Dinner Party Menu

Just being nosy,
Whats your ideal menu? and what do you cook?

We may have people coming round from school tomorrow for the first time so, as their children (4!!) will come as well, I am going to make a huge lasagne or two and probable something chocolatey for pudding.

Will think about my ideal menu and post later

hx

I ALWAYS cook my mushrooms (three kinds) in white wine, tarragon and cream sauce with wild rice followed by something approaching Eton Mess, except with vanilla sponge instead of meringue. I usually start with a soup if it's for a dinner party (most often Leek and Potato but sometimes Carrot and Coriander) but I do Aubergine Towers if it's dh and me. Which are bloody gorgeous!

If someone's been round before, I will do Indian food from scratch and the last time my friend came round for dinner I did a Roast Beef dinner, as both of us have veggies for other halves and they went and ate their tofu stuff together!

I tend to cook for dinner parties depending on who is coming so I don't have an ideal menu. If children are present it'd probably be pasta based though, and if there are more than a dozen I'm likely to just cook a huge vat of chili or curry.

My lesser half likes my marinated chicken, Eldest would eat fajitas until they come out of her ears and Middle would be happy with just a hotdog on the BBQ.

However, if you want to cook for ME.... garlic mushrooms, followed by a good stroganoff would be perfect. I'll be there at 8, thanks!

What do you use for your marinated chicken D?

How would you cook it? Roast?
hx

For an early summer dinner party I would cook... goats cheese-stuffed field mushrooms, then baked trout with red onions, courgettes, peppers and garlic etc served with itty bitty new pots and a bit of a salad, then raspberry meringues.

dirtyqwerty wrote:For an early summer dinner party I would cook... goats cheese-stuffed field mushrooms, then baked trout with red onions, courgettes, peppers and garlic etc served with itty bitty new pots and a bit of a salad, then raspberry meringues.

Can I come round now please

Cadiva wrote:

dirtyqwerty wrote:For an early summer dinner party I would cook... goats cheese-stuffed field mushrooms, then baked trout with red onions, courgettes, peppers and garlic etc served with itty bitty new pots and a bit of a salad, then raspberry meringues.

Can I come round now please

Bring wine!

I would do chilli or fish pie or some fish (either tuna or Seabass) with potatoes, peas and salad.

For pudding - I made a lovely chocolate terrine thing once ...I would make that again.

Anybugger wrote:What do you use for your marinated chicken D?

How would you cook it? Roast?
hx

Sorry, I've only just seen this! I marinate it in either bbq sauce, chinese herbs or lime & honey and then roast, grill or barbecue it.

DH likes the bbq sauce, which you can buy or make, but then before you roast it add some fresh orange juice to make a lovely sauce for the meal.

I have such simple tastes, I'd turn my nose up at pretty much every dish outlined above!

Will nobody think of us simple eaters????? Pleassseeee!!

I'd like something like marinated chicken with pasta & salad ... or steak pie and mash ... or just a big salad (my version of a salad is different to most people's) ... or even lasagne ... just something simple, easy and tasty.

If I had to do a 'dinner party' (I do not move in Dinner Party circles though, lol) I'd embarass myself no doubt.

I'd do something like:

Home-made lentil soup with ham hock in it, served with crusty bread. Or perhaps melon balls.
Followed by pasta in a sundried tomato & bacon sauce (bought), served with garlic dough balls (bought) and salad.
Then maybe a home-made cheesecake.

I can imagine you lot turning up to that menu ... arghhhhh!

XX

LMAO! I would LOVE that menu!

It would depend on what you're good at making. I'm not so good at making puddings, so home-made cheesecake would be a stretch for me. Not bad at cakes, to be fair, but I'm pretty good at making veggie food and, as my dh would probably be at any dinner party I'd throw, I would normally make something veggie. I've had to be clever because when I started to have veggie dinner parties back in the day, I couldn't buy so much 'tasty' veggie food (dried TVP in tomato sauce was the culinary heights of what my dh used to eat ).

I have actually put my 3 mushroom sauce over pasta and it's pretty good over that too!

Before I moved here, I used to do a Mexican dinner party too but my American friends have had much better Mexican meals than I could make so I don't do that one any more, not that I've had that many dinner parties with friends here. I also used to make a spinach and blue cheese lasagne when I was making dinner for more than 4 people (I've only done a dinner party for more than 4 twice!). I loved it, but I haven't made it in years as my eldest has a violent reaction to spinach! I had a family Sunday lunch for 9 a while back so I cooked home-made mushroom and courgette quiche, home-made potato salad, home-made pasta salad with sun-dried tomato paste and olives, leaf salad, plain boiled new pots with butter and chives and two roast chickens followed by a bought-in raspberry tart and really good vanilla ice cream. I'm doing a Sunday tea at the end of the month and I'm probably going to do salads and cold meats in the same way. It means that everyone can choose what they eat and there isn't really that much prep.

I'd like Marley's ham and lentil soup with big chunks of bread, only not for dinner. Definitely a lunch thing.

Lasagne would suit me fine. It's a lot more complicated than roasting a trout though!

I like doing buffets too Jeliwobble, especially when I have my BIL to cater for. He's a complete fuss pot and always asks what everything is and then wrinkles his nose up. He's Canadian, but how different can the food really be? With a buffet he can pick and fuss and fill up on bread and I don't have to know or care!

The ONLY reason I wouldn't like that menu is cos I don't eat ham or bacon (I am actually considering a move to full vegetarianism as I spend my life picking meat out of things. I had beef randang at college a couple of weeks ago and picked out ALL the beef and left it, cos I don't trust anyone to pay attentiona and cut out ALL the fat like I do)

Plus, I love homemade cheesecake!

Lx

That lentil soup sounds fab! I'd quite happily eat that with loads of crusty bread as a full meal.

Home-made cheesecake is beyond me, I'm RUBBISH at puddings, so would just buy something. I make fab ice-cream when I can find a decent PYO place though.

I make dinner for more than 4 people every NIGHT lmao.... so am used to cooking in quantity. My parents children and grandchildren all together make a very full table, with 15 of us, so we are all used to preparing vats of food. Intimate dinners for two are quite beyond me though lol.

Marley I like the sound of the cheesecake but not the soup I'm afraid,