A Dinner Party for 25

The reason I became a chef is that I have a great passion for food and an urge to share it with others. The best way to do that is by entertaining guests, which is what I did last weekend. My dad invited some of his cousins over for a five course dinner complete with wine pairings. The number of diners was set at 25. I have done plenty of parties this size in the past, but never out of a residential kitchen. Thanks to Hurricane Katrina, my dad got the opportunity to remodel his kitchen and now he has a pretty nice setup, so no worries. 

In New Orleans many go by the motto "We don't eat to live, we live to eat." That being said, our menu will probably sound too heavy to most. I thought it was a bit much myself, but I was just the "hired" help this time so I went along with my dad's plans. The first course was smoked turkey and andouille gumbo which was made the day before to lighten the load. Besides, soups usually benefit from a day of refrigeration anyway. The second course was shrimp and grits with a local twist. Instead of the traditional brandy based sauce, we made a New Orleans style barbecue shrimp sauce which is a highly seasoned emulsified butter concoction. Since there is a lot of butter in the sauce, I didn't feel like I needed any more in the grits. To make the grits creamier I substituted half of the water in the recipe with heavy cream. The next course was redfish on the halfshell and butter bean succotash. In case you are not familiar with the term "on the halfshell," here it means the skin and scales were still on the fish fillets. To cook this dish you must place the fish on to a gas grill over a high flame with the skin side down, then season the fillets. Cook for about 5 minutes just until the meat around the edges begins to turn white. This will release the meat from the skin making it very easy to eat. Finish the fish under a broiler for another 5 minutes. To finish off the main courses, we roasted two beef tenderloins to an internal temperature of 130 degrees. We served the roast sliced thin over a small portion of potatoes au gratin and topped with a duo of sauces. A bernaise and a red wine reduction sauce made a great contrast from opposite sides of the plate. The dessert was store bought cheesecake so my day was done.

Now I have to ask. Do you feel full just from reading that or what? Well everything went off without a hitch and everyone really enjoyed the meal. My dad took care of the wine pairings as that is his area of expertise, and he was smart to have extra on hand. In true New Orleans style the wine drinking continued well after dinner into the early hours of the morning. Even though we broke a sweat this was a really good time for me and my sister who helped serve the food (and would be upset if I did not acknowledge her hard work). I will eventually get these recipes posted with more detail for each dish for all those interested.