A few months ago when I asked what you’d like to see more of on Side Dish there was a resounding enthusiasm for more dinner party #content. In an effort to show more of my life on Instagram, I thought I’d start a series there called Cooking for Friends, where I show what I’m making and how I’m going about hosting in most stress-free way possible. I’ve joked for years that in my dream world I’d make a living solely on hosting my friends for dinner (not to be confused with catering other people’s dinners). It’s the thing that brings me the most joy. To watch all the prep that went into making this dinner happen, check out my reel on Instagram.
Eggplant Parmesan ready for baking
For this dinner the brief was:
6 adults, 1 toddler
Snow outside, so cozy vibes required
Chicken and fish acceptable, but vegetarian meals always welcome
And here’s what I made:
Snack spread with cut radishes and salted butter, Camembert and crackers, Parmesan crisps
Watercress soup — I didn’t use a recipe, but here’s one from David Lebovitz for inspiration
Eggplant Parmesan — From my book To the Last Bite
Green Salad with shaved fennel
Tiramisu — I referenced a few recipes and made it up as I went.
Day-old eggplant Parmesan
While this dinner was clearly involved (frying! baking!), everything could be made in advance. My goal is to always have 98% of the meal ready before my friends walk in the door so that I can actually hang out with them without feeling panicked that I should be in the kitchen. Certain dishes like homemade French fries or steak of course call you to be stove-side for a portion of cocktail hour, but I always think it’s a lot less stressful if the rest of the meal is already prepared.
Let’s break it down. I think having some kind of snack situation is a requirement. You don’t have to go crazy here. Crackers and cheese are always welcome. Olives and pickles, salted nuts, or even chips all hit the bill.
Serving soup before a dinner feels a bit formal, but in this case I thought the meal could use some more green. Soup can typically be made at least 3 days in advance, or if you really want to get ahead, frozen for up to three months.
The sauce for the eggplant can be made up a few days in advance, which I did here. Salting the eggplant releases moisture, ensuring that you’ll having crispier eggplant slices once they’re fried. I did this about 6 hours in advance. While I didn’t want to assemble the eggplant Parmesan too early in the day for fear of it getting soggy, it was ready to go an hour before serving. I had the oven preheated so once everyone arrived I just popped it in the oven. That hour allowed us enough time to chat by the fire with snacks and drinks and slowly migrate to the table for soup.
I made the dressing in the salad bowl about 8 hours before serving and let it hang out. You can add the greens on top a few hours before and *WAIT TO TOSS* until you’re ready to serve. This cuts down on dishes while keeping the greens fresh and perky.
Tiramisu, while impressive, is shockingly easy to make. The joy of it is that it really gets better with time as it sits in the refrigerator. I made this one the morning of, but think a full 24 hours would have made it even better.
oooh i haven't had eggplant parm in forever!