I'm having a dinner party this evening. Would you like to be my sounding board for the day?

[SilentBoob]

First proper dinner party I've had in quite a while. Only 6 of us. New people, not comfy old friends.

Slight hitch is that I have somewhat lost my cooking mojo recently, so am a bit nervous.

Thought I'd do...

Puff pastry with pesto / baby toms / feta maybe? Sliced up warm to have with a drink when they arrive.

Then roast lamb (stuffed with dates or something maybe? Looking for a recipe)
Tagine of root veg.
Then... and here I am struggling to remember... I think last time I did something along these lines I did a warm bulgar wheat dish of some sort. What might that have been? Or am I thinking of Tabouleh? Is tabouleh served cold?

I feel that some sort of pulse or grain is needed.

How about this lamb?

Plus the tagine veg.

Plus couscous?

And yogurt.

Oh, and a pudding of some sort...

If you've got quite complex, rich flavours like stuffed meat and veg tagine, it would be good to have a very plain grain with it rather than add yet more flavours. Simply cooked brown basmati or plain cous-cous with a few finely chopped herbs mixed through it to finish or one of those brown/wild rice mixtures would be attractive.

Also... because lamb is very rich, I'd probably not choose filo pastry which can be quite greasy. Some crisp crostini with those toppings would be a little lighter.

For dessert, I'd also want to keep it either very small and very rich... like a dark chocolate mousse ... or something very light and non-creamy like an exotic fruit salad with a liqueur

Right. Back from the supermarket.

No idea if I bought the right bit of dead sheep.

Am going to marinade the lamb but not stuff it.

Yes, good idea re simple couscous.

Great minds think alike - am going to spiced apricots just lightly poached in sugar, cardamom, vanilla etc and serve with icecream.

Now I ought to get the lamb marinating.

How about mashed neeps and tatties, haggis, followed by fruits of the forest with meringues?? It is Burns Night this evening so it's a good get out and could be a lot of fun.