To ask how you make your meals a bit more posh/fancy?

[WanderingWildflower]

We used to eat out a fair bit but our income has reduced due to maternity leave plus we are feeling the pinch of the cost of living crisis (like most I imagine).

So I'd like a few of our (mainly weekend) meals to be a bit more 'restauranty' as a compromise!

So I'm asking, what makes a meal feel 'nice' to you? Good wine, nicer condiments?

And how do I make a REALLY nice roast to match the ones you get at a posh pub on a Sunday 😁

Sometimes just trying something new can feel special. I don’t know about you OP, but when I eat out I generally opt for something I wouldn’t eat at home. Experiment with a few internet recipes (with cheap ingredients/things you already have in) or check out secondhand bookshops/charity shops - I’ve found some amazing (recent!) titles in mine recently for a couple of quid.

We eat a lot of fish and adding a topping of an olive/ lemon (etc) tapenade, plenty of seasoning and, crucially, capers, brings it to a new level of loveliness.

I personally prefer a home roast to a pub one but that’s personal I guess.

Sesame seeds for Chinese / stirfry with chopped spring onions on top always make it look fancier!

If you have Spotify they have loads of different playlists like "Indian restaurant" or "Turkish restaurant" etc so we pick a theme then set the table nicely and use the corresponding playlist

I tend to go to restaurants for food that is difficult to cook at home, so I tend to think of nice meals at home as dinner parties for just our household. And the key is several small courses with pretty garnishes/sauces and empty space rather than everything on one plate. And a jug of water with lemon slices, or sprigs of mint or similar.

I generally do a vegetable-based starter. In summer this is generally either some sort of salad or a mezze/tapas/crudité type plate of nibbly things and dips. In winter, it is still vegetable based, but more likely to be warm eg roast veg or a soup.

Then the main course, then a green salad and then maybe a plate of cheese and/or fruit. On Sundays we might have a proper pudding.

But yes, I think garnishes (herbs, seeds, lemon/lime wedges or zest) and sauces nicely arranged, and making sure the food has a nice balance of colour.

Frozen pomegranate seeds come in really handy, too.

These threads always make me hungry!!

I’ve got a lamb biryani to make from scratch today...will also add poppadoms (shop bought, but I’ll warm them through before serving) with raita, a cucumber, red onion and tomato salad, and maybe also a dal tadka from the freezer (I batch cook dal so I always have some to hand). I’ve got a little set of balti dishes to serve but what I’d really love is some thali dishes! That’s on my long term wish list (along with many other things!).

Don’t forget a small coffee and a couple of sweets/chocolates for after. Also served in coordinating cups/dishes. Possibly a modest cheese board and or a glass of port too! Ahhh I love it. I’m not allowed to buy any more pretty little things now! 😆

Nice music playing in the background
White tablecloth
Candles and small vase with some flowers
3 courses

Fresh herbs are great but don't forget other garnishes eg chopped nuts or pinenuts or bacon or crispy onions or fried breadcrumbs/panko on vegetables with garlic, lemon or herb butter.

Lovely presentation, your best crockery/cutlery, linen napkins, flowers, music, candles and low lighting will all make it feel more special. I always feel like lighting the candles for dinner is the signal to relax and the evening takes on a slower pace.

Extra courses, even if they are simple like a salad and chocolates afterwards, make things feel more special.

What is the issue with your Sunday roast? A selection of veg with garnishes, like chestnuts or pancetta, or sauces, always makes it a bit more special. Don't forget extras like pigs in blankets. Use floury potatoes like King Edwards or Maris Pipers, par boil them until the edges go soft and start to crumble, then roast in hot goose fat or beef dripping. Use a meat thermometer if you struggle to cook the roast perfectly. Yorkshire puddings are easy. Use the same volume of egg, milk and flour. Let it rest for 30 mins. The fat needs to be very hot when you cook them (200C fan oven) but you can lower the temperature once they have risen if that is too hot for the other items or cook ahead and reheat for 5 mins or make individual Yorkshire puddings that will cook while the meat is resting.

Those ready made crispy onions, spring onions sliced on the diagonal, pickled veg and toasted seeds are all winners here.

Serve smaller portions of food in middle of a big plate or bowl and pile high for a faaancy look.

I am DESPERATE for one of these! But they are pricier than they look!

Chefs rings - sounds silly but serving your rice/potatos etc in nicely rounded molds on the plate always makes it feel a bit special. Or for sticky rice just pressed into a cup then eased out onto the plate.

also best meat you can afford, but more money on better gravy, stock, really nice veggies. Will still all be way cheaper than eating out several times a week.

also things with good butter and cream. Cream is great as actually keeps for ages in the fridge and a dash of it in things can make a big difference.

if you have access to them then nice stuff from good farmers markets.

you’re actually paying all the extra for service and stuff. You can afford to go super high quality on ingredients if you are doing the work

And yes to a big electric pepper grinder!

What's a black thumb?

Chopped spring onions on top of stir fry’s or rice dishes

Everything I cook has spices.

Fresh lemons improve the taste of more things than you'd think.

I was coming on to say fresh lemons and limes plus fresh basil and coriander so you can drop them in when needed. Tonight I'm just about to make an avocado dish with fresh limes, Cayenne chilli and just picked tomatoes. Makes all the difference to have the just squeezed juice there and then.

Opposite of ‘green thumb’ (which means to be very good with plants/able to grow things easily). So in other words not having a natural affinity for keeping herbs alive long term. 🙂

Nice plates - Denby do a cheap range which you can find on amazon. Really lovely and substantial.

Definitely use nice serving bowls/dishes. This is one of our garden lunches from last week. Quite a bit of it was reduced M and S food.

We have some of those enamel plates with the blue rim. It doesn't matter what I put on them, it always looks hipster cool on those plates.

It reminds me of being on holiday and so much nice than plastic tubs on the table! We have thali bowls/dishes too.

Yes to the fresh herbs!

I recently discovered that herbs like dill and parsley keep for a couple of weeks in a clean dry glass jar in the fridge. No more slimy herbs! I do grow them too but also get free cut herbs from Olio.

We almost always have salad ( unless having really traditional UK food like roasts or pies). Scattering a few toasted cashews or some mixed seeds on the salad makes it feel more special.

Also- proper cloth napkins. I got red ones and black ones as I thought white would get stained more easily.

I mean salad to accompany the food, not eating salad almost every day as main course. Just remembered I'm on MN and this could be misunderstood