Programme: Rachel Allen's Dinner Parties

Raspberry Millefeuille

This is a wonderfully light dessert of puff pastry layered with cream and raspberry. It looks very grand and impressive, so do serve it at the table as it looks best before it is sliced.

Almond Meringue with Apricot Purée

Recipe by Rachel Allen

From: Rachel Allen's Dinner Parties

The apricot purée is also divine served with natural yoghurt as a quick snack or for breakfast. It can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container and will keep for up to a week.

Baked Beetroot Risotto with Parmesan Crisps

Recipe by Rachel Allen

From: Rachel Allen's Dinner Parties

With its amazing deep pink colour, this is a fun-looking dish with a seriously delicious taste. A risotto cooked in the traditional way can be a pain to prepare for a party. You have to be on hand to stir the stock constantly into the rice when you'd much rather be dazzling your guests with witty repartee. This baked recipe offers an easy alternative to all that stirring. For added convenience, the beetroot can be cooked up to two days in advance and the Parmesan crisps be kept for up to eight hours, if stored in an airtight box.

Chicken Confit

Recipe by Rachel Allen

From: Rachel Allen's Dinner Parties

It is usually duck legs that are cooked in this way, but all fowl taste pretty good cooked in half a litre of duck fat!

Smoked Mackerel and Goat's Cheese Soufflé

Recipe by Rachel Allen

From: Rachel Allen's Dinner Parties

Cheese soufflé is a classic and not nearly as scary a dinner party prospect as you might imagine. This version, with goat's cheese and smoked mackerel, is a fantastic variation on the theme.

Southeast Asian Grilled Fish

Recipe by Rachel Allen

From: Rachel Allen's Dinner Parties

If you are cooking this dish for quite a few people, you can lay the fish on an oiled oven tray, drizzle a little oil over the top of each fish, and cook under a hot grill for 3–5 minutes on each side or until the skin is crispy and the fish opaque all the way through.

Blueberry and Custard Tart

Recipe by Rachel Allen

From: Rachel Allen's Dinner Parties

This is a great vegetarian dessert for summer entertaining. The pastry can be made a day in advance of filling and serving, and if you'd rather use raspberries, there's nothing to stop you.

Crab Bisque

Recipe by Rachel Allen

From: Rachel Allen's Dinner Parties

You can either buy cooked crab meat or to cook your own. Serve the soup as a starter or for lunch with crusty bread.

Steak au Poivre

Recipe by Rachel Allen

From: Rachel Allen's Dinner Parties

One of my favourite ways to serve steak is this traditional French bistro method. Pepper, a seasoning that often hides in the background barely noticed, is thrust onto centre stage. Where normally we grind peppercorns into a fine powder, here they are left in larger chunks so you notice the flavour and texture as well as the heat.