A fun and colourful menu you can easily prep ahead of time. (ABC Everyday: Peter Tarasiuk/Charlotte Ree/Luke Tribe) Having people over for dinner and need help with the menu? Here are six recipes from our archive covering everything from snacks to cocktails, summer salads and desserts. Many of the […]
Click here to view original web page at www.abc.net.au
Having people over for dinner and need help with the menu?
Here are six recipes from our archive covering everything from snacks to cocktails, summer salads and desserts.
Many of the dishes can be made in advance and almost everything can be served as a buffet.
If you love to cook, make it all yourself! Or choose a favourite dish or two and email the rest to anyone who wants to bring a plate.
An easy snack to start
You don't need heaps of skills in the kitchen to make this vegetarian snack.
"It's a delicious garlicky, mushroomy, salty butter starring porcini mushrooms, which can add a savoury, meaty flavour to a lot of dishes and sauces," writes Angus Raddon, who's worked in Canberra cafes and bottle shops.
If you're not ready to host a dinner party just yet, take it easy and have people round for drinks and snacks instead.
Drinks on a budget
A sherry cobbler is a very old, classic cocktail that only uses a few ingredients.
"It's such a great recipe for entertaining because it can easily be adjusted to make individual drinks, or a large pitcher if you'd like to let people serve themselves," Angus says.
Sherry is also a nice cocktail ingredient because it's affordable (a decent bottle costs about $20), and is lower in alcohol, making this cocktail a great drink to start the night.
It's easy to make your own fruit-based sodas — time will do most of the work for you (sugar helps too).
This recipe can be adapted and made with almost any seasonal fruit. That said, it works best by using fruits with high water content like berries, melons and citrus.
Two summer salads
Food writer and photographer Emiko Davies loves having a low-maintenance salad up her sleeve when she has people over.
"This one is especially appealing to me because there aren't too many ingredients — a salad doesn't always need to have 20 things in it," she says.
Emiko chargrills thinly sliced zucchini (which can be done the day before) and dresses it up with toasted pine nuts, crumbled feta and herbs.
A big Tuscan salad is Melbourne-based cook and writer Julia Busuttil Nishimura's pick for an easy main for balmy summer nights.
"It's incredibly quick to put together and requires very minimal effort, making it perfect for when you have friends over or want an easy and delicious dinner," she says.
It's great on its own but also goes well with grilled meat and fish.
Cooking for vegans? Swap anchovies for olives and leave out the eggs.
Dessert time!
Baking aficionado Charlotte Ree loves serving ice-cream sandwiches at the end of the night.
"They're a handy low-key treat as they have maximum impact for minimum effort," she says.
Bake the soft and chewy chocolate biscuits ahead of time. You can even assemble the ice-cream sandwiches, wrap them in foil and freeze them up to three days in advance.
Or, open up a tub of ice cream and let your guests make their own.
These recipes were part of No Big Deal Dinner Party, a recipe series published in 2019.
Sonya Gee is the Deputy Editor (Food) of ABC Everyday. She commissions our weekly recipes and loves making time to cook and eat every single one.
