Starters ideas

RubyK

Making dinner for my in-laws this weekend.

Doing a roast fillet of lamb for mains, but I'm stuck with ideas for starters. MIL doesn't like garlic, so any suggestions for an easy enough dish, without garlic?

Nevyn

Bruschetta

RubyK

Thanks, but I'd always use garlic when doing bruscetta.

Think I might have to resort to the trusted but boring prawn coctail

anniehoo

RubyK wrote: »

Thanks, but I'd always use garlic when doing bruscetta.

I did bruschetta last night but mixed one lot of tomatoes with garlic and another lot with just basil paste and slice of mozarella on top. Lovely.

What about paté on toast with soup?

Curry Addict

smoked salmon on brown bread with spring onion and lemon juice.
a homemade soup.

Minder

Roast parsnip and beetroot salad. Buy a bag of mixed leaves, some ready cooked beetroot from the veg section, parsnips, creme fraiche or sour cream, horseradish & a packet of hazelnuts.

Peel and quarter the parsnips, remove the woody core, sharper the thin end like a pencil, rub with a little oil and roast at 180c until crispy - about 25 minutes. Add the hazelnuts towards the end of the cooking time and roast them for about 5 minutes. Cool the parsnips and rub the hazelnuts in a clean teatowel to remove the skins. Bash them lightly to break them up.

Dice the beetroot small. Add the horseradish to the sour cream and taste - it wants to have a bite, but not blow your head off. Add the diced beetroot to some of the sour cream mixture.

Dress the mixed leaves with a little olive oil. Pile on the plates, arrange the parnsips on top, spoon the beetroot around the salad and add some of the remaining sour cream mixture over the top.

lucylu

Asparagus wrapped in smoked salmon and a hollandaise sauce - I made this at Christmas and it went down a treat

I cant find the recipe but here is how it goes.

3-4 asparagus stalks per person trim the stalks and with a peeler take off any wood bits and steam for 2-3 minutes then plunge into cold water.
2 slices of smoked salmon per person

Hollandaise Sauce (serves 4)
2 teasp. white wine vingear or tarragon vinegar
2 large egg yolks
100g unsalted butter

To make the hollandaise sauce, place the vinegar and egg yolks in a food processor with a pinch of salt. Blend until just combined.
Gently heat the butter in a heavy-based pan until melted and just beginning to foam. Turn on the food processor and with the motor running at medium speed; pour in the melted butter in a thin, steady stream through the feeder tube. Continue to blitz for another 5 seconds and pour back into the pan but do not return to the heat. Allow the heat from the pan to finish thickening the sauce as you stir it gently for another minute . Season to taste.

Wrap 2 slices of smoked salmon around the base of the asparagus spears on a heat resistant plate pour over some of the hollandaise sauce over the salmon and pop under a medium grill for about 30 seconds until it becomes golden.

Serve immediately

olaola

Soup? It's something you can make in advance for handiness?

RubyK

Thank you so much, great suggestions there Much appreciated everybody!

Darkginger

How about a scallop and bacon salad? Buy some of that stuff they call 'Continental Bacon', chop into little bits, pan fry until crispy, then remove, and use the fat to fry scallops, cut in half along the middle (so they're still round, just thinner, like coin shaped). Serve scallops and bacon bits on a bed of mixed salad leaves, with a dressing made from Kikkoman (cos it's naturally fermented) soy sauce, lime juice and a dash of Tabasco.

bonkey

A salad of lambs-leaf lettuce, with herby croutons and pieces of smoked salmon, with a mustard & dill vinegraitte, served with some crusty bread.
.

fend

Darkginger wrote: »

How about a scallop and bacon salad? Buy some of that stuff they call 'Continental Bacon', chop into little bits, pan fry until crispy, then remove, and use the fat to fry scallops, cut in half along the middle (so they're still round, just thinner, like coin shaped). Serve scallops and bacon bits on a bed of mixed salad leaves, with a dressing made from Kikkoman (cos it's naturally fermented) soy sauce, lime juice and a dash of Tabasco.

That sounds absolutely gorgeous. DEFO trying this tomorro.