Ever wonder how restaurants get all the food from different orders out at the same time? It’s even more impressive if everything that is supposed to be piping hot actually is and cold items are nice and cold.
The same can be true at home. Pulling off that feat at a dinner party with 8 guests is remarkable. Or is it?
The host or hostess that can pull off a 4 or 5-course dinner party without a hitch has practiced a lot. They have learned to be a conductor in their kitchen and the dishes they are preparing are the orchestra.
“Conductors act as guides to the orchestras they conduct. They choose the works to be performed and study their scores, to which they make certain adjustments such as tempo, articulation, phrasing, repetitions of sections.” Wikipedia
The definition of a conductor above can be translated as a perfect example of a kitchen conductor.
Conductors act as guides to the orchestra they conduct…You are the cook and the dishes you are preparing for your dinner party is the orchestra.
They choose the works to be performed…What is the menu? Which dishes will you be serving at your dinner party?
Study their scores…the scores are the recipes you have chosen for your menu.
To which they make certain adjustments such as tempo, articulation, phrasing…making a cooking plan including how long will everything take to prepare, prepping, choosing your cooking methods, deciding what order you need to cook your menu items.
After you invite guests to dinner is when you need to decide on your menu. Things to take into consideration when planning a menu. How much time will you have on the day of the dinner? Do any guests have food allergies? Will you be cooking and eating outside or inside? What type of meal would you like to prepare. Do you want to use seasonal ingredients? What dishes can be finished and kept warm while the rest of the dishes are being prepared? Again, this goes for those weeknight dinners as well.
When choosing what type of meal you would like to make stick to something you know. If you are brand new at this food timing thing you definitely should listen to this advice. For example, you know you make a great pot roast or roasted chicken. Then serve it! If you want to experiment with a salad or side dish fine. Trying out an entire menu of items you have never prepared before is only asking for disaster. Nothing is worse than a flustered cook and a meal that is served where some of the things are soggy and cold. Not taking into account the cooking times can delay your meal, you don’t really want to begin serving your meal at 10 pm.
Let’s say you will be making your tried and true roasted whole chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, a salad you haven’t made before, a familiar veggie, and a dessert you have made 100 times.
You already know how long the chicken will take from the time it comes out of the refrigerator until it is done and resting under foil staying warm then carved. Your mashed potatoes you can be made ahead a day or two before and then just reheated. You can also have your potatoes cut up in a pot of cold salted water the day before and ready to be boiled and mashed the night of the dinner.
To keep things warm if you are not using your oven, cover with foil or a lid and put in a 180-200 degree oven. If you are using your oven and you have a warming drawer you can put your covered finished dishes in there. What is a warming drawer? You know that drawer on some stoves below the oven? It’s not meant to store all your pots and baking sheet pans. It is meant to keep your food warm. Now you know, you are welcome! Lol
You can decide how proficient you are at making your gravy. If making sauces and gravies on the fly isn’t your thing, you can make a chicken veloute beforehand and just reheat adding a bit of your cooking juices from the chicken that is resting.
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The new salad you want to try believe it or not can be prepped a day before. You can wash your greens, dry them well, and put them in a ziplock bag in the fridge. You can also make your salad dressing. This is good to do beforehand just in case you don’t like the recipe. You have a chance to change it if necessary. After you are happy with your dressing, put it in a mason jar next to the greens in the fridge. You can cut the rest of your salad components the day of the dinner so they don’t get mushy or turn brown. Assembly will be quick and you won’t feel rushed with one of the first dishes being served.
Any vegetable you want to serve you should think about the cooking method. How long will it take to prepare? How much can be prepped ahead? If it needs to be roasted will your oven be tied up with the main dish or can you throw it in after the main comes out and is resting? If it’s sautéed will you have enough burners if everything is being made on the stovetop?
The dessert you chose should be something easy to pull off. You don’t want your guests or family to have to wait an hour or two while you are in the kitchen making a custard or baking. Have your dessert done, ready to be assembled at serving time. This again takes the pressure off so you can clear the table of dinner dishes and get set for dessert. If you know you are serving coffee, have everything ready in your coffee maker so you just have to press start.
The actual conducting of the orchestra happens during the performance or in your case your meal. It is keeping your eye on the clock. Setting 10 timers if you need to so you don’t forget about something. Keeping an eye on everything and remembering, like the musical conductor you are performing in front of others. A cook performing with ease makes for a great evening.
A lot of things like setting the table, picking out wine or drinks, and having them chilled should be done before you begin cooking. Again, this will take the pressure off so you can focus on your meal and not worry about those types of things upon the guests’ arrival. Appointing someone to be in charge of the drinks is a perfect way to involve your guests while you are cooking.
I don’t care how good a cook or chef you are, to pull off a great meal or menu you have to plan ahead to get your food timing right. Biting off more than you can chew is stressful. Spending the evening worrying about how everything will come out takes the enjoyment out of the evening not only for the cook but for the guests as well.
Cooking and getting all your food ready to be served at the same time takes practice. A lot of practice. This doesn’t mean you have to host a ton of dinner parties to practice, you can practice with your weeknight dinners. The more you do it the better you get. The better you get the more confident you will feel. The more confident you become, the better time you will have with your guests.
Hopefully, you will be able to use some of these tips and tricks to be able to conduct your orchestra and pull off a truly remarkable performance.