Dinner party on Saturday - help with menu!

[Wigeon]

Having a group of friends round on Saturday and planning the menu. Would like it to be wintry and a bit of nod towards Christmas. So far:

• Chestnut soup (have a lovely recipe which makes the most delicious soup)

• Baked ham probably although other ideas welcome! I am wondering whether some sort of game stew would be nice (venison, pheasant) but the two problems with that is I'm not sure if it would work out horrendously expensive and I've never actually cooked venison or pheasant before (although do cook from scratch almost every day).

• Some kind of pudding using Christmasy spices - thinking cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves etc. So far I can't think of anything that isn't a cake or cake-like, which I think might be a bit heavy. Any ideas?

As much of it needs to be made in advance because we are out in the late afternoon.

Thank you O Mumsnet Cooks!

Trifle - you can do a lot with this to change the recipe to a more Christmasy one

perhaps using ginger biscuits as the base, an orange jelly, with christmas fruits, soaked in rum & cinnamon - then custard with added brandy - topped with cream whipped up with baileys & topped with fine grating of nutmeg,

not done it before, but trifles easy, can be done in advance & these flavours should work pretty well

Chestnut soup sounds lovely (can I have the recipe?). Baked ham with cloves would be seasonal, certainly, but the Game stew would be delicious. Google should be able to supply you with some decent recipes for that (or Mrs Beeton).
As for pud, Tarte Tatin with cinnamon would be nice, or an Applestrudel, or pears poached in red wine.

Thanks for replies. Oooh yes, something apply-cinnamony would be good (I have some lovely apple recipes). The trifle sounds great - good idea - but it's one of the only puddings in the whole world which I'm personally not mad on (am usually a complete greedy guts). Mmmm, am salivating thinking about all this lovely food!

Chestnut soup

Serves 6
50g duck fat
120g onions, chopped
100g white of leek, chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed
30g smoked bacon, chopped
1/2 sprig thyme
1/2 bay leaf
500g peeled chestnuts
15ml sherry vinegar
15ml Cognac
1.25l chicken stock
250ml milk
100g unsalted butter

Melt duck fat in suacepan. Add vegetables and bacon. Cook until veg are translucent. Add herbs and chestnuts and cook for 3 mins. Add vinegar and cook, stirring, until evaporated. Repeat with Cognac and then add stock and milk. Bring to boil and cook for 45 mins, simmering. Puree. Reheat gently, adding in butter a little at a time. Season to taste.

It's from a Canadian friend and I don't think it's from a particular celebrity-chef-cookbook. I think last time I made this I didn't have sherry vinegar or Cognac so I kind of improvised with white wine vinegar and some other kind of alcohol. It makes an incredibly smooth, silky, delicious soup. You can drizzle with truffle oil if feeling decadant.

I'm wondering whether you could make a creme brulee type pudding adding nutmeg and cinnamon into the custard...and then once you've caramalised the sugar on the top you could decorate it with some edible gold dust?

would that work?

OH MY GOD I totally want to try making that RIGHT NOW!

Shirley: have you been channelling Nigella? She has a fantastic looking Christmas creme brulee which is exactly like that (in Domestic Goddess). I am slightly scared that the custard wouldn't be set or something though. But it does look amazing. Presumably you can caramalise under the grill if you don't have a blowtorch?

Duh - I've probably read that then and somehow my sub concious decided to plagarise her!

I don't have a blow torch (although, honestly? They're really not very expensive) and just stick any brulee under the grill.

I must admit that I do not have huge success making custard (understatement) but thought you might be cleverer than me!

Mary Berry does a really lovely venison and beef with apricots stew - that way you can bulk out the stew with beef and lower the cost a bit (actually could do that for any venisony type stew I guess?). That's a make up before one - and then just needs some lovely mash and veg with it.

And one I've always meant to try was christmas pudding souffle - its meant for leftover christmas pud - but you could just buy one and use it in the souffle.

Let me know and I'll see if I can dig up recipes - def can find mary berry one. other one is prob good food mag (or possibly olive mag) - which I might have to rifle through my files for.

Or a bread and butter pudding using panettone (or bread!) and some christmas spices.

Actually think I might've mixed up recipes in above - think the souffle may be a mincemeat souffle (mincemeat might work with the bread and butter pud too?) and the christmas pud may be a souffle or might be a frozen ice-cream thing?

panettone pud
delia's mm souffles
make in advance mincemeat souffles

Nigella's Christmas Spiced Chocolate Cake from Feast. It's vv good.

Basically a flourless chocolate cake with cinnamon, ground clove in and topped with caramelised spiced flaked almonds on top. Went down a storm with my lot at the weekend and I will be making it for NYE as well.

www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-1060328/Spiced-chocolate-cake.html. I left out the vanilla (an american affectation that I think overpowers most cakes) and the coffee and added some cocoa powder to beef up the choc content.

Fantastic ideas - love 'em all - thank you so much. I am definitely going to make that Spiced Chocolate cake at some point, quite possibly this Saturday. Panettone pud sounds great too, although possibly a bit more Sunday lunch rather than Saturday dinner party?

The venison and beef stew sounds fantastic too - if you wouldn't mind posting the recipe bugsonbuns that would be very kind. I think that might be a good way to ease myself into cooking venison too. I've also been thinking of one of my usual lamb stews / tagines which are lovely and wintry and very tasty.

This is looking like I could prepare the whole lot in advance, which is very good for my sanity (although also necessary given our Saturday plans) because I always get in a terrible flap towards the end of cooking for other people, although I love feeding people and it's all fine once they turn up.

So:

Chestnut soup
Venison stew or maybe Baked Ham with cloves or maybe lamb tagine
Spiced chocolate cake

Venison and beef with port and apricots serves 6-8

3 tbsp oil
700g stewing venison (in 1" pieces thereabouts)
700g stewing steak (in 1" pieces) - so you could mix around the quantities beef/venison ratio depending on cost, I'd think
600g peeled whole shallots
2 crushed garlic cloves
75g plain flour
2pints beef stock (I used cubes)
1/2pt red wine
2 tbsp redcurrant jelly
salt and pepper
175g ready to eat dried apricots
1/4 pt port
Chopped parsley (I didn't bother)

1. Preheat to 160C, 325F/Gas 3
2. Heat oil in large, deep frying/saute pan (with lid able to go in the oven - I used a cast iron saute pan with lid - could do it just in frying pan and transfer to casserole though). Brown venison and beef in batches, add more oil if necessary. Lift meat out. Add whole shallots and garlic to pan and cook stirring occasionally until evenly browned. Lift out of pan.
3. Lower heat, stir flour into oil left in pan, adding more if necessary. Cook for 1min. Stir in stock and red wine, bring to boil. Add redcurrant jelly and return meat and shallots to pan. Season with S&P, bring to boil. Cover then cook in preheated oven for 1.5h.
4. Add apricots and port to casserole. Return, covered to the oven and cook for further 1h until meat is tender. Adjust seasoning and stir in parsley to serve.

Casserole can be cooked ahead (without parsley), cool quickly, cover and keep in fridge for up to 2 days. Can be frozen, thawed compltely and reheated til piping hot. (I did ahead...always think beef is better the day after cooking - twas yum! did it for Xmas eve a couple of years back. Its from Mary Berry's cook now, eat later book.)

Fantastic - thanks so much for posting, bugsonbuns. I am definitely going to cook it for Saturday. Sounds delicious! First time doing venison!

Just to say thank you ever so much to bugsonbuns and ALittleHouselessMatch - I did do the venison and beef stew and the chocolate cake and they both came out perfectly and were absolutely delicious. (Chestnut soup to start went down a storm too). All the guests were very happy! I am going to add those recipes to the hallowed pages of my recipe scrapbook, reserved only for failsafe, delicious things.

Oh glad that you enjoyed the cake. It's going to be a Christmas classic in this house too from now on. In fact, am tempted to make one to take to the in-laws this weekend.

Glad it went down well!!!