Potluck dinner

I have a potluck dinner to go to and have no idea what to take. What are your fail proof dishes that you take. Tia.

Depends on who the group are. Adults? Families with kids?
A stuffed cob loaf always goes down well.
Or mashed potato put into casserole dish and hollowed out - fill the centre with the cob loaf mix and bake.
Salads, roast vege salad, rice salad, pasta salad.
Sticky chicken nibbles
cheese and fruit platter
kebabs - savoury or sweet

It will be mostly adults probably about 30 people.

Hmmm 30 People going, presuming will also take something tooo, you need to think a little outside the normal a little as to take that others would not but is nice, added a couple of recipes as ideas for you to think.

Chicken rolls with sun-dried tomatoes
Full ingredients list:
toothpicks
2 x 250g chicken breasts
50g baby spinach
1/3 cup grated mozzarella cheese
60g oil-free sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
oil spray

Preheat oven to 180ºC. Cut each chicken breast horizontally to give 4 thin fillets. With each chicken piece between 2 sheets of baking paper, pound until an even thickness.
Place chicken fillets on a clean work surface and top each with one-quarter of the spinach. Sprinkle with cheese then place one-quarter of the tomato in the middle of each roll. From the short end, roll each fillet firmly to enclose filling. Secure with toothpicks.
Spray a large non-stick frying pan with oil and place over a high heat. Cook chicken for 1 minute each side or until golden. Transfer to a baking tray and bake for 15-20 more minutes or until cooked through.

Salmon Mousse Cups Recipe
Ingredients
85 grams cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
FILLING:
Tub of cream cheese, softened
1 cup fully cooked salmon chunks or 1 can (200g) salmon, drained, bones and skin removed
2 tablespoons chicken stock
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Directions
In a small bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add flour and mix well. Shape into 24 balls; press onto the bottom and up the sides of greased miniature muffin cups.
Bake at 180c° for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add the salmon, broth, sour cream, onion, lemon juice and salt until blended. Spoon into the shells. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Sprinkle with dill.

Continued

Twice-cooked honey & five spice chicken wonton cups

1 small (about 1kg) whole chicken
60ml (1/4 cup) fresh lemon juice
2 small fresh red chillies, bruised
5cm-piece fresh ginger, halved, bruised
1 stem lemon grass, pale section only, halved lengthways
1 bunch coriander, leaves picked, roots and stems reserved
48 wonton wrappers
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon salt
2 avocados, peeled, mashed
1 shallot, trimmed, cut into thin strips
Sweet chilli sauce, to serve

Pickled cucumber
125ml (1/2 cup) rice wine vinegar
60ml (1/4 cup) water
100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
4 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced crossways
3 large fresh red chillies, halved lengthways, seeded, thinly sliced
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded

• Method
Rinse the chicken inside and out under cold running water. Pat dry with paper towel. Place the chicken in a wok or large saucepan. Cover with cold water. Add the lemon juice, chilli, ginger, lemon grass and coriander stems and roots. Cover and bring to the boil over medium-low heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until just cooked through. Drain.

Meanwhile, to make the pickled cucumber, combine the vinegar, water and sugar in a saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to high and bring to the boil. Cook for 5 minutes or until syrup thickens. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly. Transfer to a bowl and add the cucumber, chilli and kaffir lime. Place in the fridge for 1 hour to chill.
Preheat oven to 180°C. Spray sixteen 150ml-capacity muffin pans with oil. Place 3 wontons or gow gee wrappers in each pan and press to line the base and side, brushing pastry with water where it overlaps. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until crisp and golden.
Line a roasting pan with baking paper. Combine the honey, sesame oil, Chinese five spice and salt in a bowl. Transfer chicken to the pan. Brush with honey mixture. Roast, brushing occasionally with pan juices, for 25-30 minutes or until golden. Set aside for 15 minutes to rest. Slice chicken off the bone.
Spoon the avocado among wontons. Top with the pickled cucumber, chicken, shallot and coriander leaves. Serve with sweet chilli sauce.

Mini Burgers
Ingredients
120grams mince beef ( can use nice mini Ham Steaks like steaklets cut from a Christmas Ham to add to this festive time sort of)
3 slices process chesdale like cheese
4 slices white bread (heels of loaf recommended)
2 tablespoons prepared Thousand Island salad dressing
2 pearl onions, thinly sliced
4 baby pickled gherkins, thinly sliced
3 cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced
Directions
Shape beef into twelve 1-in. patties.
Place on a microwave-safe plate lined with paper towels.
Cover with another paper towel; microwave on high for 1 minute until meat is no longer pink.
Cut each slice of cheese into fourths; set aside.
Using a 1-in. round cookie cutter, cut out six circles from each slice of bread.
Spread half of the bread circles with dressing.
Layer with burgers, cheese, onions, pickles and tomatoes.
Top with remaining bread circles; secure with toothpicks.

Now the above would get your mind to think further.

Cheers

Usual is a cooked whole pumpkin, with seeds removed of course, and stuffed with chilli con carne. Or, stuffed with a mix of spinach, chopped onion, capsicum and sour cream and/or cheese.

However, with pumpkin around here currently about $26, current favourite is cauliflower cheese, baked to brown it off. You can add a variety of stuff to the cheese sauce to jazz it up a bit. Take your pick from mustard, onion, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes etc. We sometimes add a section of broccoli, but personally, I could just live on cauliflower cheese.

Left over cauliflower cheese is rather nice mixed with left over cooked rice as an accompaniment to any meat. Left over stuffed pumpkin (with the chilli) makes a fantastic soup.

now those twice cooked chicken wontony things sound fab.

Another area too is Desserts, perhaps a nice dessert or small treats that are like desserts.

Oh, those chicken rolls above look like pinwheels about an inch or 2.5cm thick layered on a plate reading to go once come out of the oven after being baked sort - of.

Just trying to draw a picture on how they look like as noted "thin fillets".

Bacon and egg pie

Thank you everyone for your ideas.