What meal? Cheap but impressive for the in-laws

[pugwash4x4]

have the in-laws coming over for the Easter weekend and i'd really like to cook something nice for them. They'll be 6 of us in total but we really can't spend more than about £15 on the whole meal.

have a comprehensive kitchen, and i'm reasonably skilled so pretty much anything goes. I made lasagne last time, and beef wellington the time before.

ideas? posh meal for 6 for £15?

[dmitsi]

Posh? Dunno about that, I'd cook them the sticky chicken dish on this thread. Cheap and easy to prepare, make it look as posh as you like with well presented sides, or a nice starter.

[Soovy]

Home made lasagne made with fresh pasta and a big salad.

Cheesecake from Paul for dessert with a bit of cream on the side.

[dmitsi]

Soovy said:

Home made lasagne made with fresh pasta and a big salad.

Cheesecake from Paul for dessert with a bit of cream on the side.

He did lasagne last time. If that was my son-in-law I'd write him out of the will.

[Soovy]

dmitsi said:

Soovy said:

Home made lasagne made with fresh pasta and a big salad.

Cheesecake from Paul for dessert with a bit of cream on the side.

He did lasagne last time. If that was my son-in-law I'd write him out of the will.

See that's what good lawyering is. Attention to detail.

[zcacogp]

Serious suggestion. Think about something veggie.

Meat is expensive, and pushes the cost of a dish up hugely. Veggie curry or a veggie stew could be a good idea.


Oli.

[Mobile Chicane]

There's quite a bit of meat / fish reduced at Waitrose at the moment. I've just picked up a mahoosive ox tongue with a use-by date of 5th April for £3.

Not suggesting you serve that, (though it is nice slow-cooked and served with a red wine and raisin sauce), so how about:

Starter - home-made chicken liver paté on toast

Main - seafood linguine (frozen fruits de Mer plus some extra big King prawns to jazz it up) plus lots of fresh chopped parsley

Dessert - crepes suzette (easy to do from store cupboard ingredients)

[condor]

I'd go for roast leg of lamb as it's Easter more traditional than posh...and the supermarkets are doing them at (supposedly) half price for that reason.

[Cactussed]

OK. 2 courses.
1. Pan fried ricotta cakes with fresh tomato salsa. Like this.

2. Home made spaghetti Carbonara. Hell, you can even make your own bacon with some pork belly if you feel inspired?
3. Easter eggs.

Job done.

[Wadeski]

or a something using a stewing cut? A bit pork belly isnt that expensive either, and could be slow-cooked with honey and soy, and served with rice and steamed veg?

[clarkey]

Pork shoulder roasted very, very slowly, just with mashed spuds, homemade french bread and a salad. Yummmmmmmm.

[KungFuPanda]

Medium sized chickens are currently £3 each at Aldi. If you buy a couple you could do a roast / chicken chasseur / chicken breasts & thighs stuffed with goats cheese and wrapped in parma ham?

[Melman Giraffe]

Slow roast Lamb shank with minted gravy and creamy mash.

Nom Nom Nom

[Agrilla]

Waitrose is a good call - they currently have outdoor bred boneless pork loin roast at half price, £4.24 a kilo, looks something like this:



Am sure you could spend the other tenner on some nice veg and perhaps do a nice stuffing, with the pork having lovely salty crackling?

[Cactussed]

Moussaka and Greek salad?

[Wadeski]

Thai curry is very cheap too.

[pugwash4x4]

pork shoudler or leg of lamb could be a good choice, but it is just a roast (although i cook a mean roast).

Lamb shanks could be good but are they still good value now that every restaurant under the sun seems to served them?

things like thai curry are a bit everyday really- as is mousaka.

[Mobile Chicane]

No pleasing some people.

If you have enough nettles growing up as yet, try either of these approaches with the tops as a starter.

Something I can guarantee your in-laws won't have tried.

[Soovy]

Don't laugh. But.


1. Go to Asda.
2. Buy a big roast beef joint (7 quid)
3. Buy potatoes (1 quid)
4. Buy three packets of fresh veg for a quid each (3 quid)
5. Buy some cooking apples and birds custard powder (1 quid)


Roast the beef, roast the potatoes, steam the veg.

Baked apple with brown sugar and dollop on the custard.


You'll have enough left over for two bottles of "cooking" red. Decant them for 24 hours and they'll taste like 20 quid a bottle.


Done.

Edited by Soovy on Tuesday 30th March 20:07

[Shaolin]

I got a whole salmon from Tesco the other day for £12 (they have smaller ones), enough for about 12 meals I reckon, so you could freeze half of it. Sauce of oil, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and fresh ginger, baked spuds and salad - that's what we had tonight. Worked out stupidly cheap for what it was.