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DInner Party for 10 .... help!!

9 replies

Crystaltips · 17/08/2004 12:28

On the back of the "What's your favourite cookbook" .... I'd like to ask for your advice as well.

I have 3 dinner parties to do each with 10 to 12 people ( if I don't pay them back then our social life will dry up once and for all )

I am looking for something that is quick and easy to produce AND looks great. In the past I have tried goulashes and things similar ... but it looks like school dinners ....

Looking for something that is GREAT to look at as well as to taste - as with any luck they will be plastered and as we know - first impressions count

Thanks

OP posts:
Tetley · 17/08/2004 13:43

Idea for main course - chicken breasts, stuffed with blue cheese or brie, then wrapped in either parma ham or streaky bacon, & baked for 30 minutes or so. Serve with a sauce made from creme fraiche & sun-dried tomato paste - just mixed to taste & heated through.

Or a fish & shellfish stew, served with crusty bread. Make a sauce with white wine, onions, tomatoes & garlic. Then use it to cook a mix of fish, shellfish ....

I can give more detailed instructions if you're interested

Crystaltips · 17/08/2004 13:49

That sounds great Tetley - what cookbooks are they in - good excuse to treat myself

OP posts:
Tetley · 17/08/2004 14:02

Not cook books I'm afraid! Clippings out of Good Food magazine I think, that I've used many times before. If you want I can post proper recipe details when I get home from work tonight.

MrsFogi · 17/08/2004 14:42

Gazpacho is a very easy starter (means you won't be in the kitchen when everyone is having the appero). As Tetley says stuffed chicken dishes are a good bet for the main course. How about an easy home-made ice-cream (eg Leith's lemon-curd icecream) with home-made brandy snaps (done in fancy shapes to make them look like they took more than 10 mins to throw together)+ you could whip up your own dips for the appero (eg hummus, fish pate and tapenade) - so the only thing you'd need to do on the evening would be to cook the chicken and veg to go with it (everything else could be prepared during the week before) - try Leith's cookery bible

soapbox · 17/08/2004 15:13

I like doing brushetta for starters - quick and easy. I slice up 3 or so large ciabattas, toast then rub with garlic clove. I make a tomato sauce from tinned cherry tomatoes with a few fresh ones thrown in, garlic and olive oil. Reduce til thick. (You can use a shop bought red pepper/ olive tapinade for this which works well). Once cool spead the paste on the ciabatta. Top with a variety of toppings - feta cheese + pine nuts, mozerella and parma ham, rocket and parmesan, blue cheese and wqalnuts etc etc etc.. Toast under the grill for a couple of minutes before serving on a big platter and let people help themselves.

For main courses I like doing some retro type stuff like good quality bangers and mash with onion gravy, toad in teh hole with onion gravy, sirloin steaks with garlic mash, wilted spinach and bearnaise sauce. (Men in particular rave when given one of these dishes) I also like doing grilled tuna steaks (or halibut or swordfish) with wild rice and a spicy home made salsa.

For puddings I rather like jellies at the moment. Nigella does 2 lovely ones - gin and tonic jelly and slut red raspberry and chardonnay jelly. My all time favourite though is the River Cafe's lemon tart - just perfect!

Hmmm - that's made me feel very hungry now!

CountessDracula · 17/08/2004 15:32

Yes I like bruschetta for starters too - fry up some prawns in garlic butter and pile them on too, they are great (quick tip - cut up the ciabatta and spray either side with olive oil then pop in the toaster!)

Or I also love a charcuterie starter eg parma ham/bresaola/salamis/chorizo. I usually stick it on individual plates with a few other nice bits (eg some parmesan shavings, stuffed olives, onion marmalade, fresh figs chopped in half) and serve with some nice fresh french bread or toast. Everyone loves that one (except veggies)

Mains, I try and do stuff that doesn't take hours of preparation. Again simple things. Pan-fried fish with a yummy sauce eg watercress or a nice salsa is always a good one, with hot baby new pots and green beans or salad.

GOOD CHEESE of course next!

Pudding, I like doing a huge pavlova - can be cooked in advance and cream etc put on on the day. I have a superb and v easy recipe. On the top, lots of red fruit is nice eg raspberries, strawberries and redcurrants all piled up and dusted with icing sugar

anorak · 17/08/2004 15:34

Antipasto makes a really impressive starter and is dead easy to make. Just arrange a selection of the following on a huge platter, (or several smaller ones) -

smoked fish
hams, all kinds
anchovies
prawns
cherry toms
radishes
baby corn
cucumber
gherkins
little onions
carrot sticks
hard boiled eggs (quails or hens)
cheese
salad leaves
melon
mushrooms or green beans marinaded and cooked in garlic and olive oil then cooled.
olives
sliced raw or charred sweet peppers.

Drizzle with good olive oil and serve with good bread.

Favourite easy dinner party main course: Greek chicken or lamb.

Simply roast a chicken or a joint of lamb in a mixture of olive oil and water with lemons squeezed over and sprinkled generously with oregano, crushed garlic and salt and pepper. Roast potatoes in the same mix. Serve the beautiful garlicky oil as a sauce. Accompany with greek salad, bread and a green vegetable cooked in lemon and olive oil. I have never found anyone who didn't like this dish. Vegetarians eat the spuds and salad (I'm one, by the way, and even without the meat it's still one of my favourites too).

WideWebWitch · 17/08/2004 18:50

Hi Crystaltips, here are a few recipes I've got on my PC, inc the Nigella slut red berries in jelly so here you go! I think the Jamie trout would go down well and would be easy to cook en masse as well as looking impressive and not needing too much doing to it. We've had it and it was lovely. HTH!

Nigella: "From a quirky American book called Pacifica Blue Plates by Neil Stuart, I picked up a way of cooking salmon that has contrast and impact. The title - sugar-spiced salmon with Chinese hot mustard - takes almost longer to write than the recipe does to cook. I've adapted the original idea (leaving out the stipulated ¼ teaspoon cocoa), but the result, the almost uncooked Dayglo interior, the crisp, dull bronze but sharp-spiced seared casing around, provides the satisfactions of the original. For a 225g juicy thick salmon fillet (cut from the top end of the fish) mix a ¼ teaspoon each ground ginger, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne, sugar, salt and (Colman's) mustard powder. Heat the griddle (smooth side up) or a non-stick pan and, when hot, thickly dredge the fish in the spice mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes a side. Remove and let stand while you make the purportedly Chinese hot mustard sauce, just by mixing a teaspoon and a half each of sugar and mustard powder with 1 teaspoon of water from the warm tap. I like this with barely-cooked sugar-snaps. And the hot, sweet mustard sauce will jumpstart even the dullest piece of plain grilled farmed salmon. If you can find or afford wild salmon, let nothing interfere, save some lemon or the merest ghost of some freshly chopped tarragon."

Jamie Oliver?s baked trout and potatoes with a crème fraiche, walnut and horseradish sauce

"Trout is a fantastic and readily available fish. The combination of hot horseradish, nutty walnuts and creamy crème fraiche is a pukka marriage with trout as well as with the more obvious beef and lamb. serves 4

455g/1lb potatoes, peeled and finely sliced
olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 whole trout. approx 400-455g/14oz-1lb each, gutted and scaled
1 heaped tablespoon grated fresh horseradish
255g/9oz crème fraiche
2 handfuls of fresh walnuts, shelled and crushed
juice of 1 lemon

optional
a little fresh thyme, leaves picked
1 lemon, sliced

Preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F/gas 9. Dry your sliced potatoes with kitchen paper and lightly coat in olive oil. Season and place in a single layer in a large roasting tray. Place on a low oven shelf and roast for around 15 minutes, until crisp and golden. Meanwhile pat the trout dry, then with a sharp knife slash each fish at an angle on both sides - this will allow the heat and seasoning to penetrate. Rub with olive oil and seasoning. For extra flavour you can stuff the fish with fragrant herbs. I like to use thyme with some lemon slices too. Cook for around 12 minutes at the top of the oven until crisp and golden. While the fish and potatoes are cooking make your sauce. Fresh horseradish, which you should peel and grate, is nicer, but you can also use the creamed horseradish bought in jars. Not quite as hot but still tasty. Mix the horseradish in a bowl with the crème fraiche and the walnuts and season well. Squeeze over some lemon juice to taste. Serve the fish and potatoes side by side with a good lob of the crème fraiche sauce. Really nice with a green salad, some buttered bread and a glass of beer."

Delia's Smoked Haddock with Crème Fraîche, Chive and Butter Sauce

"This is a great recipe, a) because it's the most wonderful combination of flavours, and b) because it takes only 12 minutes from start to finish. Serve it with spinach cooked in its own juices with a little butter, then drained well, and you'll have a sublime meal in no time at all. Serves 2.

12-14 oz (350-400 g) smoked haddock or smoked cod, skinned, or same weight golden haddock cutlets, skinned
2 rounded tablespoons crème fraîche
1 heaped tablespoon snipped fresh chives
1/2 oz (10 g) butter, diced
5 fl oz (150 ml) whole milk
freshly milled black pepper
You will also need a frying pan with a diameter of 10 inches (25.5 cm).

First place the fish in the frying pan and add a little freshly milled black pepper but no salt. Then pour in the milk (it won't cover the fish, but that doesn't matter), bring it up to simmering point and simmer gently, uncovered, for 8-12 minutes if you're using pieces of smoked haddock or cod, or 8 minutes for golden haddock cutlets. You will be able to see quite clearly when they are cooked, as the whole thing will become pale and opaque.

Now carefully remove the fish to a plate using a fish slice, increase the heat and add the crème fraîche to the pan. Continue to simmer, uncovered, for 2-3 minutes, until the sauce reduces and thickens slightly, then whisk in the butter and return the fish to the sauce briefly. Scatter in the chives, let it bubble for about 30 seconds and it's ready to serve."

Seafood on rosemary skewers - this is mine:

Buy scallops, prawns and monkfish tails from the fishmonger and marinate them in lemon juice & garlic. Cook in the marinade and olive oil before threading them onto Rosemary skewers and pouring the remaining marinade from the pan over the top. We had them on a bed of Rocket and Lollo Rosso and they were lovely.

Coconut and chilli Salmon kebabs - Nigella

"I tend to shunt these kebabs on to my barbecue, but you can just as easily blister them under the grill. Think green Thai curry without the sauce - and to be frank you could stay within the correct register and just as easily make up kebabs by using chunked chicken or whole tiger prawns instead.

2 small Thai green chillies, roughly chopped
juice of 2 limes
1 x 400g tin coconut milk
6 spring onions, roughly chopped
pinch salt
bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon Thai fish sauce
1 kg salmon fillet, cut into large cubes

Put the chillies, spring onions and coriander in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Add the fish sauce, lime juice, coconut milk, salt and sugar, and puree again until you have a thick paste. Put the salmon cubes into a freezer bag and pour in the coconut marinade. Squeeze out the air, seal the bag tightly and leave in the fridge for at least an hour. Thread the salmon on to wooden skewers that have been soaked in water; roughly, you should get about three cubes of fish for each kebab. Barbecue for about 5 minutes; it's hard for me to be specific since I don't know how hot you can get your barbecue. And I find about 3 minutes a side more or less does it under a hot grill. Makes about 10 skewers."

Slut red raspberries in chardonnay jelly: Who else? Nigella!

"You might think that no recipe could live up to this title. It's a reasonable presumption, but thank God, a wrong one. This is heaven on the plate: the wine-soused raspberries take on a stained glass, lucent red, their very raspberriness enhanced; the soft, translucently pale coral just-set jelly in which they sit has a heady, floral fragrance that could make a grateful eater weep. If there's one pudding you make from this book, please, please make it this.

This recipe was emailed to me from Australia from my erstwhile editor, Eugenie Boyd. I've fiddled with it a bit, but it is the best present a foodwriter could ever have. Now it's yours.

1 bottle good fruity Chardonnay
300g raspberries
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
5 gelatine leaves
250g caster sugar
double cream to serve

Place the wine and berries in a bowl and allow to steep for half an hour. Strain the wine into a saucepan and keep the raspberries to one side. Heat the wine with the vanilla pod until nearly boiling and leave to steep on one side for 15 minutes.
Soak the gelatine leaves - which you can find in the supermarket these days in cold water for about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, after removing the vanilla pod, reheat the wine and stir in the sugar until it dissolves; allow to boil if you want to lose the alcohol.

Add a third of the hot wine to the wrung-out gelatine leaves in a measuring jug and stir to dissolve, then add this mixture back into the rest of the wine and stir well. Strain into a large jug. Place the raspberries, equally, into six flattish, clear glass serving bowls, and pour the strained wine over the top. Allow to set in the fridge for at least 3 hours, though a day would be fine if you want to make this well ahead, and take out of the fridge 15 minutes before serving. Serve some double cream in a jug, and let people pour this into the fragrant, tender, fruit-jewelled jelly as they eat. Serves 6."

Nigella's No cook chocolate cake

"There are many versions of this refrigerator chocolate cake but this is the best. Why? Because it is made with a generous hand, rather than those versions that include cheap chocolate and too many biscuits. You only need a square or two, and an espresso on the side. Serves 8

340g fine chocolate
200g butter
90g each hazelnuts, almonds and Brazil nuts
2 free range eggs
75g raisins
50g natural-dye glace cherries
75g digestive biscuits, roughly crumbled

Line a 20cm square cake tin with silicone baking parchment. You can use grease proof but you may end up picking it off the finished cake bit by bit. Melt 230g of the chocolate and all the butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan over a moderate heat.

Spread the nuts on a baking sheet or grill pan and toast under a hot grill till the skins start to blister. Rub the nuts with a cloth, discard any of the skins that have flaked off and return the nuts to the grill until they are golden.

Remove the chocolate from the heat when completely melted and stir in most of the toasted nuts (reserve a few for decoration). Beat the eggs lightly with a fork and add to the chocolate and nuts with the raisins and most of the cherries. Stir in the crumbled biscuits, then spoon into the lined cake tin. Leave in the fridge overnight to set.

When the cake is completely set, melt the remaining chocolate in a small bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Pour the chocolate over the cake, then scatter over the reserved nuts and cherries and drizzle with any remaining melted chocolate."

Crystaltips · 17/08/2004 21:29

Blimey - Was off to bed and decided to check ..... thanks WWW that'll keep me quiet!!

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