GGMSP, off without a hitch
The first MSP Ghetto Gourmet was a smash! We served a 5-course meal for 16 friends.
• Butternut squash and green apple soup with a curry/bell pepper garnish
• Pink lady apple cups with celeraic cherry slaw
• Argula salad with fennel, baked ricotta, and saffron
• Cassoulet (a French dish with white beans, tomatoes, lamb, duck, and sausage)
• Pots of chocolate with orange polenta cookies
As a huge food fan, I usually look back on everything I make and imagine what details about the recipe I would have handled differently. In this case, everything was delicious and I wouldn’t have changed a thing—just a few procedures here and there. Make more dressing than you think you need. Borrow the mandoline a day early. And no matter what, do the main grocery shopping first thing in the morning the day before. Otherwise, with all of the things to coordinate, there’s too many factors that can interfere. The day before the dinner, we ended up at four different stores until late afternoon and preparing two of the dishes until midnight.
Overall, we agreed that this was perhaps even easier than we thought it would be. The only problem is that Carrie’s fridge and stove are pint-sized versions of the real thing—so the stovetop and fridge capacity were completely maxed out. We worked very well within our limits. Ang also went through the extra step of testing the cassoulet recipe ahead of time. Thankfully! We used Mark Bittman's recipe from How to Cook Everything, but yet the cassoulet test was still lackluster. Ang made the recipe her own by cooking the beans in white wine, adding bacon as they cooked, and pulling all the flavors together by roasting a duck and working it into the meal. The results were fantastic.
For those of you who might be organizing a GG yourself, here are the details.
For ingredients for all of the food listed above (and extra wine, just in case), we spent a total of $312. We had 16 guests, so that comes to $19.50 per person. We asked for 15 dollars from each person and a bottle of wine. If we had relied on just the guests’ wine (not everyone brought some, perhaps the non-drinkers), we would have run out way too soon. With the guests' bottles and the red in reserve, we consumed 16 bottles total that night (plus a few beers and a little whiskey).
Unexpected highlights: Aaron brought two bottles of champagne, so we also shared a toast. It was also Amy's birthday, so we all sang and served her dessert with a candle.
As for the division of labor, the two chefs were Angela and Carrie, and Michael was the matire d’. He did all of the serving, including refilling water and wine glasses. Indispensible! Thank you many times, Michael. Also, thanks to Harrison Matthews for bringing his guitar--probably the only friend in the room who knows how to play.
You can see pictures of the event (with links to two other Flickr sets) here:
http://flickr.com/photos/33729311@N00/sets/72157605048452133
Happy eating,
C and A
• Butternut squash and green apple soup with a curry/bell pepper garnish
• Pink lady apple cups with celeraic cherry slaw
• Argula salad with fennel, baked ricotta, and saffron
• Cassoulet (a French dish with white beans, tomatoes, lamb, duck, and sausage)
• Pots of chocolate with orange polenta cookies
As a huge food fan, I usually look back on everything I make and imagine what details about the recipe I would have handled differently. In this case, everything was delicious and I wouldn’t have changed a thing—just a few procedures here and there. Make more dressing than you think you need. Borrow the mandoline a day early. And no matter what, do the main grocery shopping first thing in the morning the day before. Otherwise, with all of the things to coordinate, there’s too many factors that can interfere. The day before the dinner, we ended up at four different stores until late afternoon and preparing two of the dishes until midnight.
Overall, we agreed that this was perhaps even easier than we thought it would be. The only problem is that Carrie’s fridge and stove are pint-sized versions of the real thing—so the stovetop and fridge capacity were completely maxed out. We worked very well within our limits. Ang also went through the extra step of testing the cassoulet recipe ahead of time. Thankfully! We used Mark Bittman's recipe from How to Cook Everything, but yet the cassoulet test was still lackluster. Ang made the recipe her own by cooking the beans in white wine, adding bacon as they cooked, and pulling all the flavors together by roasting a duck and working it into the meal. The results were fantastic.
For those of you who might be organizing a GG yourself, here are the details.
For ingredients for all of the food listed above (and extra wine, just in case), we spent a total of $312. We had 16 guests, so that comes to $19.50 per person. We asked for 15 dollars from each person and a bottle of wine. If we had relied on just the guests’ wine (not everyone brought some, perhaps the non-drinkers), we would have run out way too soon. With the guests' bottles and the red in reserve, we consumed 16 bottles total that night (plus a few beers and a little whiskey).
Unexpected highlights: Aaron brought two bottles of champagne, so we also shared a toast. It was also Amy's birthday, so we all sang and served her dessert with a candle.
As for the division of labor, the two chefs were Angela and Carrie, and Michael was the matire d’. He did all of the serving, including refilling water and wine glasses. Indispensible! Thank you many times, Michael. Also, thanks to Harrison Matthews for bringing his guitar--probably the only friend in the room who knows how to play.
You can see pictures of the event (with links to two other Flickr sets) here:
http://flickr.com/photos/33729311@N00/sets/72157605048452133
Happy eating,
C and A
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