there's a really good recipe in michel richard's "happy in the kitchen" for what he calls "faux gras" ... it's basically a very elegant chicken liver pate. Or, I often serve TKs terrine of two salmons. One thought in planning a menu: how much time do you want to spend in the kitchen and how much time do you want to spend with your guests? A real back-loaded menu, where everything is done a la minute (risotto, saute, etc), is going to mean you will emerge sweaty in between courses to accept praise, then run right back into the kitchen. Depending on the guest list, that might be preferable to actual conversation, but i'm just pointing that out. When I have a choice of guest lists (eg: people i want to talk to), I generally try to do an app that can be prepared and plated in advance, a first course that can be largely prepared ahead of time and quickly finished (maybe a vegetable soup with quennelles or something like that), one big main course that's kind of impressive, with lots of veg sides (maybe a roast pork shoulder with a gratin and buttered, herbed mange-tout--are you getting those yet?), cheese and green salad, and then a tart or something for dessert. With a menu like this, the craziness is spread out through the day (or even day and a half), you give folks a meal they'll remember, and y ou actually get to enjoy it with them. of course, if it's your wife's friends ... all bets are off.
