Help - need fail safe dinner party recipes

[Ifyoubuildit]

DH's team, including his boss and her wife, are coming for dinner in a couple of weeks. I'm a rubbish cook and need some help! DH and I will cook together but it's the kind leading the blind!

Fail safe recipes and tips - pretty please!

I have a recipe which is really easy and was given to me years ago by someone who often held dinner parties. It's really lovely but needs minimum effort!

Take 4 Chicken breasts and sprinkle garlic salt and paprika on both sides of the chicken. Put chicken in an oven proof dish and add some sliced mushrooms. Pour two tins of Batchelors condensed mushroom soup on top. Add I small carton of double cream and cook for about an hour or until chicken is cooked. Serve with sugar snap peas, baby potatoes and chanteney carrots. The sauce is lovely and I have often been asked by friends to do it again when they return.

A casserole, because then the work is really spread around.

I think a cold salad style starter and some kind of casserole with mash and veg are the least stressful things to do. If you don't fancy making a dessert most of the supermarkets do some really lovely chilled desserts, and I think there is no shame in not making one. It is often the done thing in France to make most of the meal from scratch but buy a ready made dessert.

For a starter butter brown bread, then spread on some dill sauce and top with smoked salmon. Cut off crusts and cut in to small triangles. Serve as a nibble / starter with some fizz.

Duck with cherry sauce, looks great really simple.

Prick the duck all over and put in the oven with something under it to collect the fat - leave for 2 hours (1 duck for 4 people, more for more people).

When done just cut into quarters.

!/2 jar of morello cherry jam and 1/2 bottle of red wine, put in a pan and simmer util it has reduced to half. Delia's recipe is more precise but this works well.

starter

1 packet of filo pastry
1 piece of brie
1 jar mango chutney

Cut filo into quarters (keep the bit you are not using well wrapped)
on each quarter put a chunk of brie and a teaspoon of the chutney.

Wrap the filo into parcels - various ways to do it, look on the web for idea.

Bake for 10 mins.

If they will eat game then this is delicious: www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1935/succulent-braised-venison

Feels 'special' enough for a dinner party and is incredibly easy. Served with buttery mashed potato/celeriac mash and greens.

The BBC Chocolate Truffle Cake is also immensely easy, incredibly low effort and utterly gorgeous. You can add booze to it too, Cointreau, Amaretto or brandy are usually good options.

Failing that do a cheese board instead of a dessert? With some lovely crackers and chutneys and dates, grapes etc.

*BBC Good Food, not BBC

I think you need to do something that you can prepare in advance, so you're not glued to the kitchen / oven when you have guests.

I have done these 2 together before - served with lots of flatbread (just bung in the oven), houmous, dips - not particularly complicated (just prep) and very tasty.

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/chicken-recipes/blackened-chicken/
www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/griddled-steak-peppers/

Or this - more impressive but similar
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/harissa-roast-salmon-lemon-chickpea-couscous

In terms of a pudding - this is my failsafe. Always works, looks very impressive and tastes divine.
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4653/strawberry-cheesecake-in-4-easy-steps-
I've also done the lemon posset recipe and served in martini glasses which looks quite nice.

If you wanted to do a couple of nibbles, these are super easy too and taste lovely. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1602/goats-cheese-and-cranberry-tartlets
Or shop bought to make life easy

Beef bourginon is easy as others have said.
This is easy and looks very good- I use a pinch of star anise rather than 5 spice- serve with creamy mash and sautéed greens. Can be done in slow cooker if you have one.

Starters- something which can be prepared in advance. Soup is easy and generally well liked. Another good option is an antipasti board- just needs arranging! Desserts are my weakest point. I generally go with cheesecake. I've made baked fruits a few times- banana, peach, apple, pears (whatever you have really!). Chop and arrange on baking tray, sprinkle over a tbsp of brown sugar and drizzle with honey/maple syrup. Bake for 30-45mins until soft and juices flowing. Serve with dollop of good vanilla ice-cream.

Another good easy starter is poached pears with blue cheese salad- there's loads of recipes online.