Dinner party cooking HELP?



Ok I’ve (perhaps stupidly!) agreed to cook for my parents dinner party tomorrow. I’m 20 and I’ve spent the first 19 and a half years of my life living on microwave meals lol but as I now have a baby I’ve decided it’s about time I learn to cook… but the only things I’ve so far mastered is salmon and chilli lol (one step at a time huh!). Anyway, I’ve said I’d do salmon for everyone tomorrow, as one is a vegetarian but she eats fish. I know how I’ll cook the salmon (just a bit of white wine and parsley, I’ve experimented in different sauces and toppings myself, my favourite is philadelphia cooked on top of it, but they’re fussy eaters apparently so I think I’ll keep it simple!) I was thinking about wrapping the salmon in parma ham for everyone but the veggie, but I’m not sure. Anyway, I’m buying that today but we have a load of tiger prawns in the freezer that need eating so I think I’ll do one bit of salmon for everyone, then some veg, potatoes and the prawns. My question is, how can I incorporate the prawns in without it just looking a bit random? I want them to be warm, so I was thinking some kind of warm sauce poured over the salmon after cooking, with the prawns in it? Does anybody have an idea of what sauce I could do, and what ingredients I’d need? Also, stupid question but how do I actually cook tiger prawns from frozen, as I’ve never done that before? And then lastly as I said I just wanted veg and potatoes. I was thinking maybe saffron mash potato, if I can get my hands on any saffron in the supermarket, does anybody know how I’d make that? I’ve had it in restaurants and I love it but no clue how to make it, I’d want it to be nice and creamy, I guess you just mix the saffron into normal mashed potato, but how would I make that to a creamy consistency? And as for the vegetables, anybody any ideas? I was thinking asparagus, you know when you see it with 4 or 5 bits of asparagus tied into a bunch with another piece? How would I cook that? Then do you think baby carrots would look too childish on an adults meal? Or if not, I was thinking maybe lots of chopped up cubes of carrot, suede and something else? Or would that look childish too?

Any tips or bright ideas much appreciated! Sorry for all the beginner questions lol!



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7 comments a “Dinner party cooking HELP?”

I personally would use them as appetizers, maybe wrapped in a pepper rind thin slice of bacon and baked. That way the Salmon stays simple your recipe sounds great and It is nice to savor the taste of the fish, not be over whemled by another seafood. But either way sounds good!….Good luck!

Well first of all, what a task to take on so keep it simple so you don’t stress. I recommend a simple salmon and nothing fancy for a sauce, as you have figured out.

I would use the prawns as an appetizer. You need to thaw them in cold water. Just pan fry them (saute) in olive oil, season with salt, pepper and garlic. Have some melted butter for dipping, serve before the meal.

I have a recipe for a baked mashed potatoes with gouda cheese. It is easy to make, creamy and would compliment the salmon. You may want to consider a salad versus a veggie, again easy to make and you can prepare in advance. If you choose the asparagus, just grill and drizzle with lemon. . . keep that simple.

Here is the link to the potatoes:

A few salad ideas at this link include spring mix with dried cherries, almond with pear vinaigrette, or orzo pasta salad or a creamy orzo pasta:

Good luck and have fun.

I think that you should just stick with the salmon. Don’t bother with the prawns, but if you feel you should, look at the package for instructions on how to cook them. I would go with a garlic butter sauce for prawns. Delicious!
Steam or boil the asparagus. Make sure that you snap off the ends as they are tough and fibrous.
Mashed potatoes: Boil the potatoes, drain them. Add butter and milk as you are mashing to get the creamy texture. If you want to add saffron, put a pinch of saffron in some boiling water and let it sit for a minute or two. Add the water and saffron threads to the mashed potatoes. I would add the saffron water first, then the milk otherwise your potatoes will be just plain watery.
If you want to do carrots, my mom does caramelized carrots. I think she boils them, adds butter and some brown sugar.
I included some websites at the bottom as sources if you want more help.

Whoa. You have a lot of ideas!

Make a lemon cream sauce with the prawns/shrimp. Peel and de-vein them if not done already. Thaw and lay them out on paper towel before you use them to make sure you don’t have lots of extra water in them.

Sauce: 1/2 stick butter, 1T chopped garlic, juice from one whole lemon, s&P. Cook prawns in this sauce until just pink. Don’t over cook. At the end, add in full fat heavy cream. You could add in 1 tsp. cornstarch to the heavy cream and mix before adding to the butter sauce to make sure it stabilizes itself.
Add in some fresh dill if you have it; if no dill, add in fresh chopped parsly. Serve over salmon instead of the ham.

Mashed: stay simple. add in heavy cream, butter, salt and pepper. You can use red skins and leave the skin on.
Add in lots of garlic and some fresh chopped green onions.
Mash/mix until creamy.

Asparagus, roast in oven with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, Salt liberally. Put on a roasting pan in the oven, roast on 400 for about 10-15 mins.

Garlic Bread (you can usually get good loaves of pre-made garlic bread from the bakery section of your grocery store. Its good.)

Cook the salmon with the wine and parsley as you were going to before.

Make it easy on your self. Steam the shrimp in a little Old Bay and white wine. Serve them as an app. That’s one less thing that you have to worry about. Or you can use shrimp cocktail as the 1st course.

As for the asparagus, I’d cook it either on the grill with a little EVOO and salt, or steam them and lightly season with a little lemon. You don’t want a heavy sauce. If you want to make bundles, you can use green onion to tie them together. Same goes for the carrots, but I wouldn’t use baby carrots. I’d get regular carrots, and cut them into long matchsticks and tie them together. Or get the baby carrots with the greens still left on. Then just take all but about 1 inch of the greens off (so the carrot still has the green) and cook them.

Saffron mashed wouldn’t be my 1st pick. The color will look odd. I’d go with a fingerling potato that you roast.

Don’t try to incorporate meat into your meal – you’ve got enough work to do with out having to worry about cooking a separate plate for the veggie.

Also, to keep things easy for you – try cooking your salmon in the dishwasher – I know it sounds odd, but it’s wonderful! AND frees up pots/pans/bakeware and stove/oven for other things.

Don’t forget to have someone pick up some good white wine, and run down to the local bakery and pick up some nice fancy tea cookies that you can serve for desert – no fuss no muss, and you can set them up on a nice server before hand.

Good luck!

I would use the prawns as an appetizer – just defrost in the sink in cold water, pat dry, and then you can fry or steam them and serve with a dipping sauce (store bought seafood sauce is easiest)

For the saffron potatos, I would put the saffron in warmed milk to get the flavour and colour of the saffron into the milk. Then use that milk to mash your potatos

For the asperagus, I blanch mine in boiling water for about 2-3 minutes, then fry them in a frying pan with butter for about 5 minutes. I finish them with a squeeze of lemon juice and a handful of grated parmesean cheese

Wrapping the salmon in ham sounds great! I would try to make the saffron mash if you can get your hands on some saffron threads. I have found them in the spice aile of the grocery store or the ethnic food section. When you make the mashers add a pinch (saffron is very strong) of the saffron threads to the warming milk or cream you use to make the mashed potatoes.
I would simply saute the prawn the a little olive oil, salt and pepper. When you plate up your dish rest the salmon on the mashed potatoes then arrange a few prawns around. The best way to defrost the prawns is pull the bag out of the freezer and place the bag in the sink with cold water.
For the veg I would stick with just the asparagus. Cook the asparagus in boiling, salted water for 1 min the pull them out and immediately place them in salted ice water. This process will cook the asparagus and help them keep their beautiful bright green color. This step can be done hours ahead, then when you are ready to serve the asparagus saute them in a little butter and salt and pepper just until they are heated through. If you want to get really fancy you could serve the asparagus as a starter with a sunny side up egg on top or with a hollandaise over the top.

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