An Act of Valor: Trying New Ideas for Dinner Parties Without a Test Run

The title of this post says it all.  Last night I created a meal with no recipe, on the fly.  Even for the highly trained, this is a risky business.  The meal could turn out to be the best one EVER...or...the meal could turn out to be the WORST one ever. 

Last night's meal, though, turned out to be a "mediocre at best" meal, ever.  Boo.

I love experimenting in the kitchen.  There's a certain rush that comes from "winging it".  Why is that, you ask?  Because some of my best work comes from throwing that recipe book out the window and doing everything by taste, experience and a little bit of luck.  I think, though, my luck forgot to show up at the house yesterday.

Last evening's dinner menu was a sure fire hit.  Honest to goodness, how can one go wrong with risotto inspired goat cheese and marscapone orzo, baked mahi, pan roasted tomatoes and sauteed asparagus.  I've included a picture for your viewing pleasure...

Some elements of this meal were delicious.  The tomatoes were appropriately sweet and the asparagus had beautiful taste and texture.  The orzo had the PROMISE of being creamy, but the cheese did a little separating in the skillet and I was left with dry whey on the orzo (but it had some great flavor).  The fish was slightly dry.  Unfortunately, I did not listen to my instincts and I left the fish in the oven two minutes too long.  Instead of juicy, flaky fish, I was left with slightly dry, tough fish.  Overall lessons learned about this meal?  Listen to your instincts and do not get distracted by how late the meal is getting. 

The silver lining to this meal, though, was the appetizer.  Bacon wrapped lil smokies.  Oh my goodness, seriously, everything IS better with bacon.  Take a look...

This recipe is simple.  Divide your bacon (I used un-nitrated, all natural smoked bacon) down the middle (perpendicular). Tightly wrap the bacon around the sausage.  Place in an aluminum lined jelly roll pan.  Sprinkle the wrapped sausages with brown sugar (to taste, I don't like things too sweet) and some cayenne pepper (a little goes a LONG way, I used about 1 and 1/2 tsp to 3/4 c brown sugar).  Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 20 - 30 minutes.  You want the bacon to look done.  Pull from the oven and put in your serving dish (poke a toothpick in it).  Let these guys sit and cool for about 15 minutes (you'll thank yourself for waiting).  The brown sugar slightly hardens giving the bacon a more "candied" mouth feel.  Done!

All-in-all, the best part of a successful dinner party is not the food (food does play a part but it's never the end all, be all), it's the people.  If you make your home a safe, warm and inviting place, people will come.  There is a lot to be said about opening your home to people and giving them opportunities to laugh, share and have fun.  All those things we did last night.  So really, who cares about the food when there's life in your kitchen?