Resource Wed Mar 19 2008

Chic on the Cheap

I’ve always got a reason to throw a dinner party, but I don’t always have the cash. We all know living and dining in Chicago is expensive, but don’t let a bourgeois obstacle like money interfere with one of life’s greatest pleasures: entertaining. Last weekend, while struggling to conjure up a cheap yet elegant dish that I could serve my nine guests, I decided to abandon my Martha Stewart complex for one night and ask for help.

The premise is simple: instead of asking a guest to bring their own dish, have them bring an assigned gourmet ingredient. Then assemble the meal according to your own discriminating standards without revealing what it is you’re actually preparing. For my frugal festivities, I made whole roasted garlic with toasted baguettes as an appetizer, wild mushroom risotto and an asparagus and cucumber salad with homemade lemon and herb dressing.

By using my suggestions for guest assignments as a guideline, the remaining ingredients should cost no more than $20. Or, if you are one of the culinary challenged, lure a kitchen-friendly friend by absolving them of their obligation to bring anything, and let them do the cooking. Mix it up with other dinner party concepts: why not try a Top Chef challenge? Ask your guests to bring their favorite ingredient and test your creativity in combining some or all of them.