I can make a mean stir fry. Basically anything on a grill or stovetop

Japanese curry is both easy and a crowd pleaser. I saute whatever veggies I have on hand and just add curry mix and water to it (S&B medium spice is my go to brand). Serve with flatbread or rice. It’s very forgiving and customizable to personal taste.

Risotto is not too hard and looks fancy

Corn beef hash.

I have a pasta maker attachment for my stand mixer, and it makes it surprisingly easy to make fresh pasta. So I’ll knead together some semolina, egg, and warm water until I get a nice dough (using the stand mixer, of course), then feed it through the pasta maker attachment to make fettuccine. Boil and make a simple sauce with browned butter, pasta water, a splash of heavy cream, a spoonful of whole grain mustard, a spoonful of garlic paste, then topped with some freshly grated pecorino and a drizzle of olive oil.

Sounds fancy, and it does take a more time to make the pasta from scratch, but it’s not hard at all and it’s ludicrously delicious. Plus, 99% of people are impressed by even the idea of fresh pasta.

Penne a la vodka and apple almond crunch salad

Go for some burgers, toast the buns, salt the tomatoes, setup caramelized onions, and use a nice cheese. Homemade buns go the extra mile.

After many failed attempts I can now semi-consistently roll a proper burrito

Korma based on Patak’s Korma paste. Onions (1-2 depending on size), chopped Chicken breast (1000g), Korma paste. Let it brown a bit. Put in coconut milk (800ml), let it simmer for 20-30 min. Put in Korma paste to taste. Now put in cream (200-250ml) and put in more Korma paste to taste. Serve with rice.

Things to watch out for:

• The korma paste needs to be cooked for a minute or so before it tastes good. Putting some in after cooking will taste terrible.
• The cream should be cooked as short as possible or it will coagulate. That won’t affect the taste, but it will affect looks and texture. So it should be seasoned as close to correct as possible before you put in the cream.

If you have more time and want to impress more: Juicy Lucy Burgers.

For the patty you need ground meat (1000g), finely chopped onions (2-3 depending on size), salt, pepper and worcestershire sauce (2-4 tea spoons).

You then spread the meat really thin on a glass cutting board (or other really smooth surface, worst case aluminium foil works too). Slice some cheese really thin and place it on the meat. Put another thin layer of meat on top of the cheese and “seal” the cheese into the meat, so that it’s completely covered on all sides. Lift the meat from the board using a big knife and fry it in a pan.

Serve in a brioche bun with toppings of your choice.

Regarding the cheese: since the cheese will be getting much more heat than cheese usually does on a burger, don’t use the usual processed soft cheese,but instead real cheese like Gauda (if you want it mild), Emmentaler, or if you want something really special, some harder kind of blue cheese (I am using Österkron, but I am sure it’s not internationally avaliable).

Fettuccine with Alfredo sauce, chicken breast, and broccoli. It’s simple and delicious, while pairing excellently with an appetizer salad too. Bonus points if garlic bread is included

Wings

We have an air fryer so they come out super crispy without deep frying, and you can use different sauces to finish so that everyone is happy

If I’m not air frying I’m using my Asian wing recipe where the coating has garlic and ginger powder and brown sugar. It burns so you have to bake them, then sauce with a mixture of hoisin, sriracha, mirin. It hits a lot of delicious notes at the same time

I usually just go for lasagna, either classical or a vegetable lasagna. I wouldn’t say it’s terribly impressive, but most people like it. And it has the huge advantage of being able to be prepared in advance, so I save myself the trouble of getting extremely stressed over finishing the meal in time but not to early. The béchamel sauce might take a few times to get right but after that it’s not hard to prepare.

Get a lamb tagine recipe down, and work out all the trimmings, it’s pretty easy, and it makes a proper spread with pretty minimal effort. The tagine is the only real cooking, and it’s pretty relaxed. Then do a decent couscous (or CPU’s void as autocorrect would have it), with lots of stock, butter, and zatar, get some decent flat breads, and then bung out a whole load of mezze bits like humous/olives/stuffed bell peppers etc. It looks like loads of effort, but it’s actually cruisy, and it tastes fantastic

Babish’s Panko Crusted Salmon.

It’s stupid easy & relatively quick. The hardest part for me was the egg white. Had never done it before.

If you’ve never done it before, & break the yolk on the first try… don’t dump the egg, just save it for breakfast. Yes, I dumped the egg.

Link to video, I think it’s the second dish, towards the middle.

Link to recipe is in the video description.

Cinnamon Toast Crunch and a glare. If you have to work on the glare, go watch Clint Eastwood in The Outlaw Josie Wales.

All my savoury stuff tends to fall flat. But I am pretty good at baking. I made a bakewell tart recently and it was killer. Also bread. I make some pretty mean breads. Also, whilst I haven’t done it in a while, I used to make cheese, specifically soft rind cheeses like camembert. Not east to prepare, takes about 8 weeks, but very impressive.

Mostly depends on the culture / palate of your guest. What I’d make for for someone who mostly eats takeout is quite different from what I’d make for someone that only eats Ramen and Kraft dinner.

Most likely I’d just make macaroni salad or macaroni casserole though, because everyone likes that.

I asked my mom for the family recipe, to use as an example in case you’ve never had it.

Cook some macaroni noodles and then cool it under running water. Cube cheese, ham, pickles. Hard boil a couple of eggs. I like them smashed to a paste and mixed in with the salad, but my family just has them as a side dish. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl with Miracle whip and seasoning salt.

If you want, you can make it a casserole by skipping the pickles + eggs, adding a cup of shredded cheese, and mixing it all together with a can of condensed tomatoe soup. Then bake it in a casserole dish until all the cheese melts.

Hoisin chicken. Adapted from a recipe I’ve not been able to find. Super easy, very few ingredients, ingredients are generally easy to find, and it’s super quick to make. Doesn’t make a huge mess, either. Goes well with simple rice and veg.

Ingredients:

• Chicken of choice (thigh is best, can substitute breast though haven’t tried), diced into small chunks (three quarter- to one-inch)
• Hoisin sauce
• Garlic, minced finely
• Ginger, minced finely (I’m usually lazy and use prepared ginger paste from the store)
• Red pepper flakes (optional)
• Salt, to taste (I omit, as I find the hoisin sauce plenty salty)
• Pepper, to taste (I recommend white pepper, though black pepper can be used)
• Neutral oil, like vegetable

Instructions:

Note: you may need to work in smaller batches. Don’t crowd the pan.

At med-high to high heat, quickly cook the chicken in the pan using a bit of oil. Cook until nearly cooked through, but just barely under. Season while cooking with salt and pepper to taste.

• Note: I like to add the red pepper flakes halfway through cooking the chicken to hydrate the flakes in the oil/juices, which helps bring out some extra flavour from the flakes, seasoning the chicken itself. This makes it a bit spicier though.

Push the chicken to the edges of the pan.

Put approx. 1 tsp (or to taste) each of garlic and ginger into the centre of the pan and very quickly saute until golden. Do not let them go over golden.

Pour in just enough hoisin to coat the chicken. Pour straight into the ginger and garlic, and mix well to form a sauce. Stir quickly for a few seconds, you’ll find the sauce thickens slightly at the high heat.

• Note: if you didn’t add the red pepper flakes earlier to the chicken, you can add it now.

Toss the chicken into the sauce. You should have a light, but thorough, coating.

Repeat in batches for all remaining chicken.

Pulled pork. It takes a long time to smoke, but requires minimal effort and hard to screw up.

These are super simple, take under 20 minutes, and people love them.

For a dinner: Baked salmon with lemon, butter, garlic and dill. Saute some spinach on the side. For a lunch: Sandwich. Crusty baguette, a soft cheese of some sort, slices of green apples. Maybe a cured meat like prosciutto if you are feeling that. Takes no time at all to make but feels fancy. For a breakfast: Oatmeal with guava paste. It turns pink which is fun, then toast some slivered almonds in a bit of butter and server them hot on top.

Depends on the person you’re trying to impress. If the person is Caucasian then make something bland otherwise add some spices.

Pan-seared sea scallops.

The key here is to get good scallops which were flash frozen, NOT stored in liquid.

All you need is a good skillet, a hot flame, and several tablespoons of good quality butter.

Watch a bunch of videos for various techniques. My preferred method is just basting them in butter.

Don’t crowd the pan. Don’t burn the butter. Don’t overcook the scallops.

Master this dish and you will always have a last-minute gourmet option.

Serve with a mixed-green salad, grits, white wine.

Perfect for date night because it is classy, satisfying, decadent, but also light, and won’t stain your clothes if it you happen to have a slip.

Note: the quality of this dish 100% depends on the quality of the scallops.

Sometimes, even when you pay top dollar, you can get a batch that are really bland.

Good news is that generally you can get great frozen ones from Costco, and keep them in your freezer, ready to go.

If you have time, and a lot is riding on the meal, do a test scallop in advance to make sure it’s delicious. If it isn’t find a new plan.

Beef Wellington with a red wine sauce, if I have money to blow. If not, either Mongolian Beef, Gumbo, or any number of other things, depending upon the person.

Mussels. They are cheaper than clams, easy to cook, can taste just as good, and easy to make fancy.

Smores

My go-to approach is beef goulash, Austrian style. It’s a bit laborious (although the steps are easy), but the dish can (and should) be prepared in advance, while you prepare a simple potato mash as you get ready for the person.

Vegetarian guest? Seitan goulash tastes really good.

Max and cheese.

Without using the box instructions.

Usually a sausage ragu and Brian Lagerstrom’s foccacia. Honestly the foccacia is the real star, I make it for every guest the first time they come over for dinner, even the 2 hour version is delicious. Main course just needs to be something Italian or Italian adjacent that doesn’t need the oven, since I try to have the bread ready a few minutes before serving. Ragu’s a staple for us because you really just need five ingredients (pasta, crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic and italian sausage) and it’s mostly just sitting around waiting for things to cook, so you have time to talk to your guests

Gnocchi with green asparagus in butter and lemon juice and zest. Optional sage in butter. Finish with parmesan. Also easy to veganize.

Butter Chicken (curry), usually. It’s so stupid easy, it just takes a few hours of marinade and simmer time. But you’re just frying chicken cubes, boiling together tomatoes, onions, spices etc, blending it together, and serving. Couldn’t be simpler, and it is always delicious.

Grilled cheese. They turn out surprisingly good using a cast iron pan

Chicken schnitzel. Can’t really mess it up and it’s always good.

Spaghetti aglio e olio. Sounds fancy yet it could not be simpler. Cook spaghetti or linguine or my favourite angel hair pasta. Meanwhile peel and slice garlic. Heat good quality EVOO in a pan and when the pasta is nearly ready toss in the garlic (I also like to add in sliced red chilli). Once garlic starts turning light golden toss in the pasta with a little bit of the pasta water and mix together. Serve sprinkled with shaved parmesan and some finely chopped parsley, oregano, marjoram or any green herb of choice for a little bit of colour (optional). Nice crusty garlic bread on the side and for a couple of bucks and 20 minutes of your time you’re sure to impress anyone.

I make this copycat ravioli from a restaurant I love.

Find some butternut squash or pumpkin stuffed ravioli. Fresh sage. Aleppo chili spice, some jumbo shrimp, and garlic mince or chopped fresh (like 3-4 bulbs).

Melt butter in your pan, fry up the sage. Set aside.

Boil your water for pasta. More butter to pan, cook the shrimp. When both sides are pink it’s done, don’t turn them to rubber by over cooking. Set aside and rinse out your pan.

Boil the pasta and when it’s half done, more butter in the pan. Medium to high heat, it’s called brown butter sauce. You let the butter fry until frothy. Add garlic and Aleppo at the end.

Drain pasta and stir in sauce. Plate, and top with shrimp and sage.

It’s fucking delicious.