When it comes to entrées, there are many categories thereof. You can have simple and everyday, comfort food, fancy and complicated, or fancy and simple. Which type of entrée you want to use can vary greatly by the occasion, the menu, and how much time you want to spend on a given meal. For a special occasion, maybe you want to focus on the meal and are ready to allocate a good chunk of your time to making it. On the other hand, you might have a limited amount of time to spend on the food and want a menu of simple to prepare items that can still be made to look special. Below I’ll share some of my suggested Fancy Entrées Ranging from Easy to Elaborate.
As I look at the calendar while writing this post, it seems that there is a fairly rapid series of dinner party dates on the horizon. Maybe you celebrate Galentine’s Day or Valentine’s Day. Perhaps you want to take advantage of Mardi Gras as the perfect excuse for something fun and festive. I don’t know about you, but I’ve also got a string of birthdays on the agenda. While I will be providing suggestions for various themed menus in the coming weeks, the point here is to give you some options of fancy or fancy-ish entrées.
I’ll take Valentine’s Day as a quick example. Even if the day of all the hearts isn’t for you, just bear with me for a minute. The date falls smack in the middle of the week. If you want to make something special for dinner on that day, you will likely need to either choose recipes that are relatively quick or that can be mostly prepared in advance. Both of those criteria can still be met elegantly.
Fancy Entrée Groupings Ranging from Easy to Elaborate
To help you determine which type of recipe will work best for you, we’ll break my suggestions down into the following 3 groupings or categories:
- Easy but Looks Pretty
- Labor of Love
- Long Cook but Minimal Effort
Easy but Looks Pretty
I know I’ve rhapsodized about the simple elegance of these dishes individually already, so I won’t belabor the point. However, I will give the quick note that elevating the “elegance” of simple dishes usually comes down to presentation. I’ll further break “presentation” down into garnishes, sauces, and sides. Just remember that none of those things need to be complicated either.
You can keep the garnish(es) simple and just add some sprinkles of parsley to the dish or some dashes of paprika for a pop of color on a white plate.
While sauces are an option for all of these entrée suggestions, they are certainly not required. You might consider just adding a dollop of compound shallot-butter instead. (Finely diced shallots + softened butter. Stir and then re-refrigerate.)
You don’t need to complicate sides either. Some easy steamed or roasted vegetables would be perfect. (And are what you’ll often get with them in an upscale restaurant.) I would suggest some roasted asparagus, steamed broccoli (maybe with parmesan), or perhaps some sautéed green beans. If you stick with any of these, a fancy dinner in about a half hour is very do-able.
Labor of Love
Dishes that I call a “labor of love” are those that either require several steps or a la minute cooking. These are the ones to which you are going to dedicate a couple of hours all-in. Now that said, they are what I’ll also call “composed dishes” meaning that they are a side, a main, and a sauce. I encourage you to try these every once in a while, just make sure you plan your time accordingly. They look great, have a nice wow factor, and can be a lot of fun. You just won’t be able to toss them together on a dime.
Long Cook but Minimal Effort
These long cookers are some of my favorite entrée recipes. The primary hands-on time is up front with a sear (and cleaning up whatever mess you make while doing that sear). These are great dishes to make in advance, refrigerate, and then just gently reheat to serve. The refrigeration rest time gives the flavors a chance to really permeate the meat and for some of the moisture to reabsorb into the meat as well.
As I’ve mentioned many times, I love recipes that can be made in advance and then simply reheated for service. It’s one of my best “cheats” for having all of the food for a dinner party (or any dinner) ready at one time.
In a completely different vein, these recipes also make great candidates for weekly meal prep when you and anyone else in your household needs to eat on different schedules. This food can be ready to go when you are.
Summary
In short, there are different routes to get to elegant or fancy entrées ranging from easy to elaborate. You can pick the entrée type to suit the amount of time you have and want to spend on preparation.
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