Make ahead/prep ahead meal for company

[Anonymous]

Two types of lasagna, rosemary chicken, salad, soup and some roasted veggies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Indian food, if you like it, is excellent for make ahead. Butter chicken, a couple of veggie dishes like aloo gobi & saag paneer. Store bought naan and rice on the side.

Please don't serve it to Indians, if you are not an Indian. Please order from an restaurant instead of cooking yourself.

+1

Better yet: Invite your friends from India who'd love to share recipes and cooking techniques to come over and help prepare a great meal.

[Anonymous]

The best food to make ahead, and assemble or finish in front of guests is Thai food.

Thai -
Appetizers
Chive dumplings. Keep it prepped, steam when guests arrive.
Chicken satay. Marinate and thread the chicken satay, grill in oven when guests arrive.

Soup
Tom yum. Make ahead is great.

Entree
Chicken panang curry (make ahead)
Thai Green curry pork (make ahead)
Pumpkin in red sauce (make at least a day ahead).
Bean sprout salad (assemble)
Rice (in rice cooker, switch on when guests arrive)

Dessert
Aisa Khreem (Icecream) - already ready and frozen. Serve with bits of fresh litchee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Indian food, if you like it, is excellent for make ahead. Butter chicken, a couple of veggie dishes like aloo gobi & saag paneer. Store bought naan and rice on the side.

Please don't serve it to Indians, if you are not an Indian. Please order from an restaurant instead of cooking yourself.

+1

Better yet: Invite your friends from India who'd love to share recipes and cooking techniques to come over and help prepare a great meal.

Are you volunteering? Because I would absolutely love that but I don’t have any friends who are Indian and love to cook! One friend’s mother lives with her part of the year and stocks her house when she’s here but my friend doesn’t know how to cook much of anything

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Indian food, if you like it, is excellent for make ahead. Butter chicken, a couple of veggie dishes like aloo gobi & saag paneer. Store bought naan and rice on the side.

Please don't serve it to Indians, if you are not an Indian. Please order from an restaurant instead of cooking yourself.

+1

Better yet: Invite your friends from India who'd love to share recipes and cooking techniques to come over and help prepare a great meal.

Are you volunteering? Because I would absolutely love that but I don’t have any friends who are Indian and love to cook! One friend’s mother lives with her part of the year and stocks her house when she’s here but my friend doesn’t know how to cook much of anything

I would volunteer. I however can't cook Indian nearly as good as my Indian friends who volunteer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's poor hosting to make everything ahead. Desserts? Okay. Salad (without dressing) maybe okay. Fancy bread with dinner? Okay. But if I'm not willing to put in the time and effort, why am I even bothering to have these people over? They deserve high quality, tasty meals.

Talk to Ina - that is her life!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - that wasn’t me but I actually love the idea of pulled pork in the crockpot or the oven. Definitely keeps me out of the kitchen! I was already planning on Mac n cheese for the kids but corn muffins and salads sound great. PP please come back and share your make a head salads!!

One salad that tastes better the next day is a "german" potato salad. I put it in quotes because I just cook potatoes, add tons of dill and crumbled bacon (can be on the side for vegetarians), chives and let it stew in a homemade italian dressing overnight.

And booo to the person putting down make ahead. Everything can be tasty (and tastier!) if you make ahead. And less stress. And it's a ton of work to make-ahead-- you are just spreading it out.

Side Note: If you are putting Italian dressing on potatoes, there is nothing German about it. Not saying it doesn't taste good. Just not German--call it potato salad.

--German

That's why I put it in quotes and had the caveat that it's my version of potato salad. I expect better attention to detail from you, oh "German".

Then why even bother to put the German there in quotes? It's pointless. Call it Italian potato salad. The only ingredient in it that goes into a German potato salad is the potato.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - that wasn’t me but I actually love the idea of pulled pork in the crockpot or the oven. Definitely keeps me out of the kitchen! I was already planning on Mac n cheese for the kids but corn muffins and salads sound great. PP please come back and share your make a head salads!!

One salad that tastes better the next day is a "german" potato salad. I put it in quotes because I just cook potatoes, add tons of dill and crumbled bacon (can be on the side for vegetarians), chives and let it stew in a homemade italian dressing overnight.

And booo to the person putting down make ahead. Everything can be tasty (and tastier!) if you make ahead. And less stress. And it's a ton of work to make-ahead-- you are just spreading it out.

Side Note: If you are putting Italian dressing on potatoes, there is nothing German about it. Not saying it doesn't taste good. Just not German--call it potato salad.

--German

Oh man my grandmother made a really delicious German potato salad with a vinegar base. I don’t think I’ve had it since she passed. I wonder if anyone has the recipe…

https://www.kochbar.de/rezept/332939/Salat-Kartoffelsalat-OEl-Essig.html

ChatGPT will translate for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Indian food, if you like it, is excellent for make ahead. Butter chicken, a couple of veggie dishes like aloo gobi & saag paneer. Store bought naan and rice on the side.

Please don't serve it to Indians, if you are not an Indian. Please order from an restaurant instead of cooking yourself.

But it's ok for you to make non-Indian food? What a weird take. Cooking is not encoded in DNA

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Indian food, if you like it, is excellent for make ahead. Butter chicken, a couple of veggie dishes like aloo gobi & saag paneer. Store bought naan and rice on the side.

Please don't serve it to Indians, if you are not an Indian. Please order from an restaurant instead of cooking yourself.

But it's ok for you to make non-Indian food? What a weird take. Cooking is not encoded in DNA

DP

Some cuisines and cultures are more difficult to pull off. I avoid preparing Indian as well.

[Anonymous]

We had 4 families over with 9 kids 7 and under and we did a taco night - I made carnitas and ground beef ahead, and popped a sheet pan quesedilla in oven. PP would be horrified but tacos are one of the easiest and most customizable things to get people to eat. We’ve also hosted 10 families in the backyard before and ordered bbq - if I had to cook for everyone I definitely would’ve done pulled pork sliders or something similar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's poor hosting to make everything ahead. Desserts? Okay. Salad (without dressing) maybe okay. Fancy bread with dinner? Okay. But if I'm not willing to put in the time and effort, why am I even bothering to have these people over? They deserve high quality, tasty meals.

When I visit someone’s home, I am there for the company rather than the food - I have food at home. While I enjoy good food and appreciate whatever time, money, and effort my hosts devote to the occasion, I would much rather chip in for pizza or take a covered dish to a potluck than to have a host(ess) who is too busy and/or stressed out to socialize with their guests and enjoy their own party.

I completely agree with this, I would much rather have a relaxed host who has ordered/made ahead but is enjoying the party. Recently went to a friend's house and her DH is an excellent cook and they are the most gracious couple but I felt so bad bc they had 3 families with kids over and they served a sit down dinner and he seemed generally stressed running around and trying to do everything. Everyone tried to help but I think it can just be tricky to host this type of gathering without help. Much easier and stress free to do a buffet type dinner and keep it casual unless it is a very small gathering with adults.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had 4 families over with 9 kids 7 and under and we did a taco night - I made carnitas and ground beef ahead, and popped a sheet pan quesedilla in oven. PP would be horrified but tacos are one of the easiest and most customizable things to get people to eat. We’ve also hosted 10 families in the backyard before and ordered bbq - if I had to cook for everyone I definitely would’ve done pulled pork sliders or something similar.

OP here and last time we saw this family we had tacos at their place! Was great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's poor hosting to make everything ahead. Desserts? Okay. Salad (without dressing) maybe okay. Fancy bread with dinner? Okay. But if I'm not willing to put in the time and effort, why am I even bothering to have these people over? They deserve high quality, tasty meals.

When I visit someone’s home, I am there for the company rather than the food - I have food at home. While I enjoy good food and appreciate whatever time, money, and effort my hosts devote to the occasion, I would much rather chip in for pizza or take a covered dish to a potluck than to have a host(ess) who is too busy and/or stressed out to socialize with their guests and enjoy their own party.

I completely agree with this, I would much rather have a relaxed host who has ordered/made ahead but is enjoying the party. Recently went to a friend's house and her DH is an excellent cook and they are the most gracious couple but I felt so bad bc they had 3 families with kids over and they served a sit down dinner and he seemed generally stressed running around and trying to do everything. Everyone tried to help but I think it can just be tricky to host this type of gathering without help. Much easier and stress free to do a buffet type dinner and keep it casual unless it is a very small gathering with adults.

What did they prepare that was so stressful?

I'm looking at some of these Ina meals. Most are relatively straightforward preparations, involving prior marinating and prep work with minimal finishing. Her chicken dishes in particular should be layups for a couple who has experience hosting. And, they smell up the house something nice.

I personally would rather offer to help my friends turn out, say, that Ina Garten Beef Bourguignon than eat crockpot shredd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two types of lasagna, rosemary chicken, salad, soup and some roasted veggies.

OP: "Anything but lasagna"
DCUM: "Two types of lasagna"