I always lay the table early on the day of the party or the night before. It's one less thing to worry about and I never quite feel in the 'entertaining' mood until it is done.
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| An overview of the table showing part of a Wedgwood dinner service called Platinum by Jasper Conran. |
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| These beautiful solid silver salt and pepper dishes date from 1897. They were filled later! |
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| William Yeoward placemats, coasters and napkin rings compliment candle holders from Anthropologie. The napkins are vintage white linen. |
The menu for this dinner was quite casual but as I was very busy with work last week. I wanted most of the preparation done in advance. Here is the menu. Click on each dish to go to the recipe:
Starter: Asparagus Soup with herbed buttermilk biscuits
Main course: Spanish chicken with green beans gremolata
Pudding: Instant chocolate orange mousse (You will need to consult Nigella Lawson's 'Nigellissima' for this one I'm afraid!)
I made the soup a few days before, allowed it to cool and then kept it in an airtight container in the fridge. I made the buttermilk biscuits a few days ahead too, cooking some to eat then and open freezing the remaining unbaked biscuits to freshly bake just before dinner more or less from frozen. I used whatever fresh herbs I had in the garden in the biscuits (4 tbsp for this recipe) and they were fragrant and savoury. A nice alternative to a bread roll, we thought. All I needed to do then was gently reheat the soup, drizzle with white truffle oil and serve.
The Spanish Chicken is a great tray bake and looks after itself for an hour or so in the oven. I make it loads. The green beans were quickly boiled, shocked in cold water, drained and kept in the fridge until a few minutes before the main course when they were quickly sauteed in olive oil as per the recipe and garnished with the yummy gremolata topping. This is a star dish so do try it!
Pudding can be made days ahead. I made this the night before, adding the whipped cream and orange zest just before serving. It's an egg free mousse where you add whipped cream and condensed milk to your melted chocolate and then flavour with orange liqueur and fresh orange juice. Believe me it's irresistible!
It always pays to have a plan like this so a tasty but stress-free meal can be on the table without too much bother on the day itself. That is always what I look for when I'm hunting down a new recipe.
I hope you try some of these and share your favourite make ahead dishes too.
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| Another table view. The little domed butter dish at the far end is from Culinary Concepts of London. It's very cute! |
Starter: Asparagus Soup with herbed buttermilk biscuits
Main course: Spanish chicken with green beans gremolata
Pudding: Instant chocolate orange mousse (You will need to consult Nigella Lawson's 'Nigellissima' for this one I'm afraid!)
I made the soup a few days before, allowed it to cool and then kept it in an airtight container in the fridge. I made the buttermilk biscuits a few days ahead too, cooking some to eat then and open freezing the remaining unbaked biscuits to freshly bake just before dinner more or less from frozen. I used whatever fresh herbs I had in the garden in the biscuits (4 tbsp for this recipe) and they were fragrant and savoury. A nice alternative to a bread roll, we thought. All I needed to do then was gently reheat the soup, drizzle with white truffle oil and serve.
The Spanish Chicken is a great tray bake and looks after itself for an hour or so in the oven. I make it loads. The green beans were quickly boiled, shocked in cold water, drained and kept in the fridge until a few minutes before the main course when they were quickly sauteed in olive oil as per the recipe and garnished with the yummy gremolata topping. This is a star dish so do try it!
Pudding can be made days ahead. I made this the night before, adding the whipped cream and orange zest just before serving. It's an egg free mousse where you add whipped cream and condensed milk to your melted chocolate and then flavour with orange liqueur and fresh orange juice. Believe me it's irresistible!
It always pays to have a plan like this so a tasty but stress-free meal can be on the table without too much bother on the day itself. That is always what I look for when I'm hunting down a new recipe.
I hope you try some of these and share your favourite make ahead dishes too.
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