Liquid Dinner Party!

The Cheap Chic's Guide to your very own

Liquid Dinner Party

I love, love, love to socialize with my friends and entertain. However, a five course Dinner at Eight every/other week can be a little taxing on the budget. Thus, I came up with the idea of the Liquid Dinner Party.

To start, it is BYOW, B or L, 3 Buck Chuck is usually the drink of choice.

Second, appetizers (if you thus choose) should be anything that is on sale (usually stuffed grape leaves in my area- $6 for 4lbs!) or inexpensive to make (hummus with pita or feta mixed with freshly chopped basil and a dash of balsamic vinegar on top of Triskets) and don't go overboard! Think of your appets as an amuse-bouche just to show your guests that you aren't going to poison them with your cooking.

Next, the main course. After years of missing out on dinner parties, because I was stuck in the kitchen preparing the next course, I learned an important lesson (actually, it comes from the Boy Scouts)- BE PREPARED! Thus, I can have a dinner party at 6:30pm, when I get home at 6pm on a Friday. "How Cheap Chic?" you inquire. You make...SOUP! It can be prepared ahead of time, freezes easily and comes to a boil in less than 15 min, even when frozen. Thus, freeing you up from a hot stove and letting you enjoy being the HOST(ESS) with the MOST(ESS)!

Now, there are many soup recipes in cookbooks at the library, on the internet, or maybe that you have. From a basic Chicken Noodle to a New Orleans Gumbo to an Armenian Apricot Soup the variations are endless. However, I have two standbys that I swear by. The first is a Mexican Tomato Lime Soup from the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home Cookbook (you can also find this recipe online, but I'm a big fan of cookbooks, so I'm linking you to the actual book). If you want to cheat or tomatoes are out of season, I've also made this recipe with 2 cups of canned tomatoes instead of fresh ones. The second one is a much heartier soup, actually a stew, perfect for winter. This one is a Groundnut Stew, which has many variations depending on the location in West Africa. Below is the Cheap Chic version which is a mixture of my friend Sam's version (Thanks Sam!) and of tried and true testing on unsuspecting guests.

Groundnut Stew
(Cheap Chic Style)

Ingredients:

• oil (peanut or vegetable)
  
• couscous
• pressed garlic cloves (I like at least 4)
• 1/2 tbsp pressed fresh ginger (optional)
  
• 2-cups chopped onion
• 2-16oz cans chopped tomatoes, undrained
  
• 2-16oz cans of black beans
• 2 cups hard veggie (carrots, okra, yams or all)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• cayenne pepper to taste
  
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Heat oil in a soup pot. Saute garlic (and ginger if chosen). Add onions and saute till slightly browned. Add both cans of chopped tomatoes, black beans and veggies. Once everything becomes hot and mixes together, add peanut butter and cayenne to taste. Soup is done. Cover and let cool. Put pot in fridge if serving within a day or in freezable tupperware if freezing. 15 minutes before entertaining: Cook couscous as directed. Put soup on to de-thaw or bring to warmth. Simmer. In a bowl, put the couscous in and top with the stew. Add salt and pepper to taste. The aroma of this stew is great and sure to bring your guests back for seconds. And really this soup is all about the personal touch so feel free to play around with the ingredients.

~o~o~o~

You always have that one friend that insists on bring something to help with the cooking. If you need no last minute "Oops, I forgot that" ingredient ask them to bring 1 or 2 loaves of French bread. It's cheap (maybe 3 bucks max and they've felt like they've done their part).

"What's the bread for?" you may ask. For making Homemade Garlic Bread (you have to have something to soak up all the liquid)! "But Cheap Chic, I usually buy Pre-made Garlic Bread." This is a big "Hell's No!" Making your own Garlic Bread is cheap and easy (just how I like it). Also you can make it as good (little butter) or as bad (lots of garlic-no kissing for you!) as you like.

Cheap Chic's Garlic Bread

Ingredients

• 2 loaves of French bread
• 1-2 sticks of Butter
• pressed garlic cloves (the more the better)
• oregano (optional)
  

Half the loaves of bread. Soften the butter. Add the pressed garlic to the soften butter and mix. Slather the spread onto the French bread loaves. Sprinkle as much oregano on as desired. Broil in the oven till browned (about 5-7 minutes, but make sure to check it frequently! Broiling can lead to blackening quite quickly!).

~o~o~o~

Now you have a full 4-Course Liquid dinner: appetizers, soup, garlic bread and of course, alcoholic liquid.

And for dessert? Well, I always keep a box of cake or brownie mix (when it goes on sale for 99c) in the house (just in case). Just make sure you have enough eggs and oil handy. It even is a great party activity. Who doesn't love licking the spatula clean or spilt wine flavored brownies?

One final thought- Make sure you have enough toilet paper for when everyone breaks the seal. After all, this is a liquid dinner party!

Enjoy!