Eat... and be impressed (or I'll eat my chef's hat)! (Emergency Dinners)

Member Name: chris105

Product:	Emergency Dinners
Date:	07/01/02 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to make - no extraordinary mess, Fast, Looks gorgeous

Disadvantages: Next time make a mental note not to forget those guests are coming!

Food may be the last thing on your mind after the over-indulgence of the Christmas period... But then again, you may be like me, with food constantly on your mind, or hovering nearby. So the post-Christmas days seemed just as suitable as any other time for my debut in the food and drink world on dooyoo.

And where better to start than with that perennial saviour of evenings, the emergency dinner? No matter how well we prepare and schedule, someone, someday, is bound to turn up at short or no notice. Or else, come on let's admit it folks, the dinner could have been pre-arranged aeons ahead but sure enough we've forgotten all about it until a few minutes before the appointed time, when the horrible realisation dawns while we're driving back home from work.

Of course the easiest solution would be to grab a jacket, meet said guests on the doorstep and after the ritual pecks on the cheek invite everyone out for a pizza. But that is essentially as rude as it sounds (I'd know... I've tried it...). So it's always wise to have an emergency recipe or two, using always-available ingredients, and amenable to be prepared with the minimum of fuss and time but to the maximum impressiveness possible. I've realised everyone, no matter how inexpert in the culinary arts, has a couple of these recipes up their sleeve.

Before I get down to the recipe (which I know you're all breathlessly waiting for... not), I'd have to warn you that, being of a Mediterranean disposition and rather fond of my eating, I find it difficult to resort to pre-packed sauces and foods (although the convenience of merely microwaving a M&S packet straight from the freezer, while concentrating on imbibing self and guests with industrial quantities of wine, is undeniable and very tempting). I've nothing against the pre-packeds, far from it, but call it a foible of mine!

Anyway, having chosen the difficult bed, I now have to lie in it (I'
m mixing metaphors, ain't I, Jill?). But rest assured - it still remains an emergency dinner, very easy and quick to prepare and suitably impressive.

Impressive... ah yes, there's the crunch. I believe that what makes an emergency dinner successful (apart from the very fact of its completion!) is the degree to which the guests are fooled into thinking this meal was the fruit of hours of careful ingredient-shopping and meticulous preparation. Ha!


OFF WE GO
*********

So first of all, we bring some water to the boil (as they say in those oh-so-perfect-you-can-never-match-my-style recipe books), never forgetting the pinch of salt. Meanwhile chop the proverbial cloves of garlic, an onion or two and a spring onion for that added taste. Cook these in some oil (not too much - we ARE still trying to be relatively healthy!), throwing in salt and pepper and some dried basil if available. Then I bring out of the freezer one item that's never missing from my stockpiling - precisely for these emergency situations, be they with guests or simply when I'm famished but couldn't be bothered with something complex. Anyway, the ingredient is minced beef - bought from a trustworthy butcher, I hasten to add, and which I'd have stored in single portions for easy defrosting (the meat, not the butcher...). Quickly defrost it - without cooking it - in the microwave (it is an emergency, after all), and mix it in with the onions until the meat turns nice and brown. Then lower the heat, throw in some sliced tomatoes (or tomato pulp if you've got any cans at hand), and spice everything with a dash of tabasco, worcestershire sauce, some wine (in the pan, I mean, not to drink!) and some steak seasoning if available. Then of course, cook some spaghetti in the boiling water... and entertain your guests until the pasta is ready.

Please, whatever else you don't do, do not overcook the pasta. There are few things in the world w
orse than overcooked pasta. Whoever invented pasta al dente should get his/her face immortalised on a Euro note...

Back to the pasta, as soon as the spaghetti are done, drain and mix with the sauce. Then serve with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese and a leaf or two of parsley if you really feel like (or need to) showing off.

Ahem, we were, of course, preparing Spaghetti Bolognese - which sounds common but I assure you is totally unrelated to the overcooked, overliquidised "thing" carrying the same name that is served in most restaurants. It will taste delicious, I promise.

Hello? ... Will you stop ogling that pasta please... there's some more cooking to do in the kitchen. Oh come on, it wasn't THAT difficult - after all what we did was chop a bit, mix a bit, boil a bit, then mix a bit more. Ten minutes of preparation? What's that compared to the evening of adulation ahead?! ... So we're ready for the coup de grace: the dessert.

I've come to realise that no matter how long and diligently you slave over the pasta or other dish, guests will inevitably comment most and appreciate loudest the dessert. Or at least, that's what usually happens in our sweet-tooth-ridden country :-) So I always make sure I have the ingredients for the next dish, which although it sounds complicated and tastes divine, is very easy to make, I promise (I wouldn't be cooking it in an emergency otherwise, I assure you).


E PER FINIRE...
***************

Imagine serving your guests, after that plate of pasta, with crepes. Yes, that's right, crepes... (psst, do mention casually during the meal that they have been freshly prepared, and the look of admiration will intensify tenfold). Don't you worry, I'd never realised how easy they are to make until I actually made a few. Listen how easy it is:

Place 1 cup wholemeal flour (I told you we're being healthy here) in a bowl and ad
d 1/4 cup milk (skimmed, if you prefer) and a beaten egg. Whisk the flour mixture then gradually pour in another cup milk. When you've got a nice smoothish batter, cover and place in the refrigerator. [Ideally this short step - a couple of minutes' work at most - should be done while waiting for the pasta to boil, so as to save time later, when conversation has warmed up and all the interesting gossip is coming out.]

When you've eaten your pasta, it's back to the kitchen ...this won't take long, I've promised you, so off you go... to slice 450g of cooking apples into a pan. Add 2 cups of blackcurrant, a cup of water and leave to cook on a mild heat until you prepare coffee, top up everyone's wine glasses and generally join in with the others' fun. Don't have too much fun, lest you forget your apples - 15 to 20 minutes should be enough. Oh yes, at some point do excuse yourself to have a look at the apples - it actually adds to the perception of "work" put into the food if you do that, plus it sounds cool as well. There is a practical use to this touch of theatre, of course - and that's to toss 2 tablespoons of sugar (brown, if you prefer) to the apple mixture.

When your guests are ready to be impressed, and after having duly paved the way for your oeuvre with your verbal prowess as to the delicacy with which they are lucky enough to be about to be treated (...you know the routine, I'm sure...), place a touch (no more) of oil in a pan, heat and pour in 2 tablespoons of your refrigerated batter. Now I was always sure I'd never manage to make a circular pancake with no holes in the middle, but once I realised that the trick lies in swirling the pan as soon as the mixture is poured in, it was easy-peasy from there onwards. The "swirl" rearranges the batter while still liquid. Cook for not more than 1 minute (lest you present your guests with a burnt excuse for crepes!), flip (carefully!
!! we're not on TV here) and cook the other side for another minute. Place the crepe in a plate, pour some of the apple and blackcurrant mixture in the middle, fold the crepe in two, pour some more apple and blackcurrant mixture around the crepe, then throw in for good measure a spoonful of fresh whipped cream (which you're meant to have whipped earlier, of course - oh dear, I wouldn't make a good recipe writer, I should have mentioned these things at the outset).

And serve. One at a time, of course, but seeing as each crepe takes only 2 minutes, it can be done - unless you want to keep your crepes hot someplace while you cook them all - but I find that less exciting, as the drama of appearing on the table with one portion at a time is part of the fun!

And those were your Apple and Blackcurrant Crepes.

So then, try them out and tell me what you think of it. And, even more importantly, what your guests thought of that. They'll never believe you've treated them to an "emergency dinner"!

Eat well...

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