3 Answers

I had to laugh reading the heading and thought the same thing as TSC. I cook for four all the time, but five would be no additional problems because my menu is tasty, varied, and makes for a wonderful night that is guaranteed to please even the most discriminating. The rule of thumb for fish is ten minutes per inch. For steak, it depends on the burner style and types of meat so it is not nearly as simple. Also, it depends if you have a high fat steak like a ribeye or a low fat caribou, reindeer, or moose, elk, or even venison. I prefer a venison roast, wrapped in bacon. After baked, I cut it into one inch thick, four inch cubes, wrapped in cooked bacon and semi glazed grilled onions with just a hint of salt to take the bitterness of the meat and sourness of the onions away. The rule of thumb for fatty meats are you sear both sides, then cook until blood starts coming out of the top of the steak, then flip it over and let it go until you see blood once again. Don't poke with a fork or cut into it, but let it cook and it will be cooked medium. If you want it medium-well, flip it over once again for a third the time it took for the blood to show up. Well done needs it flipped once more for a minute or so more on high heat. Don't turn down the burner or you will dry out the meat. The salad can be made beforehand and normally takes me less than ten minutes, and I put everything in it I can find, including mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds, and every raw vegetable I plan to serve that night except corn. I do the appetizer, normally a single kettle of french onion soup, as the steaks are being cooked. Baked potatoes can be done in the microwave. Medium size takes about ten minutes. Make sure you take a fork and poke them to allow steam to vent. When you think they are done, take a fork and stick them once again and see if the insides are soft. If not, stick them back in for another ten minutes because the microwave is not working as well as it should for five potatoes. If you decide to do them in the oven, be prepared to have them cooking for a couple of hours at three hundred twenty five degrees for large potatoes. Again, stick them, but wrap them in foil too. Don't use foil in a microwave oven. I like french onion soup, baked, and that only takes three minutes per cup. Just add croutons, and put cheese on top for a yummy start to a multi course meal. For desert, you can either make a simple desert using fruits, cream, and powdered sugar on sweat breads, served with unsweetened coffee to offset the sweetness of the desert. Finish it off with a nice sweet desert wine like Liberty Creek Sweet Red for a nice conversational drink that is not overpowering. As far as the vegetable is concerned, I'd recommend two sets of vegetables and fruits, one large red fruit like a single strawberry or and a yellow corn on the cob combined with a green broccoli and slice of orange or musk mellon fruit offsets the brown meats and white baked potatoes for a nice presentation. A nice french or garlic bread, lightly buttered set along side on its own plate makes for a nice bread. Keep in mind, small portions of all my menu feeds five grown and hungry adults while not taking more than an hour to cook. Most of it can be prepared ahead of time, and slipped into the microwave. If you want to make it a memorable night, have everyone cook their own steaks over the gill, and when they enter the dining room, have three plates set up around where their steak plate is placed. Put your vegetables on one plate, the fruit on another smaller cup, and the bread on its own plate. When the steaks come in and everyone sits down, look around and say, "Oh, the garnish. Walk around the table and add a piece of parsley to each plate with a smugness only you can produce. Make sure the coffee is freshly ground. Have heavy cream available for not only the fruit desert later, but also for the coffee because it is a memorable occasion and as such, no calories are allowed to be counted this night.

So how do I do it all? First I get my potatoes ready and throw them into the microwave. I get the steaks out of the refrigerator and make sure they are not frozen. I saut? them in a dry rub. Do not use liquid rubs on steaks unless you want them to boil instead of sear. I set them aside in the fridge and get the soup going in a pot, plan on one can of Campbell's soup per two coffee cups used. Then I throw the salad together and place the separate vegetables into small pans, depending if I want to saut?, grill, boil, or use my wok. The vegetables should not get soggy, but lightly crisp. Steaming is the best option because they keep their color for the presentation and many people believe the vitamins are not lost either. By now the potatoes should be done. Check one or two with a fork and then wrap them in aluminum foil and stick them in the oven at 300 degrees. At that temperature, the potatoes will not dry out, but stay hot for your guests. Turn off the burners steaming the vegetables, but keep them covered. Announce to your guests this is a multi course meal and to please take a seat. While they are doing that, fill five coffee cups 2/3s full with soup. Put croutons on top, put cheese on top, place into the microwave for four minutes or until the cheese has melted. Put them on a coffee cup plate and serve with soup spoons. The second course is the salad. Afterwards, announce everyone, or the men folk, are to cook their own steaks on the grill while the ladies take care of preparing the desert for later. It gives a little time to gab without the spouses. Fifteen minutes later, the men bring in the steaks and find a table set with vegetables and fruit, and bread, and a baked potato, making sure everyone takes butter on their plate for both the potato and their bread if they want it. Eat, enjoy, and when everyone is finished, serve the fruit dessert with strong freshly ground coffee, served with real cream and sugar. The fruit plate should have been prepared earlier to allow the cream to set. When ready to serve, sprinkle fresh powder sugar over everything as a decorative touch. Once everyone has finished dessert, bring out the sweet red wine and drink in a softer environment, like the patio or living room. I normally allow my guest to pick their own drinks of choice, but normally suggest a bottle of either White Zinfandel or Grenache, chilled for the steaks because they will not overpower the vegetables and lighter tastes either. When cooking white fish, I pick a subtle white wine, slightly fruity, but always dry. Enjoy!