Give me your best small dinner party menu for a new guest who says ‘I like everything’

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Boxed squash soup with a swirl of creme fraiche and a sprinkle of ginger is very easy. Just make sure you like the particular brand.

Trader Joe's Tomato boxed soup is also good if tou want to offer a soup course.

I'm thinking a sliced pear and cheese salad might be nice with some of the mains suggested.

What brands are good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dessert is covered.

But I’m at a loss. I want something festive as we are celebrating something for the guest (a job promotion of sorts).

Ideas?

Seafood
Wine
Cheese

[Anonymous]

Baked ziti? Pasta salad? Chicken salad? 😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dessert is covered.

But I’m at a loss. I want something festive as we are celebrating something for the guest (a job promotion of sorts).

Ideas?

Seafood
Wine
Cheese

Lobster?

[Anonymous]

I made Thai food recently to celebrate my son-in-law's promotion. 12 people. We also had one vegan, one dairy-free, one sesame allergy and one nut-allergy person.

Appetizers -
- Fish cake - Tod Mun Pla,
- Triple mushroom salad
- Creamy coconut soup - Tom kha kai

Mains -
- Chicken, potatoes, veggis, corn, and shallots in green curry
- Pumpkin and eggplant in panang curry
- Whole fried fish in tamarind sauce

served with rice and assorted dips/sauces

Dessert was homemade mango ice cream.

[Anonymous]

Boxed soup is not something you can serve to company! That is what you take to work and heat in a microwave. Just no. Plus squash soup is incredibly easy to make. Gross.

Some things I have served recently are chicken tagine, homemade chicken parm, steaks, venison roast, and pork tenderloin with a lemony pan sauce. Anything is fine that isn’t from a box.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti? Pasta salad? Chicken salad? 😂

These suggestions are all bad. Just take this poor person out for dinner and feed them something decent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I made Thai food recently to celebrate my son-in-law's promotion. 12 people. We also had one vegan, one dairy-free, one sesame allergy and one nut-allergy person.

Appetizers -
- Fish cake - Tod Mun Pla,
- Triple mushroom salad
- Creamy coconut soup - Tom kha kai

Mains -
- Chicken, potatoes, veggis, corn, and shallots in green curry
- Pumpkin and eggplant in panang curry
- Whole fried fish in tamarind sauce

served with rice and assorted dips/sauces

Dessert was homemade mango ice cream.

Great job, Indian home cook who spells veggies weird. I recognize you and admire your cooking skills!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti? Pasta salad? Chicken salad? 😂

These suggestions are all bad. Just take this poor person out for dinner and feed them something decent.

That poster is making a DCUM joke

[Anonymous]

short rib is fancy and not really hard. some kind of potato and green veg. voila!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like serving beef bourguignon this time of year. It’s not that hard to make, can be done a day in advance and reheated, and people seem to think it’s fancy. I use the Julia Child recipe and serve over mashed potatoes with a green vegetable on the side.

I think it's really tacky to serve someone reheated leftovers. That's what you feed the family when you're sick or rushing around, not a guest for a special dinner.

oh, bullsh!t. making something ahead for a party is not leftovers, ding-a-ling! i have a friend that makes about 30 dishes for a fancy gourmet dinner party. do you think she does all that day of?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Baked ziti? Pasta salad? Chicken salad? 😂

These suggestions are all bad. Just take this poor person out for dinner and feed them something decent.

That poster is making a DCUM joke

I got the joke, the poster is clearly summarizing the terrible suggestions throughout this thread and I'm fully agreeing.

[Anonymous]

The momofuku bo seam recipe from NYT. Takes a long time, but very little actual work and everything is done ahead of time

It’s delicious and fun and different

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The momofuku bo seam recipe from NYT. Takes a long time, but very little actual work and everything is done ahead of time

It’s delicious and fun and different

Ah, I found it (Bo Ssam - seam was probably an autocorrect) - not OP but I'd like to try this, thanks!
Here's a gift link https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/12197-momofukus-bo-ssam?unlocked_article_code=1.vE8.eryN.7g8ph_xeiQUA&smid=share-url

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like serving beef bourguignon this time of year. It’s not that hard to make, can be done a day in advance and reheated, and people seem to think it’s fancy. I use the Julia Child recipe and serve over mashed potatoes with a green vegetable on the side.

I think it's really tacky to serve someone reheated leftovers. That's what you feed the family when you're sick or rushing around, not a guest for a special dinner.

oh, bullsh!t. making something ahead for a party is not leftovers, ding-a-ling! i have a friend that makes about 30 dishes for a fancy gourmet dinner party. do you think she does all that day of?

I know...I want to ask if PP has ever been to a restaurant since pretty much everything is pre-cooked to some degree and just flash-finished. I worked in a high end French restaurant and this was certainly the case, especially with all the sauces that are very labor-intensive to make. All the sous vide steaks, fish and chicken are made ahead except being run through an extremely hot broiler or flash seared in a pan. They aren't starting back in the kitchen with raw ingredients when you order. Even pasta is par cooked. They wouldn't be able to function without precooked food.