Had a little dinner party the other night so Chris and I decided to whip up an oldie but a goodie – Beef Carnitas! They do take 4 hrs to cook, but that’s deceiving as it’s a cinch to make since it just sits in the oven the whole time.
The beef turns out tender and incredibly tasty, which we then shred and wrap up in soft tacos. In fact, leftovers are fab with this lil dish, as you can stir it into pasta, use it as pizza topping, on nachos, etc. It freezes well and the flavour develops even more if you leave it in the fridge overnight.
Hunks of chuck steak, topped with jalapeños, garlic, herbs, salt/pepper.
Wrap it all fully in foil, then bake for 4 hours or until it shreds easily.
The shredded beef (on the right) served with loads of condiments
All rolled up in a soft taco. Tasty!
OK we actually had our Beef Carnitas with beer, but afterwards we had lovely red wine with our dessert…
For dessert, I decided on a simple Puff pastry with marshmallows and nutella. Mainly because it can all be pre-made, then popped into the fridge and baked in the oven when you want your dessert. After all, dessert is best served piping hot from the oven, no? :)
The 3 main ingredients you need
Puff pastry cut into squares, with a dollop of nutella and marshmallow
Fold over the pastry and press edges down with a fork. Brush it with a beaten egg (so the pastry browns nicely).
Bake for around 15-20mis until golden brown. Crispy sweetness!
As you can probably tell by now, I favour the easy way out when it comes to entertaining. I really like stuff that’s pretty no-frills and fuss-free. I know it’s not as impressive as a 4 course fancy meal.. but it saves me the stress and hassle, and in my opinion is still pretty tasty 😉
Do you prefer fuss-free home entertaining, or are you the domestic goddess whipping up impressive cuisine?
Ooh the dessert looks really yummy!! 😉
Heh you can try making it for your whole family, it’s really easy to make and so tasty 😛
Wow!! I love your fuss free meals! Gonna try out the puff pastry soon! Pls share more recipes ;p
Hope it works out for you! You can pre-make it all and put in the fridge, then when you want it just pop it in the oven 🙂
thanks for sharing! I’m going to try the dessert 🙂 I already have nutella and marshmallows at home. Just need to get the Puff pastry.
Puff pastry keeps for ages too, and you can also swap the marshmallows with bananas if you want!
I think we tend to overdo it a bit whenever we have dinner parties. If we want to be lazy though we’ll just bring out the fondue/raclette set. :p
You do…. but your lunch/dinner parties are always so YUM!
I’m also a fuss free kinda girl. In Sweden when we entertain, we bake huge pies (savoury and dessert) and let people help themselves 😉 IMHO, one can never go wrong with a good pie!
Oo I like the idea of a big pie. Have you posted a recipe and pics of one of your creations??
Just like a camp fire dessert! Sometimes I split a banana into half and smear nutella and mini marshmallow on them. Pop into the oven until it becomes gooey. I love it! I love to cook and entertain, so when my husband suggested a little dinner for his best men, I decided to make pea crostini, clam chowder, a pasta dish, hand cut fries, a really fun drink and yeah, I made tiramisu too since I went with the simple Italian theme! I really go all out and buy the best. It is fun.
Omg that banana dessert sounds fab. Would be awesome cooked on a BBQ too!
I would be so exhausted from making so many dishes. You really are a domestic goddess!
That dessert looks so good and so easy. I’m going to tag in my google reader, even though I never cook.
Ohh it is good and uses so few ingredients. Hope you get round to making it!