Does anybody have any "cook ahead" dinner party recipes?

[shandyleer]

I'm having 8 people for dinner on Saturday, one of whom is a vegetarian. I'd like to cook ahead as much as possible as we eat in the kitchen, and I get too flustered if I think everyone is watching! I'm fairly competent - so long as no-one's looking. Any recipe ideas will be greatly appreciated

tbh i think that all the classics/most recipes are do-able in advance adjusting your timings accordingly and allowing you to relax and have a clean kitchen as you go
the goodfood site is a good starting point as the recipes do indicate how you can prep in advance

Something like soup or pate as a starter is always a good one in terms of cooking ahead (and I have a lovely and easy peasy recipe for mushroom pate if you want!)

For your main course, how about fish? That only takes a few minutes to cook, so you could pre-prep any veg, put them on to cook while you're eating your starter, then you just have to cook the fish. Or you could do something like individual parcels of salmon, which you've marinated for 30 minutes in soy sauce, finely chopped ginger and garlic and sesame oil. They need max 20 minutes baked in a hot oven.

Or, if you don't want to be doing any cooking on the night itself, how about a casserole? (Obviously with a veggie alternative for your vegetarian friend).

Most puddings are something you'd make in advance anyway.

Define 'dinner party'?

My 'dinner parties' involve three-bean chilli from the slow cooker with Nachos and salsa and trimmings - washed down with Margarita.

Sophisticated it ain't.

Thanks for those ideas everyone. BecauseImWorthIt, if you don't mind, I'd like your mushroom pate recipe? Sounds good. I like the fish idea too, was thinking of monkfish maybe?

The night might start off sophisticated Kif (actually, who am I kidding), but it certainly won't end up that way!

have you got a slow cooker?
i did a ham in mine when we had 8 for dinner yesterday and it was lush. just bunged my veg in the steamer and did some new potatoes.
mmmmm

Mushroom Pate

250g mushrooms
30g butter
3-4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
250g cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Clean and trim the mushrooms and chop them finely

Heat the butter ina large frying pan over a medium heat; drop in the mushrooms and garlic and saute, stirring frequently for 10 minutes, or until all the moisture has evaporated. Leave to cool for a few minutes

Blitz the mushrooms in a food processor until smooth, then add the cream cheese and blitz again until well blended.

Season to taste and then transfer to a serving dish and leave to cool completely. refrigerate for at least an hour for the garlic flavour to develop.

This keeps very well in the fridge for up to a week.

(This is a River Cottage recipe, btw)

It makes enough for 8 people.

Oh thank you, that sounds lovely

As a singleton that likes to entertain I've developed the art of the 'minimum fuss' dinner party because otherwise my guests would either be kicking around hostless and eating nibbles or sat in the kitchen watching me cook!

Soups, pates, smoked salmon and other non-cook or 'heat up' starters are good. For desserts I go with home-made ice-cream, mousse or (season permitting) lush strawberries and cream.

Main courses I favour slow-cook casseroles ... Coq Au Vin, Boef en Daube, Chilli Con or Non Carne... pot-roasts and regular roasts, jacket potatoes, roasted vegetables. You can put everything in the oven an hour or two or three before people arrive and spend just a few minutes steaming a few veggies, assembling salad and serving. Freshly-made, still-warm bread is another good one to make the dinner more special...

Thanks all for your ideas. I'm going with the mushroom pate, salmon fillet stuffed with goats cheese and asparagus (found this in one of the Waitrose free leaflets) and raspberry souffle.

BecauseImWorthIt - just want to let you know I made the mushroom pate today, and its lovely. I added walnuts to it as well just to stretch it a little bit further and its nice - so thanks, will file that one away for future use.

Oh good!

It is very tasty and so, so easy. In fact it's so easy it almost feels like a cheat!

Sounds nice with the walnuts as well.

Have a look on the come dine with me website for loads of ideas. I made butternut squash & sweet potato soup yesterday & it was lovely and you can just heat it up when your ready once you made it. You could make a dessert in advance then all you have to actually cook is a main

roasted veg lasagne is a good main course, that can be prepared ahead, even non veggies like this, you could maybe offer salami etc as a starter for the carnivores, with olives and dips or the mushroom pate.