I was helping to host a conference this weekend, and we had about 25 conference attendees over for dinner. I bought large containers of pre-washed salad, and made a vinaigrette for it (as I described before, but with some apricot nectar thrown in, since I had some left over from the stew — see below).

Also made broiled salmon (3 large fillets, about 11 pounds total). I had intended to grill it on our gas grill, but as one might expect before a party with 25 people, the grill ran out of gas. So I broiled it instead. Mixed together equal parts dry mustard and brown sugar, added a little kosher salt, and spread over the flesh of the fish (after seasoning the skin side with salt and pepper). Broiled until just barely cooked through.

Also made rice in our fabulous rice cooker.

The day before, I did most of the work on a vegetarian stew, and I finished cooking it today. The recipe:

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Groundnut Stew

from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant

2 cups chopped onions

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon crushed garlic

2 cups chopped cabbage

3 cups cubed sweet potatoes

3 cups tomato juice

1 cup apple or apricot juice

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon minced ginger

1 tablespoon cilantro

2 chopped tomatoes

1 1/2 - 2 cups chopped okra

1/2 cup peanut butter

Saute the onions in the oil for about 10 minutes. Stir in the cayenne and garlic and saute for a couple more minutes. Add the cabbage and sweet potatoes and saute, covered, for a few minutes. Mix in the juices, salt, ginger, cilantro, tomatoes, and orange oil. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender. Add the okra (spinach) and simmer for 5 minutes more. Stir in the peanut butter, place the pan on a heat diffuser, and simmer gently until ready to serve.

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I quadrupled this recipe. I used apricot nectar, not apple juice. I also used frozen spinach instead of okra.

Also made brownies: Maida Heatter's "Palm Beach Brownies". I don't have the energy to type in the recipe right now, but as I've said before about this recipe, you can get good results by searching the internet. I just made a single recipe, but that makes a pretty substantial pan of brownies.

The whole thing was a success; there was plenty of salad left over, basically no rice left, about a pound of salmon, about 6 servings of stew, and a dozen brownies. Enough so that I wasn't worried that people went away hungry, but not too much.