Christmas meal starters ?

minifan

I am making tomato and basil soup for our bunch. However for a lovely start i like making goats cheese salad with red onion marmalade.

Make the salad with rocket leaves and pine nuts. For the marmalade melt some butter in a frying pan and slowly cook some thinly sliced red onion until soft. Then add some soft light brown sugar and balsamic vinegar and reduce slowly until thickened.

Put the marmalade on the rocket leaves and top with a round of goats cheese which has been melted under the grill until bubbling and lightly browned. Hey presto!

Always well received and not too filling!

jembie

thriftlady wrote:

Don't have a starter ! I never have done, mum never has done, mil never has done. Christmas lunch is big enough without starters

But, if you don't like that idea, try a fruit cocktail or a wedge of melon.

LOL we have never had starters either. We can never get through the dinner itself let alone have a starter too. Last year we didn't even get to eat the pudding and I have just given it away to make way for this years which will be coming in my hamper :rolleyes:

Nyla1979

We have always had two starters ~ soup and prawn cocktail!!! But noone likes the christmas desserts, so we have no 'afters'!

oakdale_minx

I'm doing aubergine spicy pate with a toasted panini. I was going to to chickpea and chorizo soup, but I thought it would be too heavy.

Jay-Jay_4

How about a few different pates, some soft butter and some melba toast? Tasty yet not very filling

To make melba toast just stick a few sliced of bread in the toaster. When they pop up take them out and cut the crusts off then run a breadknife through the thickness of the toast to split it into two. Place the untoasted side under a grill and you will have thin, crispy, curly melba toast.

Edit: You could do a mushroom pate, a salmon pate and a liver one... all bases covered.

Bogof_Babe

Snaggles wrote:

We always have prawn cocktail, or avocado cocktail for the veggies. I know it's a bit '1982' but it's nice and light, and really easy to do.

I'd love to know the recipe for the avocado cocktail as my veggie husband loves them. Do you just scoop out the avocado and pile it up as if it was prawns? What dressing do you use?

comping_cat

We dont have a starter either, but i do have a few recipes that you could use, either for xmas or another time.

Smoked mackrel pate - smoked mackrel filet, half a tub of riccota cheese, salt and pepper to taste. Mix all ingredients together!!!!!

Avacado, orange and raspberry coulis - slice an avacado, and segment 1 or 2 oranges. Alternate a piece of avacado and orange (about 3 of each). Blitz a handful of rasberries into a sauce, and dribble around the avacado and orange. (this starter is delicious!!!)

Tomato and mozzerella - Place 4 slices of tomato, 4 slices of mozzerella and sprinkle with some fresh basil. Serve drizzled with good quality olive oil.

HTH!!!!!

Idiophreak

I'm all into cheesy old fashioned starters at xmas, so my suggestions are:

1) Melon balls - splash some port over them, well tasty.
2) As above prawn/avacado cocktail.
(didn't think of that, but it sounded nice )
3) Saw a recipe the other day for blinis with beetroot and cream cheese - looked really nice. Can easily then replace the beetroot with smoked salmon for the meat eaters if you want to.
edit: no idea where that recipe was though, i'll have a look..

kaja86

I buy cartons of 'posh' soup from the supermarket in the refridgerator depatment. I than make large star shape croutons flavoured with garlic to float on top. Just cut bread with star shape cutters and gently fry in olive oil and garlic-yummy!
Dead easy and not too filling!!!

Snaggles

Bogof_Babe wrote:

I'd love to know the recipe for the avocado cocktail as my veggie husband loves them. Do you just scoop out the avocado and pile it up as if it was prawns? What dressing do you use?

Yes, I just scoop it out and chop it up, it tastes lovely with the prawn cocktail sauce. I pinched my Dad's prawn cocktail sauce recipe, which is the nicest I have ever tasted:

Half a cup of Tomato Ketchup
1 Cup of single cream
Dash of Worcestershire Sauce
Dash of sherry
Squeeze of lemon juice
2 large pinches of paprika

I make it the day before & leave to chill in the fridge overnight. My little one has crabstick cocktail, as he doesn't like prawns or avocado lol.