Dinner for Colleagues

xxdilemmaxx

Hi all,

I'm wondering if any of you can help me, I'm having 8 colleagues over for dinner in December and need to put together something impressive for the mains. The problem is I have plans the night before and won't have much time on the day for cooking so it will have to be something made in advance.

Was thinking of a curry perhaps an Indian but it has to be more than a run of the mill curry it has to have wow factor! Does anyone have any receipes for a dish they would make to impress? Doesn't matter how complicated or how many ingredients (I really wanna go all out for this one) no expense will be spared! Really looking for a tried and trusted one so thought I'd ask here rather than googling

olaola

You could make a green thai curry - with your own homemade paste?

Or how about beef wellington? With a potato gratin, soup for starters and a chocolate mousse for dessert?

babyguinnessfan

Boeuf Bourgignon? The taste improves if you leave it for a day or two so all you would have to do would be to re-heat it.

I've made it a good few times - don't have time to type out the whole recipe now but it involves browing pieces of beef which have been tossed in flour, removing beef, adding baby onions & bacon to the pot until coloured, then putting the beef back in and covering everything with red wine and stock and herbs etc. and cooking for 2/3 hours....you'll find a recipe with Google.

As olaola said, a potato gratin dish would be handy to have as you can make it in advance as well and it looks great.

If you do end up making the boeuf bourgignon it is really rich so maybe serve some plain rice/tagliatelle/boiled potatoes with it.

Minder

This recipe by Tamsin Day Lewis is tried and tested and is delicious. It can be made in advance and reheats very well. Serve it with boiled potatoes and some french beans tossed in garlic butter.

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/513665

For a curry recipe, lamb biryani and dhal here

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=56924735&postcount=9

again tried and tested and works very well. If you go for the curry, a vegetable dish is a must. Aubergine curry is very good and all the better for a day in the fridge to let the flavours develop.

2 aubergines
2 medium onions
400g passata or a tin of tomatoes blitzed
3 large garlic cloves
1 fresh chillies
1 tsp fennel seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp black mustard
1 tsp turmeric
vegetable oil
salt

Slice aubergines into 1 cm thick slices, brush with vegetable oil and put on a hot griddle pan. Grill aubergines until browning then turn. Remove when ready and quarter the slices when cool. Finely chop the onions and sweat in vegetable oil in a pot until soft and turning golden. Add cumin, mustard, and fennel seed, then finely chop the garlic, and chilli then add to the pot. Add the turmeric, salt and passata and mix well. Add the aubergines and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Done.

A raita with finely diced cucumber and chopped mint. A selection of shop bought naan breads. A salsa of finely sliced red onion and cucumber with some chopped coriander. Some jarred chutneys - mango and maybe a lime pickle.

Poppadums - buy the raw variety and make them on the night by putting about 1 inch of veg oil in a pan and heat until very hot - then take two discs and slide them into the hot oil - as one disc expands, turn them over with a tongs or a couple of forks - they take seconds if the oil is hot enough.

xxdilemmaxx

Hi all,

Thanks a million, I think I will go with the lamb biryani and aubergine curry.

Minder, just a couple of questions on the biryani, I don't own a caserole dish will I need to buy one for this or could I just use a large pot (is it served at the table in casserole dish)? Also, would this be ok to cook completely then reheat or would the rice end up a bit weird if I did that? Maybe I should just marinade the meat then try to whip up the rest on the night?
Is the lamb tender when cooked this way - it's always tender when I go to an indian restaurant but not really when I try to recreate at home?

Also, to make the raita, do I just use natural yoghurt as the base, then add cucumber and mint? I presume I wouldn't need starters if I do all the sides?

So sorry for all the questions, I'm in a bit of a panic about this!!

Glowing

this is the most amazing thai green curry! Make sure to roast your own nuts, hahah!

2 tbsp sunflower oil
750g chicken breast cut into chunks
2-3 tbsp of AMOY Thai green curry paste (Tesco do Amoy stuff)
600ml of canned Coconut milk
2 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce (available in Asian section of Tesco)
2 tbsp light brown sugar
500g new potatoes scrubbed and cut into quarters
¼ tsp salt
1-2 tbsp lime juice
50g unsalted roasted peanuts (regular salted peanuts browned under the grill will do the job)
3 spring onions – shredded
Fresh Coriander to serve

- Heat the oil in a wok and fry the chicken for a few minutes to seal them.
- Remove chicken and place in a bowl
- Add curry paste to the pan and fry for 30 seconds
- Add the coconut milk, fish sauce and sugar and stir to mix thoroughly.
- Return chicken to the pan and boil the mixture. Add the potatoes and salt and reduce the heat to simmer
- Cover the pan and simmer for approx 15-20 mins until the potatoes are tender and chicken is cooked
- Stir in the lime juice to taste
- Serve in bowls with peanuts, coriander and spring onion on top (nice to serve on a bed of rice and with some naan bread)

enda1

Cooking for colleagues in December and looking for a dish that's great the next day? Surely the answer's obvious, no?

Irish Stew! Get 6 lamb shanks, cut all the fat and sinew off and take the meat off the bones.

Start this on day -2.

Put bones, one onion quartered, thyme, bay leaf, salt pepper and water into a pot and slowly simmer for 1 day. Refill with water before you go to bed and in the morning before work.

Day -1.

2 spuds per person, 1 carrot per person, 1/2 large onions per person
parsley and chives.

Start by pouring all the stock through a fine sieve into a tall jug.
Let settle and pour off the fat.

Cut carrots into large chunks and quarter onions.
Cut potatoes into slightly larger chunks than the carrots.

Put butter and olive oil into a large pot and heat till browning. Add the lamb in chumks and seal lightly. Add the carrots and onions and let stew. After and hour, turning a bit add the potatoes.

Stew for 30 mins and add stock. Add worchester sauce - about 1 desert spoon. Turn on oven to low temp, 90 deg.
Cook for 2 hours.

Turn off oven before you leave for your night out.

Before serving on the night, chop parsley and chives finely and add to reheated stew when its boiling. Check seasoning!

Enjoy! The perfect dish to impress cause no one has time these days to cook and enjoy nice dishes so it will be a nice nostalgia trip (hopefully) and nice welcome to Ireland if any of your colleagues are not form here.

Minder

xxdilemmaxx wrote: »

Minder, just a couple of questions on the biryani, I don't own a caserole dish will I need to buy one for this or could I just use a large pot (is it served at the table in casserole dish)? Also, would this be ok to cook completely then reheat or would the rice end up a bit weird if I did that? Maybe I should just marinade the meat then try to whip up the rest on the night?

One thing on the Biryani - I checked the ingredients listed and they are for 4 to 6 servings - Increase all the quantities by 50% for eight servings.

To cook the dish, use your largest pot with a tight fitting lid - the rice and meat steam in the liquid from the part cooked rice and you want to avoid it drying out. I have made it in a big pot and then piled in into a big lasagna dish to serve it at the table.

When you cook the rice and meat don't be tempted to check on it as it cooks. Also I used a heat diffuser under the pot to help prevent it sticking - gas hob.

As for reheating it, I would try and cook it on the night.

xxdilemmaxx wrote: »

Is the lamb tender when cooked this way - it's always tender when I go to an indian restaurant but not really when I try to recreate at home?

The cooking time didn't seem long enough to cook the meat to tender when I first tried it, but it worked. I guess the marinade ingredients must work their magic. You can marinate it overnight.

xxdilemmaxx wrote: »

Also, to make the raita, do I just use natural yoghurt as the base, then add cucumber and mint? I presume I wouldn't need starters if I do all the sides?

Yes - natural yoghurt for the base, peel and finely dice some cucumber and add with some shredded mint leaves.

If you have any doubts, try a small version one weekend before December. Good luck with it.

The Sweeper

+1 on that lamb biryani recipe, I've made that at home and it's a stunner. It's very important to follow the instructions on turning down the heat, or you'll end up with something burned onto the bottom of the pot. You may think 'This won't cook on such a low heat' but it does.

I'd make it once prior to the big night - as a trial run

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

When I have friends over for dinner I try to impress with this dish...

Choose beef, shrimp, chicken or anything you wish. Chicken tends to be most common.

Get yourself a wok, get some nice veg. I normally use carrots, brocalli, onion, mushrooms, baby sweetcorn (on the cob), bamboo shoots, mixed peppers and some bean sprouts. Cook the meat with some dark soy sauce and oil, mix in some mixed herbs and chinese 5 spice (not too much of the spice) add a little ginger and when the meat is half cooked add the veg, leaving the softer veg until last. I normally cook this along with some wild rice or some good noodles. It's not too hard and certainly gets the taste buds going. I normally go for some garlic shrimp for starters, shallow fried with lots of garlic and some real butter. Would you consider home made rubarb tart (warmed) with some freshly whiped cream as a desert? Not exotic but very very nice

antoniosicily

selection of cheese as starter
risotto with wild mushrooms and sausages as main course
irish stew as main course
random homemade xmas cake (or whatever sweet)

enda1

antoniosicily wrote: »

selection of cheese as starter
risotto with wild mushrooms and sausages as main course
irish stew as main course
random homemade xmas cake (or whatever sweet)

I'd throw that cheese course to after the mains to be honest. Bit weird eating cheese first if you ask me...

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

enda1 wrote: »

I'd throw that cheese course to after the mains to be honest. Bit weird eating cheese first if you ask me...

You must not eat out that much Deep fried cheese, beautiful with some cranberry sauce.

rockbeer

Had a fantastic starter in Sardinia recently - roasted pecorino with black olive tapenade and honey. Cheese as a starter is good.

Cheese any time is good