Hi, have my family coming over.  Not seen for some time - lovely house guests who pretty much like all types food (one not so keen on lamb).  I love to cook, but don't want to spend a fortune - so no lobster for us!

So, what would you like for dinner???????

Love some ideas, we are having cheesecake for dessert as it is a few peoples favourite.  So any starter and main ideas would be fab.

Dawn   

Prawns are a easy starter and dont cost a fortune, either with salad in a chilli sauce, or a Prawn Cocktail.
What about some some Chicken stuffed with Rosemary, Lemon and Garlic, I cut it up and add some Lemon juice, and some extra virgin oil, and then lift the skin and put the mixture under there, and also drizzle the reminder of the mixture over the Chicken, and roast.
Or some lovely Roast Beef with Creamed potato's, and seasonal veg.

Hope you have a lovely dinner, whatever you cook.

Starters I'd keep simple warm goat cheese and bacon salad or salmon and olive salad - both nice with balsamic vinegar or sun dried tomato dressings :)

I like plain and simple british food for crowds - less worry about timings etc so roasts usually go down well here for mains (missing the lamb): roasted beef rib eye (for extra flavour baste with horseradish butter near the end) or baked ham cooked with fresh apricots and cranberry jelly

I'd go for seasonal roasted root veg with creamy onion mash for the beef
for the ham roast potato and either caulieflower cheese or cabbage with leeks and red peppercorns for veg

HTH, Teri
ps. can I come :-D

What flavour cheesecake? I saw a recipe for white chocolate & raspberry cheesecake the other day & it looked yummy!

How about marinated mozzarella on beef toms served with a warmed ciabbata to start followed by lasagne - all can be prepared beforehand so no rushing around for you & are generally loved by most people!! Yum yum yum!

Good luck :)

I was going to suggest a lasagne too.....with a big green salad and garlic bread. It's not too expensive to make and can be made in advance too.
The mozzarella starter sounds delish!

I think Shepherds Pie with peas and a full bodied red wine always works a treat. But perhaps not for the friend who dislikes lamb. Another you can make well in advance is a good spag- bol' and serve with a crisp green salad, dressed just before you serve. It's simple fare but always goes down well.

You could do a Mexican main course and have fajitas - we make them with chicken and steak and they're delicious!

Or - a nice meal we often make is a pasta bake with penne pasta, roast chicken, pancetta, mushrooms and baby leaf spinach in a creamy mushroom sauce with grated cheese on top.

Starters I'm no good at - but one more suggestion for the main that we sometimes do is a nice plump chicken breast stuffed with stilton in a mushroom, honey, mustard and cream sauce, served with roast potatoes and vegetables.

Hope you have a lovely meal and let us know what you decide on!

Can I come to your house that chicken sounds great!!

Mmmmmmmmmmmm, my mouth is watering.

Who knew us CD guys were such great cooks?? 

Thanks for all of your ideas - fab selection.  Well, I'm off to the shops to check out what looks fresh and will let you know how it goes.

Did fajitas for them last time they were down, great idea though.

Think I might go with the stuffed chicken or the lasagne, as I can relax a bit with my family while it's in the oven.  I've just read a nice fig, stilton and parma ham starter - might give that a try.  Love the mozerella starter though too. 

Thanks again, Dawn

Will your cheesecake be the proper type ? Not that American baked stuff . You can't beat a cheesecake with a digestive base and a lemon topping !

ohhh, my favorite subject :)

were i on come dine with me i would do the following:

Home made cream of mushroom soup with crusty bread and butter

Balmoral chicken (chicken breast stuffed with haggis) in a whisky cream sauce served on a bed of creamed potato and turnip

Cranachan (scottish pudding of honey or syrup crisped porrage oats mixed with crushed raspberries and whipped cream with a splash of whiskey)

alternatively you can't go wrong with a roast or a pie or some kind.

> You can't beat a cheesecake with a digestive base and a lemon topping !

despite not being able to eat it i do a good cheesecake ;)

What about a nice side of salmon, you can poach this and it serves loads.  Hollandaise sauce to go and small veg and new pots.  Make it Scottish salmon, can't beat it. 
Pate on toast for starters, a nice duck and orange or if you can get some game pate that is lovely. 
Lots of vino and they will have a ball.
Enjoy your meal Yvonne

Of course you can Whistler :-) We actually pinched the recipe from one of our favourite restaurants. My OH & I are big foodies !!

Hey Dawn, just wondering how your meal went ?! What did you go for in the end? Hope all went well!

Hey, it went really well - thanks for asking!

I chose a completely different theme in the end.  Indian......  luckily all my guests love a good curry.

Made a kind of a posh prawn cocktail to start.  Then a homemade chicken tikka masala (I have a secret recipe!), vegetable rice, a butternut squash dish to which I added cumin, spinach and paneer cheese.  Bought in some ready made popado.ms and mango chutney - but made some lovely fresh dips, yoghurt/mint and cucumber and a yummy salsa with onion, tomatoe, mango, pomegranite and coriander.  Also, did some homemade onion bhaji's - found the recipe in an Asda catalogue at the check out.

Served up with some Ice cold Cobra beers for the boys and some chilled white wine for the girls.

The cheesecake kind of wasn't really in with the theme, but good all the same!!  Biscuit base rather than a baked one.

Had a lovely evening, if only we could spend more time with the people we love?  Life gets so hectic.

Thats sounds great, your making me peckish now!!

Sounds delicious Dawn - and glad it went really well!

I know exactly what you mean about spending more time with the people you love - I really try and keep in touch with all my good friends, but sometimes it's so hard just to find time when both of us are free to see each other.

for next time you go with that theme dawn Kulfi (Indian ice cream) is sooooo nice and very easy to make

Mmm, Icecream - gooooood!

How do you make it, Kulfi?

Dawn

get a lot of full fat milk and boil it gently (stirring constantly) till you reduce the liquid by about a quarter, then add loads of sugar, some vanilla essence and whatever else you like (i went with creamed coconut). let it cool for about half an hour, add a big tub of single cream and freeze in little pots. yum.

takeaway then you have more time to spead eating,drinking and chatting to your family.