Description:
The subtitle of Sally Samson's The $50 Dinner Party astutely sums up the book: Twenty-Six Dinner Parties That Won't Break Your Bank, Your Back, or Your Schedule. And boy, does she deliver. This is a no-frills cookbook, as spare as you can go, and is a sleek beauty as a result. Sampson opens with a chapter of little bites and dips, then it's right into the main menus, with detailed discussions on each of the 26 dinners, plus sidebars of information for clever timesaving ideas. A presumption is made that you are already comfortable in the kitchen, that you speak the language of recipes, and that you know how to time a meal to get the food out and onto the table when your guests are ready to sit down. Sampson leaves the marching orders to you. Her job--and she's brilliant at it--is stimulating your planning imagination with a lush array of possibilities for delicious dinners for six that she feels will come in under $50, sans wine, coffee, and tea. A couple of wonderful meal examples: Roasted Chicken Breasts with Dried Figs, Apricots, and Prunes; French Bread; Mixed Green Salad with Red Onions and Toasted Pine Nuts; and Rice Pudding. Or, Grilled, Marinated Flank Steak with Soy, Sherry, and Dijon; Potato Cake with Garlic and Olive Oil; Salad of Arugula, Avocado, and Mango; and Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce. Sally Sampson deserves a medal for taking the worry and guesswork out of dinner entertaining, all while watching the purse strings. --Schuyler Ingle
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