12 people sit-down dinner party on Saturday..what should I cook?!
12 people sit-down dinner party on Saturday..what should I cook?
It's a more formal dinner for collegues. What could I cook?
Any ideas????
Answers:
Easy to triple this recipe
Individual Beef Wellingtons
Makes 4
Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for the pan
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 shallot, chopped
1/4 pound button mushrooms and stems, cleaned and finely chopped in food processor
house seasoning [or coarse salt]
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons dry cooking sherry
4 tournedos of beef filet mignon, 1 inch thick
4 ounces mousse de foie gras or favorite paté
1 sheet frozen prepared puff pastry, 11 by 17, defrosted
1 whole egg, beaten with an ounce of water
Method
Preheat oven to 425°
Heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add oil, butter, shallot and chopped mushrooms. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper and sauté 5 minutes. Add sherry to the mushrooms and let the liquid evaporate. Remove mushrooms from the heat.
In a nonstick skillet over high heat, sear meat 2 minutes on each side in a drizzle of oil. Remove skillet from the heat and season meat with house seasoning [or salt and pepper].
Cut paté into 4 pieces, 2 ounces each sliced in 1/2 horizontally. Spread the puff pastry sheet out on to a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Quarter the dough with a sharp knife. Roll each piece of dough into a 10 x 6 inch rectangle. On each rectangle of dough, place 1/4 of the cooked mushrooms.
Top mushrooms with 2 ounces mousse and 1 tournedo of beef. Wrap dough up and over the meat. Seal the dough with egg wash and trim excess. Use leftover dough bits to make decorative garnishes for the tops of your Wellingtons. Turn the wrapped Wellingtons over and cover with egg wash using a pastry brush. Affix dough garnishes with egg wash.
[For a simple decoration, roll dough bits into long, thin spaghetti like strings and create swirls on each Wellington].
Bake beef Wellingtons 10 minutes or until golden.
Let stand 5 minutes, and then serve.
I'd say something casserole style that you can make ahead...like lasagna...and always a crowd pleaser!
Chicken parmesan is pretty easy and looks impressive. Use boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Dip them in an eggwash (egg & water) then coat in italian style breadcrumbs. Cook in a little olive oil until brown on both sides. Top with a spoon of marinara and shredded mozzarella & parmesan cheeses. Bake in a 350 degree oven until melted and starting to brown. (About 15 minutes)
You can serve any kind of pasta as a side with the same marinara you use for the chicken. A salad and some garlic bread finishes it off.
Good luck!
barq chicken baked beans potatoes salad
I would go buffet style...a mix of hot and cold ...lmaybe a soup to start wtih some warm bread/buns, lasagna and/or other pasta dishes, chili, macaroni and potato salads, deli meats platter, cheese and crackers platter, veggie and dip(maybe even a 7 layer dip a crowd pleaser that's easy to make)...buffet is simple to do cuz there are so many things you could make......hot and cold and the variety is sure to please everyone especially if you know ahead of time if some are lactose intolerant or vegetarian or on restricted diets etc etc.....
I'd do a trifle for dessert too...or even chocolate fondue
I would suggest you make a large roast or a braised dish. The reason is that those will hold much better than say a beef wellington.
Braised dishs can be made a day ahead of time.
You could do a braised short rib plate for example which would be fun and elegant. Truthfully going with a braised dish is just the way to go, you cant mess it up.
Buy a cooked turkey from the supermarket ( no one will know) all you have to do is heat and serve
i would do scolloped potatoes,corn on the cob and some carrots...it will look lovely and colourful...
and some great red wine for after goodluck