Trying to come up with ideas to serve for a starter, or nibbles? Or maybe you are looking for ideas for a buffet?  Here are just a few ideas to get those creative juices flowing.

SCALLOPS IN A GALLOP

So if you need an easy hors d’oeuvres  then seafood is a great place to start.  Sophisticated, typically quick to prepare and always very popular.

Maybe bacon wrapped scallops is your thing, Wrap large scallops with bacon - around the side, leaving the top and bottom of the scallop showing - secure with a cocktail stick, season with a little S&P and pan fry quickly on a very high temperature.  Prep can be done in advance and you are looking at maybe less than 5 minutes cooking time.  At Many supermarkets you can buy these already assembled. But I think its cheaper and tastier to make these yourself.

MAKE YOURSELF CRACKERS?

An even easier starter, is to present all the makings of the starter on a plate and let people assemble it themselves, this also can help on time spent in the kitchen once the guests arrive, as you can get every ready before they arrive.

On this tray we have salmon, green onion (scallions) and capers, serve this alongside crackers or sliced French stick and some kind of cheese such as cream cheese or camembert and let people assemble their own.  I love to serve this with herb and garlic cream cheese,  all the ingredients including the salmon have BIG flavours so I do not find it overpowers.

CHEESE PLATES THAT ARE NOT CHEESY

The there is the infamous cheese plate - so handy, popular and easy to put together.  You need an assortment of cheeses, perhaps a cheddar, a brie or camembert and / or some kind of washed rind stinky cheese, maybe a blue cheese, a goats cheese, and something hat might be a talking point such as a whiskey cheddar, or some other interesting thing that people may not have tried.  I like to serve as contrasting cheeses as possible.

Dot around a few small clumps of grapes, a few knives and you’re done.

A tip here is to use a cocktail stick - write the name of the cheese on a piece of paper stuck to the stick and prod it in the top - it gets people trying things and talking about the cheeses.

If you only have on or two cheeses then do not worry, showcase them by serving them on their own individual plates or cheese board.  Stilton (aka the King of Cheeses), is such a big and bold cheese, that I think it looks perfectly lovely sitting there on its own, daring people to give it a try!

OLIVE’S AUNTIE PASTO

Bowles of olives are great - they just have that certain elegance. It just takes a few seconds to take them out of their container and put in some small bowls and place them around the room.  Lots of supermarkets now have an antipasto section where you can buy all kinds of fancy Italian nibbles.  I love the variety of olives alone you can get, typically you buy them by weight, so you can take a few of each kind of olive - I think when you have different shape and color olives on a plate it can look very pretty.

An idea is to pair these with a variety of thinly sliced Italian meats, especially if you are preparing a buffet of food - really all the work has been done before you even open the packet, this strategy can turn what would be a very time consuming food preparation day, into really, just getting foods out of packets and making them look pretty on the table.

RETRO SHRIMP?

I have heard people describing shrimp as outdated, or unfashionable or ‘retro’ but no matter which way you slice it, people love shrimp. Leaving the shells on their tails makes them look fancy, and provides an easy way to pick them up gracefully. I love serving shrimp and other seafood on the same plate alongside some seafood dip.

If serving ham or salmon or any sliced meat, rolling the slices up is not only nice to look at it also makes it easy  for people to serve themselves.

So if you are a food snob reading this, I just want to say, that I don’t think the shrimp thing will ever die! Get over it.

HAPPY ENTERTAINING!