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Rachel Khoo

The Khoo Times

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Khoo Times

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Flavour of the month: Easy entertaining

City living isn’t always conducive to entertaining at home, let’s face it. Time is short and space even more so. After a long day at the office, meeting in town for a bite to eat is far more appealing than racing for the shops, trying to beat your friends home and then embarking on a new recipe. And that’s not even to mention the inevitable end of night washing up.

But that said, breaking up the working week with a meal and chinwag with friends is a very successful recipe for getting over that so-called hump day. I love entertaining and many of my recipes are very suited to singles or couples cooking in small spaces; that was pretty much the premise of 'The Little Paris Kitchen' after all. I like to make things that look pretty on the plate, can be on the table in a matter of minutes and above all, taste delicious, all of which are crucial criteria for a great meal between friends.

Mmm my goat's cheese and pepperonata baked eggs are a twist on the classic version in Little Paris Kitchen

My cute little Oeufs en cocotte are fail-safe crowd-pleasers and require zero prep and fewer ingredients than you can count on one hand. They make a great starter, or a light brunch with plenty of buttered sourdough toast.

Among my favourite easy entertaining dishes is my winter salad, a colourful medley of ingredients that comes together in minutes (literally), and keeps the washing up to a serious minimum. Check out my YouTube video or you can find the recipe in my latest book Rachel Khoo’s Kitchen Notebook.

Last, but certainly not least, my chocolate pudding is a speedy foolproof recipe that can be made the day ahead of a dinner party and when chilled in pretty little glasses (I think they look pretty fancy for such a simple process). The crunchy praline topping is technically optional, but well worth the extra few minutes.

Try this 3-course menu for a mid-week dinner party or a fuss free weekend meal:

Oeufs en cocotte (from The Little Paris Kitchen p.29)

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Winter Salad (from my You Tube channel)

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Chocolate Pudding (from my Evening Standard Column)

If you are looking for more entertaining ideas, here are some of my favourite sources:

Sunday Suppers - for inspirational styling and tantalising recipe ideas

Pimp up you table setting skills with ideas from Griottes - brilliant ideas for styling your table

Check out Nigel Slater’s mid-week dinner ideas for some beautiful plates of food for guests

In other news