Two lucky Weekend Post readers can each win a copy of Karen Dudley’s new cookbook titled Set a Table. The books are valued at R380 each.
To enter, SMS the word KARENWIN to 41893 before noon on Tuesday December 18, followed by your name and surname.
The winners will be drawn electronically and notified thereafter. SMSes cost R1.50 each, errors and omissions are billed, and free SMSes don’t count. Tiso Blackstar staff and their families may not enter, and other Ts and Cs may apply. The books will be couriered to the winners by the publishers.
The summer holidays are an ideal time to host a dinner party or two if you have some time on your hands.
Yes, it’s already a busy time of year but many of your mates will then be on leave anyway, so it’s worth making the effort now to reconnect and celebrate friendships.
“I fervently believe that the longing of our hearts is to be connected to other people, to share, to be seen, to feel that we belong,” says well-known Cape Town restaurateur Karen Dudley in her sumptuous new cookery book, Set a Table.
“It is at the table that we experience this belonging most powerfully. Having set a table, anything can happen. At best, there will be entertaining stories, opinions vaunted, new friendships made, even some argument without upset and some real listening.
“This is what I live for: friendship and sharing, stories and conversation and for the sheer joy of eating something delicious together!”
Karen lives in Woodstock with her husband and two children. The vibey and historic suburb is also home to her two successful restaurants – The Kitchen and The Dining Room.
Karen also has two other cookery books, A Week in The Kitchen and Another Week in The Kitchen, under her belt and is a judge on My Kitchen Rules SA.
If you take a leaf out of Set a Table, entertaining really needn’t be a cliff jump. The recipes, though impressive, are versatile and mostly easy to execute. Many of the vegetable dishes, for instance, can be served as main courses, accompaniments or even as canapes, Karen, who honed her culinary skills in Washington DC and London, says.
When it comes to pud she’s the first to admit she “appreciates an easy, pre-prepared dessert”.
“By the time it comes to pudding you’re beginning to get tired and you’ve had at least two glasses of wine, and can’t do too much finicky flapping. You want something simple and true – something entirely chocolaty will do! – to go with a bit of fruit to bring an end to a good meal.”
Here are Karen’s key pointers for a successful dinner party:
Your guests will have fun when they see you having fun.
Everything is in the preparation. You want to think like a caterer. Most ingredients must exist in your kitchen at least one day before your party. You want to prepare everything: dessert; sauces; braises; dressings; coatings, way before you want to serve dinner. The only thing you want to do (again thinking like a caterer) is last-minute assembly and garnishing and even that can be done, very often, up to an hour before guests are due. This is the secret to the calm and apparent effortlessness of the best entertainers. Because they are thoroughly prepared, they can fully engage with their guests and have a blast.
Small spaces make for the best parties.
You cannot attempt to cover every dietary need of all your guests or become anxious about what specific needs they might have that you don’t know about. This is why it is always safe to go with a vegetable led menu and meat on the side for those who may want it. Often, in trying to cover too many bases, you dilute your offering. Elegant simplicity and well-measured choices are ultimately what you want!
Don’t underestimate how much ice you will need.
There is the school of “everyone participates and chucks in” when it comes to preparation, but often this takes ages and is chaotic, and sometimes not as rewarding as you would think. Also, you are deprived of practising your unique style!
Don’t be afraid to outsource. The goal is to get people to the table. Make it easy on yourself. Buy in a favourite cake for dessert or put out some cheese.
Welcoming people at the door and saying goodbye to them at the gate are equally critical.
RECIPE: chilled cucumber soup
“In my early days of catering in other people’s homes I remember having to fling together a spontaneous starter,” writes Karen Dudley in Set a Table.
“It was like being on MasterChef – but alone – with no one but the unsuspecting dinner guests to understand the masterful soup I managed to create from the bottom drawers of a relative stranger’s fridge!
“I made a soup very similar to this one. It was the late ’90s and I served the soup in pretty teacups I found in one of the cupboards.
“Sho! Nearly two decades later, I have taken [British food writer] Diana Henry’s lead and added white balsamic vinegar to my ’90s staple. This is a classic soup for your repertoire.”
This recipe serves 8 to 10.
INGREDIENTS 800g cucumber (roughly 2¼ cucumbers), partially peeled and chopped
80g (½ cup) walnuts
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 spring onions, sliced, or ½ red onion, diced
4 Tbsp mint leaves, snipped
3 tbsp dill fronds, roughly chopped
1 ½ slices of stale, white country bread, crusts removed and torn
½ cup strong chicken stock
1¼ cup Greek or double-cream yoghurt
1 cup ice blocks
1/3 cup olive oil (or more to taste)
½ a lemon, juice and grated rind
2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
salt and black pepper to taste TO SERVE julienned cucumber
rose petals (optional)
dill fronds
small handful walnuts, roughly chopped
a few drops of chilli oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste METHOD
Whizz all the ingredients together in a blender or processor. You may need to blitz the ingredients in stages so as not to overwhelm your machine.
Because the flavours are delicate you need to taste and adjust the seasoning very carefully eg more salt or black pepper or a drop more balsamic.
“Do not even think of adding regular balsamic to this soup, lest you want to ruin its fine colour and flavour,” says Karen. “Simply leave it out altogether and the soup will still be delicious.”
Finish off the soup with the suggested serving ingredients.
Set a Table, by Karen Dudley, is published by Jacana and the recommended retail price is R380.