Dinner party recipes

I'm hosting some people on the weekend and I have no idea what main entree to serve (usually do chicken of some kind). Anyone have any faves they like to serve to company?

Peace!!

5 (that includes me).... informal, sit down, but want it to be dignified, if that makes any sense.

I find it a nice change from eating with fingers!!

hehe......here's my favorite, EASY recipe.
4 chicken breasts...(or more)

mix one bottle of russian dressing.....(the red stuff, not 1000 island which some easterners call russian) with one jar of apricot preserves with one package of dry lipton onion soup.......mix all together, and pour over chicken.....I then stab the chicken repeatedly (pretending it's a certain ex boss of mine) to get the sauce in the chicken......then put the covered cassarole in the oven for 50 minutes at 375 degrees....and serve over rice

or, throw it all in the crockpot and cook for 8-10 hrs......

it is wonderful

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here's one that is always a hit....

Orange-Olive Chicken Scalloppine
Start with thin cut chicken breast (or pound the breast yourself)coat lightly with flour (be sure to salt and pepper the flour)
Sautee two pieces at a time in a pan (with olive oil and butter of course) -- about 3 minutes perside -- until lightly browned and cooked through
Transfer to a preheated oven (about 200) to keep warm as you work in batches

When done with chicken, now it's time for the sauce -- use the same pan with all the bits of goodness....

add another teaspoon of oilve oil and sautee 1/3 cup slivered almonds or pignoli nut -- sautee about a minute -- do not burn....scoop the nuts out and set to the side

Add anothe tsp of oil and sautee 1/4 cup of chopped shallots until translucent (about 2 minutes)

ADD 1/4 cup chicken stock, 1 TBS of grated orange peel, 1/2 cup orange juice (fresh makes a big difference) and 1/4 cup pitted kalmata olives...bring to boil and after that let reduce for a couple minutes...

Spoon sauce over chicken, top with the nuts and some chopped parsely

I like to serve this with an organic greens salad and couscous -- wild rice is also nice with this as the nuttiness is a nice compliment to the chicken/sauce...

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wow KMF, that does look good....but way too much work for me.......I'd have to have Cook fix that ;oP

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Elph -- it's only about 20 minutes in the kitchen....

also, a great (and party easy) side dish is always roasted winter root vegetables -- simple -- cut your various veggies to the same size (carrots, parsnips, squash, whole garlic cloves etc) -- coat in olive oil and salt and pepper -- more salt than you would think) -- place on a cookie sheet in single layer -- put in a 400 degree oven....after about 25 minutes turn them and raost for another 20 - 25 mnutes...

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it's get big WOW factor from guests -- the mix of sweet from orange, olives and nut are a fast transport to the Medeterrainian!

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I would like to have Tyler Florence on a bed of mashed potatoes.

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Does it have to be chicken breast or are you up for boneless chicken? I would suggest a butter chicken curry with basmatic rice. Marvelous.

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Oooh... butter chicken curry. Details!! It sounds amazing!!

This isn't the one I follow (I usually use spices and powder from Malaysia and it gets really complicated), but I found a few appetizing-looking ones.

http://www.thokalath.com/cuisine/recipe.php#butter2chicken (the second butter chicken recipe) - this link also includes other Indian chicken recipes

This one has several butter chicken recipes too:
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/544/0.shtml

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just a home cook brdlwyr....it's something that keeps me grounded and is my "wind down" activity -- I simply love the entire proces -- chopping & prep and staning over the stove with a good bottle of wine.....make the heart and home warm!

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Updated On: 3/7/05 at 10:10 PM