Third Annual Easter Saturday Dinner

Yup. This was weeks ago. But here we are nearly in the middle of May, and I am only posting about it now. Oh well. This post is all about an annual Easter Saturday dinner party that I throw for my friends. I love planning and preparing for it and below is a small synopsis of what was served with a few tips of what to/not to do.

When making my plans, I try to think of what is going to be easiest for me on the night. I only just now re-read over my 10 rules for entertaining and I can see already that I broke a few of them. Oops!
But I did remember to try keep it simple and to prep ahead. I knew that on the night I was going to be one person feeding 8, so it would just be silly to try and do something that requires last minute individual cooking.  You want to be sitting down with your friends, and just waiting for the oven buzzer to tell you the food is ready. 

To prep ahead I had the house cleaned the days before, and got the extra chairs/set the table the night before. Anything that could be done, was done. I also made the dessert the day before, as well as purchasing whatever I could in advance.

The menu:
Starter - Chicken Liver, Garlic & Brandy Pate from The Pigs Back, with Crostini, Homemade Pickled Cucumber, Dressed Salad Leaves and a side of Red Onion Marmalade.

Main Course - Beef Short Ribs in a Red Wine Jus, Braised Red Cabbage and Creamy Mashed Potatoes.

Dessert - Deconstructed Baked Crunchie Cheesecake with a Chocolate Crumb, Caramel Sauce, and a Chocolate Ball with Raspberry Coulis. 

I bought the pate (but this also could have been made in advance as well), as well as the bread, salad leaves and red onion marmalade. I made the salad dressing and pickled cucumber in advance. Then on the night, it was just a matter of cutting the bread, dressing the salad and plating each element on the plate. 

I had practiced the beef dish the week before (not wanting to make the same mistake as year 1 and 2 with making a new dish) so I had a good estimate of timing etc. on the evening. It was a slow cooking dish so the meat was in the oven for hours ahead of time and cooked away until I needed it for main course. I had cooked the cabbage and potatoes just before my guests arrived so these were kept warm on the stove.

For dessert I made the chocolate balls well in advance, as I had never done this before and wanted to try get them right - and enough of them. I made 20 ball halves and on the day I added raspberry coulis into one half and stuck the top of the ball on top. These were left to rest in the fridge and I moved to the counter before the guests arrived so that the coulis didn't harden up. I had also made the cheesecake top the night before so this was also resting in the fridge. I made the chocolate crumb earlier that day which also was resting in the fridge. When it was time for dessert I cut and plated the cheesecake and added the chocolate crumb, with a line of the caramel sauce (store bought, don't care) and the coulis filled chocolate ball on top.

I was so glad I wasn't stuck to stirring a pot in the kitchen while missing out on conversations in the dining room. I will definitely stick to prepping ahead and planning a menu that is not hands on at the last minute.