Baked Individual Camembert Cheeses with  Garlic Toasts and Onion Marmalade – Lemon and Honey Chicken with Homemade Pesto and Linguine – Pavlova

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

Dinner Party Menu Idea for 4 People

STARTER:   Baked Individual Camemberts with Garlic Toasts and Onion Marmalde

Ingredients

1 decent size boxed camembert per person (make sure box is stapled not glued)
2 – 3 sprigs of thyme, using the leaves only,
Olive oil

Method

Preheat oven to 220 degrees centigrade

Unwrap the cheeses and carefully slice the rind off the top off the top. Return the cheese to its box, cut side up and place the box on a baking sheet.

Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, sprinkle over the thyme leaves and drizzle with olive oil. Pop the lids back on and bake for 10 – 15 minutes until the cheese is browned on the top and melted inside. Allow to cool slightly before serving leaving in the boxes with the bread and the marmalade

Garlic Toasts

Ingredients

A Ciabatta
Fresh flat leaf parsley
Olive oil
1 clove of garlic cut in half

Method

Preheat the grill to medium

Cut the ciabatta to make thin elegant fingers. Toast until golden. Drizzle with olive oil and rub generously with the cut garlic clove. Scatter the parsley rubbing it into the bread so that it sticks. Sprinkle with a little salt. Use the bread fingers to scoop out the cheese

Onion marmalade, I buy a ready done jar but of course you can make your own

MAIN COURSE:   Lemon Chicken with Homemade Pesto and Linguine (Serves 4)

Ingredients

4 skinless chicken breasts
Juice of 2 lemons (use some for the pesto)
2 tablespoons of honey
2 teaspoons chilli flakes
100g cherry tomatoes, halved
600g Pasta such as linguine

Method

Preheat oven to 200 degrees centigrade

Season the chicken and seal in a very hot pan until coloured on both sides. Whilst still in the pan glaze with the lemon juice and honey by pouring a good amount over each one. Sprinkle with the chilli flakes, add the halved tomatoes and transfer to the oven still in the frying pan, for about 12 – 14 minutes or until cooked through.

Homemade Pesto

Handful of fresh basil
Handful of rocket
Clove of garlic
Lemon Juice
100g toasted walnuts
60g grated parmesan
Olive Oil

Blitz the basil, rocket, toasted walnuts, garlic and a good quantity of lemon juice in a blender. Drizzle in the olive oil whilst blending until you have a loose consistency and then add the grated parmesan

Cook the past according to the packet instructions, drain then stir through the pesto. Place in a pasta dish or plate add the chicken (sliced) on the top surrounded by tomatoes.

DESSERT:  Pavlova

Ingredients

5 egg whites
10 oz plus 1 tablespoon caster sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon malt vinegar
1 teaspoon ornage flavoured liqueur
10 fl oz double cream stiffly whipped
Fresh fruit of your choice, but I do like sliced kiwi fruit and halved strawberries

Method

Preheat oven to 150 degrees centigrade

With a pencil draw around a 9 inch plate on a piece of non stick baking paper then place this on a baking sheet and set aside

Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Beat in the 4 oz of the sugar and continue beating for 1 minute until the mixture is very stiff and glossy. Using a metal spoon then fold in all but 1 tablespoon of the remaining sugar, the cornflour, the vanilla essence and the vinegar.

Spoon one third of the mixture on the circle on the paper to make a base about ¼ inch thick. Fill a piping bag with a one inch nozzle and fill with the remaining mixture. Pipe it around the edge of the circle forming a case to hold the filling. Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour. Turn off the oven and leave the meringue in the oven for a further 30 minutes or until crisp on the outside and soft in the centre. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely and then remove the baking paper from the bottom.

Fold the remaining tablespoon of sugar and the orange flavoured liqueur into the cream. Place the meringue on a serving plate and fill with the cream. Place the fruit on the top and serve

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

See my other dinner party menus suggestions here