Impress your guests with some easy-peasy home-made canapes
SATAY SHOTS
MAKES 36
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3tbsp soy sauce
1tbsp (heaped) Very Lazy Chillies, or another chilli sauce or paste
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1tbsp vegetable oil
1tbsp (heaped) light muscovado sugar
415g jar ready-made satay sauce
1 lime, cut in half, for juicing
12 lime slices
Cut the chicken breasts into 36 thin strips and put them into a bowl with the soy sauce, chillies (or sauce or paste), garlic, oil and sugar. Mix together until the chicken is coated, then thread each strip onto a bamboo skewer.
Get the skewers lined up on a baking sheet and keep covered in the fridge until ready to cook.
Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas Mark 5/ Fan 170C. Put the baking sheet in the hottest part of the oven for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, warm the satay sauce in a pan, then spoon among 12 shot glasses or small tumblers.
When the chicken is done, remove from the oven and squeeze over the lime juice. Pop three skewers in each glass and a lime on to each rim. Serve warm or cold.
CRUNCHY CHRISTMAS CROSTINI
MAKES 24
1 ready-to-bake ciabatta loaf
1tbsp olive oil
About 225g Stilton
Half a jar (290g) of beetroot pickle, or other pickle or chutney
A handful of celery leaves, taken from the middle of a head of celery
Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas Mark 6/Fan 180C. Slice the ciabatta into 25 slices. Lay them on a couple of baking sheets and brush them with oil. Toast in the oven for 10 minutes until golden, checking after five minutes and turning if necessary.
Cut the Stilton into slices a little smaller than the toasts (this can be prepared up to an hour ahead).
Spoon a little of the beetroot on to the end of each piece of bread. Prop a slice of cheese up against each pile of beetroot and bake for three to four minutes until the cheese is starting to melt. You don’t want it too melty – try to catch it just as it’s starting to ooze over the edge.
Top each cheesy canape with a sprig from the bunch of celery leaves and serve immediately.
SPICY PRAWN POPPADUMS
MAKES 24
24 cooked and peeled extra large tiger prawns, thawed if frozen
24 ready-to-eat mini poppadums, plain or assorted
200g tub tzatziki
A little chopped fresh coriander
Paprika for dusting
Dry the prawns on kitchen paper and keep covered in the fridge. Lay the poppadums out on a serving platter.
Spoon a little tzatziki into each poppadum. Stand a prawn on top, then finish with a scattering of coriander and a light dusting of paprika.
Recipes from BBC Good Food, 101 Christmas Dishes, published by BBC Books, priced £4.99.