Cooking With Alicia


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A few days or up to 2 months ahead: make and freeze the crab quesadilla appetizers.

4 hours or more before the party (but the same day): make & bake the Apple Pie; put white wine in the fridge to chill (if serving).

3 hours before the party: set the table; include fresh flowers if you can!

2-1/2 hours before the party: prepare the salad dressing and all of the salad ingredients and refrigerate separately.

2 hours before the party: stuff the chickens & refrigerate; get the beets ready up to the point of putting them in the oven.

1-1/2 hours ahead: turn on the oven to 425°F; assemble the salad (but don't pour on dressing), wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate.

1 hr 10 minutes ahead: put the chicken and beets into the oven.

1 hr ahead: get dressed!

30 minutes ahead: set out wine glasses and cocktail napkins.

As guests arrive: pop the quesadillas into the oven for 5 to 10 minutes.

Party time! Mingle with guests and serve the quesadillas. Keep an eye on the chicken and beets. Enjoy your party.

When chicken is done: let it sit for 10 minutes; peel & slice the beets; unwrap salad and drizzle with the dressing.

Serving: I like serving this meal family style because everything makes such a nice presentation on it's own.

Near the end of dinner: put the pie in a 350°F to reheat for about 10 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream.



A perfect meal for a casual Saturday night get-together with friends. Comfy food in the form of Roasted Chicken and homemade Apple Pie just "feels good", and an elegant entertaining flair is added with the Argula, Fennel & Orange Salad. Nothing technically difficult here but you will will need to set aside an afternoon (or at least four hours!) to prepare your party.



A Casual Dinner for Friends Serves 6

Mini Crab Quesadilla Appetizers Roasted Chickens with Lemon & Orange Arugula, Fennel & Orange Salad Baked Beets Ma's Apple Pie & Ice Cream

Timing Tips: also see time line to the left

Crab quesadilla appetizers: can be made up to two months in advance and frozen (per instructions in the recipe). Bake when ready to serve. It's ok to use the same temp oven as for the chicken, so you can actually reheat these while the chicken is cooking. That would mean at 425°F for about 5 minutes (a little longer if they are still frozen). Pop them in the oven as your guests are arriving.
Apple pie should be made the same day. Make the pie before anything else as it is the most labor intensive task so you should get it out of the way. Reheat in a 350°F oven for about 10 or 15 minutes while your dinner is winding down (be sure to preheat the oven first!)
Salad: Several hours ahead of the party , wash and stem the arugula and refrigerate in a zip lock bag. Peel and slice the oranges and refrigerate in a zip lock bag. Slice the fennel and refrigerate in a zip lock bag. Make the dressing, cover, and refrigerate. Assemble the salad up to an hour ahead but do not put the dressing on it; wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Remove plastic wrap and add the dressing just before serving.
Chicken: stuff and truss the chickens several hours ahead and refrigerate until you're ready to cook them. They take about an hour and a half, so pop them in the oven before your guests are due to arrive. Be sure to allow time to preheat your oven to 425°F first! The timing is up to you ... I generally let guests mingle and enjoy a glass of wine or two and some appetizers for 30 to 45 minutes before dinner is served. So I would put the chickens into an already-preheated-oven about 1 hour and 10 minutes before guests are due to arrive (that gives 1 hr 30 minutes to cook the chicken, plus 10 minutes to let it sit, plus 15 minutes of "slop" time).
Beets: the recipe calls for a 350°F oven but it's fine to cook them at the same temp as the chicken. Put them in when you put the chicken in and you should be all set. You can peel and slice them while the chicken rests for its 10 minutes.

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