Quick Chirstmas Eve buffett .. Ideas appreciated

[bytheMoonlight]

I'm going to cook a ham and have it with warm crusty rolls.

Was thinking of sausage rolls as well.

Its just dh, dd and me.

I want it to be quick and easy.

Appreciate suggestions

A couple of nice salads. Maybe a quiche?

I do a big spread Xmas eve and, along with lunch on Christmas Day, is what we'll eat, well, until it's gone! (hopefully a few days of no cooking for me!) I'll do:
A big ham (Nigella's cola ham)
Cheese board
Salad, coleslaw and potato salad
Chicken portions
Sausage rolls
Cocktail sausages
Cheese and pineapple on sticks (a nod to my childhood and Xmas
eve in the 70's!
Sarnoff
Pickles
Crusty bread
Minced pies
Yule log
There are 7 of us for Christmas, and friends and neighbours come for drinks on Xmas eve, so we aren't really greedy!

Sarnoff? iPhone changed sandwiches for Sarnoff!!!

I thought Sarnoff might be some exotic Russian dish I had never heard of....

What sort of salad would you do?

I like the idea of quiche and I'm definitely going to do cheese and pineapple!

I'm going to save the cheese board, pickles and red cabbage for boxing day when we have friends round.

I would do, maybe a tomato, basil and black olive salad (halved cherry tomatoes, torn fresh basil leaves, sliced olives and a dressing) or this one:- chunks of cucumber, chunks of Feta cheese, cooked and cooled broad beans, green olives, avocado and mint leaves. Or you could have coleslaw/potato salad/green leafy salad....

Or rice salad, or pasta salad....

too many options!

Was just making up our xmas buffet lunch menu today, so this is a very handy thread! Here's what I have so far:

spinach and cheese boreks
other boreks? (small triangles of filled phylo pastry we'll make beforehand and freeze)
soup
breads & crackers
paté
smoked salmon
cheeses
antipasto
little welsh rarebits

nice nuts
dried fruits
clementines

So many questions easilydistracted!

Are the boreks two layers of pastry with a choice of filling inside?

What would you put out for the pate to go on? The bread?

What would you include in the antipasto?

How do you make the rarebits?

Can you tell I am a buffet novice

I need help and advice!!

For lunch througout the Christmas period last year I did a kind of Ploughman's lunch with freshly made cheese and grain mustard soda bread (takes 20 minutes each morning, is delicious), to have with enormous hunks of cheddar and ham (had just moved to France so was craving all things English). We had this with a kind of coleslaw-without-the-mayo (white cabbage, carrot, apple and walnuts) and lots of delicious pickles/chutneys. It wasn't exactly a buffet but nobody got bored of it.

For supper on Christmas Eve I did roasted halved butternut squashes stuffed with leeks, bacon and blue cheese. Delicious!

Could you post the soda bread recipe, please, thereis? Sounds lovely.

Very flattered by your questions bytheMoonlight -- I thought that list looked a bit haphazard!

Forgot to add that after reading this thread i'm adding pickles and quiche to the buffet :) to answer questions:

Boreks: I have a recipe from Arto der Haroutuniun (sp?)'s middle east cookbook, yes i think it was 2 or poss 3 layers of phylo, then filling then fold into a triangular pocket to bake.

Paté: hmm -- either I think! Probably crackers a bit better as it is easier to spread.

Antipasto: this is NOT a traditional recipe, my canadian MIL's quick-fix recipe includes everything but the kitchen sink: green and black olives, cauliflower, pickling onions, cucumber, green pepper, green bean, mushroom, pimento or roasted red pepper, artichoke hearts, then tuna and anchovies -- all this in a tomato-based sauce (tomato, olive oil, red wine vinegar, pinch of sugar). might sound crass but is very tasty in generous spoonfuls on crackers etc!

Rarebits: that one's my DH's job actually :D I do remember something about melting down cheese + other ingredients on the stovetop then pouring the sauce over toasts and quickly browning in the oven. there may be some good recipes online but I can ask him if you like?

Would love to see that soda bread recipe too, yum yum ?

Will look it up for you tomorrow - was on a Waitrose recipe card I think.

Here it is:

450g plain flour, plus extra for kneading and dusting
Half tsp salt
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
150g mature cheddar, coarsely grated (it can take lots more than this if you like your bread extra-cheesy)
284ml buttermilk or low-fat natural yoghurt
3tbsp semi-skimmed milk
2 tbsp Waitrose wholegrain mustard with sundried tomatoes (I just used normal wholegrain but the Waitrose one sounds delicious)

1 Pre-heat the oven to 220 deg Celcius, gas mark 7. Mix the flour, salt, bicarb and cheddar in a big bowl
2 Mix together the buttermilk or yoghurt, milk and mustard then pour into the bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon then your hands, bring together to make a soft dough. Knead lightly until smooth then shape into a 22cm round loaf.
3 Cut the round into eight wedges then transfer to a non-stick baking sheet. Sprinkle with a little flour and bake for 20-25 minutes, until browned and crusty. Cool on a wire rack.
4 Eat warm with some roasted cherry tomatoes and bacon. Leftovers can be reheated in the microwave or toasted.

My favourite thing to have with roast ham is gratin dauphinoise, it is really easy and so indulgent and delicious.

And then I'd like a 'wet' veg dish something like ratatouille that is even better when made in advance

I've posted this in Recipes too.

thanks for posting that recipe thereisthesnowball! looks very tasty I may just give it a try :)

Thanks easilydistracted

easily - found this borek recipe, they look fab as a canape too, may nick your idea....you say you freeze them? Do you freeze them raw or cooked? Do you defrost and then cook again/warm through?

op - I am batch baking sausage rolls and mince pies so we will eat those, with some dips, crudities and crisps. Yum.

What sort of dips/crudities will you have taffeta?

Well of course I should make the dips, but normally as there is so much other cooking to do, I just make a really spicy guacamole for DH and I , and then buy a sour cream one and Sainsbo's red lentil one which is very good.

Crudities - carrot, celery, chicory, pepper oh and Kallo parmesan breadsticks

Taffeta, that looks like a good one -- v similar to ours except we had complex instructions for folding into triangular shapes :) the fillings are easy to modify/invent as well.

We freeze them raw, then defrost and bake as usual. Works really well!

(adding dips & crudités to my list)