Maybe that's why Coz and I didn't get through the final stage of selection for My Kitchen Rules, because for me (and I suspect Coz too) food isn't a competition. It's a collaborative, sharing, communal experience that makes people happy. People find it really hard to believe but we didn't even apply to MKR to win, we applied because we thought it would be an amazing food-related-adventure.
People sometimes ask if I mind if they steal recipes from my blog, or print them out, or give them to other people. Honestly, I really don't give two hoots. I don't even mind if you pass the recipe off as your own, I would just like to see more people cooking and really, I would love people to discover cooking and the collective fun it allows, as well as the deliciousness it allows. Please: steal my ideas, adapt my ideas, claim my ideas! Cook as frequently as you can and enjoy it!
Anyway. The thing that keeps getting me is how much these people continuously seem to be thrown by their enormity of their cooking challenge, clearly if you were given a time limit and a large group of people to cook for, surely you'd plan that shit. Surely you'd think about how long it'd take to prepare what and plan dishes that fitted together in terms of the time they take to prepare. It almost seems like these people have just put up the best recipes they have, without considering how they'd prepare them as a whole menu. I think that's idiocy. Maybe it's why most people blanch at the prospect of a dinner party. Really though, if you plan it right dinner parties do not have to be stressful or strenuous.
Here's a menu I suggest you make any time you feel like it, it's easily adaptable for a large group of people because all the elements are SIMPLE, yet effective. Or perhaps we didn't get on MKR because I am clearly too much of a culinary strategist, dinner parties are all about strategies my lovelies, a strategy to ensure you spend the smallest amount of time in the kitchen and the largest amount of your time drinking wine and talking smack with your guests. And guess what? This menu is totes vegetarian. Totes.
Vegetarian Menu
Serves 6
Entree: Vodka tomato bruschetta
Make 2 batches of this vodka tomato recipe, but dice the tomatoes instead of slicing. You can prepare it up to 4 hours before serving, but don't add the parsely, zest or cheese until right before serving, sprinkle this over the top of each bruschetta.
You'll need 6 slices of sour dough or ciabatta, just before serving, drizzles these with olive oil on both sides, then grill til golden brown on each side.
Top each piece of bread with the tomato mixture, then sprinkle with the zest, parsley and cheese. Serve immediately.
Main: Mushroom risotto
You're going to need 3 batches of that recipe. Pre-chop your mushrooms etc before everyone arrives, put the risotto into the oven when your guests arrive, then complete the remainder of the cooking process just before serving. If you want some greenery, stir some baby spinach or rocket through the risotto just before you serve it.
Dessert: Chocolate soft centred puddings with raspberry coulis.
Prepare the coulis the day before and refrigerate (I like to put it into a squeezy sauce bottle so you can drizzle it effectively). Then prepare the puddingas 2-3 hours before your guests arrive, refrigerate, then take out while you're serving the entree to bring them back to room temperature, bake as instructed in the recipe.
So... what do you think? It probably wouldn't win a round of MKR, or even score very highly, especially if Thomas was there to thwart everything with a score of 1, which I'm pretty sure should mean that the food was inedible, but ANYWAY. But we're not trying to win a round of MKR when we're entertaining at home, we're probably trying to enjoy ourselves and have fun, to spend as much time with our guests as humanly possible. Or maybe that's just me.
