In the wake of launching her brand As Ever, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is continuing her foray into all things lifestyle with a new season of “With Love, Meghan.” The eight-episode series, available on Netflix, features a new lineup of special guests — which includes a mix of chefs, entertainers and entrepreneurs — and recipes. There are also a handful of helpful tips on how to be a good host, whether that’s for an intimate brunch or a large-scale dinner party.
Below are eight tips to be a better host, courtesy of Meghan herself.
Always keep puff pastry in your freezer
In the season’s first episode, Meghan whips up an easy caramelized onion tart for her guests, David Chang and Christina Tosi. As explained by Meghan, the baked welcome snack is a versatile option because “it ticks the box of sweet and savory for people, and it’s so easy to make if you have puff pastry in your freezer, which you should always have.”
She doesn’t make any distinction between store-bought and homemade puff pastry, but if you’re looking to go the extra mile, be sure to check the one ingredient you absolutely need to bake the flakiest pastry crust of all time.
Want to spruce up your toast? Make tartine
Tartine is the French word for a slice of bread, which is fancified with fun spreads and toppings. In episode two, Meghan whips up a sweet tartine for Chrissy Teigen. She starts by drizzling olive oil and sprinkling kosher salt on a slice of homemade sourdough before toasting. The slice of bread is topped with a spread made from ricotta, lemon zest and honey. It’s then finished off with sliced persimmon, thyme leaves, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar glaze and a pinch of flaky sea salt.
In episode four, Markle puts together an apple butter tartine for Samin Nosrat. This toast features a layer of ricotta or mascarpone that’s topped with fresh Meyer lemon zest. That layer is then generously coated in apple butter and adorned with sliced apples, sliced almonds and flaky sea salt. It’s finally finished with a drizzle of olive oil.
Tartines are an easy yet fun crowd-pleaser.
Don’t underestimate the power of simple kitchen tools
Meghan and Teigen join forces to make sourdough cheese crackers. To mimic the shape of classic Cheeze-It’s, Markle uses a simple scalloped pastry cutter — available at Williams Sonoma for $20 — to cut the cracker dough into even 1 1/4-inch squares.
In episode three, Meghan pulls out another nifty kitchen tool: a portable milk frother. She uses it to make simple lavender grey tea lattes for herself and Tan France. A frother is another cheap yet handy tool that elevates post-dinner or Sunday brunch lattes.
Up your French toast game, courtesy of Tan France
Most recipes for French toast will tell you to dip your bread in custard before cooking, but France has a tip to ensure that your toast isn’t served heavy and soggy. Instead, everything is uniform, with the custard seeping into the bread.
“I fork my bread and then, I put it in the toaster…Fresh bread doesn’t make good French toast,” France told Meghan. “It’s lovely, but it doesn’t make good French toast because you want the bread to soak up the custard. So, I like to dry it out just for a minute. It’ll soak it up better. When you fork it, it means it’s going all the way through.
“I hate a French toast where it’s got custard on the outside and then it’s just dry bread on the inside.”
France double dips his homemade French toast, first in an egg mixture combined with half-and-half, whole milk, cinnamon and powdered sugar and then into shredded coconut. The cooked toast is garnished with fresh fruit, butter, powdered sugar and maple syrup.
Learn to make roast chicken
Meghan’s explainer in episode four is both simple and solid: Lift and season under the chicken’s skin, use a blend of butter and olive oil and roast the bird breast-side up with the feet facing the back of the oven for a more even cook. Roast chicken is stellar as a dinner party main, but it also makes for great leftovers. Per a pro-tip from Nosrat, try perking up leftover chicken with salt and acid.
Don’t be afraid to eat your flowers
Edible flowers are a popular garnish in a handful of Meghan’s recipes. She uses them as decoration on a fruit platter, folds them into a seasonal salad, transforms them into sprinkles (“flower sprinkles”) on her kids’ breakfasts, tops them on homemade Thai iced tea and freezes them in ice cubes, alongside herbs, to add color and a little floral flavor to non-alcoholic cocktails.
Some say adding edible flowers is a bit twee, but they certainly make meals look and feel more special. After all, we can all benefit from adding more whimsy to our plates.
Homemade versions of store-bought snacks add a fun touch
In addition to her homemade Cheeze-It’s, Meghan makes homemade salt and vinegar potato chips alongside Clare Smyth in episode six. Yes, homemade recipes require more effort and time. But Meghan’s recipes are incredibly approachable — and include a simple list of ingredients and tools.
Good “cooking” = good ingredients
In the final episode of the season, Maeghan is joined by José Andrés to feast on a whole blue cheese, Spanish ham and pastries stuffed with vanilla custard (“It almost feels like a churro met a croissant and then got married,” per a description from Meghan). Together, the duo makes some simple pairings for snacks: good tinned anchovies over tomatoes on toast (a.k.a. boquerones); crumbled blue cheese on a cinnamon-sugar pastry bread (a.k.a. blue cheese & piquillo pepper toasts) and Santa Barbara uni with lime.
