Easy entertaining: Fuss-free dining

We’ve taken any stress out of preparing this delicious, sit-down meal for a seamless dinner party.

Menu

• Entrée: Prawn cocktail cups
• Main: Lemon-roasted pork with garlic and basil
• Sides: Spicy cabbage and Roasted garlic vegetable mash
• Dessert: Citrus fruit-filled pancakes

Shopping list

• Fruit and vegetables
  1 pot basil
  1 red or green cabbage or 1/2 of each coloured cabbage
  1 large carrot
  2 garlic bulbs (plus one for garnish, if preferred)
  1 small piece ginger
  2 kumara
  6 lemons (includes 1 for garnish)
  18 small lettuce leaves (either one pack of ready-prepared crispy lettuce leaves or 3 baby cos lettuce)
  5 oranges (includes  1 for decoration)
  1 bunch parsley
  1 large parsnip
  3 spring onions
  1 swede
• Meat
  2 pork tenderloin fillets (between 350g- 375g each)
• Chilled/frozen
  1 large egg
  1 large carton low-fat natural yoghurt
  350g frozen prawns, peeled
  300ml trim milk
• Bottles/canned
  Peppadew diced peppers
  1 jar lemon curd
• Miscellaneous – check your cupboards before you add any of these items to your list
  brandy or rum, or orange juice (3 tablespoons)
  capers
  flavoured oil eg. chilli
  flour
  freshly ground black pepper
  ground cinnamon
  ground cumin
  icing sugar
  oil spray
  olive oil
  salt
  salt-reduced chicken stock
  seafood dressing
  sultanas
  Tabasco sauce
  tomato sauce
  walnuts

Time plan

The day before

• Prepare pork to the end of step 4. Cover and refrigerate.
• Make pancakes. Cool thoroughly and lay between sheets of baking paper, and place in a sealed container.

In the morning

• Prepare prawns. Toss in oil, lemon juice and parsley. Then toss in dressing. Place in the fridge in a sealed container.
• Peel or scrub vegetables for vegetable mash.
• Grate zest, then peel and segment oranges for pancakes. Keep chilled, in a sealed container.
• Mix yoghurt with lemon curd. Cover and chill.

2 hours before

• Prepare vegetables/ingredients for Spicy cabbage.
• Brown pork and transfer to an ovenproof dish.
• Cook vegetables for mash. Preheat oven to 200°C. Roast garlic.

1 1/2 hours before

• Assemble mash. Keep covered in the bottom of the oven.
• Prepare cabbage. Keep covered in the pan.

1 hour before serving

• Assemble cocktail cups.
• Assemble pancakes and keep chilled.
• Cook pork 1 hour before serving to allow it to rest before slicing.