Dinner party ideas

[cucumberegg]

Having a dinner party for 6 people soon. Bang average cook but I'm good with desserts. Can anyone suggest any easy ish to make starters & mains that look impressive? Only thing to consider would be no fish and nothing too spicy. Any dessert ideas would be great too, I can go a bit fancy with those!

My go-to is pressed pork belly, mustard mash, vegetables and honey, soy and hoisin jus. Sounds tricky - really isn't! It's great because you can prepare in advance and has a short cooking time on the day. Sauce can be done in advance. Looks dead fancy.

Copy and pasted method below in case you're interested!

Slow roast (skin on, skin up, boneless belly) in the oven for 4-5 hours on low on top of onion, celery, carrots, orange juice, 500ml stock, star anise. Salt skin. Cover with foil. Don't get skin wet.

Take out and drain juice - retain for sauce.

Put pork into a container with a flat bottom. Cover with baking paper and something flat on top. Press with heavy weights/tins..

Refrigerate overnight. Slice up next day into squares. Squares can then be pan fried or placed into hot oven to crisp skin (20mins cooking time).

Reheat sauce. Add dash of soy, 2tbsp honey half jar or hoisin. Reduce till thick and glossy.

I'd choose taste over appearance any time. I don't think people expect WOW looking food unless you're a pro chef attached to a pipette and such like.

M&S sell savoury individual pastry cases which always look good as a starter. You can also make your own but that is a lot more effort. You can do a quiche, some caramelised onion and goats cheese, spinach and ricotta, or whatever filling you like. Serve it with a bit of side salad and it looks impressive, plus it's super easy as you can prepare in advance and just pop in the oven.

For the main, I like something that you stick the in oven or the slow cooker. A lasagne, stew, curry or joint of meat is usually my go-to.

That sounds incredible! I love belly pork. I love mash. I'm drooling thinking about it!

Yeah that's a fair point, by looks impressive I suppose I just mean looks better than chicken breast and roast veg which is our go to for our normal dinner! Taste is definitely more important!

Love the idea of the little cases. Definitely haven't got the time or inclination to be making my own (maybe before kids but definitely not now!). We've got an M&S round the corner I might pop in later and give them a trial run this weekend 🤤

You can make tasty food look more 'wow' with little effort: take your chicken breast and veg: slice the breast at and angle and serve on a bed of veg & sprinkle with some sliced and crisp fried prosciutto or chorizo makes all the difference

@peanuttery that sounds lovely, do you have a link to the full recipe with ingredients or can you let me know where it's from so I can Google please

I would go for comfort food that everyone likes and looks good - cottage pie with cheese and leeks on top (delia’s shepherd’s pie recipe but with beef mince and beef stock and hold the cinnamon)

Starter could be tricolour salad or shop bought pate and Melba toast

I'm afraid I haven't got a recipe as I made it up from a number of recipes based on a meal I had in a restaurant about 18 years ago! It's taken about 10 years of fiddling around with it to get it just right.

If you Google 'pressed belly pork' you'll find a selection of recipes and ideas that might give some more info on technique - but unfortunately the methods vary quite a bit. You can't really go wrong with a slow roast for a few hours, then pressed overnight, then pan fried or put into a hot oven. It goes with lots of flavours and sauces but the hoisin is my favourite.

If you want a bit more info on the above recipe, please just ask and I can give you some more detail. I promise it's as delicious as it sounds!

Pic is of the pork just about to go into the oven.

@peanuttery thank you - very clear from what you posted how to make it, thanks. Just I save a list of links to try but I can just save your instructions thank you.

I think you can make things look impressive by the way ou serve them. So I always get my le creseut out to make large casseroles etc,

I'd go for a chicken tagine with jewelled, roasted veg cous cous. Cous cous with roasted peppers, pomegranate seeds and plenty of fresh herbs always looks delicious. If you wanted to add a side harissa roasted cauliflower would be nice and you could always add in some flatbreads.

I rarely do starters, mainly because my dinner parties are usually a very relaxed affair, so nibbles with drinks works better for me. (Plus if I eat a starter I get too full). But if I do make one something light like a pear and blue cheese salad works well.

I have done this loads of times and It always goes down really well & is super easy.

www.nigella.com/recipes/chicken-in-a-pot-with-lemon-and-orzo

For starters I'd probably go for a simple bruschetta or antipasti.

Although my starter that has gone down the best was a big platter of mini cheese bites, halloumi fries, buffalo wings, mini honey and mustard sausages, onion rings, breaded mushrooms and baby potato skins. This was after a very boozy day in the pub though so probably not suitable for a dinner party, but it was wolfed down and I want it now 😂.

Yum

God that orzo chicken sounds fabulous, I've got a chicken in the fridge, think we'll be having that on Sunday! Although the bit where nigella says she enjoys eating the cartilage... (not envy)

@peanuttery thats a fabulous idea and recipe! I have a whole heap of dinner parties to do and I’m on my own. Pressing pork in advance and whipping it into the oven is a genius idea.
Im guessing you could buy fresh pork, cook it, press it, and re freeze?

I would go for nice but easy to do as you don't want to spend ages in the kitchen when you could be with your guests.

• For the starter I'd do quails egg with dill mayonnaise. Easy to prepare (especially if you buy the mayo). You serve it cold so it can be preprepared and all ready in the fridge.

• For the main I'd do chicken breast stuffed with cream cheese and dried tomato wrapped in parma ham or bacon. Delphinoise potatoes and green beans. The preprepared chicken and potatoes just go in the oven for the same cooking time. You can quickly cook the green beans.

• Dessert is usually something like a pavlova but it sounds like you can go more fancy than that from your skills.

@canihaveacoffeeplease It is very good, I've done it with thighs and even skinless boneless breasts and it's still been delicious. I do add extra garlic, chilli and lemon and use chicken stock instead of the water she suggests as we like really strong flavours. I usually add some parsley too if I have it in the fridge.

@MrsKippling that chicken and orzo recipe sounds perfect. I’ve added it to my recipe app to make later in March. I'll likely sub out thyme or dill for tarragon because nobody likes the latter in our house. Maybe serve it with a side of sautéed kale for some extra greens. Thank you for posting it!

Omg this all sounds incredible. I didn't dare open this thread last night cause I promised the kids they could have greggs for tea and I didn't want to hear about all this gorgeous food 😂

Starters
Something Pre prepared like antipasto platter and just warm up some bread

One of my main go-to's is a chicken breast opened and garlic and herb soft cheese in, or a tin of creamed mushrooms, wrapped in bacon or Parma ham with an asparagus spear or bay leaf held together with cocktail sticks

Very easy can be prepped before and serve with little roast potatoes with rosemary
Cube and boil the potatoes the day before then on the day heat oil and rosemary on the oven tray, add the potatoe from chilled so it hits the fat and they're really crispy with vegetables

Puddings - I always make individual whatever I'm making in little tubs and fridge as then they can be done the day before and chilled in the fridge no hassle on the day!!

Yeah, I think that would work. The pork is very solid once it's been flattened, so unlikely to have too much moisture between layers - meaning it should freeze well without too many frost crystals.

Try and buy a really deep belly with more meat than fat, as the fat will render off. Also do not score the belly - you want it in tact. Tesco and Morrisons sell it on their butcher stand in tact, but often off the shelf packs are scored which drives me mad! Butcher is usually best.

Anything make ahead is a winner. For a starter I usually do a dressed rocket salad topped with grilled halloumi, figs and prosciutto.

@peanuttery simewhat belated but I finally tried your pressed pork belly, it was delicious and went down very well. Thank you! 😊

Oh fab! How did you serve it? I hope the instructions were ok!