The most amazing starter, main course, or dessert you've ever made as a home cook

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

Inspired by various tv programmes...what are the must amazing starters, main courses, desserts you've ever made? With recipe links if possible

Oh I'm eagerly watching this as been googling recipes all night for upcoming dinner party!!

My go to dessert for family meals is always a lemon drizzle cake served with ice cream and berries. As a family with a load of coeliacs I always use this Hugh Fernley Whittingstall gluten free recipe, it uses mashed potato which makes a very moist, light cake and no one can ever tell the 'secret ingredient'.

It works for dinner parties, cake sales, birthdays it's an all round good egg!

www.epicurious.com/recipes/member/views/tims-lemon-trickle-mash-cake-50068552/amp

The other dessert is this Delia favourite...squidgy chocolate cake. Of I'm feeling extra fancy I'll make a white chocolate bow design for the top.

www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/chocolate/squidgy-chocolate-cake

Delia's rillets of duck. Perfect. Every time.

Jamie Olivier's lemon possets.

Love this thread! I'm always on the hunt for stand-out recipes.

This sausage, radicchio and lemon gnocchi by James Martin is fantastic. I never bother to do the radicchio part and I use ready-made gnocchi instead of making it from scratch but it's always a win. Don't skimp on the lemon though! It really gives it something extra.

www.bbc.com/food/recipes/sausage_radicchio_and_03149

Nigella's chocolate fondants always come out spot on fir me and I'm not a great cook.

This is officially the best dessert ever

Any excuse and I'll make it. And it's very easy

^^

Smoked salmon, good dressing, rocket, dark rye bread slivers of.

Lamb leg with garlic and rosemary - best quality, garlicky jersey royals, mixed leaf sald with raspberry vinegar and walnit oil.

Raspberries, white chocolat and vanilla cream; or

Gutsy lamb shanks with garloce and rosemary simmered in red wine for aeons with mash and green beans. Then brandy naskets with lemon cird, creme fraiche, raspberries and dark choc latticed over

Or

Good steak, pan haggerty, mushrooms with garlic, parsley, red wine and creme fraiche with mixed leaves.

Chocolate pastry, tart lime filling, dbl cream and creme fraiche on top, made pretty with strands of melted plain choc.

Tarte tatin made with puff pastry - got the recipe from a newspaper article online which compared several different recipes. Or profiteroles filled with creme diplomat and served with chocolate sauce. Worth the bother.

Main course - good quality rib of beef rubbed with mustard and cooked rare. Served with gratin dauphinoise.

No links - sorry, you'll need to do a bit of work

I really like those chocolate puddings with a melting heart. They always go down well and I made a creme egg version which was very well received.

We like relaxed drunken dinner parties so a slow cooker pulled pork with really nice baps and homemade bbq sauce always special

Nick Nairn's Wild Harvest is a great source, it's quite an old book but I love it. His scallops and carrots with Sauternes butter sauce, makes a great starter. His pigeon breasts with game sauce is a regular favourite as a main.

The Hairy Bikers pork tenderloin stuffed with apricots, ginger and apple is epic.

For desert, I love the Moro Almond and orange cake it is utterly gorgeous, flour free and dead easy, I make my syrup with the juice of one orange, honey and orange flower water. It doesn't look terribly attractive, but served with brandied whipped cream is a real crowd pleaser.

Pork, apricot & pistachio terrine sliced thinly as a starter is amazing! It is also an excellent snack, especially in the days between Christmas and New Year. Don't know what day it is? Have a slice of terrine!

Main course...possibly the duck ragu I've been doing lately over fresh pappardelle...or porchetta.

My most amazing pudding is yoghurt sorbet nestled on top of a variety of berries with spiced strawberry juice poured around it. It looks super impressive and you can easily do pannacotta instead of the sorbet. Some nice langues de chat biscuits served alongside are lush.

@DesertIslandPenguin, the duck ragu sounds amazing. Do you have a recipe/recipe link for it?

There are some fabulous recipes on here, thank you

I'm a keen cook, but don't often tackle desserts, because I rarely eat them - but last week I watched (on catch up) the episode of Britain's Best Home Cook where they had to do Mary Berry's strawberry and cream meringue roulade. It looked easy enough, so I gave it a go when we had friends round - and wow - it really is easy if you follow the instructions to the letter - and it looked and tasted amazing!

Starter really simple baked Camembert with really good crusty bread.
Main- pomegranate lamb

Pud - a really good homemade pavlova with just strawberries and a tiny bit of grated chocolate

Honey roast ham, dauphinoise and green beans followed by Mary berrys ultimate chocolate roulade.

@TaleOfTheContinents Here you go! I don't use the swede as no one else likes it, and we are a bit greedy and scoff all the sauce between 3 of us. www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/duck-ragu-pappardelle-swede%3famp

Starter: suppli al telefono (deep fried rice balls with a mozzarella centre)
Main: kouliabac (salmon, rice, spinach and hard-boiled egg in puff pastry
Pudding: chocolate mousse cake (bake two-thirds; top baked cake with remaining mousse) or chocolate raspberry daquoise.

I wouldn't eat the three at the same meal, though.

I once made a fantastic Mexican meal with authentic dried chillies (several types) and fresh seafood. Can’t remember exactly what (as many years ago pre-dc when had time and inclination to do so). Something like langoustines in lime/chilli salsa, tacos with home-made tortillas in a press, various sauces, home cooked refried beans from scratch, grilled marinated meats and chicken etc etc.
Nigella’s margarita ice-cream for pud, which was dead easy, though.

Dh does a mean glazed duck breast with perfect crispy skin and rare meat, with dauphinois potatoes. I do the braised red cabbage with it.

I mostly bake these days, but not as often as I would like.

I used to be known as “Delia” at uni for my culinary prowess, so looking forward to doing more as dcs get older.

Starter:
Grilled asparagus, soft boiled quails eggs, lemon hollandaise.

Pudding: "deconstructed eton mess" - otherwise known as "eton tidy" - load up the "lazy susan" rotating board with bowls of mini meringues, raspberries & chopped strawberries, whipped or clotted cream, and other stuff which can vary inc chocolate sauce, grated chocolate, sprinkles or nuts, possibly brownie or cookie pieces or toasted oats

• not all of these but enough to let people customise their pudding to their hearts content.

My most spectacular starter is grilled spiced oysters, but scallops wrapped in bacon are also fab.

My main course would be a whole turbot baked with lemon and herbs, it doesn't need much served with it, new potatoes or a watercress and endive salad.

Paris-Brest au chocolat is my dinner party pudding, a choux ring filled with chocolate cream.

[wine.

Oh, these are fantastic. Love the Eton Tidy on the Lazy Susan.

I need to make an Eaton Tidy! What a fantastic idea!!