Dinner Party ideas?!

John_3:16

Any ideas for what to have for a dinner party that won't take all day to cook and is that bit differant?

Starter

Dinner

Pud.

lynzpower

how many for? Any vegetarians? whats your budget
whats your skill in the kitchen? Whats the ocassion - formal/ informal etc

I could give you loads of ideas, but without these I dont know if IM barking up the right tree or not?

scoot1on1

We're having some friends round at the weekend this is what Im knocking up


Grilled Goats Cheese on Rocket salad with pesto dressing

Smoked Haddock on spinach mash with Parmesan Glaze

Apple Pie and Custard/Cream or Creme Brulee haven't decided which yet

JillD_2

Here are my favorites:

No good at starters, sorry!

Main: veggie filo parcels
Chop an onion and fry it til soft
Chop a butternut squash into small pieces and add to onion
Add some chopped mushrooms and red pepper and some pine nuts
Add a bit of water/wine if you need to to stop it drying out
Once everything has softened down enough to eat, add some spinach and let it wilt.
Dollop a spoonful onto a filo pastry sheet and top with crumbled feta cheese.
Wrap the filo pastry up round it into whatever parcel shape you fancy.
Bake at 160-180 until pastry nice and golden.
Serve with new potatoes and salad.
You can make the parcels up beforehand and freeze, then just defrost and cook as above.

Pudding: baked peaches
Halve a load of peaches or nectarines and place in a shallow ovenprrof dish.
Pour over a glassful of rum and some hot water and then sprinkle over lots of brown sugar and cinnamon. Bake for an hour at 160, baste every so often and add more alcohol/water if ou need to. Gorgeous served with mascarpone. Again you can make in advance then heat through.

I am doing the pudding this weekend but I have already made the parcels for our guests on a previous night so now am stuck for ideas myself!

organic_wanabe

JillD, thanks for the peaches idea. I'm having friends over this weekend and I think I'll do that as I have a couple of jars of peaches in booze that I was given last Christmas. I probably start with some HM soup (maybe roasted red pepper and tomato with HM bread) and do something with chicken for main course (maybe wrapped in parma ham). I always finish with cheese and grapes (from a proper cheese shop so I always know that at least this part of the meal will be delicious!).

I was thinking of adding to my Christmas Wish List a new book by Ruth Watson called "Something for the Weekend" which gives recipes for dishes that can be prepared well in advance and are foolproof so that you can relax and host rather than worry about the souffle rising. She suggests things like marinating a boneless pork shoulder for 12-24 hours and then putting it in the oven on low for 6 hours before eating. I'll post the recipe if anyone is interested.

John_3:16

Thanks for help so far dinner for 6 price is not the problem just something fairly easy that we won't spend all night in the kitchen with.

tryhard_2

starters
1. home made soup with HM garlic bread - can do before
2. tomato/mozarella/basil with olive oil/balsalmic vinegar dressing served with crusty bread and butter
3. salad with ripe pears and balsalmic dressing

main course
pasta with salad - use ravioli with a simple sauce - can make the sauce before
lasagne

puds
poached pears served with cream/mascarpone with cinnamon
novel trifle - made with tinned prunes, amaretti biscuits, mascarpone and chocolate
biscuits soaked in alcohol - you can do this with chocoalte muffin cut up as well; prunes next; mix mascarpone with the liquid from the prunes, roughly chop some prunes and then blend with the mascarpone; melted chocolate as next layer repeat with mascapone layer and finish with chocolate shavings
- delicious and is very quick to make

organic_wanabe

John 3:16, I was out a restaurant last night - being treated by someone else - and I had baked mushrooms as a starter, which was delicious. If you have little ramekin dishes you could do individual ones by cooking some button mushrooms then dividing them between the dishes, topping with a tomato (or tomato and chilli) sauce, either homemade or bought. Then top with mozerella cheese and stick in the oven till hot and the cheese has melted. Serve with garlic bread. Unfortunately, I can't do it for my dish as so many of my friends don't like mushrooms! You can bet that I am going to start feeding it to my family from now on though. So simple and so tasty.

Mizz_Pink

Check out the BBC website, i got some recipes off there.

We use a racklette , which is great for a dinner party, bnot sure if 6 people is too many, our racklette is quite small.

You plug it in and put it on the table, then place your chopped up meat (chicken, gammon and steak) on the top, then in your trays (small triangular) you put in sliced mushes, peppers, onions, tomatoes, covered in a slice of racklette cheese, then the tray goes underneath.

Both bits are heated by a grill thingy.

Soz, i'm not so clued up on it !

We had it last week and served jacket spuds and salad, it was yummy !

Fibabe

Hello.

This is my first post on the OS board. I have just started the grocery challenge but don't want to blow my budget out the window in the first month.

I'm hosting a formal dinner for my husband's birthday in a couple of weeks and wondered if anyone had any recipes that won't cost an arm and a leg!

I don't mind spending out a bit on meat, but can anyone think of any creative ideas that will wow my friends and my bank manager?!

Thank you in advance.