Smart light starter before big roast dinner

[Mumwithbaggage]

I've been asked to take a starter (7 of us) to a friend's - she'll be cooking a big rib of beef.
Needs to be transportable (so probably cold too) and would like it to be quite smart looking. I'm very confident cooking but my personal entertaining style is a lot more casual.

Thinking a proper but v light dinner party starter (no prawns - we're all over 60 and some have high cholesterol apparently) so can anyone please recommend some chefs I could look out or offer some inspiration? My old school cookery books got sent to the charity shop years ago! I need to make it here and drive it 12 miles down country lanes in one piece!

Thank you!

Smoked duck with an orange and celeriac salad.
https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/orange-celeriac-salad/5f64df44-e473-495c-b30e-1c4d92dd95b2

French stuck, Philly, smoked salmon. If you can stretch a little cavier but not necessarily

Nice ideas, thanks. I do have lots of those little jars with lids. Wonder if I could make something in those...

How about something like Bloody Mary or Negroni cocktails with something nibbly? Delia Smith has a really lovely recipe for pistachio sablès, or if they're too buttery possibly just some spiced and toasted mixed nuts. It won't spoil your appetites, the presentation is completely up to you, and the ingredients are easy to transport.

Coquilles St Jaques.

As the main is beef, definitely fish or seafood.

Tbh if you're all eating beef for the main, a prawn cocktail won't be that much of an issue with high cholesterol.

Smoked salmon or poached salmon?

With beef as a main maybe something like goats cheese and roasted shallot on thin slices of bruschetta?

What about smoked trout (or smoked salmon parcels)?

Get decent quality smoked fish (so that it's in nice slices).

Get some other smoked fish (I use smoked salmon trimmings sometimes, the recipe I have is for smoked trout). Chop into bits and blitz with a little lemon juice, lots of lemon zest, black pepper and dill and enough cream cheese to loosen it a little and so it goes a nice pinky colour, but you still want it pretty firm. This is your smoked fish pate. See if it needs salt but I don't expect it to.

You then shape the pate into parcels wrapped with the smoked fish.

Serve with really good bread, thinly sliced, butter and I would probably add some watercress and a slice of lemon to tart it up for serving.

Pear wedges wrapped in prosciutto and drizzled in balsamic served on rocket. It's always gone down well, looks good and is nice and light. I'm sure you can google a formal recipe.

PS, should have said. Chill the pate before attempting the parcels. Alternatively, if you have a silicon cupcake tin or similar you could probably shape the pate into little moulded shapes - I've not done it but I think it would work.

Poached salmon and cream cheese pâté, you could serve it in the little dishes you have. On each plate, put the dish of pâté to one side and a small amount of rocket, watercress and cucumber salad on the other. Dress the salad with a raspberry vinaigrette immediately before serving.

Another idea is a Waldorf salad with flaked trout or salmon stirred through. It makes a colourful plate especially if you use black grapes and don't peel the apples. You can add a creamy mayonnaise dressing before you leave home, and pack it all into a clip lock box to travel safely.

I doubt a few prawns from a prawn cocktail is really going to tip someone's cholesterol over the edge when there is also a rib of beef!

-Mackerel pate https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/mackerel-pate with toasts
-Smoked salmon terrine https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/smoked-salmon-terrine
-Warm, pumpkin salad https://www.recipetineats.com/roast-pumpkin-spinach-and-feta-salad/
-Pear/blue cheese salad https://drizzleanddip.com/2023/10/25/pear-blue-cheese-and-walnut-salad-with-a-maple-syrup-vinaigrette/
-A soup? French onion or something fairly light?

Something like this tomato salad that can be prepared and allowed to marinate while you travel: https://www.taste.com.au/recipes/tomato-salad-roasted-garlic-balsamic-dressing/d8028eaa-8e33-494c-b2b4-05b08fad4ae4

Serve with fresh mozzarella, salad leaves, balsamic vinegar, olive oil and crunchy bread/crostini.

You can either plate up all fancy, if serve family style.

Old favourite here is the very best Parma ham or San Daniele (that's my favourite), sliced v thin, some ripe cantaloupe, and sliced mozzarella. Fresh and delicious!

If you have those jars what about something like this smoked salmon mousse?

www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/a25342534/smoked-salmon-mousse/

I would go veggie. Either roast sweet potato and goats cheese salad. (Crumbly goats cheese, green salad with tomato, cucumber, grated carrot, oil and balsamic)

Or, go Mediterranean and do hummus, feta cubes, tomato, pomegranate, rocket, cucumber and toasted pitta bread or warm crusty bread.

Such good ideas, thank you! For some reason my brain had no ideas of its own. Lots of those will appearing sometime soon when we have guests and definitely plenty to choose from for our lunch. Mumsnet food wins again!

Prawns are OK to eat with high cholesterol. Mainly you need to avoid foods with high saturated fats and also liver/liver pates. Rib of beef is more likely to be a problem because it's high is saturated fats than prawns would be!

www.heartuk.org.uk/low-cholesterol-foods/foods-that-contain-cholesterol

I'd definitely go for something fishy or seafoody to balance out the beef.

Given that many over 60s have iron deficiency I'd prepare a salad with a high vitamin C content to help absorb it from the beef - something like a beetroot and orange salad with chopped red onions, vinaigrette, and some chopped fresh mint.

Citrus salad.

A mix of orange, mandarin, and clementine cut in rounds.

Add a few torn leaves of mint, red onion cut in thin rounds and a hint of fresh red chili pepper.

Serve chilled.

Tastes fresh, looks beautiful and smells divine!