Please help with buffet ideas - am stuck in a timewarp.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I have got lots of relatives coming over next week and am doing a buffet. I normally do ham rolls and cheese rolls, salad, sausages, sausage rolls, onjion bajis, chicken satays.

Its all a bit meh really isn't it?

So what can I do to make it more exciting?

Someone has given me a nice potato salad recipe so thats a start.

A plate of sliced tomatoes with mozzarella and basil strewn over the top - nicely seasoned and drizzled with olive oil.

Mortadella and salami. Get a large plate, arrange the salami around the edges (overlapping slightly) and cut the slices of mortadella in half and then roll them up and pop onto the middle of the plate.

Green beans in garlic. Cook the green beans until al dente, strain. Mix one part vinegar to 3 parts olive oil and season. Cut up finely 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, mix in with the olive oil mixture and pour over the green beans. Mix. These need to be served at room temperature.

how about

• dates in crispy bacone (wrap dates in bacon, grill, serve with toothpicks)
• prawns in mayo served (or any "sticky" salad) in baby salad leaves like little boats

I made bruchetta and blinis for New Years Eve ~ the blinins got a bit boring to cook as it went on for ever but they were all really easy :)

Stuffed peppers. Halve your peppers - with stalk in tact, take out the seeds. Place on a baking tray, season and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for about 20 mins. I fill mine with Ainsley Harriet Spice Sensation Couscous (I usually add something to this like some sauteed mushrooms cut up very finely). Put a layer of couscous into the bottom of the peppers, cut up some goats cheese put on top of the cous cous and then cover the cheese over with the remaining cous cous. These could be made earlier in the day and then just reheated in the oven until just warmed through.

Well I quite enjoy retro buffets with relatives, and a couple of aged uncles and change-hating nieces would be a bit [hmmm] at any changes, so I would probably keep the bones of what you normally do, and add a few new things to it, rather than a total change.

What about new potatoes baked in the oven, then re-baked with some light cheesy chivey mix pushed into a cross onthe top, fOr mini baked potatoes?

Big platter of prosciutto; bowl of tomato and red onion salad; big bowls of roasted and marinated veg (peppers, aubergines etc)?

Hot food instead?
Chilli (in a slow cooker if you have one)
Baked potatoes
Tortilla chips, salsa, sour cream.
Crusty bread
And a cheese board.

I can't do hot food - too many small children, elderly aunts and not enough table space. Can't imagine eating hot food balanced on their knee or even on a tray.

Will definetly do the stuffed peppers, they sound nice. Dates in bacon sound nice as well. Will also do the tomatoes and mozzarella and the salami/mortadella (had to google mortadella )

This is a great thread, and I'm not even planning a buffet!

The green beans sound yummy!!

Or you could do lamb kebabs (hot or cold, depending on what your plans are) with a bit of cinnamon on, then lemon squeezed over, and have a big bowl of Greek salad on the table (Huge bunch of chopped parsley, couple of sticks of chopped celery, a few chopped tomatoes, a tin of cannellini beans, some olives and some torn up feta, all mixed in olive oil and lemon juice). And have some warmed Greek bread or pittas on the table too.

Viva, don't be about the mortadella, my mum is italian so I kinda grew up with it and assume that everyone else will know what it is.

Can I suggest Milano salami? It is one of the best. Ask for it to be cut very thinly though, this is how maximum flavour is achieved. You can get it from the deli in Sainsbury's - don't buy pre-packed, get it freshly cut.

Depends on the relations-my relations would like that!

How about antipasto platters?
Whole cold salmon?
I like to something casual for family like a big pan of meat chilli and a vege one with baked potatoes or even just crusty bread. Or roast beef/pork so you can do hot beef sandwiches.

I did a buffet for 30 on Xmas eve. I did:

smoked salmon on a plate with lemon wedges and capers (sounds expensive but you don't need much and looks impressive)
jacket potatoes (with cheese, butter, sour cream)
cream cheese with prawns (mix 2 ingredients with lemon juice and sauteed onion - use as dip / spread / potato topping etc)
Jewelled couscous (with parsley, orange, pistachio and pomegranate)
Nigella's ham in cola
Green salad
Tomato salad
Waldorf salad (celery, apples and walnuts)
Cheeseboard with different breads (walnut bread, ciabatta, baguette etc)
Chunks of rocky road and mince pies to finish.

It all went well and lots was prepared in advance.

Bellavita What vinegar do you use for your green beans? Thanks

cupoftea, just plain old malt vinegar!

coronation chicken or Delia's tarragon chicken salad good for fork buffets. Melon chunks wrapped in parma ham. Quiche (still fairly easy to eat with a fork on lap) pizza. Pork pies. mini Scotch eggs. Vol-au-vents

Some great ideas, thanks everyone.

What about roasted veg coucous? I can give you the recipe on Thursday if you lke ,its so simple ,eat warm or cold

Yes please for the recipe. Didn't know you'd changed your name Herdingcats! See you on Thursday.

I did it about Nov, everybody kept saying it was unbelievable that I had the same name for 5 years .
do you like carrot and courgette muffins, I could bring some for you to try on thurs ,they would be god at a buffet as well. A cross over between sweet and savoury

i would second the pizza and couscous ideas.

also LOVE poached salmon at a buffet

I've never had a carrot and courgette muffin in my life but would be open to trying one.