I have never really cooked for other people until recently. It is easy for me to make food that I like and learn from. If I make a dish that is too spicy or bland, then no one has to know but me. Having a guest over or cooking for someone in my family gets a little bit more difficult. Everyone enjoys different food based on age and lifestyle. The following dishes are catered towards certain audiences so everyone can be impressed by your wicked cooking skills. All these dishes yield about 3-4 servings.
- Rosemary Chicken – For your basic guest
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This dish brings out the best flavors of each of the ingredients to create a wonderful combination. This is for people with simple palettes. Children love this dish as well! The two components of this dish is the main chicken breast and the cream sauce. To make the chicken you will need two chicken breasts and slice them in halves so that the chicken will be thinner. Then, you will need to put one cup of flour on a plate and mix with one tablespoon of pepper and one tablespoon of salt. After the flour mixture is ready, coat the chicken breasts lightly with the flour mixture. Heat up a skillet on medium-high heat with two tablespoons of oil and place the chicken coated with flour in the pan. Let the chicken sit on one side for seven to eight minutes on medium-high heat, then flip and repeat. Once the chicken is done, then take off heat and wrap in tinfoil until later. Using the same pan, add about two tablespoons of butter and bring heat to low-medium. Add half an onion minced and let cook for about three minutes. Now, add two cloves of garlic minced for about thirty seconds. Add one fourth cup of flour and mix with the onion and garlic. Pour in five cups of chicken broth and continuously stir until it is all combined. Let the broth simmer for about five minutes. Add two tablespoons of italian seasoning and then add three cups of heavy cream or whipping cream and stir. Add one fourth cup of butter and let melt along with one tablespoon parsley and one tablespoon basil. Let the sauce come to a simmer and then add the chicken breasts back into the pan and let simmer for an extra five minutes. Add in a few sprigs of rosemary. Serve chicken with sauce and you have a wonderful dish for someone with a basic flavor profile.
- All-Around Bowl- For your Healthy Guest
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The All-Around Bowl is a flavorful, healthy and vegan dish that can impress the guest who is very conscious. The components of this dish are the dressing, the bed and the crispy tofu. For the bed, have a big bowl and add about one and a half cups each of washed lettuce, spinach, kale and arugula. Add about one half cup of microgreens. Next, add half a red onion chopped. Add one cup of cooked quinoa and two tablespoons of chia seeds and then toss the mixture together. To make the dressing, mix together in a separate bowl one fourth cup rice vinegar, two tablespoons each of sesame oil, soy sauce or liquid aminos and brown sugar. Then, add two cloves of minced garlic and one tablespoon of minced ginger. Mix the dressing ingredients together and pour over the bed of greens. Massage the dressing into the greens to soften up the kale and make it less chewy. To make the tofu, have one block of extra firm tofu and press all the liquid out of it and cube it. Marinade the tofu for an hour in the following mixture: three tablespoons of gochujang sauce, three tablespoons of soy sauce or liquid aminos, one half cup of rice vinegar and three tablespoons of sesame oil. Make sure all the tofu is coated in the marinade. Put about one cup of cornstarch in a bag. Once the tofu is done marinating, then heat a skillet over medium-high heat with two tablespoons of oil. Put the tofu in the cornstarch and shake the bag so the tofu is coated and fry the tofu until crispy on all sides. Add the tofu to the salad and then toss the whole salad and serve.
- Chicken and Gnocchi Soup- For your elderly guest
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This dish has very simple ingredients with low sugar for elderly guests. Soup is a pretty safe dish to make for older people as it tends to be more popular in the older generations for preparation purposes and it can be loaded up with nutrients. To start this dish, you will need to either buy a package of Gnocchi or make it from scratch. To make gnocchi from scratch, you will need to peel and boil two russet potatoes. Once they are cooked, you can put them through a ricer or mash up very finely. Combine the mashed potatoes, two cups of flour and one egg and once it starts to form a ball start kneading for three minutes until all combined. Cut the dough in fourths and roll each section into long ropes. Then, cut the long ropes in small squares to finish the gnocchi. Set the gnocchi aside until it calls for in the soup recipe. To start the soup, put a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add two tablespoons oil and cook diced chicken breast in the pot until cooked all the way. Remove chicken and set aside. Lower the heat to medium and chop two carrots, one white onion and one celery stalk. Cook the carrots, onion and celery until they are tender. Then, add one fourth cup of flour and mix in with the vegetables until it forms a paste. Slowly add 32 ounces of low-sodium chicken broth while mixing. Once fully mixed, let the broth come up to a boil then add the gnocchi. Once the gnocchi is floating at the top, they are fully cooked. Once the gnocchi is fully cooked, add three cups of spinach and mix. Add one quart of heavy cream or whipping cream and let soup simmer then add the chicken and serve.
- Homemade Pizza- For your guest that complains all the time
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Everyone knows that one person who always complains about everything whether the Paella isn’t authentic enough or the salsa doesn’t have their favorite type of onion in it. Pizza is a winner with complainers because if they don’t like the toppings, then really it is their fault. So a homemade pizza crust that is simple will elevate this classic dish. To make a pizza crust, you have to first combine one cup of bread flour, one and one half teaspoons of sugar, three fourths teaspoon of salt and one pack of instant yeast (two and one fourth teaspoon). You can add garlic powder and dried basil leaves at this point if you want to. Add two tablespoons of olive oil and three fourths of warm water. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Add one cup of bread flour, mix and keep adding additional bread flour until the dough forms a ball. Grease another bowl and transfer the dough into the greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp washcloth or plastic wrap and place in a warm area. After about thirty minutes, bring the dough onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is in a cohesive ball. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. With a rolling pin, roll the dough into about a twelve inch circle. Transfer the dough to a pan with parchment paper. Drizzle some olive oil over the dough before adding the sauce and toppings. To make a homemade pizza sauce, heat some oil up in a saucepan and saute two teaspoons of minced garlic for about ten seconds. Now, add three tablespoons of tomato paste and mix garlic in. Add a fifteen ounce can of crushed tomatoes, two teaspoons of oregano, two tablespoons of basil, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Stir the sauce until it is all combined. Assemble the pizza with your choice of toppings and cook for about fifteen minutes.
- Garlic Cheeseburgers with a Side of Pasta- For your guest with a big appetite
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Cheeseburgers with pasta might sound like it doesn’t go together but the two complement each other really well and can feed someone with a big appetite or who hasn’t eaten all day. For the cheeseburgers, combine in a bowl one and one fourth pounds of lean ground beef, three minced garlic cloves, one crumbled beef bouillon cube, one tablespoon steak seasoning, one tablespoon hot sauce, one egg, one half cup chopped parsley, pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Ball up the hamburger mixture about three inches in diameter and press flat. Heat up a skillet to medium-high heat with one tablespoon of oil. Once the skillet is hot then add the burgers and let them cook to what you prefer meat to be done. For a burger thickness of about three fourths an inch, cook on one side for three minutes and turn it over. For medium-rare, cook on the other side for three minutes. For medium, cook on the other side for four minutes. For medium well, cook on the other side for five minutes. For well done, cook on the other side for seven minutes. When there is a minute left to cook the burgers, add your choice of cheese and cover. For the pasta, add boiling water in a pot and add angel hair pasta with a tablespoon of oil so the pasta doesn’t stick together. Once the angel hair pasta is done, sautee two cloves of minced garlic for ten seconds and then add the pasta to a pan. Add two tablespoons of butter, two teaspoons of oregano, two teaspoons of basil, a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Mix and then serve with the burgers with the pasta.
Entertaining guests can be difficult with a clash of personalities. Hopefully, these dishes will give you an idea of how to entertain any guest. I know that these recipes will go over well with a numerous number of people. These recipes can help you get out of your comfort zone and impress your peers with your cooking skills. Everyone deserves to know just how impressive and amazing you are.