Christmas Nibbles
Due to the size of The Cottage it does make entertaining more than 6 people quite difficult, so in the week run up to Christmas it is tradition for us to throw drinks & nibbles party as there is no room to host a sit-down meal. With the Christmas tree decked, mistletoe hanging from the beams and a roaring fire ready for chestnut roasting it officially kicks of the Christmas week for us. We live in what could possibly be the only place in the whole of the UK that hasn’t been hit by snow this week so thankfully guests didn’t have any problems getting to us.
When it comes to the food I’m usually am in charge of the veggie and sweet nibbles whereas Hubs concentrates on the meat and fish and I have to say he’s far better at it than I am with meat and fish. He came up with the Black Christmas Pudding idea as we usually serve it up in one form another at the party. Last night’s menu included:
Mini Toad in the Hole
Halve the recipe for normal toad in the hole and use chipolatas. Place one chipolata in each section on a bun tin, pour over batter and bake at 220°c for 15 min.
Sticky Squash with Sesame Seeds
Mini Ham & Mushroom Frittatas
Either make one large frittata and slice into bitesized pieces or bake in silicone cake cases for around 15 min
Tempura Prawns with Sweet Chilli Sauce
Onion Bhajis with Riata
Cold meat platter
Vegetable Sticks with Hummus
Black Christmas Pudding topped with Parsnip Puree
Roll black puddings in to golf ball sized balls. Fry off the balls until crispy. Peel and dice a couple of parsnips and fry off with some butter. Blitz the parsnips with a small amount of cream to give a piping consistency. Pipe a swirl on top of the black pudding. Decorate with a tiny piece of chilli and herb leaf.
Cheeseboard featuring Winchester, Blacksticks Blue, Crozier Blue, Red Leicester and Somerset Brie.
Jules
Wow! Very impressive. And even though I don’t eat black pudding I think the black Christmas puddings look totally delicious! I’m sure everyone must have a fab time with all that wonderful food on offer ;0)
I confess I don’t eat black pudding either but Hubs loves the stuff.
These all look adorable Jules. I wouldn’t have the patience but they look fantastic, I can see you have put an lot of effort into your nibbles!
These are such inventive ideas. How long would you say you prep for a party like this? I hope it all went well.
Hmm, between the 2 of us it took about 3 hours
The sweet potato stacks look beautifully scrummy, I’ll definitely have a go at these. X
Love the star shaped canapes, a good idea!
Cor what lucky guests to get such beautiful looking
canapés!! There are some fab ideas there which I’m def going to try
next time we have a party.
At first glance I thought the mini christmas puddings were a sweet nibble, I am so impressed that they are black pudding with parsnip puree - a truly inspired idea. I can’t wait to make them, thanks.
Glad you like them Pippa. I’m surprised how easy it was to roll the black pudding in to balls. The original intention was to top the puddings with celeriac puree, but we couldn’t get any celeriacs.
These all look so good! I like the idea of using sweet
potato that way.
Gorgeous little canapes! Loving the cooking going on here for the festive season! I hope you had a Merry Christmas and New Year! xxx
These look billiant!!! Perfect for NYE snacking - love the
sweet potato stars! I might steal your idea and make ciabatta stars
for my crostini rather than boring normal style!
I would happily prepare (and eat!) this for our social gatherings next week - Thankyou for the menu!
x x x
I love the assortment you have done as it is so different. Especially the sweet potatoe ones how unusual . Have a great 2012 .