The Personal Pop-up Family Dinner: Transportable and delicious, it's the meal of the moment
A lamb barbacoa taco meal for four, offered by Molino Olōyō last holiday season, and for Super Bowl Sunday pickup at a pop-up
By Leslie Brenner
“Hi, I know you’re busy and stressed — how about if I make dinner and bring it over to you one night this week? We can open a bottle of wine and enjoy it together.”
It’s a personal pop-in family-style dinner, inspired by the restaurant-style drop-off/pick up family meals that are suddenly everywhere. What a beautiful way to re-bond with friends you’ve missed the last couple of years.
There’s so much to be said for a big delicious something you can cook in advance, then reheat and serve later or another day. Make it during a weekend, then pop up at a friend’s later in the week and join them for dinner. Or you might drop it off for a friend or family member who is overwhelmed and needs a little nurturing. Or offer it as a gift — for a birthday or any occasion.
Alternatively, you might keep it as a delicious ace in the hole you’ll pull out during the workweek ahead — whether you’re feeding a family for one night, yourself and your partner for two dinners-for-two, or your solo self all week long.
Family dinners for four, packaged at the restaurant for pick-up or drop-off, with instructions for how to reheat at home, helped many restaurants survive the closure of their dining rooms during the pandemic. It continues to sustain them, and it’s also one way chefs — including Cooks Without Borders’ Mexican cuisine expert, Olivia Lopez — are launching their restaurants and other food businesses in advance of signing a lease on a brick-and-mortar location.
There’s plenty we can learn from the way these chefs conceive of these meals-for-four, pack them up, transport and deliver them — lessons that translate to dropping off meals to our own peeps, as well as cooking in advance for ourselves and our house-mates.
Ideal are dishes that can be completely cooked in advance and are just as good (or maybe even better) reheated. You can transport them in foil pans wrapped well in plastic wrap, with fresh garnishes in jars or zipper bags. Keep those garnishes separate to be added after reheating, and include written instructions for reheating and serving.
Many hot foods portioned for four can be reheated in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes or so. Others — like a pot of soup — are quickly reheated on the stove.
And then there are the dishes you can cook till nearly done, and the same 25 minutes in the oven them will finish them perfectly.
Here’s a roundup of dishes from Cooks Without Borders that fit the bill this season — including notes on how to manage them for transport and reheating.
Sheet-Pan Chicken with Turnips, Carrots and Harissa
This easy and super-flavorful sheet-pan recipe for Moroccan-spiced chicken thighs reheats beautifully (cook it all the way through before packing it up) — 25 minutes in a 375-degree oven should do it. Pack chopped herb garnish in a zipper bag, with instructions to transfer the dish to a serving platter, then scatter the herbs over all.
Rapini, Cannellini and Italian Sausage Melt
Prepare almost to the end. If you don’t want to loan your Dutch oven to the recipient, transfer to a half-size (about 8 by 6 inches) foil roasting pan. Either way, lay the mozzarella slices over all then cover or wrap in plastic film. Reheat 25 minutes at 375 degrees, then turn oven to broil and broil for a minute or two, until the cheese starts to turn golden in spots.
Send by itself, or with a simple green salad — with vinaigrette in a jar or bottle.
RECIPE: Rapini, Cannellini and Italian Sausage Melt
Quintessential Quiche Lorraine
Make this in a foil pie tin rather than a glass or ceramic one. It can be enjoyed room-temp or reheated at 375 for about 20 minutes, or slice first for quicker re-heating. If it’s not to be eaten that day, it can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to a week. Remove plastic wrap before re-heating.
Tu Casa Mi Casa Chicken Tinga
Transfer to a half-size foil roaster with instructions to either warm, covered, in a saucepan, or reheat 20 minutes in a 375-degree oven. Make a batch of Arroz Blanco (Mexican-style white rice) to include with it; include instructions to reheat the same way as the Chicken Tinga, or transfer the rice to a micro-wave-safe bowl, sprinkle with a few drops of water and reheat in the microwave. Or include a batch of home-made or store-bought corn tortillas, which can also be revived in the microwave.
‘Falastin’ Cilantro-Crusted Roasted Cod
This delicious dish from Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley’s wonderful 2020 book Falastin is quick and easy to put together, and travels well. Roast for about 6 minutes, rather than the full 7 or 8, and when it’s reheated — 20 minutes at 475 degrees — it should be about perfect. (Instruct recipient to check one of the fillets to make sure it’s cooked through, then plate, garnish with the lemon wedges and drizzle tahini sauce on top, if including.) Deliver in a half-sized foil roasting pan, with lemon wedges in a zipper bag and the optional Tahini Sauce in a jar or plastic tub. If you like, include a box of instant couscous and/or store-bought pita bread in the package.
Deviled Duck Legs Provençal
These succulent, crunchy-topped duck legs are super-easy to make — about five minutes of prep, then shove ‘em in the oven to roast for an hour and a half or a little longer. They reheat really well — cover loosely with foil and reheat in a 375-degree oven for 25 minutes.
Consider including a bag of baby arugula or washed, dried and torn frisée, a jar of vinaigrette, and instructions to dress the salad lightly and serve the duck legs on top.
Or include a batch of French Lentil Salad, which can be served room-temp, or reheated along with the duck legs or on top of the stove.
Najmieh’s Fresh Herb Kuku
Finally, this recipe for a Persian-style frittata-type dish, packed with fresh herbs — from Najmieh Batmanglij’s ‘Food of Life’ — is a great way to deliver a harbinger of spring. Transport on a foil sheet pan, wrapped in plastic film or foil, with the caramelized barberries in a jar or plastic tub and fresh dill garnish in a zipper bag. Include instructions to either serve room temperature or reheat in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes, then transfer to a serving plate and garnish with the barberries and dill.
Want to receive our recipes in your in-box? Sign up for our free newsletter.