If you had all day and wanted to cook a great meal for a group of friends, what would you cook?

[Onlooker]

That's the position I'm in. I can buy the ingredients tomorrow, start cooking on Wednesday or Thursday evening if necessary, and have all day Friday to cook a meal for 8 at ~8 pm. Any suggestions? Success stories?

[Ariana Celeste]

1. Potato salad

is delicious and easy to make in large quantities :)

[YankeyMCC]

2. Chilli

[miss_american_pie]

3. I'd do something easy like pasta and salad

and spend all that time baking several desserts, but that's just me. :hi:

[reyd reid reed]

8. Mmmmm...desserts

That's the whole reason for the dinner in the first place. I love to make desserts. Cookies and candies and cakes and mousses and pies...I LOVE to make pies.

Which is fortunate this time of year.

:hi:

[miss_american_pie]

9. Exactly!

I can usually manage to maintain some control until November, but then the Christmas baking starts and all bets are off.

I need a bigger freezer. :hi:

[reyd reid reed]

10. Heh...you and me, both.

Starts with Thanksgiving pies...I make the turkey and stuffing and all the trimmings...and about ten pies. And then I barely leave the kitchen until December 26.

I found the spritz recipe I'm going to use (I got a new cookie press this year :woohoo: ) and I'm making my schedule this week. And making room in the freezer.

Gingerbread house the Sunday after Thanksgiving.

:bounce::bounce::bounce:

[deucemagnet]

4. How about a beer can turkey?

Follow the recipe for beer can chicken, except use a big ol' can of Fosters and a turkey.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_19397,00.html

A medium to small turkey ought to feed 8 easily. Get some fresh fall veggies from your farmer's market and you're all set!

[evlbstrd]

5. Smoked brisket and ribs.

All of the real work is in the prep. The next eight hours are spent drinking beer and maintaining the temperature.

[Raffi Ella]

18. MMM Yum!

That's my kind of food you're talking about there!Fix up some salads for sides and serve up some margaritas and ya' got yourself a Party.

[evlbstrd]

20. It's my standard party fare.

With no complaints so far. Even vegetarians take a taste!

[bif]

6. Lamb shanks with lemon, orzo and feta

I made it last week for a family gathering. It was a huge hit.

[reyd reid reed]

7. Lasagna

Always a winner.

:thumbsup:

[Burma Jones]

21. seconded

You can be elaborate or simple, and throw in a nice salad, bread and some good red wine...

[meegbear]

11. It's fall, break out the crockpot ...

and make a kill-ah meal.

A hearty soup with french bread.
A roast with fall veggies.
Chicken dish with rice/noodles.

[eyesroll]

12. I do Thai or Indian or Tapas.

I've successfully fed several people with:

Thai
• Masaman curry
• Pud See Ew
• Jasmine rice (large-capacity rice cooker :thumbsup:)
• If you're feeling really ambitious...spring rolls
• Thai tea or coffee

Indian:
• Butter chicken
• Dal
• Not sure what it's called -- but it was a ginger-laced mushroom and pea dish with cashews
• Naan (purchased)

Edit: Tapas
• Tortilla espanola
• Gazpacho (use canned tomatoes during the off-season -- you can also do gazpacho shots with vodka!)
• Olives, almonds, anchovies, pimentos
• Chorizo (Spanish-style, smoked)
• Asparagus borek (puff pastry filled with blanched asparagus, lemon zest, olive oil, S&P)
• Meatballs
• Whole new potatoes fried in olive oil (par-boil, finish up in the oil, salt liberally)
• Flan
• Sangria

None of this requires an entire day, but it's still fun (and pretty economical).

[AngryAmish]

13. Smoke a pork shoulder

Pulled pork sandwiches are great.

Or Potato Leek Soup, stuffed chicken breasts, au gratin potatos, green beans.

Then lemon bars for dessert.

[begin_within]

14. Basmati rice cooked in chicken broth. Green salad with mint leaves added.

Mint leaves bring any green salad to life. Also whatever meat you want to serve, with a honey-mustard sauce. It's very easy, 1 cup Best Foods (Hellman's) mayonnaise, 1/2 cup mustard, 1/2 cup honey. Cooked vegetable such as green beans, asparagus or broccoli, with lemon butter and toasted almonds. For dessert, get an apple pie with the crumb crust and warm it up, and serve it with a small scoop of raspberry sherbet next to each slice.

[radwriter0555]

15. Chicken tacos, home-made tortillas, salsa, refried beans, mexican

or spanish style rice and flan for dessert.

I make this at least once a month, sometimes for friends, sometimes to last us the week for meals.

I make it all from scratch, although I buy whole canned beans to create the re-fried from. Then for the rest of the week we make tacos, huevos rancheros and various combinations of meals from the different elements. I'll add mango to the salsa, make a salsa base and make smaller portions of it super spicy or sweeter, add chipotle, or turn some of it into a ceviche and so on. All the ingredients cost less than $10 and we can get many meals from it for days or feed a whole army!

[Kali]

17. You make tortillas by hand but use canned beans?

I do the opposite, buy tortillas and make beans - we eat a lot of beans so there are allways plenty around for refritos.

[radwriter0555]

24. I use the canned beans, but re-fry them myself. The soaking all night

thing is very time consuming.

We don't even have pinto beans here in France, so I've been using kidney beans! They work GREAT! And french lard ROCKS.

[Kali]

34. ah you are in Europe.

Personally I don't care for kidneys, but I never soak beans anyway - just rinse, add an onion, some garlic and a little bacon or a ham bone or salt pork and put them on low for 5 or 6 hours. And then eat on them all week.

I know how refrigerator space can be over there, though.

[LynneSin]

16. I wouldn't - I'd take them all to Mikimoto's for Sushi

Trust me, you want to go to Mikimoto's for Sushi!

[Kali]

19. Depends on the friends.

Then what I might be in the mood for: ethnic? if so, then what? American? Do I have a specialty I am famous for? Is money a factor? Too many questions.

[Rabrrrrrr]

22. Shrimp bisque; Coq au Vin; wine braised fennel with garlic;

and a chocolate-raspberry cheesecake for desert.

Or, instead of the coq au vin, cook up a pot au feu on Thursday, and then on Friday, slice up the meat and layer it with sauteed sliced onions cooked down in a couple cups of pot au feu broth and herb vinegar and a few TBSP of flour, then sprinkle a couple TBSP of capers on top into a baking pan, sprinkle over some olive oil, coat with bread crumbs, and bake for 15-20 minutes.

[Arkansas Granny]

23. When I am going to cook for a group of friends and ask them

what they would like to have, I get a lot of requests for my homemade chicken and noodles. It's just hard to beat good, old-fashioned comfort foods.

[MissHoneychurch]

25. Spaghetti Bolognese

homemade, done from the scratch, let it simmer for hours. Just delicious :9

[Spider Jerusalem]

26. That's what I had last night...

i've found that using very finely chopped sirloin (not sure what the German name for this cut is) instead of regular ground beef works quite well in the sauce.

[MissHoneychurch]

29. The original Bolognese isn't made with ground beef

sirloin in German is Lende or Filet. Good meat.

[Spider Jerusalem]

31. Ground beef is what one usually finds here in the States...

but it's not really lean enough (it makes the sauce too greasy), which is why I use sirloin instead.

[MissHoneychurch]

32. How fine do you cut the sirloin?

I mede me Bolognese the other day with ground beef. I can't really say it was greasy. I always believed the meat they use for ground beef is lean.

[Spider Jerusalem]

33. Minced into 1cm or so cubes...

First i cut it into slices with a Krups meat slicer, then I chop it with a sharp kitchen knife. Works pretty well that way.

[Skittles]

27. I wouldn't

if I had the whole day the last thing I'd want to do is COOK

[TommyO]

28. Pot Roast Provencal

I got the recipe from Wegmans, a small chain of higher-end grocery stores and have made it for myself, friends, and family and all have loved it. Active prep time isn't all that long, and while it's braising in the oven you can spend the time with your company.

http://www.wegmans.com/greatMeals/recipes/frameset.asp?recipe_id=2981&url=displayrecipe.asp&direct=false

Start with a salad, and serve it with the same wine you used to make the pot roast and some good hearty bread to get every last bit of goodness off of the plate.

edited to add: I've also made this as a stew with beef cubes and it comes out wonderfully that way as well.

[gr8dane_daddy]

30. King Ranch Casserole

KING RANCH CASSEROLE

1 lg. pkg. tortillas
1 c. cheese, grated
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c. chicken broth
1 sm. onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 chicken, deboned

Cut tortillas in strips. Make layers of tortillas and chicken. Make sauce of the soups. Pour sauce over layers. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Better if it sets for a while.


I recommend using chicken prepared on the grill, give it a bit of a smokey taste. Pretty good meal for this time of year.

[BigMcLargehuge]

35. home made spaghetti and meatballs

with home made pasta, sauce, and bread

[Kutjara]

36. My famous 'exterminator chilli'

At the end of the meal, I would either have alienated everyone or made friends for life. There are no lukewarm opinions regarding my chilli. Only prolonged hospitalization.

[AlCzervik]

37. ropa viejo, red beans and rice and flan.

[izzybeans]

38. I just made

Mahi Mahi broiled with feta, peppers (sweet and hot), squash, carrots, onions (add whatever you want really) with fresh garlic and curry served with buckwheat and peanut sauce. It will be a mainstay. Yummy.

If you wanted to be my friend, there would be homemade cheesecake for dessert. Just sayin'.

I made this for five. It wouldn't be too much for three more. Just more broiling pan space and a bigger pot.

[KurtNYC]

39. Beef Bourginon ( a day early) then use some of the stock for onion soup

For the soup: Carmelize the onions until they are chestnut brown. Use some extra stock from the Beef Bourginon and augment with low salt chicken stock. Add thyme (not too much), croutons and cover with swiss cheese. Mmmmmm.

Beef Bourginon - do one day in advance bc it is always better the next day.

Dessert: strawberries dipped in dark chocolate.