Hi! My name is Meghan, and I am a 24-year-old grad student who lives in Chicago. I recently started a blog, LongSips.com, where I share recipes, exercise tips and restaurant reviews. The focus is mostly on cooking for my family and friends, which is a hobby I find relaxing and rewarding. I’d love for you to come check it.
Last night, I hosted my first dinner party. It was a ton of fun, and below I’ll share some tips on planning and hosting a dinner party, and my recipe for Maple Roasted Pork Tenderloin.
About a week ago I came up with a menu for the party. I decided on serving pork. I made this decision with the help of Ina Garten’s suggestions for entertaining in Barefoot, Back to Basics. She says its best not to serve seafood or nuts in any of the main course dishes, since alot of people don’t like this. Keeping that in mind (sort of), I came up with following menu:
Main Course:
- Maple Roasted Pork Tenderloin
- Balsamic Butter New Potatoes
- Oven Roasted Green Beans
- Candied Pecans with Blue Cheese, Dried Cherries, and Basil Olive Oil with a Balsamic Reduction
- Bread with Basil Olive Oil
Having this already planned, I was able to figure out what ingredients I had and what I needed to buy.
To get a head start on the week, on Monday, I bought all of the essentials at Trader Joes. I found some great deals and was able to make dinner and provide alcohol for everyone for $15 a plate. Not too bad! I bought 2 bottles of Trader Joe’s Chardonnay, Merlot, and Savignon Blanc. I also bought a case of Bud Light.
To get ready for the party, I cleaned my whole apartment yesterday. Our place was actually really dirty. I mopped down all the floors and cleaned out our bathroom, and kitchen. There seemed to be dust mites and kitchen grime everywhere. Yesterday I also set the table and bought some flowers.
Before my guest came, I cooked the Pork Tenderloin and had it warming in the oven. The day prior I cooked the potatoes, and just nuked them in the microwave 5mins before we ate. I also arranged the green beans on a cookie sheet, and combined the salad ingredients prior to them arriving.
When my guest arrived I was able to sit back relax and enjoy their company because all the work had been done in the days or hours prior.
Here is my recipe for Pork Tenderloin. It was moist, with a sweet and sour tanginess from the maple reduction. It’s an easy main dish that could be served with a simple salad, and rice, or potatoes and fresh veggies.
Pork Tenderloin with Maple Pan Juices
Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup diced onion
- 1/4 cup fresh orange juice, divided
- 1/4 cup Maple Syrup
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin
- Cooking spray
- ¼ cup honey
Directions:
- Combine onion, 2 tablespoons juice, 2 tablespoons Maple Syrup, honey, soy sauce, pepper, and garlic in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add the pork to syrup mixture; seal and marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 400°.
- Heat a 9-inch heavy skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Remove pork from bag, reserving marinade. Add pork to pan; cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides.. Place pan in oven, bake at 400° for 30 minutes Remove pork from pan. Set aside, and keep warm.
- Add syrup mixture to pan, and place over medium-high heat, scraping the pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until slightly thick. Serve sauce with pork. Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces pork and 2 tablespoons sauce.)
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
OLIVE OIL AND BREAD IS MY FAVORITE! Looks like it was a great dinner party
That food looks sooo delicious!
But what caught my attention most was your dishes….I used to have those same ones and I miss them so much! They are precious. Good choice!
MMMmmm… pork tenderloin is delicious!! I usually slow roast it in the slow cooker which makes it ridiculously tender. I like the idea of the quicker version!
What a fabulous dinner party menu!! I love to make multi-part extravagant meals, but I find it so expensive – plus it takes so long to clean up afterward – do you have any tips for this?
sounds delish!!
I was always under the impression you were not to use marinade after you had had raw meat in it, even if you are using it afterwards to make a sauce. Am I wrong on this?
That all looks delicious. I think you provided great tips for timing everything out and avoiding being overwhelmed when entertaining. The first time I ever threw a dinner party I made a dish that had to be cooked on the stovetop at the last minute — big mistake! Now I tend to do a mix of things that can be prepared ahead and generally pick a main dish that can be cooked off in the oven so that it’s just baking when my guests arrive.
D- I think essentially she made gravy out of the marinade? Although I am no expert.
Wow! You are quite the hostess. Your table looks beautiful and all the food looks amazing! It’s hard to beat bread with dipping oil.
You did wonderfully, Meghan! It looks great! Thanks for the recipe. I wish I had a friend who hosted dinner parties like that!
Oh WOW what a wonderful dinner party!!! Yummy recipe and the table looks beautiful!! Way to go Meghan!!
Regarding the marinade, I reserved some in a seperate bag so I wouldnt cross contaminate. I’ve read that you can reuse marinades as long as you boil it, but its better to be safe than sorry!
To keep the costs down, I usually shop at somewhere like Trader Joes, and have a head count before. I then buy things in bulk (big bag of string beans, frozen) and use dressings and or make marinades with ingredients I already have on hand. I make sure to buy a big glug of Olive Oil at Costco, and Balsamic, because I always use these staples.
Regarding clean up, I do most of the dirty work before, so I can clean and set up. Then with the dishes I wait until everyone leaves and run one load that night and finish up the rest in the morning.