Dinner Party ideas?!

beckyw_2

This is lovely, takes delicious and is really easy to do. If you have a Lidl near you it's pretty cheap to do at the moment as in my part of the world cherry toms are half price and proscuitto is on offer.

This is what I do for 2 people:

Fry 1 pack proscuitto in a little olive oil until it starts going crispy
Set aside on a plate - break into smaller pieces when cool
Put largish pot of cherry tomatoes in the pan that the proscuitto was cooked in until they become soft
At the same time as the tomatoes are cooking I 1)put the pappadelle on to boil (sometimes use tagliatelle and that is fine). 2) slice a small lump of cambazola (german blue cheese) and put under grill until is starts to melt.

Once pasta has cooked, drain and put into tomato pan. Add proscuitto and stir around so it takes all flavours off the pan and tomatoes are mixed in.
Place in bowls and put the melted cambazola on top.

becky

FTB83

How about going a bit retro and doing a cheese fondu, it's such a communal sociable meal aswell. I haven't got my recipe to hand, but this is pretty similar: http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/swisscheesefondue_8925.shtml

It's pretty cheap and massively filling, but you really need a small camp stove to be able to serve it.

FTB83

lynzpower

Oh cant have cheese, i wish he could

FTB83

That's a bummer. Something I did a couple of weeks ago for some friends was buy a really cheap shoulder of lamb from Tesco (don't normally do Tesco meat but I'd missed the butcher!). I cut the bone out and butterflied the meat to make it all about an inch to an inch and a half thick, rubbed in some olive oil, crushed garlic, chopped fresh rosemary and salt and pepper and then bunged on the barbecue. I cooked it so it was pink in the middle then sliced into half an inch thick slices and put in pittas which had been warmed on the barbecue with some fresh salad. They went down a treat and I even had my boyfriend's mum ask me for the recipe...always a compliment!

You could definitely cook the lamb under a grill to get the same effect if a barbecues not possible, we've done something similar in a Moroccan style (coriander, cumin etc.) and served with a yoghurt dressing. Getting hungry just thinking about it and I've only just finished my lunch!

lynzpower

FTB, I dont really like lamb, but thats got me salivating Sounds fantastic
Will try that next week i think

To let you all know I made
Dinner party chicken lol with wholegrain mustand then wrapped in organic smoked bacon
Douphinoise with cream and cracked pepper and chives from the garden
Roasted veg with butternut squash, carrots, mushrooms,peppers, onions, leeks. with rosemary And it didnt burn!!!
french stick & butter

It was a triumph! the couple loved it and texted me about 10 mins after they left saying how great the food was!!

thank you ever so much for the ideas gang!

Penny-Pincher!!

Your meal sounded lovely!! Well done hun. I did this a few months back and was quite economical for 6 people.

Starter

1/2 Avocado each with cream cheese and walnuts, or HM soup with fresh rustic rolls and butter whirl

Main

Steak, HM chips or Horseradish mash, HM onion rings, HM garlic bread. Serve with fresh green salad, or you could make a mushroom cream sauce...delish!

Dessert

HM Fruit Brulee or individual trifles

Coffee & HM Ginger Snaps

Cheese and biscuits

Steak is quite reasonably priced ATM and the avocados are about 60p each-walnuts may be a little expensive but you dont need alot. Fruit brulee is very easy to make and you can basically chuck in any fruit you may have tinned or fresh.

HTH

PP
xx

Penny-Pincher!!

BTW...I only live up the road...when can we come for dinner.....LOL???

PP
xx

beer2006

I know you've done it now, but...

I can tell you one of my fav meals to do.

However you do need a raclette thingy machine
Something like this
raclette

My oh is dutch, they call it gourmet over there.
Basically you get about 200g (per person) of different sorts of meat, chopped up into small pieces, onion, egg, cheese, mushrooms, peppers and cook then individually on the raclette. Stick them in bowls on the table and people can cook and eat whatever they want.

Add a big salad and garlic bread, tomato sauce bottle and it takes ages to do, the meal goes on for ever, its a lovely night.

We're doing it tonight. Having...
Turkey with
1. garlic and curry
2. italian herbs
3. chilli powder
Beef mince, made into balls, with
1. Hot chilli mix
2. Herb mix.
Sausages (free range )
bacon

Post a piccie of the table before we eat, if anyone is interested, looks great!

Downside is, you always end up eating too much :rolleyes:

beer2006

Big bump!

Well I'm posting it anyway
Doesn't look quite so impressive as it did last night...........
In the gravy bowl is the beaten eggs, to make little omelette things in the small dishes.
Also a potato salad extra.

Its from a bit of a strange angle, sorry about that.
http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f186/womble30/table.jpg

Pink.

Beer, that looks lovely. :drool: It sounds like a fun way to do a dinner party. Do you know if you can buy a raclette in the UK?