini, summer squash, and frying chillies stir fried with shallots and shallot oil and topped with anchovies, nice olive oil, and colatura; double roasted cylindra beets with a black garlic and clam broth; crispy fried eggplant with piri piri, harissa mayo, and marjoram; cherry tomatoes with a tomato water, reduced dashi, olive oil and basil; and leeks from our garden cooked in the style of snowflake dumplings.
Next up is the bread course, split into two offerings. A croissant French toast topped with duck liver mousse, pluot sauce, and tarragon; and a steamed brioche bun filled with chopped clams, butter, garlic, andouille sausage, and herbs.
Now onto some lighter seafood preparations. First, scallops with their roe on the half shell roasted over bayberry branches with brown butter and bayberry oil.
Then Maine bluefin otoro dressed with fermented strawberry, black currant, nice olive oil, and nori.
For the ‘main course’, I prepared a two-week dry aged squab stuffed with black truffles with an elderberry lacquer, nasturtium petals, pickled cherry blossoms, and served with beach plum umeboshi and fermented black bean paste.
Now comes the ‘pre dessert’ course: a serving meant to bridge the gap between savory and sweet courses. I made an intense musk melon sorbet with caramelized onion fudge, crispy shallots, and ancho chili powder.
And lastly the dessert! This is bruleed peach over baked frangipane, filled with pistachio praline and brushed with smoky peach shrub. It's then topped with a mochi cream sauce flavored with lemon verbena and pandan.
Hopefully this set of dishes helps to inspire you to stretch yourself a little the next time you are preparing a meal for someone else. I know this one definitely strained the boundaries of what I’m capable of doing at home. But I’m the better for having done it, even if I did have to wash dishes… a lot. If you want to lay a strong foundation for impressing your friends and family with your cooking, I recommend checking out our upcoming Essential Building Blocks class. Happy cooking and Bon Chance!
