Make your own Partyfood

Eviledna

This year I'm having a bit of a frugal christmas, but I would like to have a New Year's party on a budget. I'd love to know of any recipes for festive savoury treats that I can serve up to reduce the budget and have fun making. So far I have cookies and chilli jam, but I need something more like mini tartlets or cheese twists or even something more exotic.

I'd be delighted with any suggestions, thanks in advance!;)

muckety

Buy a few baguettes and top with a colourful variety of toppings, eg: Tapanade (bought or make your own); cream cheese with a halved cherry tomato; humous; roast-red-pepper humous'; soft blue cheese; smoked salmon etc.

Roast tiny potatoes (coat with oil, some chopped rosemary, salt & pe[pper, roast for about 40 mins).

chicken wings - see the huge thread on this under food and drink! (though it means a mess of bones and napkins at a party).

skewers of chicken marinated in either: terayaki, or yakitori marinade, or do a satay?

olaola

I've tried this 'frugal-make-your-own-party-food' before and it (for me) generally turns out to be more expensive than buying it in. And very fiddly to make all the wee canapes!

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Mini-quiches!

I chop up onion and mushroom extremely finely and use bacon lardons. Fry them up.

Blind bake some pastry, put some cheese on the bottom, add the filling, add some egg/milk mic, top with a slice of tomato and stick in the oven until done.

I made these for a party recently and they went down a bomb.

ChillyJilly

Here's a simple one! It's so easy, so cheap and looks really impressive!

Individual caesar salad cups

Ingredients:
Sliced pan
Garlic Butter
Lettuce
Cherry tomatoes
Parmesan flakes
Caesar dressing

Method:
Roll each slice of bread with a rolling pin.
Butter both sides of each slice of bread with garlic butter.
Get a round scone cutter and cut out holes in each. (You can use the leftover bread for crutons for something else if u want!)
Get a tin with roundy holes (like for cupcakes) and flatten the bread into each cup.
Put in grill for a few minutes (just until toasted).
Remove and cool on a wire rack (so the bottoms dont go soggy)
Make up caesar salad by cutting up lettuce and tomato really small and mixing together with dressing.
Put some in each cup.
Garnish with parmesan flakes.

Serve as soon as possible, otherwise the toasted bread cups will go soggy from the dressing!

ChillyJilly

Just thought of another one I had at a party recently. They look cool and taste yummy.

Tortilla wraps laid out flat (the tomatoey ones make it look prettier!). Spread over some of the flavoured philadelphia (the chive one works especially well) . put a layer of smoked salmon over this. Roll it up really tightly. Cut into bite size pieces and secure with a cocktail stick.

I'm getting hungry for christmas party food now!!

Minder

Take a head of chicory and pick off the leaves. Dice whole cooked beetroot into 1cm cubes - do the same with some clementines. Roast some hazelnuts and rub the skins off in a clean teatowel. Roughly chop the nuts. Mix beetroot, orange and nuts. Put a little fromage frais on each chicory leaf and scatter on the salad mix. Very festive looking!

dordali

I'm planning on doing the same for new Years.
Ideas so far:
Fill party or medium vol-au-vent cases with various filling:
1. Cream cheese and smoked salmon
2. lettuce and prawn cocktail filling.
3. goats cheese with roast red onions or roasted baby tomatoes
4. egg mayo filling
5. cream cheese and olive tampanede.
More ideas here: http://www.jus-rol.co.uk/accessible/recipe_search.asp
Hope this helps.

axer

What about simple Chicken goujons also.

niall_belfast

For our Christmas party we made goats' cheese crostini with red onion marmalade - little slices of toasted baguette rubbed with garlic, soft goats' cheese spread on top, and the tangy, sweet homemade red onion marmalade on top.

It's so so good, dead easy to make, and I'm still getting requests for the recipe for the marmalade.

I've added the recipe to our blog if anyone is interested: http://www.chilliandchocolate.com

Give it a go!

boodlesdoodles

I make very cheap crostini and they've always gone down a flippin treat. I buy cheap sliced pan, cut the crusts off and quarter. Top with squares of cheese (don't cut too thin or the cheese will slide off) and an X of thinly sliced red, yellow or orange pepper (never green too bitter). Throw into the oven for 10 or 15mins until the pepper has melted into cheese and its nice and golden brown. I was very stuck once and used own brand mature cheddar and it was nicer than the named brand I'd used before. You can also top with thin slice of cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, red onion, prosciutto: basically anything that goes with cheese. They can be served either warm or cold.