Had a dinner party last night chez David -- 11 people, many dishes, AND I cooked after work, from about 6:20-8:30. I think that's pretty impressive. Okay, I did some prep the night before, I enlisted many of the guests to help with mise-en-place, and I had to break out the reliable standards when cooking in someone else's kitchen. But still, I count it as a great success. The menu:
Golden and red beet bruschetta with parmigiano
Sauteed zucchini and organic grape tomatoes with oregano and mint
Roasted yukon gold potatoes with rosemary
Slow-baked wild Alaskan king salmon
Meyer lemon relish (thinly sliced seeded cored lemons with skin, shallots macerated in white wine vinegar, chopped chervil, chopped parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper -- from the Chez Panisse Cafe cookbook)
Windfall Farms mesclun with pea shoots and mint
Delice de Bourgogne with pear mostarda (Killer combo -- you must try)
But the first hot hors d'oeuvres were the show-stealers -- bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with goat cheese and marcona almonds. That's the recipe right there. I first had them at my friend Julie's house. You take dates, slit them lengthwise down one side to take the pit out, then stuff the cavity with a bit of goat cheese and a marcona almond. Wrap each date in half a slice of bacon, secure with toothpicks. Then put them under the broiler for a few minutes on each side til the bacon's crispy and done. Impossible to fuck up as long as you don't burn them and utterly heartbreaking. The bacon provides a smoky, salty foil for the caramel sweet, melty date. The little marcona almond in the middle of the tangy cheese sits where the pit would be, but you can bite right through the whole thing. I even broiled a few bacon-less dates for the vegetarians.
Note: I got nice fat organic California medjool dates in a clear plastic clamshell box at Whole Foods. You can find them in the produce department, not the dried goods aisle. They're amazing. I could eat a whole box by myself. I know that those dates come to Whole Foods in a big red box because I used to pack them in those clamshells. (And maybe I used to sample a few while I stuffed those boxes.) I've seen the same dates for sale, loose, at Fairway. I'll bet they've got great dates at Sahadi's and other Middle Eastern grocers.
P.S. Graham brought a lovely $6 rosé from Trader Joe's -- I think it was La Ferme Julien. It has a red rooster on the label. Fruity but dry, no bitter bite, lovely raspberry color. Great with wild salmon.
I love the bacon-wrapped date appetizer. I've tried making them a couple differnet ways, most recently stuffed with small wedges of manchego. I was afraid that a soft goat cheese might melt too much. It's hard to go wrong, though I probably wouldn't recommend Velveeta (and I like processed cheese). Also, yes, Sahadi's has amazing, plump jumbo dates. They're so big you can practically make a meal from an hors d’œuvre.
That sounds like a killer menu. If only I had a table for more than 3 people...
It's nice to know people with enough chairs to accommodate a big group. You could always rent a folding table and folding chairs if you really wanted to. We did that for a poker tournament in our house and managed to shoehorn 45 seated guests into the apartment.