Dinner party for 8, chicken recipes needed!

[UsedToBeAContender]

Hello!
Have been volunteered (thanks DH ) to host a dinner party this Saturday for 6 people from his work.

Any ideas on some nice chicken based recipes?? (One doesn't eat red meat and one doesn't like fish apparently!)

Heeelp!

to make life as easy as possible, I'd get the butcher to joint up a couple of chickens and make one big pot of either: basque chicken / chicken tagine (maybe with preserved lemons).
both v easy to continue the dinner with a theme & preprepared starters / desserts - some picky tapas style starters (a few of which are easily bought, like cured meats) to share then some kind of burnt cream dessert for basque (lots of rioja) or babaganoush / olives / flat bread / orange & olive salad starters and a great big tray of bought north african pastries with mint tea for dessert. Pomegranate jelly if you can be arsed to make it.

Google nigellas Spanish chicken. It uses thighs, chorizo and potatoes and you just bung it all in a tray in the oven for an hour. Really nice and really simple!

Do a baked spanish risotto, I served it at a dinner party & it was lovely!

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/bakedspanishrisotto_70241

I found my recipe last night:
www.waitrose.presscentre.com/Recipes/Devilled-Chicken-a8d.aspx

Easy peasy, and nice (according to the meat eaters around here).

Oh that sounds interesting Frontpaw! Have boomarked to try.

It is now DSs favourite recipe (he mixes the marinade himself) and it just looks after itself in the over! Would work with salad and crusty bread.

I have a lovely chicken and orzo recipe that's good for larger groups. Serve with salad.

If you're interested let me know and I will type up

paneer - please could you type up and post? I'd love the recipe, even if OP decides to serve something else for her guests. . TIA.

Now if anyone does actually have a nice paneer recipe... Drool!

Would be very grateful for the recipe Paneer! Thanks so much for the ideas!

Coq au vin - mmmmmm!

lemon & herb chicken orzo (serves 10)

put 16 chicken thighs in larger roasting tin
scatter 6 whole garlic cloves
squeeze over lemon wedges (of 2-3 lemons)
tuck the wedges in
roast for 45-50m @200 until skin crispy
cook 500g orzo per packet then drain
take chicken out & squeeze out garlic plup & mix
chop small bunch of parsley & tarragon and mix with the orzo
tip the orzo onto serving dish and arrange the chicken on top

Frontpaw I am always on the prowl for a good paneer recipe. I end up buying those packets which are not too bad, esp if you add lots of lovely fresh coriander.

Or fry cubes, squirt of lemon and some fresh corriander - lazy but tasty! I have never made a decent muttur paneer though - Im sure it must be full of cream and butter in restaurants (which is why it tastes so go-oood!)

I have a good paneer recipe but too tired to type now. Will be back tomorrow

Get chicken thighs, 2-3 a person.

Big metal pot

put some oil in the pot, add chopped onion, carrots, herbs

boil the kettle

dust the chicken in flour, add to the pot, pour over 1/2 a bottle of red wine.

Make some stock with a stock cube and add that to the pot.

Once it is boiling you can either simmer on a low heat or put it in the oven for 1.5 - 2hours.

Serve with mash.

Enough chicken pieces (with skin on) and something like Charlotte potatoes, halved longways, for eight.

In a saucepan gently heat 50g of butter, a couple of cloves of garlic, zest and juice of 2 lemons, a big squeeze of honey and some chopped rosemary. Some chopped red chilli would be nice too.

When it's all melted together, pour it over chicken and potatoes and put in the oven til cooked (45 minutes?).

Remove from oven and reduce the sauce a little - it should go lovely and sticky. You can either pour it over the chicken on the serving plate or serve separately in a jug. You may need to give the potatoes an extra 5 minutes by themselves.

Serve with a nice big salad.

A nice chicken curry would be good, there are so many variations: butter chicken, chicken korma, chicken jalfrezi, chicken rogan josh.

Some fantastically simple chicken recipes here:

www.healthyindianrecipes.co.uk/category/recipes/chicken/

(sort of a posh cock-au-vin)

put into the ramekin a teaspoon each of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, a little bit oregano, salt and a little bit garlic.
place one skinless chicken breast in each and roll it about a bit.
pretty side up and sprinkle liberally with brown sugar (about a table spoon per filet)
place a slice of lemon on top (wash skin first)
fill the ramekin with dry white wine but not too much to drown the chicken.
bake in a hot oven for about 20 min.