Now that Food52's Editorial Assistant Brette Warshaw has stocked her First Kitchen, she's ready to throw parties in it: no-stress weeknight parties for anyone, anytime, and (almost) every kitchen. You're invited.
Today: A party to comfort and to celebrate.
![Champagne Cocktail](https://images.food52.com/0Iv4JPgPxsRXDBWeSbOU9Xh6Sy4=/b3df66a4-3aa3-4424-861e-54dffd33fd03--food52_12-18-12-0178.jpg)
Comfort -- deep, heavy, flannel-blanket comfort -- comes in many forms. For some, it's pot roast, macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, cinnamon toast. For others (and for me), it's lavish, indulgent, oh-my-god-I-kinda-can't-believe-I'm-letting-myself-do-this foods: plates of oysters, towering soufflés, champagne cocktails, lobster.
So for my last dinner party of college -- I graduate today! -- I cooked steak and potatoes. Because after four years of chickpeas and eggs, of too many one-pot, twenty-minute, thrown-together meals, steak and potatoes were the comfort we all needed: the kinds of comfort that dance between the simple and the lavish, the comfort that will stick to our ribs as we don our caps and gowns.
Here's a dinner party to smooth the edges, to sustain, to comfort -- and for when you have something to celebrate. Cheers!
The Menu:
Champagne Cocktails
Shaved Asparagus and Mint Salad
Cowboy Rubbed Rib Eye
Roasted Slap Fries with Srirachannaise
Buttery Braised Leeks with a Crispy Panko Topping
Nigella Lawson's Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake
The night before: Make the spice mix for your steak, and rub it all over. Set it in the fridge. Bake your chocolate loaf cake -- it'll be even better the next day.
![Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake](https://images.food52.com/pOZiNaNThEB7aBGktmnzDDUa01Y=/19f7f0e7-993b-42a6-863e-7c0728b70e8a--8262397308_8a69f694e0_z.jpg)
As soon as you get home from work: Time to prep. Clean and slice your leeks. Rinse your asparagus. Mandolin your potatoes, and set them in a bowl of water. Take your steak out of the fridge, and let it come to room temperature.
An hour before your guests arrive: Make the crispy panko topping for the leeks. Whip together your srirachannaise. Whisk the dressing for your asparagus salad.
When people start coming over: Hand them champagne cocktails, and enlist a friend to shave asparagus. Get your leeks braising on the stovetop and your potatoes in the oven. Sear your steak; it'll need time to rest. (Note: I didn't make the pan sauce, but if pan sauces don't make you nervous and you're good at multi-tasking, then go ahead.)
![Cowboy Rubbed Rib Eye](https://images.food52.com/Oyn9tdM9h9DBU6htHk2T8mk9kKE=/f07357b8-9e9a-48aa-8e56-90036f8b0407--cowboy_steak.jpg)
Dinner time: Toss together your salad, and mound it onto plates. Serve.
![Shaved Asparagus Salad](https://images.food52.com/uVirmnWh4OEUmUX-qbV2ggyeg9Y=/90cd6075-8579-4226-bd29-a46727811d09--051611F_326.JPG)
As people finish the first course: Take your leeks off the stove and your potatoes out of the oven. Sprinkle the leeks with the panko mixture, slice your steak, and watch your friends' eyes light up.
![Braised Leeks](https://images.food52.com/hdTlQSOZED-E1zrBBERtZhgGBGE=/523c8bc0-b8d9-4501-945b-41b86c4adc41--food52-01-22-13-7304.jpg)
When the plates are cleared, and the champagne makes everyones' eyes twinkly, finish off the night with chocolate cake. You deserve it.
Read more:
9 Chocolate CakesGraduation Celebrations
Sunday Steak with French Butter
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