On the menu (serves 6):
Pear and Watercress Salad
Sage-Roasted Pork Loin with Cranberry-Orange Cornbread Stuffing and Apple Cider Sauce
Chocolate-Hazelnut Fondue
Also in this article:
Timeline for a 45-minute meal
Tips for fast cooking
Grocery list for entire meal
Q&A with the chef
Wine picks for this meal

A last-minute dinner party

Tyler Florence

He talks fast. He thinks fast. And, pressed for time, this 29-year-old host of the Food Net-work's problem- solving show Food 911 can cook fast. Because the holidays are hectic, we asked chef Tyler Florence to devise a fabulous holiday dinner-party menu that anyone can whip up in a flash.

Florence, who'll spend the holidays relaxing and cooking for his extended family, puts a fresh twist on food by mixing his South Carolina heritage with his quest for simplicity. "I'm not a chef that likes to put 15 different elements on a plate. I take one ingredient or one concept and make that as wonderful as possible. If it's cranberry, let's go cranberry. If it's orange, let's go orange. If it's the two, I wouldn't put anything else in because after a while your tongue will really not know the difference."

For speed, he seeks "maximum presentation with really low maintenance." In creating this 45-minutes-to-make menu of Pear and Watercress Salad, Roasted Pork Loin With Cranberry-Orange Cornbread Stuffing and Chocolate-Hazelnut Fondue, "I was thinking of myself, my own dinner party situations, and how I could make this as easy and high-tech as possible."

The key is to strategize ("have a shopping list ready to go") and multi-task ("do two, three things at the same time. Deal with what needs to be on the stove first, then turn to the chopping").

But the most important thing: "Really have a good time and relax. If something takes a little longer, open up another bottle of wine and let your guests relax. If someone offers to help, get them involved. I put a lot of love into everything I do. Food is the one language everyone speaks."

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Pear and Watercress Salad

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
2 Tbs. orange juice
1 Tb. honey
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 bunches watercress, washed, dried and trimmed
1/2 bunch fresh chives, roughly chopped
4 pears, preferrably Red Bartlett, sliced thin
1/2 cup walnut halves, toasted 10 minutes in 350 degree oven
8 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Coarsely cracked black pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the first 5 ingredients. In a mixing bowl, combine the watercress, chives and pears. Drizzle over watercress mixture and toss. Arrange a handful of salad on each plate. Garnish each portion with 1 tablespoon walnuts and 2 tablespoons Gorgonzola. Season with pepper. Serve immediately.

Per serving: 435 calories, 23g carbohydrates, 36g fat (11g saturated), 11.6g protein, 5g fiber, 556mg sodium.

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Sage-Roasted Pork Loin With Cranberry-Orange Cornbread Stuffing and Apple Cider Sauce

"The pork loin has sunny, bright holiday flavors: cranberries, orange, sage. The sauce is a rich apple flavor. And the moist cranberry-orange cornbread dressing gives you texture. It's a great combination."

For the pork:
1 3-lb. pork loin
1 bunch fresh sage (6 Tbs. chopped)
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. coarse cracked black pepper
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

For the stuffing:
1 cup fresh cranberries, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 Tb. butter
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Zest of one orange
1 bay leaf
1 16-ounce bag of dried cornbread crumbs (commercial cornbread stuffing mix)
1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
Salt and pepper, to taste

For the sauce:

2 cups apple cider
1 Tb. apple cider vinegar
1 tsp. butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Chop the vegetables for the stuffing.

Cut any strings from pork and season it with chopped sage, salt and pepper. Save a few leaves for garnish.

In a medium sauté pan that can go in the oven, sear the pork loin in olive oil on medium heat until golden on all sides, about 8-10 minutes.

At the same time, in a large sauté pan that can also go in the oven, sauté the cranberries, carrot, celery and onion in butter and olive oil until the vegetables are soft, 8-10 minutes. Add orange zest, bay leaf and cornbread crumbs. Add the chicken broth and season with salt and pepper. Stir well to incorporate all ingredients.

Put the pork loin and the stuffing in the oven, bake for 20 minutes or until the stuffing is golden brown on top and the pork's internal temperature reaches 150 degrees (to test the pork loin's doneness, take it out of the oven and place a meat thermometer in the center of the slab).

When done, remove the pork from the pan and set it and stuffing aside in a warm place to rest for 10 minutes.

Return the empty pork pan to the stovetop, add apple cider and scrape bottom of pan to free up drippings. Simmer and reduce the sauce over medium heat till it thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar and butter; season with salt and pepper.

Slice pork loin into 1/2-inch thick slices (about 16 slices or 2-3 per guest).

To serve individually: Spoon the stuffing in center of a plate. Then place a few slices of pork off to the side of the stuffing and drizzle with apple cider sauce. Garnish with remaining sage leaves.
To serve family style: Put stuffing in the center of a platter. Arrange all the pork slices on top of the stuffing. Garnish the platter with fresh cranberries and sage leaves. Serve the sauce on the side in a small pitcher or bowl.
Per serving of pork, stuffing and sauce: 941 calories, 76g carbohydrates, 45g fat (13g saturated), 55g protein, 6g fiber, 1,456mg sodium.

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Chocolate-Hazelnut Fondue

For the fondue:

"If you thought your microwave was only for reheating coffee, think again. This great dessert can be put together while coffee is brewing. The taste: hard-core chocolate."

8 ounces bittersweet baking chocolate, broken in small pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbs. hazelnut liqueur (optional)
2 Tbs. butter, chopped into pieces

For dipping:
2 quarts strawberries, whole
3 bananas, cut into 1-inch slices
1 lb. store-bought pound cake, cut into 1-inch cubes

In a microwave-safe bowl, combine all fondue ingredients and wrap with plastic. Pierce a few holes in the top for steam to escape. Microwave on medium for 4 minutes, then stir the fondue together. Microwave on high for 1 more minute so the fondue is hot.

Serve in a a fondue pot or, if you can't wait, straight from the microwavable bowl with your fingers. That may be a little embarrassing in front of company, so I recommend pound cake and fresh fruit, arranged on a platter. No fighting over the fondue; there is plenty for everybody.

Per serving with fruit and cake: 725 calories, 87g carbohydrates, 43g fat (23g saturated), 9.6g protein, 7g fiber, 419mg sodium.

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A fast, 45-minute timeline for a luscious 7:30 p.m. meal

6:45 p.m. Preheat oven to 350. Start stuffing: Chop onion, carrots, celery. Chop sage. Season meat.
6:50 p.m. Put vegetables and cranberries on stove in one sauté pan and pork on stove in another sauté pan. While stirring vegetables often and turning pork every few minutes, zest orange and mix remaining stuffing ingredients in a bowl.
7 p.m. Vegetables for dressing should be soft and pork should be seared. Combine vegetables with rest of stuffing. Transfer stuffing pan and pork pan to oven. Goal: Get them in oven at same time.
7:05 p.m. Prep salad.
7:20 p.m. Remove pork from pan, set aside in warm place. Make cider sauce in pork pan.
7:25 p.m. Assemble plates.
7:30 p.m. Serve.

After dinner While a pot of coffee is brewing, microwave fondue and assemble platter of fruit and cake.

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Tyler's tips for fast cooking

• Clean off countertops completely. Clutter slows you.
• Group ingredients as you'll use them.
• Keep a plastic grocery bag open in your sink to collect scraps.
• Think ahead about what equipment you'll need, but pull out pots and pans as you need them, not before.
• If you don't have pans that can go from stove to oven, sauté pork and stuffing, then transfer each to a glass baking dish.
• Plate and garnish salad in kitchen.
• If you serve the main course family-style, use dinner plates as chargers. Remove salad plates and dinner plates will already be laid out, ready to go!

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Equipment list

Large salad bowl to mix the salad in.
Small bowl to mix the dressing in.
Large bowl to mix the stuffing in.
Cutting boards and knives to prep veggies for salad and stuffing.
2 stovetop-to-oven pans for the pork and the stuffing.
Meat thermometer
Fondue pot or attractive microwaveable bowl and wooden skewers for dipping

Grocery list Produce
1 small onion
1 bunch fresh sage (6 Tbs. chopped)
1/2 bunch fresh chives
3 bunches watercress
1 cup fresh cranberries
4 pears, preferably red Bartlett
1 orange
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
2 quarts strawberries
3 bananas
2 cups apple cider
2 Tbs. orange juice

Dry goods
coarse cracked black pepper
salt
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 quart low-sodium chicken broth
1-pound bag of dried cornbread crumbs
3 Tb. apple cider vinegar
8 oz. baking chocolate, preferably bittersweet
1 Tb. honey
3 Tb. hazelnut liqueur (optional)
1/2 cup walnut halves, toasted
1 lb. store-bought poundcake

Dairy
6 Tb. butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup milk
8 oz. Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Meat
3-pound pork loin

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Q&A with chef Tyler Florence

You're a new fresh face in the chef world. What sets you apart?
I approach food from a realistic point of view. I'm not trying to do 'Tyler's Hit List,' which I think dates itself really quickly. I want to teach people how to cook. I approach food on a very simplistic level. Not really foie gras and truffles every day, because a lot of people have trouble relating with that. They have no idea where to get foie gras. They've never seen a truffle in their lives. They want real food. It's more about teaching people how to make a perfect, classic lasagna that will make you cry. And to make food that people can really approach, versus proving to the world that I can make the most esoteric, beyond reality food. I'm more of a macro chef than a micro chef.

What were you thinking when you came up with this meal?
I was thinking of myself, my own dinner party situations, and how I could make this as easy and as high tech as possible. Maximum presentation with really low maintenance. I don't like to eat a lot. I like small courses that have a ton of flavor.

Why did you pick pork for this menu?
It's readily available. It's easy to put together. A lot of people enjoy it. It's easy to cook.

What could be done prep-wise ahead of time?
Know how many people are coming over. You definitely want to know an exact number. Because if somebody else shows up, or they bring a person, you're kind of stuck and you get stressed out. Give yourself plenty of time to get the ingredients. To go to the grocery store. Have a shopping list set up and ready to go. It sounds like "God, it'll take me three days to get this thing put together." But it really doesn't. The ingredients are very simple. Go through the grocery store and only get what you need, so that you're not spending a lot of time. When you get home, make sure your counters are clean. If you have junk all over the place, you'll have a hard time thinking. A clean counter's a clean mind. Clean as you go. If you've started a little mess, clean that mess up and then move onto something else. Versus having this colossal mess left at the end of the meal that you really don't want to clean up. Get someone to help. See if one your guests could come a half an hour early, or your partner or whatever. See if they could come home a little earlier so that the two of you could tackle this at the same time. And that's fun.

Key ingredients to a good dinner party?
I'll pick one thing, so I'm not buying 100 different ingredients, take one thing and carry it through the entire menu in different variations. I like to make sure that the guests are coming over at a realistic time -- a time where you'll have time to get dinner started, get changed and be comfortable by the time they get there. Pick out a good wine. Do a little bit of research, figure out what you're going to serve. If you're serving white wine, make sure it's cold. If it's red, make sure it's a good red wine. A wine choice always impresses a guest. Blow them away with a really good wine that doesn't cost $45 a bottle. There are some great wines out there for around $10. And I like to have really good music. With this menu, it wouldn't be Perry Como's greatest holiday hits. It would be something ambient. Something fresh. New sounding. But not loud -- comfortable and quiet.

What's the fastest you've thrown together a dinner party?
I went camping in Lake George for Labor Day with a bunch of friends. When we got to the camp site it was 12:30 at night. Because everyone was hungry, I started a fire and had teriyaki chicken, cheeseburgers and hotdogs together in about a half hour, for 15 people.

Will the dinner party menu you've created for USA WEEKEND's readers work for novice cooks?
These recipes are pretty fool proof. I made them as simple and as elegant as possible. I'm a purist. I'm always on the search for the absolute purest flavor, the purest taste. I'm not a chef who likes to put 15 different elements on a plate. I like to take one ingredient or one concept and make that as wonderful as possible and as simple as possible. If it's cranberry, let's go cranberry. If it's orange, let's go orange. If it's the two I wouldn't put anything else in it because after a while your tongue will really not know the difference about what's going on. Keep it as simple as possible so that your guests can understand it. So to junk that up taste-wise is not really what I'm looking for.

What do you if you make a mistake? And if you don't have time to fix it?
Order pizza. [laughs] If something burns, don't serve it. Don't serve your guests something that you've totally ruined. Improvise. Sometimes an ounce of sauce will cover a pound of mistakes. If you're serving a dish that has three things, the fish, the rice and the vegetable. If, for instance, your rice burns, throw it out. Don't serve it. Serve a little more vegetable. And never get upset about it. Always roll with it. If it doesn't come out 100% and you've definitely signed off on it and you can't serve it, just make whatever else that you have with that the main focus and completely run with it like it was supposed to happen.

What are the emergency points/crucial points in making this dinner party happen?
The crucial moments are making sure that the pork isn't overcooked. Making sure that you give yourself a realistic amount of time to take a shower, get cleaned up, make sure the house is ready. There's one thing to have friends over and all cook together. It's another thing to have guests over to the house and you're not prepared.

What are some critical points in getting through the holidays?
Realize that whatever guests have come over, they will eventually leave. Take it all in stride. The holiday season can be kind of stressful. If you're married, there's two different sides of the family to make happen. If you come from divorced parents, there's usually four sides of the family you have to make happy. Try not to overextend yourself, make too many promises of where you're going to be and when you're going to be there. Shop smart, in the way that when you're actually planning a dinner party, that you're not going to the wrong store. If you know you have to get lambchops of a pork loin, try to go to a reputable grocery store that will probably have that so you're not making two or three different trips. Put on some great music. Plug the Christmas tree in so that you can really feel the spirit. Because to have people in your home is a gracious thing. And that's the best thing about the holiday season. It's the act of giving and sharing and spending time with people and if you make it as stress free as possible, then you really get the chance to enjoy yourself. The most important thing when you're having a dinner party is to really have a good time and to relax. If something takes a little longer, open up another bottle of wine and let your guests relax a little while. If you're not exactly prepared when they get there, make sure you have some cheese or some olives set up and ready to go so you can make a really simple cheese tray while they're chatting. If someone says, 'Hey, can I give you a hand?' get them involved. People either want to feel like they can help you out or they're actually genuinely interested in what you're doing because it's going to be so beautiful. I put a lot of love into everything I do. Food is the one language that everyone speaks. To make something beautiful, to spend some time with it, to put a lot of love into it, is to make a friend, is to share something that you're really passionate about.

What are your plans for the holidays?
I'm going to Austin, Texas. for a couple of days. I'm going to Mexico in the later part of November. I'm going to Chicago actually for Thanksgiving. And I'll spend Christmas with my folks in the Carolinas. I always cook. It's my thing. I have an uncle who's a tax attorney and he does my taxes every year. To be the one that cooks, that's how I express myself. My girlfriend doesn't cook in the house. Not that she can't, but that's my joy. I like to do it. It's sort of a little bit of pressure, when I go home -- "Big city chef, let's see what you can do. I want to taste some food here, big guy." So when I go home I'm kind of up against the wall. I kind of have to.

As far as general holiday food emergencies go, any tips?
If you're roasting a turkey, there's the whole problem of overcooking the breast and undercooking the leg. A lot of these things can be fixed by giving yourself extra time and not waiting until the last minute to make sure everything happens. If you can make a side dish or two a day ahead of time and it's not going to ruin the quality, go ahead and do it. Then you can pace yourself, and if you have to focus on one particular thing, like roasting the turkey, you don't have five different things that you have to do at the same time.

Let's talk about other time-saving tips. What do you consider to be good convenience foods?
I'm not a big fan of low-brow grocery stores that have deli-type things, because usually the food's pretty bad. But at a respectable market, sometimes you can go buy a green bean salad, or a bulgar wheat and mushroom salad or they'll have a couple of things that can be an element for your dish. So if you walk through there and you're not really sure exactly what you want to serve, always start with the protein itself, the main thing. If the pork chops look great, I'll start with the pork chops. If the chicken isn't expensive, I'll get the chicken. If there's lambchops in the grocery store that day, I'll get some lambchops. Immediately from that point I'll go to the produce. I'm not a big fan of heavy carbohydrate meals. I like serving really great vegetable dishes along with meat or fish. I'll see what would I like to serve with this? What time of year is it? If it's winter, do I want something that's a little more hearty and satisfying? Do I want roasted new potatoes? Do I want a butternut squash puree with my fish or lamb? If time is really of the essence, I'll cruise through the gourmet prepared foods section and if there's something in there that I can use as a dish, I'll take advantage of that. You may spend a little more money on it. That salad may be $8 a pound. But at that point, if you break that up into four portions, it really isn't that much, and you save yourself a whole lot of time.

How do you feel about salad in a bag?
I buy them in the summer to go to a picnic. I'm not against them. I think sometimes it's hit or miss. Sometimes it's a little wilted, sometimes it's not so fresh. But it's not a bad product. Turn it upside down. Because grocery stores put the newest stuff in the back and the older stuff at the front, reach for the one in the back. Do that with everything -- fish, steaks, chicken anything. If it's right up front, it's probably not the freshest thing they have.