Starters

Shoe Lover

Hi All,

I'm having my sister and her boyfriend to dinner on Sunday and am looking for some starter ideas. Something relatively simple but nice and not too heavy either. I had thought about melon and parma ham or else prawn cocktail, but they are a bit predictable. I'd like to try something new. Any ideas welcome!

Swampy

How about some slow cooked ribs?

Shoe Lover

I have braces so ribs are a no go until my teeth are fixed

billo.d86

A white bean salad is very nice.
Bunch of spring onions tin of white beans or kidney beans or mix them, strained and washed, some chorizo, olive oil, parsley and lemon juice.

Heat up the chopped spring onions in the olive oil, medium heat until soft, add beans and mix for a few mins until hot add chopped parsely.

Remove the beans but them in a serving blow add some olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Wipe the pan and heat some olive oil on medium high heat, add chopped chorizo, cook until getting slightly crispy.

Add chorizo and the spicy chorizo juice to the beans in the dish, lightly toss and serve.

Made it myself a few times really easy and its yum.

happycook

packet of asparagus
packet of parma ham
packet of mozzarella

Boil water, with a little salt. when reach boiling, blanch asparagus spears (thin ones) in wate for 2minutes. Remove and run under cold water.
Slice mozzarella ball into slices.
Place one parme ham slice on plate. Pop two asparagus spears in middle, one slice of mzzarella and another two spears. wrap parma ham around.
heat a small bit of olive oil in frying pan. Sear the asparagus/parma/mozzarella for a few minutes until cheese starts to melt and parma is crisp.

Serve with crisp cool salad and crusty bread and butter OR if very fancy seared scallops. Nom nom nom. From bbcgoodfood. Love it and can be made ahead of time

shinikins

If you like fish you could try Kokoda, a Fijian fish dish, very light and fresh.

500g white fish (halibut or cod is good)
150 ml Lemon or Lime juice
1/2 diced red onion
1/4 tsp finely diced chili
200ml Coconut milk
1 medium Diced tomato
1 tsp chopped fresh Coriander
3 tsp Chopped Spring onion
salt to taste

Cut the fish into cubes of about 1cm, pour the juice over and leave to marinade at room temperature.
drain off the juice, add the rest of the ingredients and serve!!

Ouila!!

Its gorgeous if you like fish, very fresh and zingy, personally i prefer to use Lime juice, as it give a much nicer flavour, and "cooks" the fish better. Looks gorgeous too with all the bright colours, and its great on warm days.




Oh just thinking about it now makes me want some......:p

Shoe Lover

They are great ideas! Thank so much! I might do the bean salad! Thanks again!

billo.d86

Tell us how you get on.

unkel

shinikins wrote: »

Cut the fish into cubes of about 1cm, pour the juice over and leave to marinade at room temperature.
drain off the juice, add the rest of the ingredients and serve!!

Ooh I like that - let the lime juice cure the fish. How long do you let it marinade?

The Sweeper

ooo that's the same premise as ceviche! coconut milk addition sounds v. interesting...

Shoe Lover

In the end, I went with a Jamie Oliver recipe for stuffed mushrooms. Combine 100g ricotta, zest of a lemon, 1 chilli, handfull of parmasan, stuffed into portobello mushrooms. Baked in oven at 220C for 15mins! Delish and packed quite the punch with the chilli

shinikins

unkel wrote: »

Ooh I like that - let the lime juice cure the fish. How long do you let it marinade?

I usually make it when I'm BBQing, so i make it up that morning, when i'm doing the prep for everything else, Minimum of an hour though. The longer you leave it marinade it becomes more tender, and the flavours mix better.