A Little Bit About Menus

Menu planning can be a right pain in the arse, and possibly one of the main reasons one is likely to abandon the idea of throwing a delightful dinner party for friends and suggest a restaurant instead.  Here's a few notes that might help.

Don't overdo it.  Personally I think three full courses is way too much.  Much as I adore cooking, I do want to enjoy myself with friends over dinner, and not be an exhausted bedraggled mess.  Also, no matter how delicious the food, three full courses can just seem a little "much" - yes, its great for special occasions and a full-on blow-out but you still have to plan the actual menu carefully.

A balance of flavours and textures is the key.  Asian and South-East Asian foods are less tricky because they have a big range of textures and flavours, and most importantly don't rely a lot on heavy stews and buttery/cheesy/eggy ingredients.

Choose either a starter and a main, or a main and a dessert.  If preparing a starter and a main, finish off with, say, a cheese and fruit platter.  The ideal is three, maybe four cheeses; a hard cheddar, a soft cheese eg brie, a blue cheese and maybe a smoked or unusual cheese eg ash rolled goat's cheese or something (I'd stick with the first three, personally).  Serve with a range of water crackers, some plain, some with cracked pepper etc, and some plain rice crackers.  Fruit-wise, choose some ultra-crisp in-season red and/or green apples, pears (my favourite is the Beurre-bosc) and a few dried apricots and apple rings scattered about.  A wedge of cheddar on a slice of granny smith and a sliver of pear spread with creamy blue cheese are matches made in heaven.

Or just go straight to coffee and some excellent choccies - Lindt being my preference, of course!

If you're having a main and a dessert, then start (install your guests in the lounge room or in the kitchen so they can chat to you) with drinks - nothing beats champagne as a starter, as far as I'm concerned, though a crisp white is a good idea too, or fresh juice, whatever - and a couple of nibbles, in phase with whatever you're preparing.  Eg, Italian antipasti (marinated aubergines, peppers, olives, good salami, breadsticks); Arab/Greek mezze (hummus or aubergine dip with raw/blanched veggies, pitta bread, olives, cubes of marinated garlic and chilli feta cheese); or just olives and crisps or almonds, cashews, whatever.  All these things can be bought at a good deli near you, but just serve a couple - not all - for the guests to sharpen their appetites on.

Also, if you're having a big daube or stew or bouillabaise thing as a main dish, then forget one of the other courses entirely - it really is too much food. 

Sometimes of course, you want to go the whole hog, when its a special occasion, you and your friends want to eat and drink yourselves silly, and you can cope with the masses of planning, preparation and cooking involved (I actually like having big dinner parties because of this - whatever turns you won, I guess).

Here's some ideas:-

French

Starter - Leek and Potato Soup OR Mushroom Soup OR Selection of Hors d'Oevres (all pretty light)

Main - Daube de Beef Provencale OR Coq au Vin (all with accompaniments and steamed veggies or salad)

Dessert - Creme Brulee OR Macaroon Baked Pears OR Cheese and Fruit Plate

Italian

Starter - Polpettone with tomato sauce, a mixture of Antipasti OR Minestrone

Main - Osso Buco with Risotto Milanese OR Lasagne OR Penne with Chicken Mushroom and Red Wine Sauce, with salad and bread

Dessert - Macaroon Baked Pear OR Toffee Topped Rice Pudding (call it a Toffee Topped Vanilla Risotto, which is what it basically is, too) OR Sinner's Cake with cream and berries

Thai/Asian

Starter - either one of the Tom Yum soups OR Chinese Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup OR Tod Nam Pla AND Fresh Spring Rolls with Dipping Sauce OR Sang Choy Bao

Mains - as in these cuisines steamed rice is the main feature and you can serve a couple of dishes with it - remembering to balance flavours and textures so that you have, say, a creamy curry with lots of gravy and a stir fry with lots of fresh crisp veggies and not much sauce.  Eg, Thai Red Chicken and Peanut Curry OR Green Chicken/Fish Curry AND Stir Fried Beef with Vegetables, and lots of steamed jasmine rice OR a Laksa or other main-meal noodle dish (in which case have nibbles not a soup to start!)

Dessert - just serve a big bowl of fresh fruit in the middle of the table for guests to rip into themselves eg, mandarins, apples, bananas ... Or maybe some poached fruit with a coconut ice-cream or something.  Asians really aren't into sweets as an ending to a meal, such foods are more for in-between-meal snacks.  Also such sweets tend to be way too tricky, over-sweet and bothersome.  Yes, even for me.

Aussie Modern (aka "PacRim" or "International")

Starter - Any of the Thai or Chinese starters OR Leek and Potato Soup OR a huge plate of Nachos with guacamole and sour cream

Mains - Western Australian Bouillabaise OR Roast Lamb OR Roast Chicken OR Sauteed Salmon Cutlets with greens.

Dessert - The Great Aussie Pavlova of course OR Toffee Topped Rice Pudding OR Sinner's Cake

Middle Eastern

Mezze - some or all of the following:  Hummus, Baba Ghanoush, raw/blanched vegetables (matchstick carrots, french beans, matchstick celery, radishes, cauliflower ... ), falafel, olives, dolmades or stuffed vegetables (mini size them), pitta bread, dukkah ...

Mains - Lamb and Aubergine Stew OR Moussaka OR Shish Kebabs, with Spicy Pilau Rice and a Tomato and Onion Salad with Mint

Dessert - either buy some baklava or other sticky pastries commercially (be careful; some can be none too fresh), or serve a platter of fresh fruit