"A Little Dinner" for Autumn
With recipes for: Beet and Rocket Salad with Spiced Nuts and Blue Cheese, Fish Stew with Mussels, and an Apple Tart
Before my book Kitchen Bliss turned into a collection of essays with recipes, it was going to be a cookbook called A Little Dinner, a term from the 1922 edition of Emily Post’s Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home, which my friend “Charles the Butler” had given me during the pandemic.
Post used the term “a little dinner” in reference to the intimate, at-home dinners of New York high society in her day, as distinguished from the usual gala-sized entertainments that barraged people’s calendars throughout the social season. A little dinner meant a chance to step back from the “spine-stiffening exercise” that was attending any large formal event, and, with a sigh of relief, to relax and rejuvenate over a meal with close friends. For me, this is the best kind of entertaining there is.
It's ironic that the highest honour for any guest is to be invited to dine casually in a home. You’d think if you really wanted to spoil someone, you’d set the table with your finest linens and lay on the caviar, truffles, foie gras, and langoustines. There can be exceptions, but usually that’s more of a performative attempt to impress, and it can, in fact, have the backfiring (or, perhaps desired) effect of keeping people at arm’s length. When you really want to demonstrate to someone that they’re part of your inner circle, it’s the last-minute invitation to come over for, say, baked potatoes, that says it best. Translation: “I’d love your company.”
For anyone nervous about hosting dinner parties, this is the way to go: invite people you love and who make you feel good, and serve them the simple, family-style dishes you can make with your eyes shut. It doesn’t matter if you’ve already made them for the same friends a hundred times before; there’s comfort in the familiar, and, in any case, gatherings like these are not about the food.
I adore the concept of “a little dinner.” There are never more than eight people at the table, and more often only four or six; the food is fuss-free home cooking; and engaged conversation is at the heart of it all. So, in honour of the possibilities a little dinner presents, let me share a menu from one of mine earlier this week. I hope it will inspire you to set the table and ring up some fast friends for a simple, soulful feast.
Rocket Salad with Beets, Spiced Nuts, and Blue Cheese
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Fish Stew with Mussels (served straight from the pot)
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David Tanis’ Apple Tart
This menu is easy to pull together, relatively inexpensive (I say “relatively” because all food seems to be off-the-charts exorbitant these days), and just the kind of homey, approachable food that’s perfect for fueling genuine connection. If you’re looking for an apéritif to serve beforehand, why not go back to that kir Normand recipe I posted in last week’s Menu Making piece? You need no more than perhaps some sliced dried sausage, radishes, and olives to nibble along with it. And then, à table!
Here are the recipes, tried (more times than I can count) and true: