Dinner Party: Menu for 6

I stumbled across a new podcast called The Dinner Party Download through EatMeDaily.com. The 15 minute podcast is a mish-mash of  pop-cultural oddities, food trivia, music and corny jokes.  Check it out!

I actually had a dinner party for 6 lovely peeps last Saturday that I co-hosted with a friend. Here is the menu and other details.  There was plenty of food and leftovers, which we gobbled up over the last few days.  

March 28, 2009 Dinner Party Menu

People: 6  (50/50 M/F)

Vegetarians: 1  who ate seafood 

Start: 8:30 PM

End: 2:00 AM or so

Snacks

• Manchego with quince paste (Whole Foods)-- Could have served the cheese with marcona almonds too. Will do that next time. 

Starter 

• Halibut carpaccio marinated in olive oil and fresh lemon juice on a bed of baby arugula-Fish and greens from Whole Foods. Nice starter. Very light, citrusy and refreshing. 

Main

• Homemade pasta with pancetta and olive-oil--I didn't prepare this, but one of the faves of the night.    
  
• Brussel sprouts with bacon and raisins:  Perfectly Cooked.  We also made a vegetarian version without the bacon.  Recipe from The Barefoot Contessa in Paris
  
• Grilled asparagus with olive oil and kosher salt:  Yum. 
  
• Grilled scallops with 5-spice and olive oil:  Scallops from Whole foods; 5-Spice from Chinatown. Make sure the pan is very hot or use non-stick. Thanks Claudia for this one.  
  
• Roasted crown roast of pork with green peppercorn sauce: Ask for a crown roast of pork, frenched,  I had 10 chops --way too much meat for 5 people. Better to have more than not enough. Obviously, you can freeze the remainder or give away at the end of the night.  To make he roast look impressive, you can truss it like to look like this. Very easy to make, but you must monitor, so the meat won't overcook. (Be sure to watch the sauce too. We couldn't find measuring spoons,  so I sort of guessed at the flour portion and incurred lumpiness.) Recipe from The Barefoot Contessa in Paris with no fennel and a twist.

Dessert from Blackhound Bakery Cakes in the East Village

• Strawberry and Cream
  
• Lemon Curd
  
• Chocolate Flourless Cake

Drinks 

• Prosecco 2 bottles
  
• Sancerre 1 bottle
  
• Pinot Noir 1 bottle
  
• Beer 6-pack

I-Pod

On Shuffle Mode, but I think I remember Bon Iver, Kate Perry, The Stars