Looking for some new good recipes or meal ideas. Anyone want to share their goto meals/recipes for when small groups of people come over?

1) I already smoke food a lot, so not looking for traditional BBQ or even just high dollar steaks

2) be reasonable on the budget, using items you can get at H-E-B.

3) meals for 6-8 people

4) healthier options are nice, but not mandatory

Grilled fish with garlic sauce and pico de gallo

1. Rub filets w/oil prevent sticking on grill. S&P filets. I like to add a dash of cumin as well.
2. Make pico (standard tomatoes, japs, onions, cilantro, lime juice)
3. Finely mince garlic
4. Brown garlic in skillet w/a little olive oil
5. Mix garlic and some of the garlic oil w/mayo, white vinegar and/or lemon juice, S&P to taste
6. Grill fish
7. Drizzle roasted garlic sauce on fish, top w/spoonful of pico

I like to eat this w/a salad, or if I'm not caring about health, some mahatma yellow saffron rice. Also goes well w/black beans.

Edit: You can also do this w/chicken. Season however you grill chicken. I'll also do cajun/blackening season on the fish/chicken. Either way it is good. I like salt.

I missed the group part.

When I have friends over they actually really like homey food like fried chicken, meat loaf, chicken pot pie, etc. Fajitas feed a lot of people for cheap. Enchiladas. Chicken fried steak. Pork loin.

Fajitas is my group go to, big payoff for not a lot of effort, especially if I get them marinating the day before. BBQ goes over well but takes more planning and time. When it's cold I go with chili.

Pretty much what I have been going to. I have a lot of venison, so I feel I have great fried steak and chili recipes I have developed and modified over the last ten years.

Fajitas, hamburgers, and BBQ are my most common go to meals. Just always trying to find new ideas.

Lasagna, pasta & meatballs, chicken Parmesan, grapefruit chicken fajitas, any fish, roast beef, mushroom burger for vegans/vegetarians, ribs.

Braised boneless beef short ribs "osso bucco style" over creamy polenta.

Chicken adobo over jasmine rice.

Carne Guisada in a bag from HEB. Cost is about $8/bag and I get onions and tomatoes to saut with it. Tortillas, chips, guacamole, rice and beans.

NC2001 said:

---

Chicken adobo over jasmine rice.

---

Damn you beat me to it. Filipino food is so good.

jr281 said:

---

NC2001 said:

---

Chicken adobo over jasmine rice.

---

Damn you beat me to it. Filipino food is so good.

---

Well I am Filipino...

If I have time, I'll also make some pancit.

Gumbo, a pasta type concoction i make on occasion, seared or fried venison/elk

If you smoke meat then you need to make Brunswick Stew. It is easy, gets rid of leftover meat, and freezes well.

My other go to is chicken and sausage gumbo.

I'll post the recipe if anyone is interested.

Here's my chicken adobo recipe. It's how my Mom makes it...so I guess it's a family recipe?

It's pretty simple:

3lbs boneless chicken thighs
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 medium onion diced
5 cloves of garlic minced
1 Tsp black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
Garlic powder
Ground black pepper
Salt
Oil

1) Trim off any excess fat from the chicken thighs and cut them into cubes and place them in a large bowl.

2) Season the chicken with garlic powder and ground black pepper. Add the soy sauce and vinegar to marinate the chicken. Cover the large bowl with the marinated chicken with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour.

3) Once the chicken has marinated, take it out of the fridge to bring to room temperature. In a pot, drizzle some oil to saute the onion and the garlic over medium heat.

4) Season the onions and garlic with some ground black pepper and salt. Once the garlic has begun to brown, and the onion becomes translucent, add the chicken with the marinate in to the pot. Add the the black peppercorns and bay leaves as well.

Note: I usually put the black peppercorns and bay leaves in a cheese cloth and place it in the pot because I hate digging out the peppercorns and bay leaves once the adobo is cooked.

5) Once the liquid has come to a boil, cover the pot and lower the heat to simmer the chicken for 45 minutes.

6) After 45 minutes, remove the lid and turn the heat on to high. Let the liquid reduce to turn it in to the rich sauce. This is the stage where you can add more water if the sauce is too salty, more soy sauce if it is too bland, and more vinegar if the flavor is not tangy enough.

7) Once the sauce thickens to you liking, turn off the heat and serve the chicken adobo over rice.

The street chicken from the chicken thigh thread on here is pretty dang good. If you're shopping at heb, I like to keep a jar of bacon jam on hand for roasted brussel sprouts tossed in bacon jam.

Homemade pizza on thin crust and chicken parm.
I kill it every time.

Stuffed Pork Loin - My go to is garlic/cream cheese/onion stuffed and bacon wrapped. Serve with a horseradish sauce. You can use any kind of stuffing you want.

I Watch HEB for their $1/lb whole pork loins. A whole loin will run about $10. Spiral slice about a 3 lb section for stuffed pork loin (can usually get up to 3 form one loin if you want), if you don't use it all for stuffed pork loin, cut up the rest for boneless pork chops.

BYOB pot luck

NC2001 said:

---

jr281 said:

---

NC2001 said:

---

Chicken adobo over jasmine rice.

---

Damn you beat me to it. Filipino food is so good.

---

Well I am Filipino...

If I have time, I'll also make some pancit.

---

I'm also Filipino lol. Quick and easy I like making some tapsilog or longsilog. Even for dinner haha.

Shrimp and grits is my go-to for guests. We live near Destin, so when people visit, they want seafood. I get really good, fresh shrimp for relatively cheap, and it's more consistent than fish from any market and I don't have the time to fish like I used to. Easy, quick, hard to screw up, and scales easily too.

Bacon wrapped pork tenderloin with roasted potatoes and brussels sprouts.

Americanized steak au poivre

Goat cheese and spinach stuffed chicken with roasted baby potatoes and carrots.

Caprese insalata

Pasta and meatballs

garlic bread

Stir fried pork. Pork roast or butt cut into cubes, Stir fry with oil in pan with garlic. When brown, add in HEB frozen stir fry veggies--they have a couple of kinds from which to choose. I also like to add some fresh onion and bell pepper. Add in Mr. Yashida's sauce. Serve with white rice. Crowd pleaser.

You could use chicken or beef if you like.

Tator tot casserole

So easy sooooo delicious and so filling