This week I have put together four different canapés for all those festive parties and family gatherings.
Add some sparkle to your celebrations and give your guests the welcome of the season with these delicious Christmas nibbles.
Ingredients: Makes 4+
Mini prawn cocktails
1 baby gem lettuce broken into pieces
100g North Atlantic prawns – defrosted
Cucumber
¼ pieces Cherry tomatoes, halved
Lemon slices
Marie Rose sauce
100g mayonnaise
1-2 tbsp tomato ketchup
Dash of Tabasco
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
¼-½ tsp lemon, juiced
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Chorizo pigs in blankets
Mini cooking chorizo sausages
Bacon rashers
Smoked salmon, cucumber and rye
Cucumber slices
Rye bread
Crème fraiche
Dill Smoked Salmon
Caviar (optional)
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Parfait, toast & chutney
Chicken liver parfait
Brioche squares
Fruit chutney
Method
Prawn cocktails
If making your own Marie Rose sauce, mix all the sauce ingredients together in a bowl. Ensure the prawns are drained of any excess water and add these to your sauce mix. Tear the gem lettuce into pieces and build the prawns up on to the leaf. Garnish with the traditional accompaniments of cucumber, tomatoes and lemon with a finish of cayenne pepper or paprika.
Chorizo pigs
Preheat oven – 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
If you can’t find small cooking chorizo sausages, you can use the larger ones and cut into chunks. Simply wrap the bacon around the sausages, place on a baking tray and cook in the oven for around 12-15 minutes.
Smoked salmon, cucumber and rye
Slice the cucumber into even slices. Cut a smaller piece of rye bread into a circle and toast on each side. Place this on top of your cucumber and add a generous piece of smoked salmon. Add a squeeze of crème fraiche and, if you’re feeling flash, a spoonful of caviar. Garnish with sprigs of dill.
Parfait, toast & chutney
Cut a piece of brioche or bread into even squares and toast on each side. If you wish you can place your pate/parfait into a mixing bowl and beat it with a whisk until it’s smooth, this way you can pipe onto the brioche. Serve with a fruit chutney of your choice.
Gary Townsend is head chef at One Devonshire Gardens by Hotel du Vin, Glasgow. See www.hotelduvin.com or phone 0141 378 0385 to book.
Twitter @Chefgtownsend
Instagram- @chef.g.townsend
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