Simple, homespun meal makes entertaining easy

Do dinner parties have to be complicated?

No, says this unharried host.

I’d rather have friends and family around the table more often and serve a simple, good meal than spend hours in planning, organizing and executing a masterpiece that I won’t enjoy because I’m too stressed out (not to mention the state I’ve put my family into because I’m so stressed out, and you know exactly what I mean).

Or worse, I don’t invite anyone over because it seems like too much work.

Wait a minute.

Repeat after me: Entertaining isn’t that difficult.

Case in point: today’s menu. The main course is a slow-cooked pork roast braised in Asian spices, with a dark, rich gravy that shouts out for mashed potatoes. Make that sour-cream mashed potatoes.

I serve it to company with pride — but I also serve it to the family for Sunday dinner. It’s just plain good, whether or not the “good” dishes are on the table. (And they should be out all the time, but that’s another story.)

I serve it to company because, let’s be frank, how many home cooks prepare roasts these days? This is a welcome novelty at most tables. And even if it weren’t a novelty in and of itself, the spices change this dish sufficiently to make it new.

I prefer to make the roast in the slow cooker, the busy person’s favorite kitchen tool. There’s nothing more pleasing than to come home to a kitchen fragrant with dinner almost ready to eat. Entertaining couldn’t be easier.

The meat also can be made in the oven or on top of the stove if you’re around to watch it.

This sesame pork recipe has traveled throughout my family faster and with more persistence than a chain letter. My aunt heard the recipe on the radio 40 years ago. She told my mother, who told her daughters, and we’ve been serving it up and passing out recipes ever since.

The ingredients — especially the spices — seem far too abundant, but they are correct. Yes, all the ginger and sesame seeds are necessary for the resulting flavor. For the Svitak-Dean family, these are the flavors of fall.

Dinner on the table, course by course
Every menu needs a starter, and this one begins with tender butterhead lettuce topped with warm mushrooms and Parmesan shavings. When you’re cooking for company, think of little twists on the familiar, such as this. There’s nothing significantly different about this salad, except that the lettuce is topped with something warm, an unexpected treat in cold weather.

Note: To shave Parmesan, use a grater with coarse holes to make larger shavings of the cheese. Butterhead lettuce comes in loose heads with floppy leaves; it is the most tender of lettuces. Baby spinach leaves could also be used.

Basically a braised piece of meat, the roast is easy to cook whether in a slow cooker, in the oven, or on top of the stove in a Dutch oven. When prepared in the slow cooker, the roast doesn’t need to be marinated in advance because the meat marinates during the lengthy cooking time. But for ease in the morning, it’s helpful to prepare the marinade the night before.

Russet potatoes, also called Idaho potatoes, are best for mashing because of their high starch content.
Green beans are roasted to perfection while the potatoes cook. Once again, this is a variation on more traditional presentation of green beans, but it doesn’t take any more time. These roasted beans are sure to become a favorite recipe.

A hearty gingerbread with a delicate lemon sauce ends this robust meal. Make it ahead and you can whip up a dinner party after a day at the office. The recipe originates with Duluth cookbook author Beatrice Ojakangas. Serve it with hot tea or strong coffee.

Now that’s my kind of entertaining.

BUTTERHEAD LETTUCE WITH PARMESAN AND FRESH MUSHROOMS
—
Yield: 6 servings

7 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4-6 ounces fresh mushrooms (button, portobello or other), sliced
6 cups butterhead lettuce, such as Boston or Bibb
6 tablespoons Parmesan shavings
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
1/4 teasoiib salt
Freshly cracked pepper (tricolor peppercorns look particularly nice)

Procedure:
1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in saucepan; add mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are wilted.
2. Portion lettuce leaves on salad plates. Top with mushroom slices and Parmesan.
3. To make vinaigrette, whisk together vinegar, mustard, salt, and pepper. Slowly whisk in 6 tablespoons olive oil. Drizzle on salad immediately before serving.

Source: “Come One, Come All/ Easy Entertaining With Seasonal Menus,” by Lee Svitak Dean.

SESAME PORK ROAST
—
Yield: 6 servings

2 tablespoons sesame seeds
3-4 green onions, sliced (about 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons molasses (any type)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup water
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 (4-pound) pork shoulder roast (with or without bone)
3 tablespoons flour for gravy, if desired

Procedure:
1. Toast sesame seeds in dry frying pan over low heat until golden and fragrant. Place seeds in bowl with green onions, ketchup, soy, ginger, molasses, salt, curry, pepper, water and wine vinegar; stir to mix thoroughly. Place meat in large bowl and pour marinade over meat. Marinate, covered, 2-3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.
2. To prepare in slow cooker: Place meat and marinade in the slow cooker; cover and cook on low 8-9 hours or on high about 3 hours.
To prepare in oven or on stovetop: Remove meat from marinade and pat dry. Brown in Dutch oven or frying pan. To continue in oven: Place meat and marinade in covered casserole dish and roast at 3 hours at 300 to 325 degrees. (The roast should be falling apart when it’s done.) To continue atop stove: Place meat and marinade in pot and heat until the marinade is boiling. Reduce to a simmer and cover. Cook, turning meat once or twice, 3 hours.
3. Serve meat with pan juices or make gravy.
4. To make gravy: Pour pan juices into 2-cup measure. Skim off fat, returning 2 tablespoons fat to pan. If defatted pan juices do not equal 2 cups, add enough water or chicken broth to reach the 2-cup measure. Whisk 3 tablespoons flour into fat in pan and cook over medium heat until bubbly, scraping bottom of pan to release all the flavor from juices cooked to the pan. Slowly stir in pan juices and cook until gravy thickens, stirring constantly.

Source: “Come One, Come All/ Easy Entertaining With Seasonal Menus,” by Lee Svitak Dean.

SOUR CREAM MASHED POTATOES
—
Yield: 6 servings

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
Salt
1/4 cup milk or cream
2-4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sour cream
White pepper

Procedure:
1. Place potatoes in large pot; add 1 tablespoon salt and water to cover potatoes. Bring to boil, then lower heat to simmer; cook, uncovered, until tender, about 20 minutes, or until a fork can easily pierce the potatoes. Drain.
2. If you have a potato ricer, run the potatoes through that first (it makes for a lighter mashed potato). In the pot or a large bowl, add milk and butter to potatoes. Mash by hand or with a hand mixer. Mix in sour cream and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Variation: Add about 8 roasted garlic cloves (about 1/4 cup roasted garlic puree) to potatoes and sour cream. Or, for a tangier flavor, substitute 4 ounces goat cheese (chevre) for the sour cream. Or you could add a little horseradish or chopped fresh sage to the recipe.

Source: “Come One, Come All/ Easy Entertaining With Seasonal Menus,” by Lee Svitak Dean.

ROASTED GREEN BEANS
—
Yield: 6 servings

1 1/4 pounds fresh green beans, ends trimmed, if desired
Olive oil
Coarse salt
Freshly cracked pepper (tricolor peppercorns look particularly nice)

Procedure:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (beans can be cooked at any temperature; simply adjust cooking time a bit).
2. Toss beans in olive oil and place in baking dish. Roast 15-20 minutes or so, until beans are cooked through. They will have shriveled slightly. Remove from oven and sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
Variation: Add a sprinkling of black sesame seeds, which are available in the spice section of upscale supermarkets. (However, black sesame seeds are not recommended for this meal because white sesame seeds are used in the roasted pork.) Or, roast the beans with 1/2 cup raw cashews.

Source: “Come One, Come All/ Easy Entertaining With Seasonal Menus,” by Lee Svitak Dean.

GINGERBREAD WITH LEMON SAUCE
—
Yield: 8-9 servings

CAKE
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon each ground ginger and ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt or buttermilk
1/4 cup light molasses
1 egg, slightly beaten

LEMON SAUCE
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (zest)
1/4 cup water
Strips of lemon peel, for garnish

Procedure:
1. To make gingerbread: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 8-inch square or round cake pan.
2. In large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. In another bowl, mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and salt. Blend into creamed ingredients until mixture resembles moist crumbs. Transfer a third of the mixture to another bowl and reserve.
3. To remaining mixture, add baking soda, yogurt, molasses and egg. Stir until batter is evenly blended. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with reserved batter. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, or until cake tests clean.
4. To make lemon sauce: In small saucepan, combine sugar, butter, juice, zest and water. Place over medium heat and bring to boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer 4 minutes, stirring until mixture is clear and slightly thickened. Serve warm over gingerbread. Top with strips of lemon peel, if desired.

Source: “Come One, Come All/ Easy Entertaining With Seasonal Menus,” by Lee Svitak Dean.