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What kind of cut does the estouffade call for?

Boneless chuck, preferably an oblong top blade roast, the cookbook says.

If you had a good source for short ribs you could debone them, trim the excess fat and connective tissue and cut them into portions (an ounce or 2 more to allow for shrinkage) for something a little more decadent. This is my new favorite cut for pot roast and stew. It can be more expensive though depending on your source.

After reviewing your tasty menu, I only have two things to note on behalf of your veggie guests (I'm a vegetarian, so I speak from experience):

- Make sure none of your vegetarians are now vegans (no dairy/eggs).
- Make a little more of your veggie side dishes than normal (or make an additional veg dish), so that they can get larger portions and still be "filled up."

Otherwise, this looks great! Good luck with the rest of the prep. :)

If you had room for one more person, I'd join you! Your menu sounds wonderful, and, given the proper preparation time, should turn out to be a very successful meal. Other than the mulled cider, what wines are you serving? May I suggest a wonderful dessert wine - Moscato D'Asti by MEDA. It is delightful in that it has a smooth, subtle flavor with slight effervescence and tops off the meal on a light flavorful note. Good luck with your dinner! Loraineb

Art, I agree with you on the short ribs. I gave them a lot of thought too and there are some great recipes for them in Stevens' braising book, but it seems more messy and difficult than this stew?

You would actually take them off the bone, or have your butcher take them off the bone and then cut them into small portions and prepare according to your recipe so that when you serve the stew buffet style each guest could take one piece making it nice and neat.

Were you planning on cutting up the roast and braising it or braising it whole?

By the way,

I think your baked pumpkin and balsamic with the greens and figs sounds great!

Sounds great, Chris!

Make sure to report back...with pix!

I am not nearly cool enough to eat at your apartment. ;)

I'd second Lorena. While I am not veggie, I don't eat red meat and would, therefore, be veggie for the night at a party with this menu. If you are not really well versed in all of your guests' meat idiosyncrasies, you may end up with a few more folks choosing mainly the non-meat options on your menu than you bargained for. Make a little extra of the veggie dishes, and serve some hearty bread with the meal, too. That said, the menu sounds wonderful, and good luck with the planning and implementation!

I'm a vegetarian, and the menu sounds fabulous! If I'm reading correctly, the only meat item the entire evening is the beef dish, and the roasted pumpkin with parmesan could be considered a vegetarian entree, or a side dish for the carnivores.

Quick suggestion for the dessert - perhaps also add a plate of fresh apples and/or pears with cheese, and offer coffee? Right now, you have two sugary desserts mulled cider, and nothing for people who either don't eat or don't want sugary items after the meal.

First Person Singular! I love it!

I don't want to sound like a jerk (and I'm saying this as a person who was a strict vegetarian for 4 years), but I think it's ridiculous for vegetarians to expect their hosts to cater to their own self-imposed dining restrictions. It's different when the host is nice to enough to consider things like that ahead of time for their guests, but I always assumed that I would be unable to eat most of the options at a party where food would be available unless the hosts were also vegetarians.

Am I the only one? Isn't it good form that if you have your own food restrictions, whether self-imposed or physical (i.e. allergies), that you bring your own food or just eat before?

I just find the idea of demanding that someone, who is nice enough to invite you to their home, caters to your own needs, regardless of the extra time, expense, or hassle it will cause, really rather rude.

Well, in my opinion, a person who cooks from the heart holds the needs of their guest in the highest regard. We need to cook to keep ourselves alive, we cook for other people because we love them. If I think there is a chance that there will be vegetarians within a certain group, and most often there is, I will be sure to prepare vegetarian dishes.

And omnivores who don't appreciate vegetarian food need to expand their palates and should enjoy learning how to cook it rather than looking at is as food for "pain in the ass" people.

And the idea of someone having to bring their own food to my party would honestly make me feel sad.

My vegetarian friends have never demanded that I cater to their needs--I've done so because I want them there and I want them to fully enjoy being guests in my house. Luckily, my meateaters enjoy veg dishes, and I enjoy making them. It's no skin off my back to create a few veg dishes for the menu, either.

Chris, I eagerly await news on how your party turned out! I bet it was magnificent!