Cooking (Reasonably) for Company: Make-Ahead Little Breads

It was almost exactly one year ago that I wrote about bundt cakes, Martha Stewart and the demon that hovers like a menacing wraith over most of my creative endeavors.

I am, by nature, generally criminally lazy. I have a cat-like need to remain motionless for around 22, 23 hours out of the day. Like a cat, though, when actually roused to action, I can expend a great deal of energy all in one go.

Periodically, this cycle plays out with the energy spent in a creative pursuit focused on trying to achieve some Platonic ideal of an end result.

As I wrote last year, perfectionism is an easy label to slap on that pursuit of an ideal, but to me, that label has actually come to mean a fear of flaws, which misses the mark.  I believe what people like me (i.e., the mini-Martha Stewarts in the world) are actually trying to do is instead make manifest this thing in our heads.  In addition, we want to make it manifest in precisely the way we are seeing it in our heads.  And we do it for no other reason than to scratch the itch created by having the idea in the first place.  Unfortunately, for me, at least, scratching that itch usually resulted in my spending too much money and time and temporarily subordinating everything else to pursuing that vision.

I've been reconsidering this cycle lately. I learned a lot from my time with too many jobs, mainly that I never EVER again want to be that busy and chaotic. I think for years I’ve been juicing my need for stimulation by putting myself into high-stress situations. It might be a negative jolt to be overscheduled and frantic, but it’s still a jolt. And if stimulation is a greater basic need for you than comfort or calm, you’ll keep making that choice even if it makes your life seem objectively worse.

Cooking has been such a revelation to me because it reminded me that rather than looking to stress for stimulation, I can (and should) look to creative work to fulfill that basic need.  Obvious, perhaps, but I can be a little slow at grasping the obvious sometimes.

And let’s face it: stress, like junk food, is a heck of a lot easier to come by in the typical American life than fulfilling creative work or a healthy meal.

Of course, back to the original point of this post, that creative stimulation is only a positive if it doesn’t go all out of control when harnessed to an impossible ideal.

So, now armed with the knowledge of this more positive stimulation, and the desire to have a more calm and peaceful life, I had the opportunity to try a new approach when cooking for a few dinner guests and events recently.

In the past, cooking for company descended quickly into a 20-hour cook-a-thon. I planned a menu FIRST and think of budget only after I’ve gotten attached to an idea (usually grandiose, usually involving a bunch of ingredients I didn't have on hand).

Now, I wanted to see if I could START with keeping budget and time in mind first, and plan the menu around it. (Again, remember I generally only figure out the obvious after an absurdly long period of trying out the totally not obvious and/or ridiculous.)

Some things worked, some didn't, but the consistently successful element were little savory flavored breads that I could make a few days before the event.  These little breads came in handy: not only were they delicious, they are - as restaurants well know - something you can throw into the maw of your hungry guests as you get the other elements to the table.

I found a few successful recipes, and I’ll be posting the recipe results over the next few days. I picked them for a few reasons.:

• They are highly-flavorful, so much more satisfying and exciting to the palate than plain bread. The flavors themselves in these recipes are simple yet sophisticated and so most are suitable for even a fancier-time party.
• With maybe one exception, the ingredients called for aren’t too unusual if you have a reasonably well-stocked kitchen and access to a store like Trader Joe’s.
• You can make them early, at your convenience, and spend the time the day of on all of the more a la minute type of items.

Here are the recipe results I’ll be posting this week.  There are a few different baked good prep methods represented, in case you are already a baker and have a preference or want to stick to a method you feel comfortable with.

Tuesday: Buttermilk Biscuits with Green Onions, Black Pepper and Sea Salt

• Advanced Prep: Make biscuit dough rounds in advance and freeze the dough, bake on day-of.
• Method: Biscuit, obvs.

Wednesday: Rosemary and Thyme Breadsticks

• Advanced Prep: Can be made three days in advance.
• Method: Yeasted bread.

Thursday: Crisp Rosemary Flatbread

• Advanced Prep: Can be made two days in advance (although it's super fast so not a big deal to whip up day-of).
• Method: Quick bread with a smidge of kneading.

Friday: Parmesan Black Pepper Biscotti

• Advanced Prep: Most biscotti can last for about two weeks in a tightly-sealed container or can be frozen.
• Method: Kind of biscuit-y