Dinner Party ideas?!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

My kids swear by anything in 'Mum's Killer Tomato Sauce' - If you can tolerate fennel, courgette, kohl rabi, leek, celery, carrot, celeriac or anything of a similar texture, dice it finely and soften for as long as possible in a tiny bit of oil, add a little sugar if you need to get it more gooey. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes/passata (Aldi's chopped toms are very good or sainsbury's tub of crushed tomatoes 36p rather than the same stuff labelled passata for £2) add tomato puree/red pesto/French dark mustard if you have it, if you don't or don't like it, don't worry about it. Leave to seethe and bubble until it looks positively volcanic.

In the meantime, brown whatever it is that you fancy - sausages, bacon and/or chicken chunks (or any combination of them), either or both of the minces with or without bacon and then chuck them into the killer tomato sauce with herbs if you so wish - thyme, rosemary, bayleaf, basil, whatever - and/or spices - paprika and cumin for a eastern european flavour, pinch of cinnamon with pork for Greek/Cypriot, Cumin, Coriander and garam masala for Indian, and just leave it until ready. Chuck in steamed veggies as you like. Really good with boiled spuds, rice, pasta or bread!

And if you are starving hungry in the morning, the same sauce works with a bit of cumin, cinnamon, ginger and eggs broken into it and left under a lid for 10 mins for something nearly Morroccan.

The key is the time spent letting the base veggies get sweet and brazenly passing it off as an authentic recipe!

Hope I've helped.

tattoed_bum

hi glad to know i am not the only person on the planet who is allergic to onions :j

how about a nice chicken ,bacon and broccoli pie ,served with a salad or roast potatoes and veg

that always goes down well in my house

DKLS

I have a do on saturday, and am finding no inspiration in my cookery books, any ideas on what to feed the guests, unfortunately my guests are a bit vanilla in their tastes, so its traditional grub, rather than anyting funky.

Budget is £30 a head excluding booze.

Any ideas of what goes down well?

redruby

steak and ale pie, with puff pasty top, serve with small new potatoes and seasonal veg.

there was a pudding on here a while back i think it was called manchester tart, which was really easy and tasty.

Get a pastry case, cover the bottom with a layer of strawberry jam, and sliced bananas, cover with cold custard and sprinkle with desecated coconut, yum.

Are you doing a starter ?

hth

x

lostinrates

I usually start with which meat is on special offer or in season

floss2

Carrot & coriander soup, fish pie (ask your fishmonger for fish-bits, use maris piper spuds for mash & good stock & white wine for white sauce) with fresh peas & green beans, followed by fresh fruit salad AND something chocolatey.

ALl good fresh stuuf, in season, and reasonably priced - without being too "posh"!

DKLS

I was thinking of doing a 1970's Tribute

Prawn Cocktail
Chicken in a basket
Black Forest Gateux
or would that be a bit too kitch?

floss2

DKLS wrote: »

I was thinking of doing a 1970's Tribute

Prawn Cocktail
Chicken in a basket
Black Forest Gateux
or would that be a bit too kitch?

With Blue Nun or Mateus Rose?

pretz_2

ok this is what i would cook

starter - cheesy oat caks with mackerel rillettes and side salad
main - minty marmalade lamb with butterbeans and new pots
pud - apple syllabub

all these are british food but with a slight twist and i must say although the lamb sounds very weird it is very very nice

dixie_dean_2

I think the 70s theme would be good. Use really good, huge prawns, well-presented. I "invented" marie tartare sauce the other day (invented = added ketchup to tartare sauce as no mayo in) and it was nice and would make the dish a little different. Not sure where you would go with chicken in a basket, although the budget means you have lots of options. Maybe do 3 types of chicken, if you can be arsed, pan-fried (cajun?), breadcrumbed and roast perhaps, serve with fat chips and homemade garlic mayo with veg on the side. Dessert, yes. And take some inspiration from Heston Blumenthal's "search for perfection" series in which he did this. Am sure you would get details online. If the guests are foodie and won't laugh, get a bit of kirsch in an atomiser and spray as you serve. Done.