Hi Ppasha

I cook private dinner parties all the time and can make a few suggestions for delicious meals to wow your guests that are easy to prepare. The trick is in buying good quality ingredients - meat or fish particularly - and let their flavours do the talking.

Here are some menu suggestions:

[u][b]Modern European Style Menu[/b][/u]

Starter:
Beef Carpaccio with truffle oil and lemon vinaigrette with rocket and parmesan salad.
(Sear beef fillet, rub some truffle oil on, roll in ground peppercorns and mustard seeds, tightly roll in cling film to make a sausage shape and freeze. On day of party, remove from freezer and while still frozen, slice thinly with sharp knife and arrange slices on tray, cover with cling film and fridge until serving time).

[u]Main:[/u]Porchetta stuffed with lemon, chilli, sage, rosemary served with rosemary roast potatoes and braised cavolo nero.
(Mix stuffing ingredients and smear onto large boneless pork belly or shoulder joint and then roll up tightly. Ask your butcher for string tie bands so you can use these to tie up roll easily - no need for butcher knot skills :) and then roast off)

[u]Dessert:[/u]Semi-freddo - you can find lots of recipes online and this dessert is great for DPs as so easy to make. Its frozen and creamy but no ice-cream maker required and you can add whatever flavours you like. I like roasted chopped hazelnuts and raspberries. I then served it with a few raspberries that I have warmed in a pan with a little sugar water.

[u][b]Asian Style Menu[/b][/u]
[b]Starter:[/b]
Spiced butternut squash soup with homemade coconut naan bread
(Naan is so easy to make - you can add fresh coriander to the dough and then when naan comes out of oven, baste with hot butter and dried coconut. For the soup you can also make cardamom foam for top, by boiling whole milk with cardamom pods, leaving to stand for 30 mins and then using a stick blender to make foam which you then spoon on top of the soup).

[b]Main:[/b]
Vietnamese braised lamb shanks with lime and coriander rice and bok choy.
(Lamb should be started 6 hours before (even day before) as slow cooking is best to get that falling of the bone effect. Lots of recipes online).


[b]Dessert[/b]
Mango and coconut puddings (need to make a day ahead to set)

I hope this is of use! I am happy to send actual recipes for these dishes if you like or if uou are having a dinner party and don't fancy cooking, I would be delighted to do the cooking for you. My company can deliver gourmet dinner party meals for you to serve yourself or a fully catered chef service.

Best wishes,

Sinead
The Flavour Kitchen
hello@the-flavour-kitchen.com
http://www.the-flavour-kitchen.com

Beef bourguinon with mash and veg. http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/meat/beef/boeuf-bourguignon.html

The beef will take about 3 hrs in the oven so plenty of time to do the other prep / get yourself dressed up etc. If you want to make it more special you can use venison.

Do a salad for starter (blue cheese, roasted figs, walnuts & rocket, or smoked salmon & avocado, or pears, orange, fennel & goats cheese) and a cheese board for dessert so you're only cooking one course.

Moroccan leg of lamb is my favourite... you can do the lamb, couscous sultanas and yoghurt sauce in advance so all you have to do when people are there is put the lamb in the oven and pour water on the couscous.

Lamb:
1. Ask butcher to butterfly a leg of lamb (take out the bone)
2. Warm 1tsp coriander seed, 1tsp cumin, 1tsp crushed dried chilli in a pan until you can smell it then bash in pestle and mortar with 3tbsp olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, 1tsp paprika. Spread the paste all over the meat and leave as long as possible.
3. Unroll the lamb in a roasting dish and cook for 30-40 minutes at 250degrees. Rest for 10 minutes and carve in thick strips

Couscous:
1. Tip couscous into pan with boiling water with stock cube dissolved in it, leave for 5 mins
2. Gently cook sliced onion in 1tbsp butter til soft then stir in saffron and handful sultanas.
3. Mix into couscous and scatter with chopped flat leaf parsley and toasted pine nuts

Sauce:
Mix a bowl of natural yoghurt with a large pinch of salt and a generous amount of black pepper. Serve.

I have done this loads and it is very easy yet very impressive):

http://www.hub-uk.com/foodpages20/recip0995.htm

I always buy 2 big fillets from Waitrose and sandwich the filling between. If you can't get mace then nutmeg will do.

Or Nigel Slater's Coq Au Reilsing which is absolutely delicious and I serve it with loads of veg and mashed potato. Can't believe it only got a 3.5 rating:

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/tv-show/come-dine-with-me-recipes/coq-au-riesling-recipe

Or Rick Stein's fish pie:

http://www.rickstein.com/Fish-Pie-Recipes.htm

Tastes amazing!

Jamie Oliver's Chilli & Basil chicken is great - you do all the prep before your guests arrive and then stick it in the oven for 90mins - easy and delicious
http://www.jamieshomecookingskills.com/recipe.php?title=everyday-crispy-chicken-with-sweet-tomatoes

Slow roasted anything is always a hit. It tastes amazing and has the appearance of much more effort than it actually is. And the hard work is done hours before your guests arrive. To accompany, I recommend roasted butternut squash. Recipe below
One butternut squash, peeled and cubed
Two red onions, cut into large chunks
Two jars marinated artichokes, drained

Place all ingredients in a roasting pan and toss to coat - the remaining oil from the artichokes should be sufficient.

You can also add potatoes, sweet potatoes, or beet root if you'd like.

Sprinkle the top with a dash of chili powder, smoked paprika and a bit of sea salt and stir

You could also toss in a few fresh cranberries to make it festive.

Cover and cook at about 180 until the squash is soft but not mushy
Uncover for the last few minutes and turn the oven up to slightly caramelise the squash.
Roasting the butternut really brings out its sweetness, which is balanced by both the tangy artichokes and the zing from the chili powder.
It's also really gorgeous and a total crowd pleaser.

Paella is great, likewise anything slow roasted like pork belly or a shoulder of lamb? try the BBC website for ideas, you can enter an ingredient & then it will come up with lots of ideas :)

Don't know if you eat meat but I always do chicken breast stuffed with figs, cream cheese and wrapped in bacon with potato dauphnoise or something similar (probably not the greatest if your watching your figure ;)) but always goes down a treat when I do dinner parties! Also BBC good food always has fantastic dinner party ideas

Really simple and you can't go wrong with slow roast pork shoulder. You can stuff or marinade or coat to give you different appearances. But pretty much whatever you do, it will taste fantastic, make the house smell 'winter warm' and leave you plenty of time to focus on making lovely vegetables to accompany (ie. dauphinoise potatoes, glazed carrots) and a wonderful pudding.

If you need any help menu planning, give me a shout.

Chilli con carne? Needs to stew for a while but easy to make and really yummy. Tastes even better if you make it the day before. A good winter staple!

http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/chefs/gordon-ramsay/chilli-con-carne-recipe

Does anyone have an easy but delicious dinner party recipe for 4-6 ? I'm terribly bored of resorting to pasta dishes for our guests!