What can I serve for a nice dinner for friends?!
What can I serve for a nice dinner for friends?
We're having friends over for dinner on Saturday, and I need something nice, but a little 'different' to serve for dinner. I usually do something like salmon, salad, rice, veggies- or chicken or a pork tenderloin, but I'd like to do something a little out of the ordinary and fun...any suggestions?
Answers:
Try chicken enchiladas. I put chicken breasts in the crock pot and cover with chili verde sauce and water. I cook all day while at work on low. When I get home, I take the chicken out and shred it. Throw away the sauce that it cooked in and use new. Heat corn tortillas up in the microwave for about 30 sec. Then add chopped onion first, then cheese and then the chicken. Add a little chili verde sauce in the bottom of a baking dish...roll up the filled tortilla and place in the dish with the opening down. Add more chili verde sauce over top of all, make sure that all the tortillas are wet. Add lots of cheese and black olives. Bake at 350 for 30 mins...serve with rice and beans. Garnish with avocado!
check out your local restaurants and try to find one with buffet and stuff
the best thing you serve at home is... i dunno
never that interestecd in cooking
but buffets in restaurants are the top dinners for friends
You'll get a ton of ideas if you watch the food network channel for a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours in the evening.
Generally, when inviting real friends over for dinner, nothing special needs to be done. Good food, good friends, good times. It'll all come together for you.
Do a make your own tacos buffet. All you can eat. Make spanish rice, use hard corn shells, have flour tortillas avalible, iced tea, and lots of avalible toppings. Use all fresh ingredients. Yummy! I did it and my friends keep wanting to know when I will do it again. They are also bums.
How about T bone steaks, salad, baked potatoes fully loaded, and a double layer vanilla cake? I'll bet that'll get it.
You should try a theme like Miexican night and serve mexican food. I had one and it turned out quite nice. The food network's website has a lot of great recipies also try evite.com. You could also try doing something with a little variety like pick a dish from afew countries or regions and serve it.
Make a pan of baked ziti (can be made ahead of time and just pop in oven an hour before you want to eat) throw frozen meatballs and sauce in the crock pot a few hours before dinner, make a nice salad ahead of time and fresh hot loaf of Italian bread with real butter. Cheesecake with frozen strawberries over each slice! So easy....make all ahead and enjoy your company!
I cook this at this at my restaurant it is great hit.
Chicken breast topped with a roasted red pepper cream cheese sauce
the sauce is really simple, roast the red bell pepper(3)....peel off skin, clean out seeds. mince the peppers , add to 2 cups of cream cheese. heat in a sauce pan. med heat , stir occasionally.
Add Worcester sauce about 4 tble spoonful to it. Ladle on the hot cooked breast. serve with your choice of starch. I like rice.
Enjoy
I would do stuffed pasta shells. There are tons of ways to stuff them with other things besides cheese. I do love the cheese ones though. Then you could make a ceasar salad and something chocalote or cheesecake for dinner. Shells are fun because they look so impressive, but are simple as pie.
I found that the easiest way to dress up a meal is to add variety to the types of serving dishes.
For example, I'm having friends over tomorrow night for our thanksgiving. As a soup, I juiced butternut squash and 1 apple. I'm incorporating the juice together, heating and serving in a highball shot class acompanied with a red caramilized onion and mushroom, goat cheese phyllo purse, with some lightly dressed mixed greens.
3 Starters on 1 plate in small portions
Palate Cleanser-A quenell of pink grapefruit and thyme buttermilk sorbet-you can serve this in a wonton spoon-or a small sake cup. The vessels you choose to serve on can really make a meal special. (I make everything from scratch-but you can purchase high end sorbets at high end supermarkets) Or you can make a granita.
Dinner-small serving sizes again-but using a white plate-rectangle or triangle-Keep it simple-Less is more!! I like lamb, some roasted vegetables and potatoes and some fresh mint sauce.
Dessert-I haven't decided on that yet-But I was thinking about opting for a cheese plate sampler-with some rose petal jam, quince and some nice anis candies. Its a nice way to introduce people and introduce to yourself new things and is great for discussion. Maybe some quartered fuji perssimon (sp) on the plate as well.
If you are serving a cheese plate-try a late harvest riesling or an Apple Ice Wine.
or perhaps trifle or a chocolate mousse served up in a martini glass. I just had a fantastic mexican chocolate mousse tonight topped with almonds-although I think it would have been even better with fresh whipped cream and toasted chopped almonds.
Dress up the center of your table with some winter fruit or floating flowers with some candles coming up a bit higher to create an accent light.
Good luck!
You will find some great recipes here:
http://www.gourmet-food-revolution.com/e...
how about making homeade chinese food
Leg of Lamb
Why don't you do Chicken cutlet Parmesan, Mashed potatoes. With a salad with everything in it, That still leaves room for desert.