Winter is the perfect time to show off your hosting skills while indulging in hearty home-cooked meals around the fireplace and sipping on a fine bottle of Cabernet. Soft, soulful music, maybe classic or light jazz and gentle warm lighting are essential when it comes to setting the mood for a winter dinner party.
During the indoors season we often find ourselves contemplative, staring into the flames of fire, so light up those candles and get cracking on the fireplace to help set off those deep meaningful conversations at your winter dinner party.
Blankets and throws are great for keeping people huddled together and provide a sense of casual comfort. As the winter dinner party warms up and everyone’s had a glass or two of red, make sure you’re well prepared with a suitable winter menu so that you don’t have to keep rushing off to a cold kitchen.
Menu-wise, this is a no-salad territory where hearty, hot and richer dishes are welcome. Our favourite recipes for Winter warming are Cape Winelands Lamb Tagine and Beef Bourguignon.
Typical starters to any lamb dish are Mediterranean-based recipes, a simple platter of hummus, pita triangles, grape tomatoes, olives and roasted red peppers.
Lamb tagine will obviously require a decent sized tagine and slow cooking in the oven for 4 to 5 hours until lamb is tender and sliding off the bone. Garnish with chopped parsley and coriander and serve with basmati rice. Yum! Combine it with fine red wine, and dark artisan beers, and finish it off with light and fluffy chocolate mousse.
A second option is to go a little more casual with a home cooked, boozy red-wine stew, Beef Bourguignon, or as South Africans like to call it Beef Potjie. With stews that are a little less complex, serve plenty of bread to soak up the thick juice and keep the drinks a little more basic, a large tannic brew can work well.
It’s a pretty heavy meal, so finish it off with something a little lighter like baked cinnamon apples. This also leaves a little room for that winter must; a cup of deliciously rich hot chocolate. Comforted and cosy at last.