Cooking for friends: keeping it doable, downsizing... and wrinkle-busting

Radicchio Castelfranco with grapes and walnuts and The Oven-Roasted-Facelift

I am not an organised person – the Diva says that’s like saying a lion is not really a vegetarian, which I think is uncalled for: there are probably plenty of vegetarian lions* out there, they just don’t post on instagram. 

* Have just asked chatGPT if it could create a picture of a lion eating a pumpkin, and it said lions don’t eat vegetables. I could have sworn I heard a scoff in its voice.  It’s a terrible moment when you realise that the Daleks have ganged up with your alter ego to prove you have the organisational skills of a newt.

However, organised or not, I love cooking for friends, but in order to keep downsizing momentum and have supper on the table within spitting distance of suppertime – and not in time for brunch the following day –  I have a few guidelines that really help.

Courses

There is a place for formal courses – preferably somewhere with an enormous separate kitchen filled with skivvies, and a dining room with a footman behind every chair to keep things running smoothly – but I often prefer to put lots of lovely things on the table and let people eat them in whatever order they like.

Especially on the footman’s day off.

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Salads as Starters

If I am ignoring my excellent advice above, salads make great starters.  The Swiss – and the French – often serve one at the beginning of a meal, which is an excellent idea because a) it’s more likely to get eaten, instead of forlornly sitting on the table being ignored by people wanting to keep room for pudding, and b) it stands a fighting chance of being ready by the time my friends arrive.

My friends say that nothing stands a fighting chance of being ready by the time  they arrive,  which I think is uncalled for. And to take your mind off such slander, I will add that eating a salad at the start of the meal flattens blood-sugar spikes so good for diabetics, pre-diabetics … and downsizing.   Radicchio Castelfranco with grapes, red onions, pomegranate seeds, and walnuts – recipe at the end – is a very good one, and there’s more salad inspiration here.

Pudding

And on the subject of keeping room for pudding, I do not make them – or very rarely. This is 50% downsizing, and 50% it feels one thing too many to do – I think there’s more to be said on the subject of single-handed entertaining.  But I always tell people in advance so they don’t feel horribly let down at the end, or turn into bears. For more about the pudding stomach and bears click here.   The nearest I get is fruit salad, or something like strawberries with ricotta and honey.

Keep Meat and Fish Simple

I love meat and fish, but what I really like doing is interesting things with vegetables.  And of course, from a downsizing point of view – or any other for that matter (you should hear my microbiome on the subject)   – it’s better to eat more vegetables and pulses than meat, so if they’re the interest on the plate, you are more likely to do that.  Also, things like casseroles call loudly for rice or mash, which doesn’t help, unless you have a really, really small helping.  If I was in favour of small helpings, I would not be needing to downsize.

So instead of the usual, ‘serve with a simple green salad’, I prefer, ‘serve with a simple roast chicken or piece of baked fish’.*  For a very easy, foolproof recipe for baked salmon, please click here.

*It’s easier to keep to the downsizing straight and narrow with fish than roast chicken, especially if like me you’d rather eat the skin and leave the rest. There’s a gene that makes people want to eat a lot of fat, and I've got all of them.

Sauces and Dressings

Complicated sauces are out: I cannot make them and concentrate on chatting and quaffing more than my fare share of something very drinkable at the same time.  And that is the whole point of having friends to supper.

N.B.  Quaffing more than my fair share of something very drinkable is NOT recommended for downsizing. Do not try it at home.

Likewise dressings: lots of recipes call for complicated versions; some with ingredients that require the endurance and ingenuity of an Arctic explorer to source.  The Italians don’t give them a second glance and simply add salt, vinegar, and oil directly to the salad. Most of the time, so do I.

Pulses

I use them often instead of rice or mash because they are much less calorie dense; lentils have an almost permanent place at my table, especially the tiny black ones.  But just as importantly, there are so many delicious things you can do with them. If you are in need of mash (and I often am – I did not develop a serious obesity problem without loving mashed potato with as much butter and milk as I could cram into it) crushed butterbeans – or cannellini – with garlic, rosemary and olive oil is a fantastic alternative.

Roast vegetables

The wonderful thing about roasting vegetables is it is incredibly quick and easy to do – at least the preparation is – and the caramelising makes them taste both delicious, and a world away from downsizing, even if you use very little oil – so long as you mix the oil into the veg with your hands to cover it completely with a thin layer.

Roast pumpkin, cherry tomatoes, carrots, red pepper, red onion, and rosemary is one of my favourites – the recipe is at the end. Its other name is The Oven-Roasted–Facelift and if you want to know why it will banish any marauding wrinkles as you eat it, click here.

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Radicchio Castelfranco with grapes, red onions, pomegranate seeds, and walnuts

I am very enamoured with the pale green, pink-flecked Radicchio Castelfranco; it has something of the escarole about it, and is less bitter than other types of radicchio. It does very nicely simply drizzled with balsamic and olive oil, sprinkled with salt, and mixed well. But I absolutely love it like this – especially as I am in Italy and it is time for grapes. And by grapes, I mean the exquisitely scented muscat or the intensely sweet pizzutello, not the acid green seedless ones we get fobbed off with in Britain. I look forward to them all year – and sometimes have to miss them because I don’t have enough days in hand under the new rules to come back.

Throw in a few shavings of black truffle if you have some lying around. A few thin strands of anchovy are also a good idea.  If you can't lay your hands on a radicchio Castelfranco, use escarole or red radicchio.   Eat on its own, or with some burrata or creamy goats cheese.

Muscat and Pizzutello grapes

Serves 2

• ½ head of Radicchio Castelfranco, roughly torn into manageable pieces

• ¼ red onion, very thinly sliced

• A handful of grapes, halved and their pips removed

• A handful of walnuts, roughly chopped

• Seeds from a quarter of a pomegranate

• A good drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.*

• Salt and black pepper

*If you are downsizing, don’t be too enthusiastic when you are drizzling the olive oil.

Put it all in a largish bowl and mix well.

Roast pumpkin, cherry tomatoes, carrots, red pepper, red onion, and rosemary.

Quantities can be approximate, but don’t overdo the tomatoes or it becomes too acidic.

Serves 2

• 200g pumpkin

• A handful of cherry tomatoes

• Half a red pepper

• A medium red onion

• One large carrot

• A few sprigs of rosemary

• 3 teaspoons olive oil

• Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200°/180°fan/400°f/ Gas mark 6

2. Peel and chop the pumpkin into smallish chunks.

3. Peel the carrot and cut into batons

4. Peel the onion and cut into 1cm chunks

5. Put in a bowl and season well.

6. Halve the tomatoes and cut the peppers into strips.

7. Put in a different bowl and season well.

8. Add to the pumpkin, carrot and onion.

9. Add the olive oil and mix really well with your hands – that way you can coat the veg really well with a very small amount of oil.

10. Roast in the oven for 40 – 60 minutes – until they are browned and caramelised – turning over halfway through.

Diva Notes

I season the tomatoes and peppers separately because, depending on the tomatoes, they may need a different amount of salt from the carrots and pumpkin.   If you are in a hurry, do it all together.

About The Diva

If you are new to this newsletter, you may not have met the Diva yet.     She is a creature of uncertain appearance, very certain opinions, and a great many tiaras.  She first appeared, many years ago, when I was trying to write a Christmas round-robin; she considered I was making a very dull job of it and took over.  Since then she has shared my laptop – although the word share implies something rather more democratic than is the case.  I have tried putting my foot down, but she is remarkably persistent in her determination to share her opinions with the world.  And aside from her gargantuan sense of her own importance, she does know her onions where cooking is concerned.