The holiday season is approaching and you are hosting your guests at home for dinner? For a presidential welcome, 20 Minutes asked White House chef Guy Mitchell (who designed Miniatures Original Food’s gourmet aperitifs) for three basic tips to mark the occasion!
On the menu, a beef Wellington
Your guests are expecting yet another stuffed capon, but no! You will surprise them with a beef Wellington, a menu counted among the flagship presidential dishes across the Atlantic. Chef Guy Mitchell prepares it from duxelles, “a mushroom sautéed with a little shallots, garlic and chopped parsley”. After having chopped it well, the cook recommends adding a little butter, “this is what gives this kind of spread with the flavor of the mushroom”, he explains.
A breathtaking decoration, always colorful
“Cooking for the president when he brings state representatives to the White House is a spectacle,” insists the chef. Get out all your wine glasses because, “that’s what impresses people when you set a table for a party.”
In addition to investing in glassware, you’ll also need to visit the florist because you’ll need enough flowers to make your guests feel like they’re sitting near “a field of fresh cut flowers.” Roses, petals on the table… Pull out all the stops like on Valentine’s Day… or almost because the theme is not necessarily red!
At the White House, we use the color that represents the party. “If it’s Easter, you’ll have bright colors with eggs and the Easter Bunny, and when you have New Year’s Eve, maybe in the center of the table you’ll have some kind of fireworks that you can buy,” says the founder of the “White House Chefs Tour.”
A well-presented plate, with proteins in the center
“Presidents like proteins in the center of the plate,” says the White House chef. So in the middle it would be a fillet, like Wellington or a lamb chop. “Not a stew, goulash or anything like that. It’s not that I don’t like that kind of food, but you want to serve something impressive,” the Chef continues.
To this end, you will also have to think about expanding the shopping budget to offer “good quality” products. “When you go to a restaurant and you get a filet, it should melt in your mouth. You don’t want to chew,” says chef Guy Mitchell before continuing: “And then you say to yourself: ‘oh, it’s good’ because the knife goes in.”
If you don’t know how to make Christmas trees with your napkin, try to coax your guests with soft products in the center. At least in the White House, it does the trick.