Your Best Dinner Party Menu -please tell me I need inspiration

[cremolafoam]

Ok 3 courses for 10 people coming up to Christmas-I really want to enjoy the party myself and catch up with the guests who I have barely seen all year- so need to be out of the kitchen mingling and unstressed( haha)
What are your best standby dishes? have you got a great dish that always goes down a treat? All adults who eat everything.
TIA
Will be out all day so discuss at will!
Back tonight.

Chicken withy mango chutney and apricot jam. easy peasy to make and yummy.

Lamb and Rosemary parcels. Simple to make and taste amazing.

No-roll chicken wraps. I would add cheese to the recipe but other than that very good.

i normally do stuffed chicken. you can use breast or thighs. if im unadventurous then i make up some paxo stuffing put this in the middle of the chicken then wrap it in bacon and cover in tin foil. if i have a little more time then i make my own with breadcrumbs, musrhrroms onions peppers etc and agin then put a little onto the chicken and then wrap in bacon. these can all be made in advance and kept chilled in the fridge and put into the oven later. I would serve with roast potatoes and steamed veg, or even with some nice mixed roasted veg, ie parsnips, baby onions, carrots, peppers etc.

have u thought bout doing just a 2 course meal, would make it a lot easier for u.

what about a fancy trifle for dessert? that can be made in advance and left in the fridge to chill

Something cold to start so can be pre-prepared. Loads of options with smoked salmon. Those parmesan baskets that Ainsley does are dead simple and look flash. Fill with parma ham or prawn & salad combo. Simple salads are also great. I had a lovely one recently which was v easy - baby spinach (raw) with walnuts and feta cheese but could use goats' with little warm bacon lardons sprinkled in before serving. V nice and 'clean'

Main - either a stuffed chicken breast as suggested or salmon fillets shoved in the oven of 10 -15 mins are v easy. You could always coat with fresh herbs .Nice served with lentils or potatoes. If you want to go for an easier option, you could do a casserole type thing such as boeuf bourguignonne or a big lasagne to save last minute panic

Pud - lemon tart (homemade or shop bought) with raspberries or lemon meringue pie (I like lemons!) and maybe also something like a rhubarb crumble with ice-cream if you want to give a choice.

Cheese is always easy to finish

These are kind of my stand-bys. Any help?

Posh fish, chips and mushy peas always goes down well with guests at ours. Salmon fillets wrapped in Parma ham roasted in the oven, home-made potato wedges and mushy pea made of frozen peas, boiled until done with a couple of cloves of garlic in the water. Pop the garlic out of its skinds then blitz the lot in the processor with a dollop of creme fraiche and some parmesan.
For starter what about a big deli plate - olives, ham, bread, sun-dried toms etc that people can pick at over drinks?
Make someone else bring pudding

I would do chicken in a lemon, cream and grape sauce served with rice - it's nice and light so you can have a more stoddgy pudding.

Last weekend we had - beetroot and feta soup made 2 days in advance, reheated at last minuite.

Hake roasted for 10 mins in oven with herbs and garlic (so done at last minute) with puy lentils mixed with salsa verde made in advance, potato and parsnip gratin, very forgiving if it's left keeping warm.

Apple creme brulee (with brown sugar) made in advance and brought out of fridge at last minute.

Cheese and crackers.

All said was v good and not too much work at last minute.

gosh everything sounds delish.Thanks everyone.
I just can't make up my mind- keep looking at all the mags in the shops and thinking they all look lovely and now lots of great ideas on here.
i think you are all right about a cold starter or soup made in advance.

oxo would you mind terribly me asking you for the recipe of ainsley's parmesan baskets-That sounds lovely. really would like to impress if poss.

The baskets are dead easy and can be made the day before and kept in an airtight tin. For 4 baskets (so scale up) finely grate about 50g of parmesan. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and sprinkle the cheese to form 4 circles, I think about 7" in diameter but will check. Bake at about 180 for 7 mins (but keep watching in case they burn!!)

Leave them for about a minute then lift with a palette knife and shape over an upturned jam jar or ramekin to form an edible basket. I think Ainley put parma ham and baked figs drizzled with a crem fraiche dressing into his but I'll have to find the exact recipe later. I guess you could put any kind of nice salady thing in them - salad, prawns and avocado would be nice too and use whichever dressing you prefer.

Looks quite artistic and poncy but is actually no more difficult than serving an ordinary salad plus crunchy parmesan is lovely! I am making this as my starter for a girly dinner party next week

many thanks oxo- will try
thanks to everyone else again

stew of some kind (i made a fab basque squid stew this weekend). potatoes boulangere (in oven thinly sliced layered with onion and seasoning and stock....will stay happily in oven until you're ready).

jamie oliver chocolate pots (incredibly rich so need only make little ones, in fridge until ready to serve).

smoked mackerel pate (always goes down realy well this, and again is in fridge until ready for it) as the starter, or roasted fennel and buffalo mozzarella.

Starter salmon and cream cheese/blue cheese pate. Easy to make in advance. Dust with paprika to serve . Melba toast or crispy,salty italian biscuits to go with.

Main coq au vin and green beans,roast potatoes is maybe easier for 10 people but if you have a big enough pan then do mustard mash.

Pudding Pavlova filled with lemon cream and drizzled with pasionfruit. You can amke the pavlova and the lemon cream in advance and just put it together on the night.

Butternut squash and bacon soup - made day before and re-heated
Oven backed Morroccan chicken (Delia WInter collection)- chicken, rice, olives, lemon, peppers, spices all cooked in the oven for 1.5 hrs, so no need to do anything once it's in. Plus don't need to cook any accompaniments as it's all in the one pot.
Nigella's lime cheesecake

have a look here for ideas the smoked salmon ones look nice

Check out Delia Smith's Autumn Braised Lamb (google search will probably turn it up). It's a one-pan dish which you leave in the oven for hours and then just serve up. You can do some additional veggies with it, if you want. It has always been very well received when I have done it, even though I am vegetarian and never taste it - infallible DS recipes!!

For a starter, I'd do something cold and simple that you can prepare in advance like a tricolore salad. For dessert, do a crumble that you can prepare in advance and then stick in the oven whilst you're eating the main course. And, if you really want convenience, you can always buy pre-made custard...

Anything that can be prepared the night before and just bunged in oven.

My favourite menu that looks impressive, but allows me to not get too stressed and mingle is: Goats cheese and roast veg towers followed by salmon en croute with ginger and dill butter, salad and boiled potatoes
citrus cheesecake

For dinner parties I like things that can be done in advance or are easy to chuck together. I always try to have a menu that works together e.g would be weird to serve an Italiany style starter (eg tomato and mozzarella salad) and follow it with a thai main course. Also I stick to seasons - no point serving a strawberry pavlova at the moment as the strawberries will be grim.

Starters - chicken liver pate, salads, soups

Mains - stews, things that are baked in the oven

Pudding - fruit tarts, chocolate puddings, profiteroles, ice creams, crumbles etc

For dinner parties near Christmas I often serve a large gammon as the main course with various veggies - seems Christmassy, but not turkey which everyone is sick of! It also looks impressive and a little goes a long way. One Christmassy desert I like doing is Nigella's chesnut meringue ice cream cake - looks great, is all done in advance and serves at least 10 people