Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto, Hollandaise Sauce & Poached Egg – Persian Lamb With Sticky Vegetables, Flatbreads, Yoghurt & Harissa – Rhubarb Fool

Dinner Party Recipe Ideas

My style of cooking for our dinner parties is fairly basic, but tasty (I hope) and easy to. The hardest part is to think up different menus, so I don’t repeat anything, and also when you are hosting, it is nice to prepare and cook as much as you can in advance, or dishes that do not need to be cooked when your guests are ensconced, so you spend most of the time with your guests rather than being in the kitchen. You can read about my style of cooking here

STARTER: Asparagus Wrapped in Parma Ham Served with Hollandaise Sauce & Poached Egg

Ingredients

16 Asparagus Spears, trimmed (this allows 4 per bundle with a bundle for each guest,  but you could do more if you wish)
4 Slices of Prosciutto or Parma Ham
1 tbsp. Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
4 Eggs
Hollandaise Sauce (You can make your own, but for convenience I bought a jar which was very good)

Method

1. Bundle up 4 asparagus spears and wrap a slice of prosciutto/parma ham
2. Place the bundles on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper
3. Roast in preheated oven 200 until tender, time will depend on how thick your asparagus is
4. Poach the eggs (please click here and scroll down the page to the video to see how to cook perfect poached eggs every time)
5. Serve the asparagus bundles topped with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce

MAIN COURSE: Persian Lamb With Sticky Vegetables, Flatbreads, Yoghurt & Harissa (This is a great sociable main, as it a help yourself style, but can be quite messy, but delicious.  It seems quite a lot of ingredients and the method looks long, but it is very simple

Ingredients (Serves 8)

1.5 kg Potatoes chopped into 1 inch chunks
3  Red Onions quartered
2 Fennel bulbs cut into 6 wedges
1 garlic bulb, cloves separated and bashed
3 Preserved Lemons, quartered
100g dried prunes
1 handful of Sour Cherries or Cranberries
A big pinch of Saffron threads
Olive Oil
2-2.5kg Shoulder of lamb
4 tsp Coriander Seeds
4 heaped tsp Cumin Seeds
4 heaped tsp Fennel Seeds
A few sprigs of Thyme
A few sprigs of Rosemary
Pomegranate Molasses (this is a must ingredient, but Tesco where I do my shopping did not stock it, but Sainsbury’s did)
2 Pomegranate seeds removed, or you can buy pomegranate seeds in tubs
A big bunch of Mint, leaves picked and torn
75 Shelled Pistachios, lightly crushed
Flatbreads, Joghurt, Harissa and lemon wedges for serving

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180/ 160 fan
2. Pop the potatoes, onion, fennel and garlic into a large roasting tray with the preserved lemons, prunes, cherries (cranberries) and the saffron.  Mix it all together with a glug of olive oil, then place the lamb on top
3. Crush the coriander, cumin and fennel seeds with a good pinch of salt and pepper in a pestle and mortar.
4. Rub half of it over the lamb with a drizzle of olive oil, leaving the rest aside for later
5. Using the pestle and mortar again, pound the thyme with a few sprigs of rosemary and a big pinch of salt, then rub that over the lamb too
6. Poke the rest of the rosemary into the meat and make sure the lamb stays on top of the vegs. Pour approx. 200ml of boiling water into the bottom of the tray and snugly cover with a double layer of tinfoil. Place in the oven and cook for about 3 – 4 hours.
7. About 30 minutes before the end of cooking remove the foil, toss the vegetables and drizzle over a few tablespoons of pomegranate molasses and return it to the oven
8. When the skin is crisp and the meat is falling off the bone it is ready. Take it out of the oven and sprinkle over the remaining crushed spices.  Leave to rest for 10 – 15 minutes, covered loosely with the foil.
9. To serve sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds, mint and pistachios.
10. Place the lamb and the vegs on a large warmed dish and place in the centre of  the table for your guests to help themselves, (or place pull off some lamb and vegs on to individual plates).  Spoon some lamb and vegs on to a warm flatbread adding some harissa, joghurt and squeezing the lemon wedges, fold up, use your fingers and enjoy

DESSERT: Rhubarb Fool

Ingredients (Makes 4 – 6)

340g Jamaica ginger cake
250g Rhubarb cut into small chunks
175g Caster Sugar
2tbs Ginger Wine
Zest of 1 small Orange
340ml Whipping Cream
Raspberries to serve
4 – 6 Martini Glasses

Method

1. Preheat oven to 120/100 fan.  Crumble the ginger cake I to small crumbs and spread onto a baking sheet.  Cook for about 40 minutes or until the cake is dry and crispy (like granola) but not burnt.  Allow to cool completely
2. Meanwhile make a rhubarb compote.  Put the rhubarb and sugar into a medium sized saucepan and heat on a medium heat until the rhubarb breaks apart and you have a fairly loose compote.
3. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely
4. Add the ginger wine and orange zest to the cream and whip into very loose peaks.
5. Gently fold through the cooked rhubarb (reserving 4 tsp) to achieve a ripple effect
6. To assemble, sprinkle some of the dried cake crumbs into the bottom of each glass, top with a little of the rhubarb cream mixture and repeat with all the mixture.  Top with the reserved rhubarb compote finishing off with a couple of raspberries and serve

Dinner Party Ideas and suggestions of what I think goes together best

See my other dinner party menus suggestions here