Right I need a dinner party menu for 8 any ideas

[happybiggirl]

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Help for me too. I have been looking a Bills Food (bbc) lovely recipes and simple meals. Lovely Aussie chap.

When are you having yours?

I have 6 friends coming Saturday, all are all meat eaters. 2 dont like fish. 1 hates olives! Shame i love them.

My Dh normally helps as he is v.good cook.

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Seasonal food is always nice.

here is a link for Bill Granger..Easy Dinners. Most are for 4!
lovely, foods nice too!

If I dont come up with any ideas its M&S for puddings.

I try and do things that can be left alone for a while like Pork Stroganoff.

Have done a few succesful curry nights using Bombay Potato Schwartz mix, Pataks or similar curry sauces, (3 different curries), samosas, bhajis, poppadams & pickles etc. Did not try to hide the fact it was "Jar food", very easy & much enjoyed!

Delias Choc Bread & Butter pudding is great! Very rich though.

What kind of food?
We had a "gastro americana theme meal"
We had 7 for dinner a few weekends ago and my hubby made home made burgers with chunky homemade chips and salad
burger
chips
salad
You could have sticky ribs (nigella Lawson) and breaded mushrooms etc to start.
I made a banoffee pie for dessert.
When people arrived we have bottles of Sol beer with lime slices in.
Bit different, but lots of fun...
It was really good!!

For 8 people, I've done a large field mushroom per person filled with chopped mushroom stalk, chopped onion, sweetcorn, cooked rice, chopped dill and blue cheese. Fry the onions, mushroom stalks, and dill together until soft and then fill the hole where stalk was with mixture plus rice. Then sprinkle blue cheese on top and bake under the grill until mushroom cooked and cheese has melted. Serve on top of rocket or similar. It's very easy as you can prep it all before and put in fridge until you need to cook it.
For main for 8, I always do Somerset Casserole using pork escalopes in a large casserole with softened onions, herbs, garlic and stock. Cook slowly for a couple of hours (better if you brown meat first) then add lots of chopped apple and cook until just softened. Take off the heat and stir in enough creme fraiche to make the sauce creamy looking. Serve with new pots and veg. I'm crap at cooking for more than 4 so if I can do this for 8, it must be easy!

Forgot to say, add can of dry cider to meat before adding stock!

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I'm doing a fondue for 8 next week.
Thought it would be a larf!
(I wish I could come to your houses for dinner.Nooone I know can cook properly,apart from my family.)

Also, once we went to a friends where she had laid out loads of different pizza toppings so we could all make our own pizzas!

I fancy BillI reckon he would be really good fun.

Jamie's salmon wrapped in parma ham with new spuds and minted puy lentils and creme fraiche

My DH thinks Bill would be more interested in men. I have told hom he has a lovely wife and kids on TV, but DH assures me its just for show!!!!! A little of the green eyed monster I like to think showing from DH.

Some great ideas. I like happybiggirls's tip for chocolate bread and butter pudding. ummmmmmm.

I always get stuck on puddings.

Ingredients :
1.2kg shoulder of lamb, cut into small pieces
400g prunes
100g blanced almonds
2 large onions
1 stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
3 tablespoons honey
½ teaspoon turmuric
3 tablespoons oil
1 teaspon pepper
Salt

Recipe :
Peel and slice onions.
In a large pan, saute onions in 2 tablespoons oil for about 3 minutes, stirring from time to time with a wooden spoon.
Add meat, cinnamon stick, turmeric and pepper, stir carefully.
Add 400ml water, bring to boil, then cover, lower heat and leave to simmer for at least an hour. Salt.

Wash prunes and add to dish. Leave to cook over a low heat for 30 minutes.
Mix honey and powdered cinnamon together, pour into pan and leave for another 15 minutes. Stir well, but do not cover.
Heat the rest of the oil in another pan, then saute almonds for a few minutes, over a high heat.

Serve tagine piping hot and sprinkled with almonds, with couscous in a separate serving dish.

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Sorry I wrote a post before that to say lamb tagine with couscous is a good one to do and would find the recipe put it never showed up. That recipe is for 6 people btw.

Nah, just because he is clean and can cook doesn't mean he is gay. I do think he has a tv persona but I think that underneath, behind the scenes he could be filthyHe has a twinkle in his eye iykwim

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I looked up that Sainsbury's advert earlier, cos it looks yummy! If it's the same one that I think you mean, then what it says is...

"Why not try filling a large flat mushroom with Stilton and wrapping with a strip of parma ham. Bake in the oven at 180ºC/ gas mark 4 for 10-15 minutes to create a tasty side dish or an indulgent lunch."

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My DH and I have just had a lovely (if you can call it romantic ) meal for two(with3DC upstairs)
Starter- large flat mushroom with poached egg and a cheese sauce poured over the top(it was absolutely delicious)
Main course- Leg of lamb, honey roasted potatoes and a selection of fresh veg. Some of these things I had never had but they really worked well together-Yum Yum Yum

Can I recommend a great book? It's called Something For The Weekend and it's by Ruth Watson. It's about £22, but you can get it from The Book People for about £6, IIRC. Anyway, the point is all the menus are for 8 people. I bought it before Xmas because we went through a spell of having 8 people for dinner quite often then, but we've not had anyone round since I bought it, so I've not made anything out of it. Some great suggestions on this thread.