A very cozy dinner party.

Growing up in the burbs of Boston I always had so much room. A backyard, a bedroom with a door, and a full size kitchen which served my brother (Brian) and I quite well. Often on parent-teacher conference days, snow days, or anytime we conveniently both were too sick to go to school, you could usually find 2 little monsters making nothing more than an absolute mess for our mother (Gail) to clean after a long days work. Or when my lifelong friend (Emily) would come over, we often confused Brownie batter for face paint, another messy pastime of my childhood.

For most, living in NYC means small apartments and even smaller kitchens, at least it does for me. Nonetheless, I was determined to have a dinner party, a very cozy dinner party. 7 people, 600 sq ft, and 1 chef. I am not the type to use the word "cant" in a sentence and I was not about to start. Seven people means seven stomachs to fill, and trust me my friends are not the type to order a Garden Salad with light dressing on the side.

So here we go: Dinner party for 7 in an 7x7 kitchen...

Photo courtesy of Ronna Boyer Photography

Garlic Bread
Ingredients: Baguette of your choice (I use the French Baguette from FreshDirect), 1 container of margarine or soft butter (Plugra European Salted Butter is delicious), Garlic Salt,Grated Parmesan Cheese, Chopped Parsley.

Preheat the Oven to 400 degrees F.

(1) Mix the butter in a bowl until soft
(2) Add Garlic Salt to taste (about 1/4 cup);Grated Parmesan Cheese (about 1/3 cup); and Chopped Parsley (1/4 cup)
(3) Stir until the mixture has a creamy consistency
(4) Slice the Baguette in half place open-face on a cookie sheet (use tin foil for easy clean-up)
(5) Spread the Garlic Parmesan Butter (And refrigerate any leftovers) on the Baguette
(6) Cook in the oven until Golden Brown (usually about 20-25 min)
(7) Let cool for 5 minutes
(8) Slice and Serve (Salt and Pepper to taste)

 *Time saving tip: Make the Garlic Parmesan Butter in advance*

Recipe review: Let's just say there wasn't any left by the time the meal was served... guessing people liked this one. Also, warm fresh bread was a nice meal starter as it broke up the courses similarly to restaurant food service.

Chicken Cutlets:
Ingredients: Chicken Breast (about 1.5 per guest), Eggs, All purpose White Flour, Breadcrumbs (Progresso Italian Style Breadcrumbs recommended), Vegetable Oil

(1)Slice the chicken breasts thinly (You can use a meat pounder to get them extra thin)
(2) Heat about 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large skillet
(3)Assembly Line Breading: Dredge the chicken cutlets in the flour, dip in egg, and coat with breadcrumbs
(4) Pan-fry the chicken cutlets (about 2 at a time) until golden brown (about 5 minutes each side) As always with chicken: Slice a chicken cutlet in half to verify it is cooked all the way through! *Serving raw food = embarrassing
(5) Place on a cookie sheet (lined with aluminum foil) and reheat in the oven (350 Degrees for about 5 minutes before serving)

Recipe Review: See RAR's comment below!

Lemon Asparagus:
Ingredients: 1 bunch of asparagus, Lemon Juice, Red Pepper Flakes, Garlic, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper

(1) Wash the asparagus thoroughly and slice in half (Presentation key: cut asparagus at a slant rather than straight across)
(2) In a mixing bowl, add 1/2-2/3 of a cup of lemon juice, 1 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper (Add a dash of Frank's Red Hot Sauce for an extra kick)
(3) Refrigerate until about 30 minutes before serving
(4) Heat about 1 tsp. of olive oil in a large skillet
(5) Add the asparagus and lemon mixture
(6) Sauté until the asparagus softens
(7) Serve as a side dish or let cool and serve as antipasto

Recipe Review: Guests commented that the lemon combined with the red pepper added a spicy citrus taste which paired well with the bitterness of the asparagus.

Rigatoni Alla Vodka (Semi-Homemade)
This is the easy part~ homemade sauce recipe coming soon... for now, I'm sticking with Rao.

Ingredients: Barilla Rigatoni, Rao's Homemade Vodka Sauce (Also try Mario Batali or Lucini Brand Sauce), lots of Parmesan cheese!

(1) Boil water in a large pot
(2) Add pasta and cook for about 7-10 minutes, until "Al-Dente"
(3) Strain out liquid
(4) Return the pasta to the large pot and add the sauce to taste
(5) Over low heat, stir until the sauce heats
(6) Add Parmesan cheese to taste

 Recipe Review: This rigatoni was absolutely delicious. The key to this dish - making the ratio of sauce to noodle just enough to coat the pasta but not to drown it.

Photo courtesy of Ronna Boyer Photography

I left beverages and dessert up to my guests...3 bottle of wine, 2 ridiculous dessert loaves (Grace's Marketplace, Upper East Side), 2 batches of cupcakes, and 3 hours later, I kindly rolled my friends to the elevator and bid them adieu.

So there you have it, entry #1....

Peace Love and Frying Pans,

A-Dub.

P.S. A special shout-out to ms.Berger for helping me set-up my blog, title and tag line included. Always the clever one ;)