What do you cook when you have guests over?

[BrimfulOfBaba]

Moved house shortly before Tier 2 restrictions came into effect in my city, and am already daydreaming about the dinners I'll cook once we are allowed to have visitors (never had my own kitchen/dining room before!)

What do you cook when you want to feed your guests well, but doesn't keep you away from them so you can still socialise? I've done roast dinners the last couple of times, but I couldn't just sit and relax with my guests while cooking. I do enjoy cooking and am happy to learn new skills/tricks, so hoping to get some inspiration :)

Tapas....

Patatas bravas with aioli
Chilli prawns
Spanish tortilla
Grilled halloumi
Calamari
Paella
Breads
Olives
Cured meat
Cheese

Can’t beat it!!

Kitchen supper or dinner party?

Kitchen supper would be something hearty and simple like
Curry
Beef stew
Chilli
Lasagne
Chicken pie

Dinner party would be a bit more refined so
Starter-
Cheese soufflé, some sort of terrine, salmon and beetroot salad with horse radish, duck pate (bought)
Leg of lamb, salsa verde, potato dauphinois
Fillet of beef, potato dauphinois, string beans
Cod wrapped in pancetta

If you do a cold starter like some sort of small salad it’s a quick assembly job on the night. Some kind of roast meat is easy as it just sits in the oven and the veg too is simple. A good sauce really elevates a dish.
Same with puddings- mousse, pannacotta, cheesecake/torte can all be made in advance and then serve with bought biscottis or putting cream.

@MushyMushi

Tapas....

Patatas bravas with aioli
Chilli prawns
Spanish tortilla
Grilled halloumi
Calamari
Paella
Breads
Olives
Cured meat
Cheese

Can’t beat it!!

For something easy I’ll do a roast chicken, a bowl of new potatoes and a salad. Then a mix of anti pasti stuff like this, nice breads/dips/hummus/olives/meats/cheese. It’s pretty much all pre prepared apart from the chicken which is easy itself. It all goes nice together and there’ll be something that everyone will like

I usually cook lots of West Indian food for a dinner party. Curry Goat (usually lamb to be fair), rice and peas, sweet potato curry if my vegan parents or friends are over, spicy cucumber salad, huge coleslaw and roti. All of it can be made the night before or the morning of.

Dessert would be baked raspberry cheesecake or pineapple upside down cake.

For winter I'll do slow cooked pork with crispy crackling, roast potatoes, roasted veg, coleslaw and loads of baguettes.

Dessert would be lemon meringue pie or apple crumble.

Starters would either be a variety of patties, bruschetta with a selection of cheeses and antipasti or red onion and goats cheese filo tarts. All of them would have vegan variations depending on who is coming.

Love a good dinner party, really miss them!

Pate or baked camembert.

Fillet steak (cooks fast), coq au riesling or salmon with new potatoes.

Eton mess, cheesecake or tiramisu.

For a more casual night I will make budae jjigae with loads of sides or east Asian style curry.

A cold starter like smoked salmon, or a little mini tarts or quiches. Or antipasto, or tapas inspired tasty bites.

Something that goes in the oven a long time before guests come - moussakka, or a casserole, something like that. Bread and salad or jacket potatoes and some simple vegetables.

Simple pudding like tiramisu or eton mess or a fruit crumble or some sort of fruit/alcohol mix and ice cream.

I don't like to make a huge fuss about it. I'm the only one who really cooks in this family and even dinner parties don't get me excited. I want to spend time with the guests, not cooking fiddly things that need to be plated up specially and decorated. That sort of cooking just isn't for me.

we love having supper parties. I love cooking yotam ottolenghi recipes.

1. Bbq lag of lamb www.sainsburysmagazine.co.uk/lifestyle/food/ottolenghi-s-barbecued-leg-of-lamb-with-almonds
2. Gee Cartwright recipes are fab geecartwrightcookery.co.uk/recipes/
3. selection of curries usually from BBC website
4. Starters- large platter of mixed

leaves, mozerella, large prawns, prosciutto, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, fresh tomatoes etc served with ciabatta

1. simple main courses, chicken thigh casserole or beef in red wine or beer

Cerviche starter, tacos main.

This may be because it’s taco night in the house tonight...

Fab thread idea OP! Lots of great ideas already...

We're an Arab/Indian family so most of our hosting revolves around LOTS of variety of foods. Mezze dishes (hummus/moutabel/tzatziki/muhammrah/salads/small pastries etc.) or 3/4 curries with samosas/bhajias/pakoras/salads and almost always followed by a big rice/meat dish like biryani or slow cooked pomegranate lamb with jewelled rice. It's amazing how impressed people are by things that I can cook ahead of time and will sit ready or in the oven without spoiling but I'm completely flummoxed by a roast dinner! We have it once a year for Christmas and the precision timing causes me so much stress!!

Homemade quiche, roasted baby new potatoes & salad. Most can be made before and shoved in the oven without bothering too much.

Casseroles in the slow cooker.

Lasagne

Spread of baked Camembert, bread, charcuterie etc

Roast vegetable tarts

Soup with bread rolls & nice butter

Love all these ideas, keep them coming! Will definitely look up the cookbooks mentioned. I've been wanting some of the Ottolenghi ones for a while.

I am South Asian and my parents dinner parties involve lots of curries as some of you have mentioned - I feel so silly for not having thought of that!

Lots of ideas I hadn't considered...will be trying the raclette one asap (and buying the m&s puds and hiding the wrappers!)

I’d say, do what you know, if you can make a banging curry do that! If I’m at a dinner party I want the host to be able to relax and enjoy the evening.
Do as much prep and you can and go big on the sides and extras, that’s what takes it from everyday to a bit more special.

Bolognese and homemade garlic bread. You can prep the garlic bread earlier in the day and get the bolognese on the hob before they get to yours. Then it just sits bubbling away while you chat.

Lasagne or spag Bol with garlic bread and salad
Chilli with all the dips and tortillas on the side
Roast dinner
Mexican lasagne with wraps instead of lasagne sheets
Stuffed mushrooms with risotto
Aubergine and tomato pasta or risotto
Salmon risotto

Mixed bean and orzo stew with halloumi s a recent favourite

Surprised at the number of times Spag Bol is mentioned, I think that’s a midweek meal, not one for guests.

No starters if you want to spend time with guests, only nibbles all prepared in advance. Could be crisps and nuts but also thing like (homemade) spring rolls, bhajis, mini yorkies with roast beef & horseradish, honey & mustard sausages, Parma ham and peach, fried chorizo, fried padron peppers, tortilla, tortilla swirls, prawns and chorizo, terrine with pickles, cold meats, fresh bread & balsamic. The list is long!

Favourite main course is currently slow cooked lamb - shoulder or leg, or pork belly. With a sliced, baked potato dish, sauce such as salad verde and some green veg.

Puds can almost all be prepared in advance too, chocolate tart, chocolate fondants, peach and passion fruit trifle, st Clements posset with shortbread, crumbles, passion fruit parfait, pannacotta.

We usually have a cheese course to finish too.

It's been a long time since we've had people over for dinner, but when it was happening regularly, our friends often asked me to make my lasagne and then I used to make a chocolate fudge cake for dessert.

Everything could be prepped early in the day, and the lasagne was in the oven for a long slow cook before they arrived. Just sort the salad and garlic bread just before serving.

The hardest thing about having people round for dinner is timings. So unless you know have the kinds of friends that will arrive on the dot at x o’clock and sit down to eat their mains 30 minutes later, you need to allow for flexibility. For me, that’s usually premade (or bought) nibbles or starters and then a main that’s either warm in the slowcooker (pulled pork, chilli, stew), per-prepped and quick to cook in the oven (eg chicken based tray bake) or cooked and easy to heat up (eg lasagne). But then I’ve always been at the more casual end of entertainment with more emphasis on socialising. So something like steak would be a no-no as too much faff while guests are there and too much chance of cocking it up.

@ForTheLoveOfCatFood

Mixed bean and orzo stew with halloumi s a recent favourite

Oooh do you have a recipe?

The timings really are the most annoying part. I realised I get so flustered that I can't enjoy my guests company, and they don't really get the best of me.

Which is why I am so grateful for all these ideas! They all sound delicious.

[quote Shortfeet]@abigailsnan please can I come to yours for dinner?[/quote]
You are welcome anytime I would love the company

The timings really are the most annoying part. I realised I get so flustered that I can't enjoy my guests company, and they don't really get the best of me.

Buy the right equipment so you can change the times easily so a slow cooker(s) and rice cooker.

Make 1 or 2 curries the day before your guests are due. One meat and one veg.

Go shopping for Bombay mix and another variation of it. Poppadum's and spiced mango chutney and samosas, some salad and onions, kulfi in those little ceramic pots.

Put water and rice in the rice cooker. Do not turn on.

Put the samosas in the oven, not switched on.

Put out Bombay mix and similar as nibbles when your guests arrive.
Microwave (or fry) the poppadum's and put a pile in the centre of the table with the chutney.

While they are helping themselves put the oven on and set a timer for 15 mins.

After 15 mins serve samosas with salad and chutney / raita. Just before taking them out of the oven turn on the pans with curry in but on low, turn on the rice cooker.

You can be flexible with the time now, people might want a rest after the starter, if so everything will wait for 30mins.

Serve curries with rice.

Finish off wiht the culfi.

Big pot of chilli prepared earlier in the day with rice and tacos to serve, salad and all the dips. Very simple and little to do once guests have arrived and always goes down a treat:

Usually something that can all be prepped beforehand and that everyone can help themselves to - curry, chilli, pulled pork etc.