Entertaining 2 guests - Need to impress

[200bhp]

My wife would like to invite a couple of people around for dinner to reciprocate a dinner that they did for us. The trouble is that their dinner was fantastic and several pegs above our normal standard!

So what we're looking for is a 3 course dinner that is easy for two people to prepare, with a couple of practice runs before hand.

My wife is pregnant so that means numerous things are off the menu, couple that with other people's tastes and the following are eliminated:

Beef
Pork
Soft Cheese
Non-hard-cooked eggs
Shark
Raw fish
Rare kangaroo (We live in Aus and loved it pre-pregnancy but you cant cook it any other way)
Curry
Chilli
Avacado
Liver
Anything you'd find on an Indian restaurant menu

So what do you think?

[f1nn]

Personally, I"d just go with what you'd normally cook/prepare/offer.

Surely the dinner should be about the company rather than a pissing contest over who offers the "best" food.

[mikial]

You have a golden opportunity to get off the spiral of reciprocal dinner dates, don't waste it .

[Pferdestarke]

Stuffed squid tubes, braised until tender

A lamb shoulder tagine served with a pearl barley risotto

A coffee cup of chocolate mousse with a pile of sliced fresh oranges in the middle of the table

Recipes for all of the above online.

That's a huge list of 'don't likes' btw. Even if some are justified due to being pregnant

[Dicky Knee]

Main course. Karen Martini's slow cooked lamb shoulder. An absolute winner and very easy to do. Go and buy her book- The Karen Martini Collection and all the answers are in there!

[200bhp]

Pferdestarke said:

That's a huge list of 'don't likes' btw. Even if some are justified due to being pregnant

Bloody fussy women!

[RobbieTheTruth]

Main - Smoky Cola Chilli.

Recipe at the following link:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[RobbieTheTruth]

Apologies - just seen chili is on the list

[Rick101]

Why do you need to impress them? Are they friends or is this a business relationship?

Nothing wrong with doing a good spread but do it for yourselves not just to impress.

Hope it goes well.

[vanordinaire]

You really can't go wrong with any kind of slow-cooked casserole no matter how bad a cook you are and it only takes some simple side dishes, different rices/ breads etc to make it a little bit fancy. It sounds like your guests are good cooks and no decent cook would fail to appreciate something simple but good quality.

[T1berious]

mikial said:

You have a golden opportunity to get off the spiral of reciprocal dinner dates, don't waste it .

This made me weep! LOL

Hmm, that's a pretty big list of hate but here goes.

To Start, Aubergine and tomato salad served with fresh coriander. recopies via a Google its a traditional Moroccan dish served with warm flat bread.

Main

Butterflied trout with Dill and finely sliced lemon, wrap in foil and let it do its thing. yummy flavours and a doddle to make. Serve with new potatoes or a salad with home made vinaigrette.

Dessert i'd vote fresh fruit with a mixture of either ice cream or cream. let people make up there own mind.

[benters]

I see this as an opportunity to remind your guests as to the simple delights of basic well cooked food. If you aim high and pull it off this time, when it comes to your turn again what will you do to out do yourself again !!! as such keep it simple. Cant re-call all the 'no' ingredients. . .but how about some interesting breads to start with, Paella or Risotto to follow and fruit salad or a sorbet to finish it off.

[Blown2CV]

impress in what way... impressively good tasting and different, or impressive as in poncy expensive? Also in many countries they don't subscribe to the view that any foods are forbidden during pregnancy. The list just keeps getting longer and i can't help but think it's horsest.

[ali_kat]

200bhp said:

My wife is pregnant so that means numerous things are off the menu,

So what do you think?

That it's utter bullocks that anything is off the menu because your wife is pregnant as opposed to what you should avoid as a matter of course day to day.

Yes, the NHS etc make recommendations now & have done so for the last 20 or so,years, but the number of children being born with allergies has gone up since then too!

From personal experience watching friends that get pregnant! a Mum that avoids everything = a kid that HAS to

[Fatrat]

mikial said:

You have a golden opportunity to get off the spiral of reciprocal dinner dates, don't waste it .

[Blown2CV]

ali_kat said:

200bhp said:

My wife is pregnant so that means numerous things are off the menu,

So what do you think?

That it's utter bullocks that anything is off the menu because your wife is pregnant as opposed to what you should avoid as a matter of course day to day.

Yes, the NHS etc make recommendations now & have done so for the last 20 or so,years, but the number of children being born with allergies has gone up since then too!

From personal experience watching friends that get pregnant! a Mum that avoids everything = a kid that HAS to

they've figured out that giving peanut allergists tiny but increasing doses of peanut cures their allergies in most cases. Cutting things out of diets can cause plenty weird st to happen. Ask a french person what foods a pregnant lady cannot eat.