A fancy French dinner party sounds like the height of elegance. It can be an exhausting ordeal for the hosts or it can run smoothly, depending on your preparations. Making a written plan, buying many of the dinner elements and cooking a delicious French entree ahead of time makes things run more smoothly. The dinner consists of several courses — soup, starter, entree, salad and dessert. It's followed with coffee and chocolate in the living room. Simplify things by offering only one wine — red or white — depending on your entree.
Step 1
Cook a soup ahead of time. In summer, prepare a cold soup such as vichyssoise or gazpacho; in cold weather, offer a hot soup. An easy, elegant and delicious soup is a purée of winter squash such as butternut squash cooked in chicken broth with seasonings. Garnish the soup with herbs, a drizzle of yogurt or croutons. Fill the soup bowls in the kitchen and serve them to your guests.
Step 2
Buy the starter ingredients. After the soup, offer a plate of cheese, bread and fruit. Because there are several courses, make the starter course small. On each appetizer plate, arrange a few slices of hard and soft cheese, a slice of fresh French baguette, a dab of butter and some fruit such as grapes or berries. Prepare the appetizer plates ahead of time so they can be waiting in the kitchen to be served after soup. If you like, you could offer a little paté and French bread, rather than cheese and bread.
Step 3
Cook an elegant entree from a French cookbook such as Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" or Mireille Guiliano's "French Women for All Seasons." Beef Borguignon or Coq Au Vin are perfect entrees — delicious and elegant — and can be prepared in advance. It's all right to serve the entree in a beautiful casserole, passing it around the table.
Step 4
Serve a crisp green salad with a mixture of greens and a vinaigrette after the entree. The bitter greens such as arugula, dressed with a light vinaigrette, provide a contrast to the richer preceding courses. Make your vinaigrette with walnut oil and a light vinegar such as champagne vinegar. Pour the dressing into the bottom of your salad bowl and heap the freshly washed and dried greens on top. Put some barely damp paper towels on top and refrigerate the salad. You only need to toss it with the dressing and serve family style.
Step 5
Combine the dessert and chocolate courses, offering both in the living room with coffee. Either make or buy a rich chocolate dessert. Chocolate mousse is easy to make ahead of time in individual portions or you could make a flourless chocolate cake in individual cups. Another idea is just to offer a tray of the best chocolates you can buy when serving the coffee.
Tips and Warnings
- Serve small portions so everyone can try all the courses. Decorate with flower arrangements that obstruct no one’s view. Serve a cocktail and small appetizers such as nuts or olives before dinner to give your guests something to do while you make your last preparations. Put dessert and coffee on a small buffet in the living room for self service.
Things You'll Need
- Tablecloth
- Napkins
- Cutlery
- Dinner plates
- Soup bowls
- Appetizer plates
- Salad plates
- Dessert plates
- Wine glasses
- Water glasses
- Coffee pot
- Coffee cups and saucers
- Soup
- Starter
- Entree
- Salad with vinaigrette
- Dessert
- Coffee
- Cream
- Sugar
- Chocolates
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