Fast and Easy Midweek Entertaining

[Prawncrackers]

I think a lot of Asian foods fit the bill here especially Chinese as you cook each dish as a standalone and can adjust the quantities very easily to suit the number of people. So with that in mind here are some typical quick midweek Cantonese dishes that I would cook for guests:

1. Pick up a whole chicken and poach it, whilst the chicken is poaching you can prep and cook the rest of the meal….

2. Prepare condiments for the chicken

2. Prepare a whole fish to steam, nothing too big i.e. a bass/bream/sole or whatever your supermarket has midweek. Steam this last thing as it only takes 10 mins and you want to eat this straight away

3. A plethora of different stir-fries – vegetables, thinly sliced pork, beef, whole prawns, squid – again whatever you can get your hands on! Keep these warm in the oven if you are doing several dishes.

Of course serve it with rice and basically you have your typical Chinese home cooked meal in a little over an hour. Then assuming none of your guests are Chinese it would be a very different and memorable meal for them.

As the cook Chufi, it may seem a little daunting at first but once you get the knack of timing the different dishes I have no doubt you will find it a breeze. Your guests will always be amazed

[dockhl]

prawncrackers~

can you elaborate on what you'd do with the poached chicken?

[Kouign Aman]

Eggplant parmesan

Spaghetti carbonara

Pasta alfredo

hot fudge sundaes for dessert

[Chufi]

I think a lot of Asian foods fit the bill here especially Chinese as you cook each dish as a standalone and can adjust the quantities very easily to suit the number of people.  So with that in mind here are some typical quick midweek Cantonese dishes that I would cook for guests:

1.  Pick up a whole chicken and poach it, whilst the chicken is poaching you can prep and cook the rest of the meal….

2.  Prepare condiments for the chicken

2.  Prepare a whole fish to steam, nothing too big i.e. a bass/bream/sole or whatever your supermarket has midweek.  Steam this last thing as it only takes 10 mins and you want to eat this straight away

3.  A plethora of different stir-fries – vegetables, thinly sliced pork, beef, whole prawns, squid – again whatever you can get your hands on!  Keep these warm in the oven if you are doing several dishes.

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it sounds good Prawncrackers..

what would the condiments for the chicken be?

oh and btw.. this would be weekend entertaining... because there is no way I can find either a decent whole chicken in my supermarket.. or a whole fish for that matter.. I told you our supermarkets are horrible and really don´t deserve the word ´super´

[Prawncrackers]

Poached chicken for me is one of my ultimate stand by dishes, it's so easy and so satisfying. Basically poach for 40mins and let it cool a little before chopping into bite-size pieces. For condiments I always have the ginger-scallion dip and on occasion a chilli dip.

Here is an example of poach chicken, steamed fish and stir-fried veg from a couple of months ago on the Chinese Forum. These are my midweek dishes, i get home from work and i know i can get dinner on the table with next to no fuss! In a way, this is my comfort-zone cooking, i enjoy sometimes not having to work to hard to cook a decent meal.

But to move back to the point, if i was entertaining mid-week and was pushed for time there is no question i would do this. Whilst your chicken is poaching you have all that time to prepare and cook the other dishes. Prepare fish, a couple of stir-fries, you could even use the poaching liquid to make a quick crab, sweetcorn, egg flower soup last thing whilst the fish is steaming. Bingo, 5 dishes and rice in the rice cooker in a little over an hour. What do you think folks?

As for dessert ideas though - your on your own!!!

[JMT]

Curry of some sort, or something similar to chicken marengo, if you are in hurry you can basicly just peel the onions, put them in whole and divide the chicken into pieces.

Wine, stock ( supermarket stuff if your in a hurry ) lots of onions, some garlic, mushrooms salt and pepper and parsley and good canned tomatoes is really all you need and some meat, I have used it for both chicken and beef, both are good. Boiled potatoes or rice, and some bread on the side. Make the table while it boils slowly, or make it in advance and heat it up and boil some new potatoes.

Edited February 22, 2008 by JMT (log)

[SeaGal]

Great idea for a thread!

Here's a quick and easy baked chicken dish:

In a large bowl:

Chicken thighs: 1 or 2 per person depending on size and appetites

*Quartered or halved red potatoes, or whole ones if they're small

Some peeled, halved shallots

good glug of olive oil

A clove or 2 of crushed garlic

juice of half a lemon

1 - 2 tsp of Spanish pimenton

A pinch of two of a dried herb (oregano or thyme) or chopped fresh

salt and pepper to taste

Mix and smoosh it all together and turn out on large baking sheet and bake in hot oven (375 - 400 degrees) for 45-minutes to an hour. The pimenton really makes this special. This can also be varied with different veg, such as fennel or parsnips or sweet potatoes.

*Note: you want the potatoes large enough to cook about the same time as the thighs.

[C. sapidus]

Klary, no surprise but I second Peter and Mark’s Asian suggestions (especially Thai meat salads with citrus segments or apple eggplants and crushed peanuts and . . .). We usually have shrimp in the freezer, so we often default to salt and pepper shrimp when friends turn up unexpectedly. Having friends help peel the shrimp promotes a sense of shared purpose. Yep, that’s what we tell them.

You have more options if the get-together is planned, of course. Steamed, stir-fried, or sauteed seafood can produce a quick and delicious meal. I love to find at least one dish that our guests will enjoy, but that they have never tried before. Giving friends the gift of a new favorite dish makes the occasion special.

I am hardly one to give you dessert advice, but Campton Place hot chocolate (click) is delicious and easy. Exploit the shared purpose angle again by having your friends grate the chocolate.

[Chufi]

thanks, all!

my entertaining days, even the fast and easy ones, are over until March 10 when we move to the new apartment.

But after that, I'm expecting lots of people over to see the new place, for exactly this: a fast but festive midweek dinner, so I think all of these ideas will come in very handy then!

[C. sapidus]

my entertaining days, even the fast and easy ones, are over until March 10 when we move to the new apartment.

But after that, I'm expecting lots of people over to see the new place, for exactly this: a fast but festive midweek dinner, so I think all of these ideas will come in very handy then!

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Good luck with the move! Enjoy the new kitchen and take lots of pictures when you get settled in.

[Chufi]

Bumping this up because I have 3 people coming over for dinner on Thursday, 2 of them have never been to my house, so I need to impress them.. Am going out tomorrow AND Wednesday, so no time to prep, and shopping will have to get done in my lunch hour on Thursday. Oh and yet another caveat: we will only have about an hour or so for dinner, after that there are other things programmed. So, no first course, just a main and a dessert I can serve later.

What are your standby's for quick and easy yet impressive midweek entertaining?

[Emily_R]

One of my favorites is Melissa Clark's Roasted Broccoli with Shrimp, served with couscous. Whole thing whips together super fast, and is both delicious and healthy. Here's the link...

http://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2009/01/melissa-clarks-roasted-broccoli-with-shrimp.html

I agree with previous posters that a fruit crisp is perfect for a weeknight dessert...

Edited April 5, 2010 by Emily_R (log)

[stuartlikesstrudel]

I know you said no time to prep, but if you can get some cream and about 10 minutes one of the earlier nights, you could prepare pana cotta the night before... I did it last week for a family dinner and everyone loved it - almost feels like a fraud because it's so easy, but seems classy!

I made vanilla pana cotta and served it with balsamic pepper strawberries (just sliced strawberries, sprinkled with a *little* castor sugar, a few tsp of balsamic and a few grates of black pepper, to taste). Easy!