Finger buffet ideas please

[Barmaid]

I am sure I posted a thread about this in 2009 and there were some great ideas, but I can't find it.

The OH has just asked if I will host a Christmas party. Originally it was about 12 people, now it is more like 20. Some are friends, but some are business contacts so it needs to be reasonably sophisticated. I am thinking "finger buffet".

I've got some ideas but please, I need more!

So far

Mini yorkshires with roast beef and horseradish (hot)
Cucumber discs topped with crispy duck, hoisen sauce and spring onions
Baby tomatoes stuffed with pesto and topped with mozzarella
Mini quiche and/or pizza (hot)
Novelty sausages on sticks with dipping sauce (hot)
Crudites and dips (guacomole, aioli, sour cream and chive).
Mini cheese, onion and rosemary flatbreads

Desert

Mini:

eclairs
mince pies
meringues

I've also got a shed load of spiced apricot chutney that needs using and some beetroot chutney. Not sure what they would go with.

Can anyone think of anything I could do (finger buffet style) that will use a shed load of eggs as well?!

This "party" does come with a caveat. It will not happen unless OH finishes the decorating.........

[JMR27]

An easy sweet - chocolate-dipped strawberries
100g dark chocolate
100g white chocolate
12 large strawberries
Put the dark choc. and white choc. in separate bowls over 2 saucepans of simmering water. When melted dip the pointed end of each strawberry into one of the chocolates and transfer to a sheet of baking parchment. When the chocolate is set, slide each straberry onto a wooden skewer and stand upright in a quite narrow but deep bowl. The strawberries look more attractive if you leave the leaves on.

[hammerman]

Honey roasted new potatoes.....get baby new pots or cut bigger pots into bite size chunks, par boil for 5 mins then put in baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and runny honey and roast in oven until done.

Dries apricots wrapped in bacon. Get two dried apricots, wrap half a rasher of streaky bacon round them and secure with a cocktail stick. Put in oven for 15 mins.

Sticky wings. Make up a sauce.....2 parts tomato ketchup, 1 part soy sauce, 1 part golden syrup or honey, 1 part soft brown sugar. Add garlic, ginger, chilli, lemon juice or anything you want or leave as it is. Pour over chicken wings and put in oven until cooked making sure you baste the wings at least once during cooking.

Homemade onion bhajis...very easy. You'll need a bowl of gram flour (chick pea flour)...i get mine from Tesco, spices of your choice....it's a bit hit and miss really but i generally use a bit of chilli powder, garam massala and turmeric. Mix the dry spices and flour then add enough water to form a stiff paste. Roughly cut up onions and mix in with the flour paste. form into golfball size balls and deep fry until light and fluffy inside.

[hammerman]

If you want to be adventurous, i made brie and cranberry wontons last year. Use shop bought filo pastry and cut into about 3" squares. The pastry needs to be a couple of layers thick. Add a small chunk of brie or cammembert and a small amount of cranberry sauce. Fold up the outsides to make a parcel and secure by sealing with a bit of milk at the top. Cook in the oven or deep fry. You can of course use any filling you like...i did duck and plum sauce and chicken and bbq sauce ones too.

You can also make samosas pretty easily with several layers of filo pastry. Just cut a strip of pastry about 3" wide down the length of the pastry sheets. Add topping of your choice in the bottom corner then fold the bottom left corner of pastry (complete with the filling) over to the right, then the bottom right over to the left so you have a triangle....keep doing this until all the pastry is folded. fry or oven bake.

[venator]

I'm doing focaccia 10"x14" or 12"x16" , with sea salt & rosemary, or plain to cut into fingers. Dead easy, and always goes down well.
I'm doing 7 extra for neighbours, too.

[lorri24601]

you could do mini frittats to use some of the eggs up, easy to make and can be done the day before :-)

http://www.bbcgoodfoo...s/2693/baby-frittatas

[EcclesCake]

Here's a St Delia recipe for the spring rolls http://www.deliaonlin...th-dipping-sauce.html

Don't get too hung up on the contents, they are great for using up the odds and ends in the bottom of your fridge. A useful tip is to put all the filling ingredients in a little gem leaf and then place on the soaked wrapper, it makes life a bit easier.

[EcclesCake]

Sorry for got soup suggestions. A good seasonal would is chestnut and sage, you can use vac packed chestnuts for this. Celeriac is another nice seasonal one. Blood Mary soup using passata would be good too.

Any smooth soup is best.

Chocolate brownies cut into bite size pieces are a popular canape dessert.

[craft1948]

Some good ideas on here..............sushi yum!!


http://www.marksandsp...33&pf_rd_s=left-nav-2

[boxtops]

Barmaid, apricot chutney goes beautifully with roast parsnips - halve the parsnips and scoop out the woody middle, roast then put the chutney along the cavity for the last few minutes. Yum.

[Barmaid]

Thank you all! Some cracking ideas here.

Boxy, I love roast parsnips so I can't wait to try that last one!

[Eve]

A simple one I love doing is mini sausages done in wholegrain mustard and honey, gorgeous!

Homemade sausage rolls with puff pastry are lovely too, so much nicer than shop bought ones.

You could do mini christmas puddings with a brandy butter cap or make it into a kind of trifle with a twist.

[Maydup]

mmmm the parsnips sound delicious and so seasonal too.

[Sir Alec]

Hard boil the eggs, put the yolks in a bowl with mayonnaise and curry powder or curry sauce. Mix well and return to the egg cavities. Easy and popular.

[LDC134]

I always like these two :
cherry tomato, mozzarella ball and a basil leaf on a cocktail stick
chunk of feta and an olive on a little cracker or piece of bread, or even on a ltttle lettuce leaf

Thanks to everyone else for some great ideas I will be borrowing for Christmas nibbles too :)