Dinner Party for 10: An Elegant Seated Menu and Timeline

Ten people is the largest number I will seat and serve by myself without help in the kitchen, and only with a menu like this one. Every course here has a part that is finished hours ahead and a part that takes less than ten minutes once guests are at the table. That split is the whole trick. The menu reads as fancy, and it is, but the work is spread over two days and the evening itself is mostly plating, pouring and sitting down.

The menu

• Sparkling rose with watermelon gazpacho shooters
• Seared scallops on green pea and roasted chickpea puree
• A crisp Sauvignon Blanc with the scallops and the main course
• Roasted chicken breasts with red grape sauce on French lentils, with buttered thin green beans
• Mixed green salad with nasturtiums, borage and calendula, shallot citrus vinaigrette
• Homemade French bread with sweet butter
• Individual pavlovas with lime curd, fresh raspberries and whipped cream

How the courses fit together

The gazpacho is cold, sweet and sharp, poured into small glasses and handed around with the sparkling wine while people arrive. It needs no plate and no fork, which keeps the front hall easy. The scallops are the first seated course and the only real cooking you do in front of the clock: 10 scallops, three minutes, one hot pan at a time.

The main course is the anchor. Bone-in or boneless skin-on chicken breasts roast while you clear the first course, and the grape sauce, which is made ahead, just needs reheating with the pan juices. Lentils hold well in a low oven, and green beans take five minutes in boiling water. The salad comes after the main, French style, which gives everyone a pause and gives you time to whip cream. The pavlova shells and curd are made the day before, so dessert is assembly.

On wine, the general rule I use is simple. Something pink and bubbly at the start, because it goes with almost anything and makes people feel looked after. A dry, bright white with the scallops and chicken, since both dishes have sweet notes (peas, grapes) that a grassy, citrusy wine cuts through. If guests prefer red with the chicken, a light, chilled one with low tannin will not fight the grapes.

Quantities for 10

The components, briefly

Watermelon gazpacho

Blend seedless watermelon with a peeled cucumber, a small piece of red onion, a few ripe tomatoes, sherry vinegar, olive oil, salt and a little fresh chile. Strain it if you want it silky. It is best made the morning of, since watermelon loses its brightness after a day.

Pea and chickpea puree

Roast drained chickpeas with olive oil at 425°F (220°C) for 20 minutes until golden, then puree them with thawed peas, lemon, a garlic clove, a few mint leaves and enough warm water to make it spoonable. It reheats gently in a covered dish in a low oven.

The scallops

Pat them very dry and salt them just before cooking. Heat a large skillet with a film of oil until it shimmers, lay in half the scallops without crowding, and leave them alone for 2 minutes until a deep brown crust forms. Turn, add a knob of butter, cook 1 minute more, and spoon onto the warm puree. The centers should be just opaque, still a little translucent in the middle.

Chicken and grapes

Roast the seasoned breasts skin side up at 425°F (220°C) for 25 to 35 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer reads 160°F (71°C) in the thickest part; they will climb to 165°F (74°C) while resting 10 minutes. For the sauce, roast halved grapes with shallot and thyme until they slump and caramelize, then simmer with a splash of red wine vinegar and chicken stock and finish with butter. Make it the day before and add the roasting juices at the end.

Lentils

Simmer with a bay leaf and half an onion for 20 to 25 minutes, drain, and dress with olive oil, salt and a spoonful of mustard. Keep covered at 200°F (95°C) for up to an hour.

The salad

Toss tender greens with a vinaigrette of minced shallot, orange and lemon juice, white wine vinegar and olive oil, and scatter the flowers over the top after dressing so they keep their color. Use only flowers you grew yourself without sprays or bought as edible. Nasturtiums taste peppery, borage faintly of cucumber, and calendula petals are mild and golden. The same idea works in colder months with the greens with pears, Asiago and cashews.

Pavlovas

Pipe or spoon meringue into ten rounds with a shallow well in each and bake low and slow, then turn the oven off and leave them inside to dry. Store airtight. Spoon curd into the well, then cream, then berries, no more than 20 minutes before serving or the shells soften.

Timeline for one cook

Two days before, shop for everything except the flowers and greens. Bake the French bread, cool it, wrap it well and freeze one loaf if you like.

The day before:

• Bake the pavlova shells and make the lime curd.
• Make the grape sauce and the pea and chickpea puree.
• Cook the lentils, cool, and refrigerate.
• Make the vinaigrette. Trim the green beans.
• Set the table, chill the wine, and lay out serving dishes with a slip of paper naming what goes in each.

The morning of, make and chill the gazpacho. Wash and dry the greens and keep them rolled in a towel in the refrigerator. Pick the flowers late in the morning and keep them in a damp paper towel in a closed container. Two hours before guests arrive, season the chicken and let it sit out for 30 minutes, and set a pot of water on the stove for the beans.

The evening itself, assuming a 7:00 arrival:

Warm the bread at 350°F (175°C), wrapped loosely in foil so the crust crackles but does not harden.

Swaps for dietary needs

For a guest who does not eat shellfish, sear a thick slice of halloumi or a round of polenta the same way and set it on the puree. The chicken and lentils are naturally free of gluten; just serve the bread on the side. A vegetarian guest can have a double portion of lentils with roasted mushrooms and the grape sauce, which is good over almost anything.

Service style

Plate everything in the kitchen. With ten people that keeps the table clear and the portions even. Warm the dinner plates in a 170°F (77°C) oven for 10 minutes before the main course, because cold plates take the heat out of chicken in a minute. For a sense of how the same planning grows to a crowd with hired help, see the fall wedding dinner for 85, and there are more menus to browse in Menus and Planning.

When the last pavlova goes down, the cream should still hold a soft peak and the raspberries should be sitting up on top, not sliding into the curd.