Unexpected v posh foodie guests and need incredibly sophisticated recipes that can be thrown together in 5 minutes.

[Quattrocento]

Please?

waitrose fishie!!!

No they are lovely, but just a touch wankery about food and wine

I made this Hugh Posh Boy curry last night and it was fab:
www.channel4.com/food/recipes/chefs/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall/gills_beef_curry_p_1.html

Or how about a tagine?

Nigella has a couple of brilliant ones.

Sauté strawberries in butter for 1-2 mins, add splash of balsamic vinegar and stir for 1 min. Serve with some great vanilla ice cream. Easy peasy.

asparagus (NOT risotto, just asparagus, butter salt and pepper) to start.

roast chicken new pots and wilted something green or something for main

berries and cream for dessert.

lovely stinky cheese

NO ONE COULD DO ANYTHING BUT SCOFF THE LOT WITH GLEE

Dh just said " it tastes nicer than it sounds".

Panna cotta in glasses (so you don't need too much gelatine) and then put chopped up strawberries steeped in balsamic on it at the last minute. Très chic.

Sophable - will you come and live with me please?

Roast chicken is lovely but it is what I serve my POLs or friends' children, not foodies.

i'm in a flat which isn't great for cooking (nothing wrong with it, but very little cookware etc) and am pining for my new lovely kitchen when building works are over at my house.

LOVE FOOD!

quattro, aren't you in a certain leafy sw london borough that has been much in news over last 24 hours...you have FANTASTIC cheese shop woman!

might be wrong...

I would go for a nice salad, asparagus, salmon with a few veg, potatoes or rice, cheese, some nice fruit with really high quality ice cream (I'm thinking grren and black's organic vanilla - yummy) for those who want it.

I'm not fond of making a big deal of desert, can make people feel forced to have it even if they don't want to (and there's no such thing as a sophisticated and quick and easy desert imo)

but bonsoir i think in a way it is very sophisticated to serve foodies (really well cooked) children's food.

they LOVE IT

A genuine LOL to "Rhubarb, FOOL".

I couldn't and wouldn't here, but it depends on where you live. Roast chicken here is a bit like baked beans in England, IYSWIM...

listen, even en france, la cuisine de maman is beloved by the most starred michelin chefs!

i was born in france and i don't agree that roast chicken is the equiv of baked beans!

Being born in France doesn't mean you know how people eat here right now, though. When I was born in England people ate Angel's Delight for a treat!

Honestly, you can buy roast chicken at any butcher's shop. Anyone and everyone eats it any day of the week - it is staple food for working people to pick up at 7.30 pm.

Love the curry recipe - I am going to do that for the family

Not me in SW London

You've all suggested going with simple fresh good quality stuff and not trying too hard. Which is absolutely fantastic because won't have too much time

yes anna and it is here too.

it is precisely why foodies might enjoy it...they eat 'foodie' food a lot.

Lemon posset has to be the easiest and one of the yummiest puddings.

See here - only three ingredients and only three steps in the method!

Pudding suggestion easy peasy and tasty get some fresh figs, put in an oven dish, take a bag of walnut pieces, whack on counter a few times to break up a bit more, sprinkle over, pour runny honey on top, bake 10 to 15mins at 180C. Not my recipe -- Viana La Place's fab cookbook Verdana.

I spend a lot of time in England too you know! I think that nursery food thing is really passé...

quattro we're drawing blood here! see how much we care about your life???

Roast chicken is failsafe to me, but it depends on what you serve it with.

Mash and carrots, no.

Erm.... what would youd do with it to make it foodie?

That lemon posset sounds nice and simple. What does it taste like?

Thank you all - do appreciate this.