I don't know if this is actually only 10 ingredients, but it's close, and it rolled off my tongue better than "10-13 or so ingredients". But 10 people came over for dinner, and I cooked, and it cost $10 a person in groceries (and a bottle of wine for me!).
Cooking for a large group can be intimidating, but don't let it be. A couple of tricks to remember: A) have lots of booze, and snacks so no one is noticing when you freak out in the kitchen, B) when people ask you if they can help, say yes, and give them something to do, and C) don't worry when it's not perfect- most people are super happy to not be cooking for themselves and happy to be hanging out with their friends.
I still say spaghetti is the easiest way to cook for a large group. But here is another option:
Cheesy Factor (1 no cheese, 10 all cheese): 1 (Except the appetizer of cheese, which can be omitted)
Dummy Factor (1 easiest, 10 hardest): a decent 5 just because it's a lot of food
Time Factor (1 shortest, 10 longest): 5
Teriyaki Salmon and Chicken, Sauteed Shrimp, Wild Rice, Buttered Corn, and Pea Pods and Mushrooms for 10
2 lbs of fresh uncooked shrimp
2-2.5 lbs salmon
3 chicken breasts
Jar of Island Teriyaki or Very Tery Island Teriyaki sauce
Butter
Olive Oil
1 lemon
4 boxes of Near East or Rice-a-Roni Long Grain and Wild Rice
5 ears of corn
2 lbs of sugar snap peas
1 package of brown or white mushrooms
Lemon Pepper seasoning
Cheese and Baguette Appetizer
Brick of brie cheese
Brick of havarti with dill cheese
1 loaf of french bread
First thing to do is get the chicken and salmon marinating in the Teriyaki sauce. Season the salmon and chicken with Lemon Pepper seasoning (on the heavy side). Cut the salmon into 6-8 oz serving sizes, and put into ziploc bag(s) with marinade. Cut chicken breasts in half and put in ziploc bag with marinade. Next, get the 4 boxes of rice cooking. Shuck the corn, cut each ear in half, and put in water, boil.
Next, get your appetizer ready. Slice the bread into 1/2 thick pieces, but on a baking sheet, and put in oven to warm/toast slightly. Put bricks of cheese onto a cutting board with little cheese knives. Once bread is warm and toasty, take out of oven and put into a bowl lined with a cloth napkin or towel or something. Voila. Instant appetizer that people can serve themselves.
Now, while the corn and rice are cooking, do some prep work: clean and slice all of the mushrooms. Put about 2 tbl of butter into one large frying pan, and about 4 tbl of olive oil into another large frying pan (don't need to turn on burners yet, just get them ready for cooking). Start the grill.
Start cooking the chicken and salmon on the grill. (This is a great task to give to someone else, by the way, if they offer.) While grilling, start sauteing the mushrooms in the olive oil and shrimp in the butter (season both shrimp and mushrooms with salt and pepper). Squeeze a decent amount of lemon juice over the shrimp also.
While those are sauteing, and the salmon and chicken grilling, check your rice, as it should be about done. Just turn it off and leave the lid on, it will stay warm. Corn should be done too. Take corn out of water, and put into serving dish, along with about 2 tbl of butter, and toss with salt and pepper.
Put the pea pods into hot water that corn was in, and cook for about a minute (by the way, if you haven't figured it out yet, you are making the Pea Pods and Mushrooms recipe that I posted a while back). When pea pods are done, take out, put into frying pan with mushrooms, toss with heavy salt and a little more olive oil and those are now done.
Your grilled stuff should be done, your shrimp done, rice done, corn done, pea pods done. DONE.
The end gets a little hairy, but you will be able to handle it. Especially with people sitting around the kitchen talking and eating bread and cheese and drinking wine, there will be plenty of help. Give them tasks to help out while they chat (grilling, toss the corn, set out plates and napkins, get drinks out and refilled, find serving dishes for you to put things in, etc.). Then just do it up buffet style, which is also great, because then you actually get to eat with your guests, instead of still doing crap in the kitchen.
You are now an official entertainer. Congratulations! You will become an addict to hosting dinner parties once you realize how easy it is to multiply your favorite recipes or try new ones for large groups. Just make sure to actually collect money from people that offer for groceries and tell people it's BYOB and you are good to go!
