Lots'o'Ladies!

November 28, 2010 6:24 PM

Elegant dinner for 25!? Is it possible?

I'm getting a little bit worried, since I'm receiving more yesses than I expected for a Ladies Dinner on December 17! I'm a good cook but have a relatively small apartment, with not a lot of prep or storage space. I know I can always default to lasagna and a big salad, but I'm hoping for something a bit more sophisticated. Of course, I'd like to prepare as much as possible ahead of time (nothing a la minute). I'm kind of thinking of a big ol' skool standing rib roast with a side or two? Soup-to-nuts suggestions welcome!

Oh, and dinner games, themes, great dinner music playlists -- thanks all.

posted by thinkpiece to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

About space: use the cool weather to your advantage if you've got a porch. A Rubbermaid tub and you're good to go with nature's fridge.

Other than that, I'm not sure if you're doing a sit-down, or a buffet-style, but here are some party tricks I like:

Have one signature drink you can serve and offer as everyone comes in, and something simple that you've pre-mixed. They don't have to have it, but it adds a little something.

Then, I like having cheese, nuts, and bread out. Sometimes pate too. This is also good to bring out after dinner and supplement with fresh and dried fruit (apple slices, pear, dried apricot) and crackers/crisps to freshen it up. Unless they ate all the cheese. Suggested: La Sauvagine, Cambozola, Gruyere, or my special favourite, Brillat Savarin. So runny and salty and good. You can do olives too, if you think people will eat them. You want to prep this at least an hour before people arrive so the cheese comes up to temp.

A roast works well! But I have a feeling that it could be messy if you have to carve everything. But you can reserve a roast ahead of time and pick it up on the morning of to save space. I also like doing up a leg of lamb studded with garlic.

Mash is easily done earlier in the day and reheats well with a microwave. Don't refrigerate it or it'll take forever to come up to temp.

Roasted veggies are easily done earlier in the day as well and don't need to be stored in the fridge. They also reheat well and can be reheated in the microwave, or after your meat is out of the oven and standing for 20-30.

I'd stop here if you want to keep things simple for the mains. Bring the cheese out again if you have any left. Now... dessert!

You could go really simple and serve some nice blocks of chocolate in varying cocoa percentages. You could bake cookies the day before and serve (can re-heat for a few mins in the oven for extra fresh-baked goodness). Can get fancy here and make mini ice-cream sandwiches. I like to serve fruit into the evening, but it can be fussy to wash, drain, and store ahead of time. Store-bought works well here, and usually, I find people will show up with dessert in-hand, so I don't worry too much about having enough sweets.

Dinner themes, games, and music aren't my realm. Just food :) Someone else will have to cover that.
posted by jlunar at 6:47 PM on November 28, 2010

Wild mushroom soup for a starter - delicious, and doesn't matter if you just use button mushrooms, if others are too expensive (but suggest adding some dried porchinis for depth). Don't skip the sherry (you might need some for the main course, anyway). Buy sliced mushrooms if you can - you need a lot! Don't multiply the recipe to get 25 serves - make it less, as this is a starter, not the meal! Doubling it is probably enough.

I would consider some kind of French casserole (beef bourguignon, coq au vin), with sides, mainly because I would find roasting cuts expensive for that many people - but you may not care. For that many people, you'd probably need to do it in a big stockpot on the stove (even my slow cooker probably can only do 12 people - although you could do in two batches and just reheat in a stockpot). Cooking this ahead of time will get you better flavour. For sides, I would do a potato gratin (again, can cook ahead and reheat), another vegetable or two (French peas and lettuce), and perhaps some salad as a side, with sliced baguettes and butter. People do not eat as much as you may think.

For dessert, mini cheesecakes. These seem to impress people well beyond the ease of making them - I whipped up a batch for a baby shower and it took maybe 10 mins (with food processor), plus cooking time. I piled them into a small tower with raspberries scattered on and all around, and then sifted icing sugar (powdered sugar) over the lot. They also keep in the fridge for a few days, so you can make ahead. This recipe would scale easily. Personally, I would reduce the amount of sugar, and perhaps add some lemon zest, or more lemon juice. Or maybe champagne jellies with raspberries in them??
posted by AnnaRat at 7:00 PM on November 28, 2010

My first thought was that you could have a variety of hors d'œuvres instead of a sit down meal (if you don't have enough space to comfortably seat 25 people). You could have trays with mini quiches, shrimp, smoked meats, deviled eggs, lox, etc. That, along with a variety of cheeses and a couple of bowls of nice salad sounds to me like a relatively easy way to make an elegant meal.
posted by tomtheblackbear at 7:05 PM on November 28, 2010

For this many people, you'll probably end up making lots of things, since it's hard without restaurant-sized equipment to make a batch of any one thing that'll feed everyone. My general rules of thumb as far as which dishes to prepare for crowds are as follows (these assume that you want everything to be ready at the same time, which you do, so you can eat with your guests rather than be stuck in the kitchen):

• Almost all things that can be served cold or at room temperature can be made well in advance, which you definitely want to do. This includes salads, some sauces, rolls/bread/biscuits (not that you have to make your own), fruit items, non-hot desserts, etc.
• For things that are served hot, to avoid putting yourself into a situation where you need to try and fail to do multiple things at the same time, you're allowed:
  • One oven item (assuming you have one oven; could be a meat item like a roast or a brisket, or something like lasagna or enchiladas)
  • One fast-ish stove-top item that takes constant attention (this might include a stir fry, for example)
  • One or two stove-top items that can be started and simmer without you having to pay them much mind (soup, stew, beans, pasta sauces, etc).
  • One or two items that can be made in advance and microwaved, if necessary, though I try to avoid it.
• For a big group, dessert should always be in the served-at-room-temp-and-made-ahead category, since hot desserts mean you have to leave the party to get them ready, which is no fun.


• Dishes that require individual servings to be made one by one are generally much harder to pull off (usually more of a problem with breakfasts where someone tries to make omelettes for everyone, but can be an issue with dinners, too)


• Having snacks out (a cheese plate, say) when your guests arrive will keep them occupied while you finish things up, and you can put them outside the kitchen if you're not someone who likes to cook and talk at the same time. If you don't know cheese, go to a cheese shop or the cheese counter at an upscale grocery like Whole Foods and ask for suggestions.


• Most things made the same day can survive being not in the fridge for a while, so if you make a cake in the morning, it won't do it any harm to leave it out until you eat it, if you don't have the storage space; likewise, most veggies are fine being out of the fridge all day, so if you go shopping first thing in the morning to get the veggies for your salad, leave them out 'til dinner time.

posted by andrewpendleton at 7:16 PM on November 28, 2010

Have you thought of serving soup as a first course? There are a lot of options you can prepare in a slow cooker, assembled early in the day and then left unattended until it's time to serve. For that matter, any dish from a slow cooker would be ideal in your situation.

You can also rent chafing dishes to keep any number of sides or other dishes warm without involving a microwave.

One more thought: I have the Firehouse Food cookbook, food from San Francisco's firehouses, which I recommend looking at for recipes/inspiration.

It's culturally diverse food and they take real pride in their cooking skills. I didn't expect to find Calamari Salad, Home-style Jook or Tortilla Espanola in there, but they are! "What we do is nothing like institutional cooking. It's good home cooking, made with a lot of care, scaled up to feed a bunch of people." Think 14 hungry men, and food that might need to sit awhile if the alarm goes off at the wrong time. It might be just what you need!

Good luck!
posted by nadise at 8:19 PM on November 28, 2010

Do the beef bourguinon (sp?). You can make it in advance, it's hard to overcook and will hold better than a roast if the party gets off schedule, it can be eaten off a plate on one's lap relatively easily, and it is elegant.
posted by Orinda at 9:59 PM on November 28, 2010

These are all 'best answers', and I loved andrewpendleton's strategic approach -- exactly what I need. Keep 'em coming and thank you!!
posted by thinkpiece at 4:11 AM on November 29, 2010

I would check the dimensions of your apartment to make sure you can seat 25 people. I have attended two dinners where I didn't get to eat because there literally was not enough room on either side of me to bend my elbow to get the fork to my mouth.

If you do have enough room for 25 comfortable place settings, great. If not, I suggest a buffet. Try a Russian-style zakuska table, where the appetizers are the most important part of the meal. Two fish, two meat, two vegetable. Provide 3-4 zakuska per person.

Then a casserole-style main course and some little, portable desserts. I wouldn't go for anything spillable like soup.

For drinks, steep some vodka 24 hours ahead. You can find recipes for aniseed, dill, or saffron vodka, and so on. This will save you from fannying around trying to choose wine. Make sure you have at least 25 shot glasses to serve it in, of course.

Prepare as much as possible ahead of time. Ideally you should have very little to do on the day other than set the table and assemble the various dishes.
posted by tel3path at 6:03 AM on November 29, 2010

Maybe this is not as classy as you want, but you can always declare it a potluck. You could match up individuals with certain dishes to prevent everyone from bringing pie.
posted by chairface at 4:43 PM on November 29, 2010