Impressive, but easy dinner party ideas

[goldilocks]

I am throwing a dinner party for 5 people and looking for some impressive entrees/side dishes/desserts. I would like to stick to beef, chicken and seafood for the entrees. I am serving one vegetarian who will occasionally eat chicken, but my husband will not eat seafood. Please post any recipes you have. Thanks!!

[gertdog]

For our 4th of July dinner party, I grilled some eggplant, red and yellow peppers, zucchini and vidalia onions the day before, layered them in a tupperware container, drizzled with oil and a sprinkle of vinegar, salt and pepper, and refrigerated overnight. I made a chili mayonnaise to go with the vegetables, also the day before.

I served the vegetables at room temperature on a platter, with the mayonnaise in a small bowl on the side. Sprigs of basil to garnish. The veggies were delicious, really pretty to look at, and our friends loved them. And it was easy for me to do. The veggies could be roasted instead of grilled. If the chili mayonnaise doesn't appeal, you could flavor it with basil instead.

[browneye]

Goldilocks:

In the December, 2000 issue of CL, there was an article on easy but impressive entertaining, and there is a recipe for Fish baked with Samigliorio sauce...anyway, I have made it now twice, and everyone raves about it! I used Halibut once and Sea bass once, both really, really good.

Also, here is a recipe I posted on another thread that is very impressive but incredibly easy: it is for Salmon baked in Phyllo with veges....http://cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8578&highlight=salmon+phyllo

Good Luck!

[lorilei]

Have you thought about making shishkabobs?

These can be done easily on the grill, and you can vary the types of meat and/or vegetables on each skewer. Skewer the meat/veggies ahead of time and leave it sit in marinade until grilling time. It's easy to make vegetarian kabobs, seafood kabobs... even fruit kabobs, if you're so inclined. Lamb kabobs are great with cucumber slices and tzatziki (garlic-yogurt-mint sauce), if you'd like to give the meal a Greek flair (vegetables are also great with tzatziki).

Serve kabobs with a nice pilaf or bulgar salad and round the meal out with fruit or relishes.

[foodiedelite]

If you'd like a make ahead meal, so you can relax and mingle with your guests, here's one I like. I've made it several times.
Beef Wellington's with Gorgonzola Cheese (recipe at www.epicurious.com)
Mixed Greens with candied pecans and garlic dressing
Red Potatoes garnished with parsley
Green Beans with shallots
For dessert I made cheesecake, however, I recently came across a *to die for* sherbert. It's made by Dreyers and called Lemon Bar. I believe 3 gms of fat. Very tangy, like keylime or lemon chiffon pie. I believe the cookies are shortbreads in the sherbert. Anyway, something very good and easy.

The wellingtons can be partially prepared the night before. I decorated the tops with bows made from leftover puff pasty. I had everything ready to go and just needed to schedule the final cooking times. Good luck! :)

[Leanne]

I have done something similar to Gertdog - but served with CL's feta aioli. Very complimentary. I did this as an appetizer.

My main course suggestion I have posted before - very easy, but very tasty & looks really fancy.
(It can be assembled beforehand & left in the fridge until ready to cook.)

Puff Pastry Chicken

1 half chicken breast
2-3 slices red pepper
1-2 tbps soft flavored cheese - like Boursin pepper flavored or garlic flavored
puff pastry dough - Pepperidge Farms makes it in sheets

Thaw the dough & roll out.
Take a piece large enough to fold around the chx breast.
Put the chicken on one half.
Spread the cheese on the chx.
Put the peppers on top.
Fold over the pastry dough & crimp the sides closed.
Cook on a cookie sheet according to dough directions. (This has always been long enough to cook the chx, but I always double-check on my piece.)

Another fancy dinner is the Chicken Francais.

I made a dessert recently that everyone thought was very fancy - it's not light though.

Peach Ice Cream in chocolate cups topped with amaretto whipped cream & garnished with a Pirouline cookie. (I can give you recipes if you want.)

I just thought of one of the most impressive-looking meals I've ever had - it was made with lamb, but you could do part of it as a side maybe.

It was spinach & cousous topped with lamb slices. I helped the girl assemble the dish. She took a cereal-size bowl & lined it with plastic wrap. Put the cooked spinach (drained) in a thin layer, then put the couscous on top. Fliped it over & centered it on a plate & removed the wrap. It all stuck together well. She topped it with wonderful lamb slices & drizzled a sauce around the edges - but again, I think you could leave the lamb out & serve it as a side. (or maybe you could do this with rice, a veggie, and sliced chicken or something...) I have the whole recipe at home if you'd like it.

Another very impressive dessert that just came to mind is the CL white chocolate raspberry cheesecake - which is time consuming, but you can make it ahead. Adding the garnishes of raspberries & chocolate sauce helps in the presentation. It is one of my favorite desserts.

[catharine]

I don't know if you consider salmon seafood, but a few successes of mine include the Salmon with Roasted Corn and Tomato Salsa (from '98, I believe) and the recent Easy Pesto Salmon. I served the salmon with salsa with a corn cous cous and a salad and it made a great dinner party meal.

I second the recommendation for Chicken Francais - that was so incredible - pleasing even to my mother who hates when I make things *too* healthful. I think CL's excellent version was in January 2001.

My in-laws are coming this weekend and I want to make something nice myself - I have tried all of the above. Keep those suggestions coming.
:)