Cooking first ever Christmas dinner! Starter ideas please...

gingin_2

I would agree with smoked salmon, brown bread, butter and lemon. Melon and parma ham perhaps for those who don't like salmon?

yabajaz

if you have a cold starter, you won't be worrying about it.
prawn cocktail is good for this, the pink sauce is only mayonaise and ketchup mixed with a dash of lee&perrings. (add chilli for wow factor)
If I was serving pate, I'd not worry about warm toast, I'd serve it with 'melba toast' from a packet.
We always love a salad style starter. Slice tasty 'beef' tomatoes (or on-the-vine) place a slice of Mozzarella cheese between each slice and a basil leaf between them too. drizzle with virgin olive oil.
Any pattern will do,(a circle, a line) the red/white/green looks lovely and will look christmassy too
most importantly....... enjoy it
Anita

rebl43

Hi Turtle,
I am also cooking my first christmas dinner this year- for 16 people:eek: !
My husband usually does it but he has got to work this year!

I think I will probably do an easy starter- prawns in seafood sauce, wrapped inside some smoked salmon.

I am really rubbish at cooking - I have never even cooked a roast for 4 people before, let alone 16!!!:eek:

meerustar

I usually make a prawn cocktail, with a teaspoon of seafood sauce and some shredded lettuce all mixed up and them served with a little side salad.

I also offer soup (but Heinz, I can't make soup, lol)

Also, as I usually get lumbered with the dinner each year, I spread out some of the work. For example, this year MIL is cooking and bringing the Turkey and Stuffing, my mum is making a traditional sherry trifle, and my hubby peels all the veg.

Ask each member of the family who is coming to do one little thing and they feel they are helping (no doubt they know how stressful cooking a xmas dinner is) and you have more time to enjoy the day.

Good Luck

IvanOpinion

Veggie soup made the day before and just reheated.. I use this recipie which is enough to feed about 5000 but after all it is Christmas ..

Soak a packet of dried peas overnight and drain the next day (throw away that little tablet they give you in some packs). Boil up 1-1.5kg of chicken thighs/legs for about an hour until they start falling apart (you can brown the outside first for extra flabour if desired). Lift out and let cool a bit. Pass liquid through a sieve and return to pot. Add a couple of packets of your favourite stock (I use those liquid knorr sachets or a couple of cans of chicken consomme). Add half packet of dried soup mix (I think it is about 100g), a couple of gloves of garlc (crushed), one large onion (finely chopped) and half a dozen spuds (cubed). Separate chicken meat from bones and skin (soup gets meat, bin gets bones, dogs get skin .. I get a crack around the back of the head from DW who has to clean up after dogs). Let simmer for about half an hour and add a packet of fresh soup mix and some seasoning (to taste .., loads of pepper). Let cool (while trying to keep DW away fro having continual 'tasters').

Next day just reheat ... add as much water as necessary to convert from stew into soup

Ivan

Becles

Just a slice of melon, on a bed of mixed lettuce with something to garnish it - thin ribbons of ham, prawns etc., depending on your tastes.

You can make them up in advance, and keep them in the fridge, then just lift them out when needed.

ziggy2004

we usually have a salad( we have had apricot and stilton on spinach, goats cheese and bacon lardons, ceasar salad etc) or pate/salmon with bread/oatcakes and a soup.

mini quiches can be nice as well

X Anne

Athravan

I do vol-au-vents - you can get the cases ready made frozen from Tesco and you just plop them out on a baking tray, and bake them for 10 minutes, they're delicious and puffy, then you fill them with whatever you want.

Because we have a lot of people with varied tastes it's great, I fill them with a variety of things, some ideas I've used in the past are

Salmon
Cream Cheese or Blue cheese
Tuna/Mayo
Egg/Mayo
Turkey/Chicken with some cranberry sauce
Stuffing
Potato Salad
Coleslaw

But basically you can fill them with whatever you want, if you've got vegettarians, vegans, people who don't like one thing or another, you can do a few of each type.

I'm sure there are more christmassy and posh fillers people can think of - I usually keep it simple.

They take maybe 20 mins from start to finish to prepare 48 or so for me, because the last thing I feel like on christmas day is spending a lot of time on starters... they also make good snacks for tea if there's any left - we always stuff left over scraps of turkey and stuffing in them with some cranberry sauce.

Great for on a budget too because You get about 48 cases for £1.50 I think

You can of course make the pastry from scratch, it's puff pastry... I always cheat and use the ready made frozen cases

LittleBill

Hello ...

Roasted Parsnip Soup with Parmesan ...

This can be made 1 or 2 days ahead of time and heated up on the day ...

Blanch your parsnips in boiling water for 5 mins then strain ...

Arrange on a baking tray ... sprinkle with Parmesan if you wish ... just as nice without ... and drzzle with Olive Oil ...

Roast in a medium oven ... 150 to 220 ... until turning a little brown at the edges ... careful not to burn them

If you have one ... Put them in a blender with enough chicken or vegetable stock ... homemade or stock cube ... to make a thickish creamy soup ..
Alternatively you could mash and put through a sieve ...

Serve in little coffee/espresso cups with tiny bits of crispy bacon on the top ...



Looks very professional and cheap as parsnips ... :^)

lynsey78

Me and my husband love having a prawn cocktail for starters... yum