When I was 19, I ran a restaurant pop-up called Eve on Hillgrove. Guests could book a multi-course degustation, which would be served in the sunroom of my family home – aka “the private dining room”. There were white tablecloths, candles, sparkling water, the perfect playlist. An industry friend helped me with paired wines and service. I made dishes like devilled quail eggs and tuna tartare on puffed rice for snacks; confit duck tortellini and harissa quail for mains; and bread and butter pudding with five-spice gelato for dessert.
After Eve on Hillgrove was thwarted by Covid lockdowns, my fascination with finicky, multi-component dishes waned. These days, I compromise by only saving my more elaborate recipes for birthdays, anniversaries and Christmas. This way, I can scratch the “serious cooking” itch without the constant pressure of being a working chef.
My mother’s birthday lined up well with this column, so I made three French-inspired, modern Australian courses. (My mum never cooks Western food at home and rarely goes to restaurants, so it’s a bit of a treat.) It was all very Come Dine with Me. The last time I did something of this grandiosity, I served chicken liver parfait and fritto misto; moules-frites; vanilla ice-cream with fried dates and flaky salt; and we had freezer Martinis out the wazoo! Every time I cook an elaborate meal, I am reminded that fancy-ish dinners like this should happen more often. It is cheaper than dining out, after all.
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The Inspiration
I look for inspiration in my favourite restaurants or food memories, surfing restaurant Instagram accounts to get visuals of dishes. Most often I find myself taking inspiration from Ester, Gimlet and Essa, or London’s Bouchon Racine.
If you have a broad idea of what dishes you want to make, for example a raw fish starter or a rack of lamb, look for similar dishes on social media and tweak the components to match your capabilities, seasonality of produce and flavour preferences.
For Mum’s birthday, I made a roast squash dish similar to one I had at Thelma in the Adelaide Hills. I couldn’t quite remember the exact ingredients, but the highlight of the dish was the pairing of mussels with pumpkin so I roasted squash, cooked down some cavolo nero and made a sauce out of shallots, butter and chopped pickled mussels.
The run sheet
My run sheet is extensive. I start plotting things out from the shopping day all the way up to the final meal. A run sheet is a sure-fire way to make sure no prep steps slip through the cracks, so you don’t find yourself with guests arriving while you’re facing down the perils of a forgotten sauce.
Prep everything that you can manage and that will stay fresh 48 hours before your event: sauces, jus, oils, ice-cream, cooked garnishes. This gives you enough time to reattempt a component if one goes screwy. Make sure to retaste everything you have prepped to check nothing’s gone funky. Remember, flavours change overnight (often for the better).
A few hours before the event, write down what you have to do and then organise those tasks into a timestamped list. Write down how much time every task requires in case you forget to set a timer. It should also give an idea of what should be done by when (e.g. 4pm – roast rhubarb for 25 minutes). Always give yourself extra time before cooking to set the table, and time at the end to clean up a bit.
Half-baked
In restaurants, when a table’s full order is sent to the kitchen, chefs often begin cooking your mains before they serve your starters because many main dishes need a head start. Chefs will then just reheat and assemble elements before they serve.
At home you can borrow the same principle but adapt it to make entertaining less stressful. Do most of the work earlier in the day by half-cooking your mains in advance. Then, when it’s time to serve, you only need 10–15 minutes to finish them off.
The goal is to avoid active cooking after your guests are seated. Remember, trying to manage pans while hosting almost always ends in frazzled nerves.
Fancy-coded foods that aren’t actually difficult to make
Many restaurant dishes or components seem difficult but are actually easy. Here are some of my go-to fancy foods:
• Puffed rice: A cheat’s way to do this is to fry pieces of rice paper in very hot oil. These become a good vessel for diced raw fish or beef tartare.
• Beef tartare: It’s literally six ingredients – beef, Dijon mustard, capers, anchovies, Worcestershire sauce and shallot – and you’ve probably got most of them in your pantry.
• Crudités: Buy some fresh, seasonal vegetables and make a crème fraîche and chive dip. Instantly, you’ve got a bougie deconstructed salad.
• Croquettes: Unless you’re deathly afraid of deep-frying, croquettes are shockingly easy to make and there are 1001 combinations you can explore. I love to make crab croquettes with cocktail sauce.
• Seared duck breast: Pop your duck breast into a cold pan skin side down and sear it for 20 minutes on low heat (using a meat press if possible). After 20 minutes, flip it and cook it for 5-6 minutes on the other side on medium heat. Et voila.
Recipe: Salmon crudo with blood orange ponzu
Serves 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes (to assemble)
Ingredients
⅓ cup dill, chopped
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup blood orange juice
2 tbsp mirin
400g sushi-grade salmon, sliced 1cm thick
1 blood orange, segmented and cut into 2cm pieces
Method
Blend dill and olive oil with a stick blender or food processor until very well homogenised. Place mixture in a fine mesh strainer and rest over a container. It will filter itself gradually but if you’re short on time, gently push the oil through with a spoon. Season with a pinch of salt.
Combine the soy sauce, blood orange juice and mirin. Let the sauce sit for at least 20 minutes before using.
Assemble the salmon on a large plate – either lying flat or stacked like collapsed dominoes. Top with segmented blood orange. Season with a pinch of salt. Dress with spoonfuls of blood orange ponzu and then little dots of dill oil. Make sure the dill oil is the final step for pretty pools of green.
Dining and Cooking