3-Ingredient Parties

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By Lindsey Baker
It's a common scenario: The party is in full swing, the drinks and gossip are flowing and the host is harried in the kitchen. If this is how you entertain, you're working too hard – and robbing yourself of the opportunity to enjoy your guests! It's time for a new approach that's so easy, you just may find yourself entertaining more often. To satiate party-goers and keep yourself at the center of the action, you need just three ingredients: A classic meat-and-cheese tray, a go-to cocktail and a take-away sweet.

3-Ingredient Parties
Enjoy uncomplicated entertaining.

By Lindsey Baker

It's a common scenario: The party is in full swing, the drinks and gossip are flowing and the host is harried in the kitchen. If this is how you entertain, you're working too hard – and robbing yourself of the opportunity to enjoy your guests! It's time for a new approach that's so easy, you just may find yourself entertaining more often. To satiate party-goers and keep yourself at the center of the action, you need just three ingredients: A classic meat-and-cheese tray, a go-to cocktail and a take-away sweet.

THE SWEET
Developed by Heidi Schlicht, pastry chef at Delice in Midtown Crossing, Tiger Bark is an easy, eye-catching dessert to make the day before. Guests can enjoy it at the party or take it home in glassine envelopes.

YOU'LL NEED
1. White chocolate
2. Peanut butter
3. Semisweet chocolate


THE SNACKS
In order for the host to fully enjoy the main event, serve less-fussy fare, says Alexander Adkins, general manager of the Grey Plume. Roast beef, ham, cheddar and Swiss pair well with acidic pickles and mustard, rolls and ice-cold beer. For something fancier, Adkins suggests locally produced cow and goat cheeses from Lincoln's ShadowBrook Farm or Raymond's Branched Oak Farm. “The goat-milk cheese especially has a nice brightness that goes great with ‘farm-style' wheat beers; light, crisp wines; and hard ciders,” Adkins says. Charcuterie – prosciutto, capicola and other cured or aged meat – is available at Whole Foods. Round out the selection with mustard, capers, gherkins, fruit preserves and warm grilled or toasted bread drizzled with olive oil.
YOU'LL
NEED
1. Cheese
2. Meat
3. Bread

The cocktail
“When entertaining for a small gathering, I don't mind making drinks to order,” says Ian McCarthy, craft bartender at the Boiler Room in the Old Market. A classic Old Fashioned doesn't require an extravagantly stocked liquor cabinet, he says, nor does a lighter Tom Collins. The latter can be scaled up to fill a punch bowl – something McCarthy recommends for larger parties.
You'll need:
1. Gin 2. Lemon Juice 3. Simple Syrup*
or 1. Bourbon 2. Bitters 3. Simple Syrup*

*Simple Syrup: Bring 2 cups water to a boil. Stir in 2 cups sugar. Turn the heat to low and stir constantly until sugar dissolves completely. Let the syrup cool to room temperature, then pour into a glass jar and store in the refrigerator.

Tom Collins
2 oz. gin
1 oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice (no substitutes)
½ oz. simple syrup
Build in a tall glass with ice, stir and top with a few ounces (1 oz. to 3 oz.) of sparkling water

Old Fashioned
2 oz. bourbon, rye, aged rum or tequila
3 or 4 dashes Angostura bitters
¼ to ½ oz. simple syrup (sugar of choice and water in equal parts, mixed until fully incorporated)
Combine ingredients in a rocks glass and stir to incorporate. Add ice and stir until diluted (about 100 revolutions). Garnish with orange peel.