What do you cook your friends for dinner?!
Answers: If friends visit once in a blue I usually make something impressive like my delicious 4 Cheese Lasagna or Chicken Parm. But, I have a few friend who always stop by and they eat whatever we're having for din =)
White Turkey Chili
Orange Rosemary Chicken
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Casserole Italiano
Soups (different types all home made)
Meatloaf
Fish
Well when we have them over for dinner it depends. Summer time we grill out some steaks, hamburgers, hot dogs...whatever. Winter time we make things like spaghetti, meatloaf, pot roast, fettuccine alfredo...all kinds of stuff. :)
I always ask what they like to eat. If I can't get a specific answer, I give them a choice between 2-3 main dishes such as spaghetti, enchiladas, BBQ, etc.
Well it depends what kind of crowd your cooking for My peeps like comfort food like pot roast you know something mom would make lol good luck!
l normally put a pot roast on with mashed potatoes
tacos
a taco bar always goes over well...
Brown a couple pounds of hamburger
Add a couple packs of taco season (follow directions)
Add a can Bush's baked beans
Chips (for taco salad)
Tortillas (soft and crunchy)
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Salsa
Sour cream
Shredded cheese
Olives
Guac
all that good stuff
I find that a simple roast chicken with some crispy roasted potatoes, some kind of vegetable and good bread is always a winner.
Just salt and pepper your chicken generously. Rub butter all of it. Stick half a lemon and some sprigs of fresh thyme in the cavity and roast away! It will be juicy and tasty.
Good trick for the roasted potatoes: cut them into quarters, peel and parboil them. Then, when straining the water, bash the potatoes around a bit so that the edges get "roughed up". This will make for a crispier potato. Then stick them in with the chicken and let them soak up some of it's juices.
Don't forget a nice gravy or jus from the pan drippings.
Your friends will want to come over all the time!!!
IMHO I would make food based on who I'm cooking for. If it's our good friends, I don't mind experimenting. If the experiment turns out really bad...order out (and don't make them pay). If you are cooking for folks you haven't entertained before, make something you are very comfortable making. For example: I can do steak or a rib-roast really well. If we have guests over for the first time, chances are I'm cooking some meat.
my friends really like "comfort food" style foods, so I often will fix them beef or venison stew, chicken and dumplings, baked macaroni and cheese, things like that. Or homemade pizza.