Guy Wolley’s 30-Minute French Dinner Party Recipes

Planning your next dinner party? Guy Wolley shares his delicious French inspired 3-course meal, ready in just 30 minutes…

Remoulade & jambon cru

Ingredients

½ Celeriac (approx. 300g), 150ml Greek yoghurt, 1 tsp Grain mustard, small bunch parsley finely chopped, leaves picked from3 stalks of tarragon, squeeze of lemon, salt & black pepper, 4 thin slices Bayonne ham or other air dried ham (like Parma), a few pea shoots to decorate

Method

Peel and finely cut (using a mandolin or a sharp knife) slices of celeriac then slice finely (julienne) across for fine strips. Put in a bowl then add the yoghurt, a good glug of extra virgin olive oil, the chopped herbs, a good squeeze of lemon and salt and pepper to taste. Combine well and serve with the ham and topped with the pea shoots.

Saute of beef with mushrooms and Madeira, rosti potatoes

Ingredients

For the rosti

Peel and coarsely grate 3 large or four medium sized potatoes such as Rooster or Maris piper into a large bowl lined with a clean tea towel. Then gather it up and squeeze out as much water as possible through the tea towel. To the resulting dried potato shreds add a good glug of olive oil and salt & pepper then tip it all into a large non stick frying pan. Press down to make a round flat cake and fry gently for about 12 to 15 minutes. Then using a plate to cover the frying pan tip over, slide the rosti from the plate back into the frying pan to cook the other side for another 12 to 15 minutes.

For the Saute of beef

Ingredients

3 x 200g sirloin or aged rump steaks, trimmed of fat and cut into thin slices. 3 good sized shallots, 2 cloves garlic, 2 sprigs rosemary, handful of thyme, 300g Chestnut mushrooms, 12 cherry tomatoes, 1/2 beef stock cube, olive oil, Madeira (or medium sherry) salt & pepper

Method

Chop shallots and garlic and soften for a few minutes in a sauté pan with a good glug of olive oil, slice and add the mushrooms, stirring them occasionally, then after 2 minutes add whole cherry tomatoes, and the picked and chopped herbs. Now push everything to the side of the pan, put in another glug of oil, turn the heat up and throw in the meat. Brown the meat as quickly as possible, (you do not want to overcook it) then mix with everything else in the pan and pour in half a glass of Madeira. After a minute add the ½ stock cube and half a glass of water. Stir everything and then let the sauce reduce until it coats the meat.

The whole thing should take under 10 mins!

Serve with the rosti and perhaps some French beans or broccoli.

Raspberry Millefeuille

Ingredients

1 pack ready rolled shop bought puff pastry, 400ml double cream, icing sugar, vanilla paste/ essence, 2 punnets raspberries

Method

Cut puff pastry into 12 rectangles approx 10cm x 4cm.

Place rectangles at least 1 cm apart on a baking tray lines with baking paper, then another sheet baking paper on top then another baking tray on top. Cook in oven at 180 to 100 degrees for about 18 minutes so that they are golden brown. You are cooking it through but not allowing it to rise.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

Whip cream with 2 table spoons of sifted icing sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla essence. For each Millefeuille put one rectangle of pastry on a plate (sticking it to the plate with a dollop of the cream) pipe (or just spoon) a layer of the cream then place a layer of raspberries, then another pasty rectangle then more cream and more raspberries topping off with a third pastry. Dust generously with icing sugar and serve.

Bon Appétit!