I screwed up a dinner party

[stella1w]

The soup was cold, and tasted of earth (bought prepared from posh shop), I put the jacket potatoes on in advance to be organised and they all shrivelled, the salad I made was tasteless and the steak I bought was just dreadful. A guest brought dessert and that was the only thing people ate with any enthusiasm. I,ve never been able to cook but I used (prekids) to be able to throw something respectable together even if some of it was store-bought. In my defence, I was trying to get a 10 month down for much of the evening, but even so, it was a pathetic meal.
If anyone has a foolproof dinner party menu for someone who can't cook, let me know!

Steak is v hard if you don't do it very often as it can so easily turn to boot.

In the days when I used to do dinner parties and wasn't great at cooking I used to start with asparagus wrapped in pancetta or big mushrooms dotted with garlic and chilli (both Jamie Oliver IIRC). Main course was poussins with roast veg or 5 hour lamb (Jamie). Then pudding was Eton Mess.

Jamie Oliver is your friend. I have never made a recipe from any of his books that hasn't turned out great.

Pretty good for managing with a 10month old. If you really worry that you cant cook barbeques are a good way of entertaining where the quality of cooking inst paramount.

Aww you're being very hard on yourself! Dinner parties are mainly about the social side not the food - as long as everyone had a good time that's the main thing!!

No menu advice sorry!

Ah, I wouldn't worry, as long as there was plenty of wine I'm sure everyone enjoyed themselves

I always prefer to cook things that don't involve lots of hanging about over the stove beforehand, and TBH I don't normally bother with lots of courses - if it's just friends coming over I'd normally do a big main course like lasagne with salad and garlic bread - easy to prepare in advance and always goes down well, even if it's not particularly sophisticated. If you're really keen on having another course why not do nibbles (bought rather than homemade) with drinks beforehand?

Fruit, cheese and biscuits for pudding (preparation time - 1 minute) and you're sorted.

Agree with breeze but I would h

-- ave made summat like stew or curry that could be made in advance

Agree Jamie Oliver is your friend!

Don't be too hard on yourself. In former times, when me and DH had a social life that included dinner parties (more people coming over for food, DP sounds too grown up) it was for the conversation rather than good food.

Oh...and they should be grateful for any starter. I never make starter; maybe Vegas sticks and humous?

Vegas sticks=veg sticks

See now, I am v v good at dinner parties and I wouldn't dream of doing steak (unless it was a barbie)

So. Foolproof dinner menu thus:-

1. Vietnamese Beef salad (can also make with tuna). Marinate a rump or sirloin in mix of brown sugar and lime juice 2 hours. Meanwhile get a cup and put in 4 tblsp each of lime juice & fish sauce (get in supermarkets). add chilli, garlic, spring onions, lemongrass, ginger (I keep 'squeezy tubes' in fridge for this type of stuff). mix together and leave for same two hours. cook steak RARE then let it go cold, then slice as thinly as you can. Prepare salad with anything in fridge, slicing as thinly as poss (I use lettuce, carrots, red onion, toms cucumbers). Throw steak on top, toss slightly then add sauce just before serving. Can all be prepared up to 8 hours in advance so long as you don't mix any of it together until last minute (I have sometimes prepared each ingredient individually at 6 in morning, bagged and left in fridge before going to work. works so long as you don't mix salad stuff together until the end).
2. Slow Roasted Pork. shedloads of recipes on google, Imagine that Nigella and Jamie recipes will be fine. I cover my pork with mix of soy sauce, garlic and chilli then blast at gas 7 for 20 minutes, turn down to gas 1 or 2 for next 12-24 hours, then blast at gas 7 for 20 minutes just before serving. Put whole piece of meat straight on table. Remove cracking in one piece and slice and invite everyone to help themselves to pork (it falls apart as they pick it up, you can serve with a fork. prepare yourself for many compliments). I use a whole shoulder if doing dinner for 12 or more, and I ask butcher to leave bone in.
3. Eton mess. Buy the meringues ready made from M&S or Tesco. Can prepare everything in advance (including whipping the cream) so long as you only combine half hour or so before serving.

I reckon you need 15mins prep time for each of these and can do virtually whole lot hours before guests arrive.

What about Mexican food - nachos and refried beans then fajitas or enchiladas - dead easy. You can make your own salsa and guacamole to impress (again Jamie) :o All quick and easy and always goes down well. And don't forget the tequila!

Mmmmmm Vegas sticks

Anything that can be cooked in advance in the oven! Quiches and tarts are good as starters, for soups this is one of my favourites:
Fry one chopped onion, add chopped courgettes (about 800gr for 4 people), add veg stock to cover, cook abiut 15-20 min.
Add about 100-150gr of roquefort cheese, whizz together, delicious!! (not my creation)

Yum Yum Yum squiffy!

This Gordon Ramsay Chicken Tikka Masala recipe is so easy and absolutely delicious - the sauce element could probably be made a couple of days in advance.

You can make it as hot or mild as you wish and it looks so appetising on the table with lots of chutneys and breads.

A cool and refreshing dessert to follow; one of my favourites is a sort of frozen raspberry mess cake. It looks fabulous and is a complete doddle to put together:

Break a couple of packs of meringue nests into chunky pieces. In a 9" springform or loose-bottomed cake tin (lined with cling film) tumble together the meringue with large teaspoonfuls of good vanilla ice cream and raspberry sorbet, along with a pack of frozen raspberries.

The aim is to get an even as possible mix in the tin. As you go along, drizzle in a pack/bottle of raspberry coulis. Fold the edges of the cling film over the top of the mixture and press down lightly to compact the 'cake' slightly. Bung it in the freezer. Take it out of the freezer about 10-15 minutes before you wish to serve it; slide it onto a plate and whip off the film.

A bit of extra coulis and icing sugar dusted over to serve, and Bob's your auntie's live-in lover

I only ever do food that can be prepared in advance. That way I can spend the actual DP getting pissed making intelligent conversation with my friends, not stressing. This website is brilliant - all recipes are rated for difficulty and reviewed by users so you can pick a good'un.

The secret of a good dinner party imho is preparation and making sure your food isnt too complicated so that you spend the evening in the kitchen stressing and not enjoying yourself with guests.

What AnyoneforTurps said, the bbc good food website she linked is brilliant (read the comments before making one of their recipes, they are the most helpful bit)

Generally for a dinner party i wouldn't put myself on the spot by doing something like steak that you have got to stand over, it is making life difficult for yourself. Do a slow cooked casserole type thing that you can prepare earlier in the day/ the night before when you have a quiet ten mins. And set the table as well, always makes me feel like i'm on top of things if that is done before anyone arrives :)

Agree it was not an awful dinner party.

Starters - Don't always bother, but if you do something easy like smoked salmon with bought gravadlax sauce. Or a series of snacky/deli things bought from somewhere like M&S

Mains: Mustard stuffed chicken - recipe on bbc good food guide as top rated recipe by readers for dinner parties. It is so easy and quick to make, can be made in advance and just put in the oven - and tastes delicious.

Dessert - Eton mess - buy some meringues, whip up some cream and cut up some strawberries and mix it all together. Very easy and if you buy rather than make meringues, it is totally foolproof

I hate doing dinner parties, but on the rare occasions I do, its lasagne or chilie all the way. Can't go wrong with those, and if you do, that's what garlic bread is for.

I hosted a dinner party, and made sure all the food was the kind you could prepare ahead & doesnt need much looking after. I made chicken parfaits for starter, baked spanish risotto for main and lime cheesecake for afters. All were great! Can share recipes if you want them.

Unashamed place marking

All the recipes are here

Could be worse! I think we are all supposed to have one dismal DP.

My very first one i remember was a disaster because they didn't like or were allergic to more or less everything i'd cooked. This included ice cream and peas.