Your favourite dinner party main courses?

[smilesandsun]

My first dinner party in ages, any ideas for a main where most of the preparation can be done in advance?

thx

One of my favourites is this recipe for mirin-glazed salmon by Nigella Lawson. It is very quick to do and is absolutely delicious. You could do the salmon part the day before and serve cold as part of a salad if you wanted something pre-made.

Quite a lot of effort but Delia's lasagne is lovely and obviously can be done in advance. You can serve it with salad and bread and that's enough.

Or Boeuf Bourguinon - again I seem to like Delia's...

That is especially nice when left to stew overnight.

thanks. I love bourguinon. How would you serve it so it looks a little more special?

Hard... I'd probably lob it on the plate and then let guests help themselves to veg served in nice dishes. Then at least the plate would have a clean area; you could sprinkle on chopped parsley I guess for a bit of vibrancy.

For veg I'd consider dauphinoise potatoes (full-on decadence!) and steamed beans (French, or runner).

Duck with cerry sauce.

Chuck the duck in the oven for 2 hours.

Put half a bottle of wine and half a jar of cherry jam in a pan and reduce until it is thick and sticky.