There is nothing more that I like than having a dinner
party. An intimate dinner party. I prefer to entertain with a small group of
friends. Whenever you have to cook for the masses, the quality of the food
slips. But don’t get me wrong, I do love a big party. Every year for my
birthday I invite everyone that I’ve ever known and everyone that I’ve ever
liked and disliked. These parties usually get out of hand and end up with
someone asleep in the driveway.
The first time I was moving to Paris in 2009, I had a huge
bon voyage party. I had the party at my awesome friend Diandra’s house which
was being rented by my other awesome friend, Susan. One big happy family up
there at the villa. We have had zillions of dinner parties at this house and
they have all been rather formal so I decided this time, this party, we were
going to let our hair down a bit. I decided we were going to have a Mexican
fiesta. First things first, I turned off all of the water in the house. There
was no way anyone was drinking water, only tequila. I told every guest to bring
a bottle of tequila. If you wanted any water you were going to have to drink
out of the toilet, the pool or the koi pond.
I ordered Mexican food from crappy Baja Fresh. Lots of it. One
of my favorite awesome friends is a self-proclaimed high maintenance New York Upper
East Side/Hamptons on the weekends Jewish-American princess and when she saw
the platters of sloppy burritos on the beautiful 18th-century
Spanish dining room table, her mouth dropped open. I’m pretty sure I heard an
“Oy vey.” She was horrified but guess what? Nine tequila shots later she was
shoving taquitos down her throat at an alarming rate. No one is too good for a
taquito! I also hired a karaoke/DJ for the night. This is the best move I’ve
ever made.
Daniel Boulud’s roasted chicken recipe HERE.
So after you’ve mastered the perfect roasted chicken you can
take it up a notch and change things a bit. Check out these few interesting
recipes…
Roasted Chicken with Rosemary and Grapes recipe HERE
I am kind of a recipe collector so I have put together my
favorite roasted chicken recipes on my Pinterest board. You can check it out
HERE.
Stay tuned for the next installment of The Art of
Entertaining. Hint: “bougie.”
Good Day!I have NEVER met another soul who throws herself her own BIRTHDAY PARTY but ME!I did it for years just stopped two years ago basically with the big bashes...........we would cook all the food ourselves and I would set the tables with china, non- plastic utensils,and cloth napkins..........my husband would do the pasta and my SONS would serve!My parties did not get so WILD.......I unfortunately do not know the crowd who knows how to party!I can see your party now........just GORGEOUS!
ReplyDeleteI adore MEXICAN food too and you cannot find in Northern Calif.Now on to the chicken!
About a year ago I thought to myself I donot know HOW TO DO a good roast chicken.........I have done the BAREFOOT CONTESSA's.......love her books.But I have landed on a BLOG you would ADORE........do you know MIMI of MANGER?She does a chicken with creme fraiche!The best chicken I have ever made!SHe is coming out with a cookbook end of October.She lives in FRANCE with loads of kids and dogs...........she is part Chinese and part French.Her husband is a photographer from ICELAND!Talk about BEAUTY check HER site out............the photos are smashing as is the food.She cooks from her memories of childhood!I guess HER parents were "FOODIES" way before the rest of us!I have already called DIBS on one of her SONS if they should tire of HIM!The children are GORGEOUS TOO!!!!!!!!
I am so enjoying going back and reading your POSTS!Love your take on LIFE and THINGS!XX
I really enjoy making roast chicken...unfortunately, I don't enjoy cleaning the oven afterwards... :(
ReplyDeleteYou're a sweetheart! Thank you for all of these great receipts. There is nothing much better than a good roast chicken.
ReplyDeleteOur dinner last night was Roasted Chicken! I do love it, especially as the Autumn weather ushers in menu's and dinner parties indoors.
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Sometimes I ask myself silly questions like, "If you could only eat three foods what would they be?" and inevitably the answers are "avocado, chick peas and roasted chicken." That I play such games (another regular is "If I could go anywhere in the world right now where would it be?") is a sign that I probably have way too much time on my hands! Alas, my French honey does not consider it "fancy enough" to serve for a dinner party only picnics but we still regularly have "Sunday Night Chicken" just for us two.
ReplyDeletePS. Elizabeth is right...if you don't know of Manger...but you probably already do...heck, you might even know Mimi herself! ;)
Bonjour Ellie, Texas girl here/ via Florida, "guality" mexican is fabulous out of Austin where I was, roasted chicken, I have used black cheeries and it is divine….can't beat a good one, so easy really, love juicy and melt like butter tender….loving having these recipes…I also follow Manger, Mimi and she has offered some goodies too ~ gosh it is funny, I too am constantly reading recipes and about nutrition, daily….LoL, you put it best, as if it were porn, HILARIOUS….always giggle throughout the day from reading here, esp., Mexican Crepes….oh my that is funny !
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