Nibbles & Sips

Fun with food and beverages: recipes and opinions about what, how, and why we eat.

Menu Planning

Nibbles

Since we talked quantity last week, let’s talk quality now!

Here are some qualities of a properly planned menu:

1) It complements the theme of the party or event.
2) The food is prepared and served properly.
3) There’s plenty of it.
4) There’s enough variety that no one feels like they should have eaten before they came or pick up something on the way home.

To achieve a good variety on your buffet, you should evaluate each item you plan to include as to where they fall on the following list:

Flavor: Salty vs Sweet
Texture: Crunchy vs Chewy/Soft
Temperature: Hot vs Cold
Composition: Meat vs Vegetable

Most items will fall in more than one category, the important thing is that there is a balance between each. Shooting for at least 2 items that fall under each (whose other categories are different from one another) is a good target. For instance, at the last event I made both bacon-wrapped artichoke hearts and chicken salad puffs. Now, both of these are meats and both of these are soft but one is hot and the other is cold plus they featured different proteins so they balanced. If I’d have served ham salad puffs instead of the chicken, we would have had our single point of difference but we also would have had two very similar protein sources, so you also have to consider what is going INTO each item and look for variety there.

Of course, there are exceptions to almost every rule. At last month’s Pumpkin Brunch I joked that I should have called it the Pork & Pumpkin Brunch as there was ham, bacon and 2 types of sausage (links and bulk) spread throughout the various dishes. But, then, I knew my guests well and–as many said–they weren’t complaining! (There were several non-pork items as well: pumpkin pancakes, an omelet station and veggie quiches.)

Sure, sometimes in an effort to ensure a good mix of options there ends up being more food than was really needed for the number of guests. In my mind, though, it’s worth it to make sure no one feels left out, especially those with dietary restrictions or just a pickier palate.

Meet the Reds: Malbec

Sips

Not exactly a new grape, Malbec is one of many grown in the Bordeaux region, usually as a mix-in to (once again) smooth out Cabernet Sauvignon. It’s a very popular grape to plant, however, in South America and it’s the Argentina Malbecs that really are something worth looking into.

They range in temperament from soft and fruity to bold and spicy. The latter is my favorite and what I had the pleasure of tasting at a local wine festival. The spice notes were slightly smoky and really developed into a nice finish, tingling in the back of my throat.

An awesome fact about this particular wine is that it’s still under many radars (though gaining in popularity) and some really great bottles can be found for $10 and under. If you like bold, spicy reds, pick one up and give it a try.

How Much Food?

Nibbles

I’m helping a friend coordinate the food for an upcoming Open House and it brought to mind a common question when planning food for a party: how much to make or buy? I often say that a [Southern, especially] hostess’ worst nightmare is to run out of food. Food is synonymous with hospitality and just like the welcoming spirit we offer our guests, we want our tables to be just as bountiful. At the same time, we don’t want to go so far overboard that food goes to waste.

As much as I love not having to cook for the week after a good party [planned overs are a great thing!], there is such a thing as too much.  So here’s a few guidelines for figuring how much food you’ll need at your next party.

First: How many people are coming and how long does the party last? The first bit is obvious: the number of people is directly proportionate to how much food you need to feed them. Party length, on the other hand, can slide the portion scale up or down. Longer parties will need more food since people will have had time to digest and want a little something more as the party progresses, even if it’s a sit-down dinner it’s a good idea to have some nibbles (sweet or savory or both) out if the party will be lasting several hours past supper).

Second: What type of party is it? Plated dinners are the simplest to factor–3-5 oz of meat per person, 6-8 oz of side dishes, and 4-8 oz of wine (erring on the side of refills) or 8-10 oz of punch or tea. Easy. Buffet? Consider doubling it unless you have waitstaff to serve the guests. Now, if you have an entree choice or numerous sides, divide the total food needed in each category by the number of options within and add a bit–say 10%–for margin of error. That done, you should be good.

Cocktail parties require a little extra math in that you need to multiply the number of guests by the length of the party in hours  and then by the number of bites or servings per hour appropriate. A general rule of thumb would be 5 pieces per person per hour (5ph) but even this is subject to some adjustments.

1) What time is the party? A cocktail party held at an off hour (mid-afternoon, instance) can stick with the 5ph idea but one served at a normal meal time (noon, 6 pm or later) should increase the servings per person to accommodate the guests’ usual appetites.

2) Who’s coming? You wouldn’t serve finger sandwiches and petit fours to a Superbowl gang, would you? No, you’d serve heartier items. It’s the same with quantity. The heartier the expected appetites, the more items allowed per person.

3) Will a meal be served after or not? This can get tricky, but going back to the time of the party–if you’re serving cocktails and hors d’oeuvres before a dinner, stick to 5ph. But if you’re not serving a meal or it’s at such a time as your guests may substitute your party offerings for an actual dinner elsewhere, go up to 10ph.

4) Will there be alcohol served? If so, add a few more bites per person to try to offset the impairment alcohol can bring to the table. Cocktails on a full stomach are a lot less damaging than those on an empty one [though hosts should be careful to watch their guests’ consumption and call a cab when necessary].

Finally, adjust your numbers for the just-in-case factor. For smaller parties, add 25% to your expected number of items or servings to allow for an unexpected guest or two or some really hungry folks. A little extra never hurts. The larger the party, the smaller the bump-up needs to be to grant a similar allowance, never adding less than 10%, though. Once you have your total number of pieces, it’s a simple matter of dividing that by the number of different items you plan to offer to find out how many of each you’ll want to serve. Of course, the smaller the guest list, the fewer options otherwise these formulas might give you ridiculously small numbers per option that will look just pitiful on a buffet!

Happy holiday party planning!

Meet the Reds: Merlot

Sips

Oh, probably one of the better known reds and, in some circles, the most maligned. Just the word “Merlot” sounds like smoky back rooms and femme fatales making breathy requests of the sommelier. Or something like that. Of course, just as quickly I’m reminded of Selma Blair’s nose-in-the-air reminder to her guests to not forget to “bring your own Merlot” (in Legally Blonde). And I’m told there are some very negative sentiments towards this particular grape in a certain wine-centric movie that I haven’t gotten around to watching myself. (I know, for shame, one of these days…)

The Merlot grape is grown extensively in the Bordeaux region of France as well as in Italy and Switzerland. It’s also one of the most popular grapes cultivated in California as well as a handful of other states. It’s generally considered softer and fruitier than the other Big Red (Cabernet) which is why some prefer it and others do not. To me it’s more a middle-of-the-road red and I prefer my wines more pronounced. It goes well with simpler red meat dishes, nothing too fussy or you might overpower the wine.

As hinted above, I’m not a huge fan of Merlot as a varietal and, to be honest, Cabernet is okay, but it’s not my wine of choice. Given this, I was quite surprised to find that a blend of the two really produces a lovely wine. At a Key Lime Cook-Off a couple of months ago, I tasted the Snoqualmie Vineyards Whistle Stop Red, which is a 70-30 Cabernet-Merlot blend. According to my wine reference, the French have been blending a bit of Merlot into Cabs for ages as it tends to blunt Cabernet’s natural tendency towards astringency while punching up the Merlot’s softer nature. It was an absolute revelation for me, to find that I liked it so much, and I snapped up a couple of bottles before leaving the event. (It also didn’t hurt that the cook-off and a portion of that day’s sales at the host location went to help the Leon County Humane Society.)

Comfort Food

Nibbles

Comfort foods can come in many forms: favorite recipes from childhood, treats remembered for special occasions or just starch-, fat- or sugar-laden dishes that offer a chemical reaction we associate with happiness as well as satiety. Usually considered a guilty pleasure or indulgence, I have a hard time seeing all comfort food as all bad and, I think, as long as it’s not an everyday occurrence or in massive quantities, a little comfort can go a long way.

One of the reasons this came to mind (aside from the impending holidays and increasingly cooler weather, both of which set my taste buds craving those sorts of foods) is the birthday meal I prepared for a friend last winter and is mentioned in this week’s comics. It’s pretty simple to prepare and not particularly unhealthy, so I thought I’d share.

Gnocchi Casserole with Pesto, Sausage and Broccoli

1 lb Gnocchi
Salted water
1 lb Turkey sausage, sliced
Olive oil
1 lb Broccoli, steamed
1/2 c Prepared pesto
Non-stick spray
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, shredded

Boil gnocchi in enough salted water to cover until tender. Simultaneously, saute sliced sausage in a bit of olive oil until the edges crisp. Drain pasta and combine with sausage and broccoli. Whisk together the pesto and enough olive oil to thin it out enough to lightly coat all of the other ingredients.

Prepare a 9×12 baking dish with non-stick spray (I prefer the olive oil variety, but any will do). Toss the thinned pesto with the gnocchi, sausage and broccoli and pour all into the prepared dish. Top with cheese and place in a 350-degree for 15-20 minutes.

Now, of course, this can be done up til the baking and put in the fridge until later. Just up the baking time to 30 minutes or more, or as long as it takes to bring everything up to a nice and toasty 165 degrees. Cover with foil if it seems to be drying out or browning a little too much. You can also make your own gnocchi if you’re so moved, but I remember getting the gnocchi and pesto at World Market (CostPlus in some areas) and both being very high quality.

How much you thin the pesto is up to personal preference–I tend to think a little goes a long way–and how thick the pesto is to begin with. Chances are you’ll have pesto left over. To preserve the rest of the pesto until the next use, add a layer of olive oil to the jar and store in the fridge. This will prevent the pesto from drying out while in cold storage.