Dinner party help for terrible cook

[bizzylizzy]

Hi everyone
I have to do a dinner party for a group of people who are all good cooks. I'm average bordering on dreadful!! Can anyone recommend any courses/dishes that look and taste really good, but aren't over taxing to make. Also any dishes that can be made in advance would also be good. Thanks in advance to all you great chefs out there.

[Silversky]

This will make a fantastic starter and it's really easy to make. It's Pea and Pancetta soup.

A little unsalted butter,



1 small onion,



60g pancetta, chopped



450g fresh or frozen peas,



1 garlic clove, roughly chopped



800ml light chicken stock,



1 sprig of mint,



freshly ground salt and pepper,



pinch of caster sugar.



1) Heat a lttle butter in a large pan, add the onion and sweat till translucent.



2) Get a frying pan very hot, add the pancetta and fry quickly until crisp.



3) Add the pancetta to the large pan, together with garlic and peas, and cook for a few minutes.



4) Pour in the stock and bring to a simmer. Cook until soft to the touch. Add the mint, season and add sugar.



5) Blend until smooth, then put through a fine sieve and serve hot.

[Silversky]

For a main course:

How about French trimmed Lamb cutlets with berkswell cheese and herbs, fresh roasted vegetables tossed with garlic and thyme, and a Caper sauce.

(Which is one I came up with myself!) You can use other cheeses if this cheese is not available to you. Something smooth (like a sheeps cheese)

For the Lamb Cutlets:
4 French Trimmed Lamb Cutlets (Ask your butcher to do it if your not sure.)
30g Berkswell Cheese Grated
2tsps Mixed herbs
30g Day old bread (For Breadcrumbs)
1 Egg
For the Vegetables:
1 Parsnip ( In quarters)
1 Carrot (In quarters)
1Potato (In quarters)
Olive oil
Thyme
4 Garlic cloves
For the Caper Sauce:
1 tablespoon of capers, chopped
5g cornflour
100ml milk
Small knob of butter
pinch of salt and pepper

Lamb:
1) Preheat Oven to 200 degrees.
2) Mix together the Egg, Beardcrumbs, Berkswell cheese and mixed Herbs.
3) Season the mixture.
4) Paste one side of each Lamb Cutlet.
5) Cook in oven for 30 minutes.
6) Peel and Quarter the vegetables lengthways.
7) Par-boil for 10 minutes in salted water.
8)Drain and put in roasting tin
9) sprinkle with olive oil, garlic and thyme.
10) Roast for 45 mins

Caper sauce:
1) Mix cornflour with a small amount of milk till smooth.
2) Heat the rest of the milk. Pour onto paste and mix well.
3) Put back into pan.
4)Heat, contiuously stirring, until smooth and boil and thicken.
5) Simmer for 2 minutes.
6) Remove from heat and stir in butter.
7) Stir in capers with a little vinegar from the jar.
7) Season to taste.

Serves 2 people

[Metz]

http://www.hub-uk.com/index.html try here

[shaneystar2]

Simple dinner party menu

Starter .. Nice big plates of mozarella cheese and sliced beef tomatoes ..drizzled with olive oil,balsamic vinegar and torn basil and warm crusty bread to mop up the juices.Easy peasy .
Main course
Something like a goulash or casserole one pot dish (plenty of recipes on the web)..which you can make in advance and serve with creamy mash and a veggies of your choice.
Dessert..
Fresh fruit salad(make in advance) or cheat and buy an expensive cheesecake or one of those Tarte Citron things which you can serve with a good dollop of cream.
Ply them with plenty of drink and they won't notice whether you are a bad cook or not. It's your company they are coming to dinner for.Food snobs annoy me !!

[Silversky]

mmmmmmmmmm.... shaneystar2, you've said one of my favourite starters!

[dannydingbat]

For starters, scallops take little cooking. Serve them on grilled mushrooms stuffed with chopped and cooked bacon.

For dessert, pancakes are good as you can cook them in advance and keep them warm. Make an orange sauce

Juice of four oranges in a pan and heat.

Add the sest of one of them

Add the juice of half a lemon

Add half a teaspoon of caster sugar and two tablespoons of Grand Marnier.

Swill the folded panackes in the sauce and serve two to each guest. As a final touch, grate a Terry's chocolate orange over the top.

Checkout the BBC website for recipes as well. Try some beforehand as an experiment.

Afterthought - see if you can get a recipe for Moules Mariniere. Easy to do and good.

[lady_p_gold]

Here is a great pudding which looks really professional but is dead easy ... take one packet of chocolate chip cookies... . pour some liquer (sherry, contreau, Grand Marnier etc.) into a bowl and dip each one in for a millisecond (or use a slotted spoon to just pass them through quickly the idea being so they don't get too much on) put them back into the packet shape with cream between each one, pack tight and put into the fridge in foil. When cold overnight is best, take out, cover with whipped cream and a few decorations and you have a wonderful choccy log thing that tastes brilliant and all the biccies have melded together inside and people think you are soooo clever.

[Alibobs]

I'm with Shaneystar. Stick to what you know and be proud of it. I always maintain beans on toast is delicious when someone else cooks it.

We once went to a dinner party where the hostess had put a microwave meal on everyones plate! We had to reheat it ourselves!! We had a great evening though, no ones ever forgotten it.