Dinner Party Menu for 8 people needed!

[maggie75]

Hi there

myself and dh have got 6 friends coming for dinner this weekend - they are all quite foody and have in the past made me some great lunches and dinners and we want to repay the favour.

We're not bad cooks, but cant really manage anything too fancy tbh.

Thinking Fish pie for the main - tried and tested Hugh Fearnly Wittingstall recipe. But need a starter and pud - ideally that can be made in advance with minimal finishing off that evening. Any suggestions/help gratefully received!

well something really easy is:

Quesidias for starter, (from nigella express), served with salsa

Main, chilli/vege chilli, rice or over nachos with melted cheese, served with gaucamale, sourcream and salad

pudding, key lime cheese cake.

Love doing this as only need to do a little bit of faffing once guests are here.

or how about a bbq or mousakka and greek salad. You could do humous,tzakiki pitta, olives for starter?

or antipasti,ciabatta, olives for starter. Lamb shank for main

Have fun

Waitrose have some great recipes online. Can't do links (not ones that work anyhow) but we nearly always use their recipes when we have people over.

Good luck

Do you absolutely want to cook the starter and the dessert? I ask because if you're doing a fish pie, I think a nice meat platter with a selection of good hams - parma etc , salami, chorizo etc could be really nice if you serve it with good breat and olives.

Alternatively, what about something like a good chicken liver pate? Served with toast/biscuits and salad?

A fish pie is quite "english" so perhaps the pate would work better anyway as it would be in a similar vein.

Soup could also be nice - I'd be tempted with a good butternut soup but you could also do something like a minestrone or cream of mushroom? (old fashioned but nice) .

All of these can be done in advance more or less.

For dessert - I'd go with either a chocolate tart or souffle of some sort. I could post some recipes if you like. Or an easy chocolate mousse. Or perhaps a really good cheesecake or something similar?

Waitrose recipes do a really good chocolate and ginger mousse, the ginger comes from using ginger Green and Blacks chocolate so could probably do any flavour. Very good too as it is all done in advance.

HAHAHAHHAA
ANTIPASIT!!!!!

i win I win
tra l a la

what am I missing? I take it anti pasta - generally the easiest and yet still very delicious dinner party starter is an evil word around here?

Nigella has a fab recipe in the domestic goddess book for molten chocolate puddings. They look v.fancy and like you spent ages in the kitchen, but really are a piece of piss. And you make the mix in advance and then heat when it's time for pudding.

I fed then to SIL today, and apparently they are "even better than the M&S ones" which is apparently the highest praise she can give .

oh gawd, sorry - forgot to say that two of the guests are pregnant - can they eat anti-pasti? always forget what you can/cant have.

I'm pregnant so anti pasti is a little bit ropey on account of the hams/salami's otherwise the pate and toast or anti pasti would have been perfect. Why don't you try serving something like wild mushrooms on toast (just cook the mushrooms in a little herb butter and tiny amount of garlic if you fancy it). Or how about a simple bruschetta? Just toast up the ciabatta beforehand and keep it warm in the oven so its nice and crispy when you serve. Just make a nice fresh chopped tomato, basil & garlic topping and finish with a drizzle of olive oil when you serve.....

Or....how about smoked salmon blini's? Always a good starter......

Dessert - if you are serving a fish pie for main might be quite nice to have a lemon based pud? How about Lemon posset served with shortcake biscuits and fresh strawberries or something? NIce and zingy and the lemon posset is so easy to make you can stick it in the fridge and pull it out for later....you don't even need to make the biscuits yourself - just buy the posh ones from the supermarket! You just need lemon juice, sugar & double cream - couldn't be simpler! If you fancy making the shortbread too here's a recipe on the BBC food website:

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/lemonpossetwithlemon_85812.shtml

My stock starter when I need something easy if to get some pears, peel and slice them and put them onto a big plate. Tear up some buhhalo mozarella and add that to the plate. Sprinkle with some chopped red chilli and basil. Drizzle with some really good olive oil and serve with crusty bread. It's absolutely delicious.

In terms of dessert the one that is dead easy and gets most people excited in from Nigella Express and is white chocolate mousse. Definitely worth digging out.