Dinner for Company

[getfit]

I need some ideas for a dinner we're hosting next Sat. night. We've been friends with this couple for many years and she is a wonderful cook. I always feel like my dinners are just so so. I'd like something a bit special, but then again, I don't want to be in the kitchen all day and night. Bring on the suggestions Oh and BTW, I'm not a great roast cooker, so prime rib is not gonna happen.

[La]

Roasts cook themselves!! Just stick a thermometer in so that you take it out at the right temperature. I usually take it out before it gets to the desired done-ness as it continues to "cook" even after taking it out. Let it rest 15 minutes or so before cutting/serving.

My no-fail veg of choice is Green Beans Almondine. Blanch your beans ahead of time (boil for a few minutes until they are a little less done than you'd like, then plunge in ice water to stop the cooking). Drain well, and put them in a Ziploc bag in the fridge until meal time. Right before dinner, in a large frying pan, melt some butter on med-high heat (7/10 on my stove). Toss in about 1/4 cup of sliced almonds along with the beans. Toss until the beans are coated with butter and heated through. Serve.

[Engmomma]

I am with La. Roast is super easy. Better to go slightly under cooked then over cooked. I will wrap mine in tinfoil while it rests to keep the juices in. Yum.

[gnu]

I am with getfit - I can screw up a roast. Pot roast in the slow cooker I can handle, but oven roast....yeah...not so much.

What about a theme-meal? I always get a kick out of a theme when it isn't overdone. For example, we like to do an Irish-themed dinner party with a particular group of friends for St. Patrick's day with Irish stew in the crock pot, colcannon and traditional soda bread, then back it up with some Celtic-theme music. I don't know about Irish as a theme when you're trying to impress someone, but there's lots of other choices...

Mexican is always fun (in my opinion!) - http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/ - I love stuff like Enchiladas with Spanish rice and refried beans, or even Quesadillas with guacamole...
Italian is easy and has lots of options to make-ahead - http://www.divinedinnerparty.com/typica ... -menu.html
Chinese of course
Japanese - if you like making sushi rolls then a lot could be done ahead, and just do up some teryaki chicken, beef, and/or salmon and miso soup
Hawaiian Luao (sp?) if people like ham and pineapple
Maybe a tapas dinner, where you make a bunch of little things that, when all eaten together, make a meal - again, lots of ways to make ahead

Just some thoughts...

[getfit]

Thanks for the ideas I will cook a roast occasionally for my immediate family, but I always stress about having the meat cooked enough, but not too much. Then when all of the vegetables are supposed to be cooked, the carrots are still crunchy. Then there's selecting the right cut of meat, why do my roasts always taste like shoe leather?? So when we're having company I prefer to make most of it ahead of time. I love the idea of the Irish theme, I actually might try that the next time my inlaws are over. I think I am going with an old recipe I have for stuffed chicken breasts, now to decide what to have with them

[roadrunner]

Accompany Stuffed Chicken Breasts with the Green Beans Almondine and a traditional bread stuffing and Lyonnaise potatos with a bit of bacon.

Just Pumpkin Pie for desert or apple pie. Or a chocolate cake if you have time.

[getfit]

Accompany Stuffed Chicken Breasts with the Green Beans Almondine and a traditional bread stuffing and Lyonnaise potatos with a bit of bacon.

Just Pumpkin Pie for desert or apple pie. Or a chocolate cake if you have time.

That's funny, green beans almondine was one of the sides I had decided to do. Hmmm, I've never made Lyonnaise potatoes. I will google a recipe and see what's involved. Chocolate cake sounds yummy !! Do you make from scratch or use a cake mix?

[trixiee]

There's a nice garlic mashed potato recipe with asiago cheese in the most recent magazine from the Liquor store. (can't remember the name of that mag).

I love cooking rack of lamb for company. it's so quick and easy. I have used a marinate of a container (500g) plain yougurt, juice and zest of one lemon. 3 stalks of rosemary, leaves stripped, and rosmeary leave coarsley chopped, a head of garlic - smashed. I put all of this and the lamb racks in a zip lock bag, and marinate overnight. Bring the lamb to room temp before cooking, rinse off the marinade, spread grainy dijon, cracked black pepper and more rosemary on the lamb, roast in a shallow pan for 20 -30 min at 425. Rest for 10. There's a sauce recipe in the mag this month that was really good with the lamb recipe too. La's green beans would work nicely, as would roasted and mashed squash...

Pumpkin custard or homemade apple strudel and icecream would be yummy for dessert!


Good Luck - have fun!

The key to a successful dinner party lies in the wine

[getfit]

There's a nice garlic mashed potato recipe with asiago cheese in the most recent magazine from the Liquor store. (can't remember the name of that mag).

I love cooking rack of lamb for company. it's so quick and easy. I have used a marinate of a container (500g) plain yougurt, juice and zest of one lemon. 3 stalks of rosemary, leaves stripped, and rosmeary leave coarsley chopped, a head of garlic - smashed. I put all of this and the lamb racks in a zip lock bag, and marinate overnight. Bring the lamb to room temp before cooking, rinse off the marinade, spread grainy dijon, cracked black pepper and more rosemary on the lamb, roast in a shallow pan for 20 -30 min at 425. Rest for 10. There's a sauce recipe in the mag this month that was really good with the lamb recipe too. La's green beans would work nicely, as would roasted and mashed squash...

Pumpkin custard or homemade apple strudel and icecream would be yummy for dessert!


Good Luck - have fun!

The key to a successful dinner party lies in the wine

I think you just hit the nail on the head Trix, you always make the most wonderful dinners and you always make it sound so simple. The lamb sounds amazing, but once again the whole roast thing just scares me. That marinade sounds yummy and would probably work on lamb chops too, maybe I should try it on that first and work my way up to rack of lamb.

Thanks for the great ideas everyone. BTW, I googled the Lyonnaise pototoes and they look pretty easy and fool proof

[getfit]

Dinner was a success We had 3 cheese stuffed chicken breasts, green beans almondine, glazed carrots, grilled new potatoes w/ herbs and Greek salad. For dessert I made a strawberry frozen cheesecake. The chicken is a bit time consuming to make but well worth the time, it was delicious.

Thanks everyone for your ideas

[QuickChick]

Too bad I'm too late... here are another couple ideas for next time.
Prosciutto-wrapped chicken breasts- slice a pocket in a chicken breast, put some chopped sage leaves, some dijon, and salt/pepper in. Use your judgement. Put a bit more dijon on the outside and wrap a slice or two of prosciutto around each breast. Use toothpicks if desired to keep it all together. I've done these on the bbq and in the oven, and mmmmmm they're good. And EASY.

Mustard-maple chicken- marinade about 4-6 chicken breasts in: 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 cup maple syrup (I know it's hard to see this go into marinade but it's worth it), a couple tbsp of dijon, a clove of garlic, and salt/pepper. Let 'em sit overnight. Again, you can do 'em on the bbq or in the oven. These are SO easy it's ridiculous, and they're really tasty.

[n_fraser]

QuickChick your mustard maple chicken sounds delicious! I am stealing your recipe.

Another fool-proof chicken recipe:

Stuff chicken breasts with boursin cheese (I usually get the one thats herb and garlic). Wrap in bacon. Cook in oven.

Delicious.

If I'm cooking for a large group of people, I make this veggie lasagna quite a bit: http://www.canadianliving.com/food/vege ... asagna.php
I also make this one in awhile and freeze portions for lunch.

[getfit]

QuickChick your mustard maple chicken sounds delicious! I am stealing your recipe.

Another fool-proof chicken recipe:

Stuff chicken breasts with boursin cheese (I usually get the one thats herb and garlic). Wrap in bacon. Cook in oven.

Delicious.

If I'm cooking for a large group of people, I make this veggie lasagna quite a bit: http://www.canadianliving.com/food/vege ... asagna.php
I also make this one in awhile and freeze portions for lunch.

I do a version of the mustard maple marinade too Quickchick. I layer apple slices and onion on the bottom of a casserole dish, then cover with bone in chicken breasts, cover with mustard maple glaze and bake. It's yummy.

n_fraser, I love boursin cheese, I will have to try that with the chicken next time. I have a recipe for portobello mushrooms w/ boursin cheese filling.

[roadrunner]

Glad your dinner turned out great. I think the company is more important than the food. Sorry it took me so long to check back here.

Last Saturday night I made Mussels with Garlic, Black Pepper and salt and Sambuca. With Prime Rib steaks on the BBQ. I always do small baked potatos with all the fixins in the Microwave. and just a garden salad.

Mussels are so easy.

I think I want to make a lasagna soon and Stuffed Tomatos for a side veg with another steak. Next timw we have company I don't thnk GF likes Tomato.

[trixiee]

Great stuff!

I ended up doing a fusion of the 2 chicken recipes. I stuffed chicken breasts with Boursin cheese, wrapped them in prosciutto. Then, I sweated a bunch of garlic in olive oil, removed the garlic, softened some mushrooms in the olive oil. Then scraped the cheese that leaked out of the chicken breasts , and stirred that into the mushrooms. That made a nice creamy sauce. I poured that over some pasta.... Mmmm! Delish!

[getfit]

I'm coming back to this thread again for some more dinner party ideas and a question for Trixiee and Quickchick - I've never cooked with prosciutto Is it already cooked when you buy it? Is there a certain type I should ask for? And finally, if we cook them on the bbq, how long, just the same amount of time you'd cook a chicken breast? I know proscuitto is expensive and I don't want to ruin it. For my dinner party I'm planning to bake pasta shells stuffed with a mixture of Boursin cheese and spinach w/ a tomato sauce and thought I'd make a chicken dish to go with it and ceasar salad. Is that enough? I should probably also do another veg side dish of something. Oh and of course I need a yummy dessert recipe

[Size5]

Great stuff!

I ended up doing a fusion of the 2 chicken recipes. I stuffed chicken breasts with Boursin cheese, wrapped them in prosciutto. Then, I sweated a bunch of garlic in olive oil, removed the garlic, softened some mushrooms in the olive oil. Then scraped the cheese that leaked out of the chicken breasts , and stirred that into the mushrooms. That made a nice creamy sauce. I poured that over some pasta.... Mmmm! Delish!

I've got left over prosciutto so send a recipie stat!

[Samantha]

I'm coming back to this thread again for some more dinner party ideas and a question for Trixiee and Quickchick - I've never cooked with prosciutto Is it already cooked when you buy it? Is there a certain type I should ask for? And finally, if we cook them on the bbq, how long, just the same amount of time you'd cook a chicken breast? I know proscuitto is expensive and I don't want to ruin it. For my dinner party I'm planning to bake pasta shells stuffed with a mixture of Boursin cheese and spinach w/ a tomato sauce and thought I'd make a chicken dish to go with it and ceasar salad. Is that enough? I should probably also do another veg side dish of something. Oh and of course I need a yummy dessert recipe

it's dry cured so you can eat it right out of the package or you can cook it. You just ask for prosciutto. Cooking it basically crisps it up and because it's so thin it doesn't take long. Prosciutto is a type of ham.

[La]

Yes, prosciutto (Italian ham) can be eaten as is, whereas pancetta (Italian bacon) has to be cooked.

[trixiee]

I'm coming back to this thread again for some more dinner party ideas and a question for Trixiee and Quickchick - I've never cooked with prosciutto Is it already cooked when you buy it? Is there a certain type I should ask for? And finally, if we cook them on the bbq, how long, just the same amount of time you'd cook a chicken breast? I know proscuitto is expensive and I don't want to ruin it. For my dinner party I'm planning to bake pasta shells stuffed with a mixture of Boursin cheese and spinach w/ a tomato sauce and thought I'd make a chicken dish to go with it and ceasar salad. Is that enough? I should probably also do another veg side dish of something. Oh and of course I need a yummy dessert recipe

Personally, I wouldn't cook prosciutto on the BBQ. If you've got the oven on for the baked pasta shells, may as well cook the chicken breast alongside it. I would not buy skinless breasts. I envision a crispy skin on top of the chicken to balance out the creamy pasta dish.

I made a version of caesar salad the other day with the caesar vinaigrette, added copious amounts of tomatoes and some diced bacon - sort of tasted like a BLT, once the croutons were added.

[Miss*Smiles]

I'm coming back to this thread again for some more dinner party ideas and a question for Trixiee and Quickchick - I've never cooked with prosciutto Is it already cooked when you buy it? Is there a certain type I should ask for? And finally, if we cook them on the bbq, how long, just the same amount of time you'd cook a chicken breast? I know proscuitto is expensive and I don't want to ruin it. For my dinner party I'm planning to bake pasta shells stuffed with a mixture of Boursin cheese and spinach w/ a tomato sauce and thought I'd make a chicken dish to go with it and ceasar salad. Is that enough? I should probably also do another veg side dish of something. Oh and of course I need a yummy dessert recipe

Personally, I wouldn't cook prosciutto on the BBQ. If you've got the oven on for the baked pasta shells, may as well cook the chicken breast alongside it. I would not buy skinless breasts. I envision a crispy skin on top of the chicken to balance out the creamy pasta dish.

I made a version of caesar salad the other day with the caesar vinaigrette, added copious amounts of tomatoes and some diced bacon - sort of tasted like a BLT, once the croutons were added.

Honestly I just finished lunch and this post made me starved some Trixiee cooked food and Trixiee company!

[trixiee]

awww!!!!!!

[getfit]

Thanks for the info about prosciutto. The pasta dish I made w/ the boursin cheese turned out amazing and everyone loved it. I didn't end up buying prosciutto, just marinated some chicken breasts and cooked them on the bbq and served w/ a big platter of grilled veggies. I also made ceasar salad w/ a homemade dressing. Everything was going great until dessert. I made the mistake of making a really rich dessert. It was way too heavy to have after a rich pasta dinner and my stomach started rolling around shortly after dinner, as I'm sure did everyone elses I think I should have just served something really light for dessert like sherbert. After all these years I am still learning

[trixiee]

Ahhh.... What was your dessert?

[getfit]

Ahhh.... What was your dessert?

Ganache Glazed Peanut Butter Tart

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/chocolate/gan ... tter-tart/

I changed up the recipe for the ganache. I just made a traditional ganache, heated one cup of whipping cream and stirred in 1 1/4 cups of choc chips. Oh and I also added a few skor bits on top

It was really, really good, but just not the right choice after a big meal. The next day with a cup of coffee for an afternoon treat it was perfect.

I think I'll make it again over the Christmas holidays. But I'll just cut into small bite sized pieces to serve as a square, rather than a slice.