Ideas for impressive nibbles with drinks

[MittenKitty]

Hi there
anyone got any good ideas for some impressive- looking-and-very-tasty-but-relatively-easy-to-make nibbles for Christmas morning

lunch is bound to be late, drinks are bound to start early so thinking of something with a little bit of substance - mini quiche type things maybe but in some kind of interesting way

by the way I know its a ridiculously early question but I'd like to feel some element of Christmasd is under control

The kind of nibbles I would do are not particulary interesting or exciting but they're the sort of things you can do well in advance and put in the freezer so no stress on Christmas morning.

Whenever I have drinks there are always sausage rolls (delia's, made in advance and frozen) and I often do these parma ham palmiers (again my recipe is delia's but I couldn't find it online). Other option that's dead easy is crostini (google for more interesting topping suggestions) but I tend to do simple ones like cream cheese and smoked salmon or brie, bacon and cranberry.

Lastly DH is forced to contribute with either his spiced roasted nuts or parmesan pop corn, both of which are very easy and also go down a treat.

If your budget will stretch, I'd buy something ready made from Marks & Spencer and be done with it. You only have to heat, so should be easy. Save your time and creative energy for the Christmas meal!

ready-made blinis with homemade toppings?

Also, I spotted this in a recent Tesco magazine:
Tomato and mustard tartlets
425g pack ready-rolled puff pastry
2tbsp wholegrain mustard
6 plum tomatoes

Preheat oven to Gas 7/220 deg C
Unroll pastry and cut into about 18 small circles using an 8cm fluted pastry cutter

Spread each with mustard, leaving a 1cm border. Cut tomatoes into slices and place 1 slice on top of each piece of pastry and put on baking tray

Bake for 12-15mins until risen and golden brown

The most well received nibbles I ever did were on Christmas Eve for afternoon drinks last year.

I used Aunt Bessie's frozen yorkshires (the smallest size) filled with a few bits of watercress, thin slice of rare roast beef and topped with horseradish. They got rave reviews and they were so easy and impressive looking. I will do some with smoked salmon and creme fraiche too this year.

The other thing I did last year was Nigella's cranberry chilli glazed cocktail sausages which went down well too. Let me know if you need the recipe. It is dead simple.

thanks for your suggestions - appreciated. I would do those palmier things but my mum always does them so don't want to look like I cant have my own ideas - and would love M&S but for similar mother-impressing reasons can't do that either. But crostini with toppings would do it plus maybe the sausages - I'm assuming crostini can be made a day or two before if kept in a tin and then I can just add toppings at the time

Thanks all

Parmesam crisps. Just sprinkly grated parmesan onto a baking tray and melt. They set like crisps and are rather gorge and simple.

There are some impressive nipples here

HTH

Ohh, didn't realise this was a competive canape event, now you have me excited, will look up more suggestions for you tonight!

Re the crostini, yes, make them in advance and keep in an airtight tin and they will be fine.

Also, to stop everything being same samey, I sometimes use slices of cucumber as a alternative canape base (works very well with cream cheese/creme fraiche and salmon or a quick smoked mackeral pate if you want to ring the changes).

Another idea I saw that looks nice was a modern variation on cheese and pinapple on sticks. But instead of cheese and pinapple, it was trendy combinations like gorganzola and figs, or manchego and membrillo. There were quite a few, will look them up for you if you like.

And are you allowed to desserts or is that too much? Dessert canapes always look like you went the extra mile! Little white chocolate mousse in shot glasses are good. Or the other day I made homemade marshmallows (which are easier than they sound, if you can make meringue you can make marshmallow, and they keep for quite a while) and covered them in edible glitter and they were so pretty and festive.

Best stop before I get carried away!

loving the excitement - it's infectious - thanks

can't do dessert ones - this is all about Christmas morning pre the main event

manchego and membrillo sounds good though - is it easy enough to buy membrillo?

no - i did think that dessert canapes might not work. but if you're showing off, you could instead take the same ideas and do them as petits fours instead!

re the membrillo, have seen it in Sainsbury's on the "special" shelf in the past but don't know if I've seen it recently. Ocado have it on the website but it's coming up as currently out of stock.

do you live anywhere near london? there is a spanish deli in Borough market and they probably stock it.

I'm in West London - cant be that hard ot track down I would have though - there's a couple of local delis I can try

thanks for the ideas - let's hope my mother is suitably inmpressed!

Soften some leeks in butter.
Crumble some stilton into the hot leeks
Add a tiny bit of milk.

Cut some filo pastry into 3 long strips.
Brush with melted butter all over.
Put a small amount of the mixture in the corner of the filo strip.
Fold over and over in triangles to make a "samosa".
Cook in the oven for 15(ish) minutes.

Deeeeeeeeeelicious.

Variation: Chilli beef with sour cream dip.