Impressive, easy meal to wow in-laws

[Adventurine]

I need some ideas for an impressive but easy meal to really dazzle my in laws.

FIL is a monster when it comes to appraising dishes. He's like a freelance, voluntary restaurant critic that nobody ever asked for.

No, I cannot avoid this. Yes, I must impress. The dish must be flavourful. I'm not a novice cook, I'm quite good at it, but I want something new to serve.

Any ideas? Please link or share recipes

Risottos are fairly easy and you can pack some real flavour in
butternut squash and chorizo is a favourite here

what sort of food does your fil like?

Tray bake

I would just make peace with not wowing somebody like that.

What do you enjoy cooking and what do they like?

FIL sounds like a dick. I would do an array of dishes so that there isn't just one focus of his criticism review.

How about a roast chicken (with a spice rub/marinade)

• new potatoes In rosemary and garlic
• couscous or rice sides
• roasted Mediterranean vegetables
• sundried tomato bread
• some mini chorizo sausages

I'm assuming lunch BTW. If dinner you may want something more formal?

Something middle eastern? I have done home made merguez before and it was lovely.

Delia Smith's individual beef en croute

stuffed chicken breasts wrapped in bacon (but use streaky, part cook the bacon before you wrap it and cook on a rack so the bottom gets crispy

To answer your question I'd suggest finind out what he really loves and make a great version of that.

But I also agree with a PP, it might be an outdated notion to look to impress one's in laws.

No sorry but your description of him being a freelance volunteer critic made me laugh.

You will obviously never win with him so just order pizza.

Play to your strengths OP. What do you know you're really good at? And then build the dish(es) around it.
I make a mean cauliflower cheese, so I'd do that plus maybe a slow roast leg of lamb and some jersey royals.
Or Tom Kerridge has a great recipe for spiced pulled brisket, that with a pomegranate type salad and homemade bread, which I know I can do.
Pick something you like to eat and make too, last thing you need is extra stress!

Gordon Ramsay braised beef in honey and soy. Foolproof, delicious and consistent results every time.

My go to easy recipe is chicken or pork cut into strips, fry with onion and mushroom, add a little stock, white wine and wholegrain mustard and simmer under meat is tender and sauce reduced down. Stir in creme frais last minute and serve with rice and greens.

Google 'ottolenghi black rice fennel' - it's originally a guardian page. I don't know if it's easy exactly but like many Ottolenghi recipes once you've done the shopping and just committed to plodding your way through it all, you just follow the recipe and the result is WOWZERS. Incidentally, tasting the individual elements before it all goes together doesn't work. Also I don't like fennel in other dishes. This one is just magic.

At Christmas, we were given a hamper including several different salamis that couldn’t be frozen and had to be eaten by February. I chopped and added them to various things but the most memorable was a variation of Tagliatelle Carbonara. Chicken, onion and mushrooms all chopped and fried, add salami and a pot of double cream, set to simmer, Parmesan and Truffle Oil at the end. Served with pasta and salad.

Tried it again this weekend with Chorizo and single cream. It wasn’t the same so I’d hunt out a very smelly salami.

The one in the picture

Depends - what do they like to eat? What do you like to cook?

I love to make curry feasts - lots of it with plenty of delicious leftovers, nice and healthy (the way I cook it anyway!) and people can pick what they enjoy.

I highly recommend Madhur Jaffrey's Chicken Tikka Masala recipe: thehappyfoodie.co.uk/recipes/madhurs-chicken-tikka-masala/

Tarka daal - this is a fairly normal recipe for a red lentil daal: www.thecuriouschickpea.com/masoor-dal-tadka/#mv-creation-201

Pop half a dozen crushed cardamom pods in with the basmati rice when you cook it.

Buy in the bread or make this - it's not Indian, but it's EPIC - the best flat bread I've ever made: fb.watch/dwfqvvOQSi/

Add in a sag aloo or similar side dish, maybe a veggie curry?

I love cooking like this, and especially the eating of it!

Bisteeya might just suit your needs, served with side dishes.

www.taste.com.au/recipes/bisteeya-moroccan-chicken-almond-filo-pie/b56bd79a-09e8-46c6-97ac-50351a4d96eb

Slow Roast Lamb with a salad either as in that recipie or moderated (but sprinkle pomegranate seeds on with homemade flatbread

Would avoid favourite dishes like the plague. You'll never win.

Agree that choice is best, like Mezze or or a tagine and lots of sides. Something that's a bit DIY and it's up to him to plate what he wants. Just lay out on the table and help yourself -Tacos, a big paella, large joint or pie with lots of summery sides

I made an amazing Massaman curry the other night, completely knocked my socks off. I also made a creamy garlic/cherry tomato homemade pasta which was amazing.

Otherwise, you could always make a tomato tart (mustard is the secret ingredient!) and serve it with lots of little tapas bits, it's a lovely dinner at the best of times and has the benefit of not really being anything he can criticise.

I also made a lasagne that went down wonderfully, there's a French chef in my family who was genuinely left speechless!

I totally agree.

Ottolenghi’s dal pita recipe in the guardian is another gem. It doesn’t even taste great until the very end of the cooking time and then it’s just superb.

This chicken adobo is really easy and yummy. Serve with rice and a mix of steamed Asian greens and broccoli
www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/filipino-style-chicken-adobo.html

If he's really into food and you're feeling brave I'd try a ceviche. As long as you have fresh fish (doesn't have to be straight off the boat) it's stupidly easy and it always impresses people.

Just remember that the lime juice is cooking the fish, it's not raw like sashimi is raw.

Why "must" you impress, OP? I just wouldn't play his game if I were you - I agree with a pp: your FIL is an arse.

But if you're determined, you could try this. I've made it loads of times, so the quantities and instructions are absolutely right. It always gets compliments:

Beef with Stout

Serves 4

700g (1 and a half pounds) stewing beef

30ml (2 tbsp) vegetable oil

2 large onions, skinned and chopped

1 tbsp flour

275ml stout

200 ml beef stock

2 tbsp tomato puree

200g (4 oz) stoned prunes

225g (8 oz) carrots, peeled and sliced

salt and pepper

sliced white bread and butter for croutons

Cut the meat into 1-and-a-half inch cubes, trimming all fat. Heat the oil and fry until well browned on all sides. Remove with slotted spoon.

Add the onions to the remaining oil in the pan/casserole and fry gently until lightly browned. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute. Stir in the stout, stock, tomato puree, prunes and carrots. Bring to the boil and season well.

Replace the meat, cover and cook in the oven at 170 degrees C (325 F) Mark 3 for 1-and-a-half to 2 hours.

Make croutons - fry squares of bread in vegetable oil and butter, and put them on top of the dish when you serve (don't make them too early, as they go soft if kept for more than a few hours)

Was just coming on to suggest this! You can also make a similar slow roast lamb more 'meat and two veg' style if you or your guests prefer. Marinate the joint overnight in a paste made of minced garlic, chopped rosemary and mint (+/- any other herbs you like) , lemon zest and olive oil. Slow roast long and slow for an appropriate time for your joint. Add par-boiled roast potatos and honey glazed carrots and parsnips (or whatever root veg you like) in some goose fat or other preferred lubricant for the last hour of cooking, when you take the meat out to rest whack the oven up to max for 20 mins to crisp them. Serve with some steamed green veg. I like to serve the joint on a big wooden platter Jamie Oliver style and carve at table, the meat should be very tender and fall off the bone.

I wouldn't even try and impress someone like that. He'll always have something to say just so you know he thinks you could have done better.

I'd just make something that I liked, wasn't too much hassle and was appropriate for a crowd, eg mezze, Indian, tapas or self assembly tacos so there's a couple of protein elements, plus bread, salad and rice or potatoes.

Or I'd serve something ridiculously inappropriate like fish fingers and chips or fried eggs on toast. Or I'd ask MIL what her favourite food was and make that, because she's probably had decades of trying to please him and never actually enjoying something she wants to eat.

This is a recipe I got from my MIL:

Cut a slit along the side of chicken breast, stuff with a slice of dolcelatte or St Agur cheese and wrap with parma ham slice. Put them in a shallow oven dish, pour over double cream and bake in a 180 degree oven for 35 minutes. Serve with crushed potatoes with butter and garlic, and a green vegetable, and the cream from the dish poured over each individual chicken breast.

Or coq au vin - many recipes available online, served with buttery mashed potatoes. Or beef and orange casserole - recipe here - again, with mash.

The casseroles are practical, because you can prepare them ahead of time, and they can just sit in the oven until you need them, if you lower the temperature once they are ready.