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Away for Xmas then ILs descending for lunch the next day

14 replies

Sparkletastic · 24/11/2009 17:15

It will be a bank holiday Monday and the supermarkets are closed - arghhhhhh! What can I prepare for a substantial nibbles stylee buffet with ingredients that can keep a week in the fridge or come from cupboard / freezer?! Added complication that SIL doesn't eat much in the way of carbs or any red meat....

Help me, please help me

OP posts:
happysmiley · 24/11/2009 17:22

Do you have to do a buffet type meal? Seems like a lot of hassle and you'd need to makes lots of different things.

I'd probably go for a stew/casserole that you can make in advance and stick in the freezer to take out on the day. That would be a lot less stress.

Bodenbabe · 24/11/2009 17:39

I'm with happysmiley - definitely a casserole that you can freeze ahead.

Sparkletastic · 24/11/2009 17:57

I'd thought casserole but it is the SIL not eating red meat thing and DH hates casseroles. Sigh....

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Sparkletastic · 24/11/2009 18:05

I was wondering about cheese board (decent cheese will keep at fridge temp for a week won't it?), posh crackers / rolls from freezer, carrot sticks / grapes (anything more exciting that will keep though?), olives, smoked salmon, decent chipolatas, prunes wrapped in bacon, ummmmm. Can you freeze blinis? Maybe I should just get them drunk and feed them crisps

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InThisSequinBraYesYouOlaJordan · 24/11/2009 18:17

Pizza (could be homemade and put in freezer if you want), chicken pieces that you could defrost and cook in lemon and garlic, garlic bread (again, homemade and frozen if inclined), a pavlova (homemade and frozen, put defrosted frozen raspberries on and use Elmlea which is nice, and long life), mince pies (as above), lots of nibbles, plus all the things mentioned above which sound good!

happysmiley · 24/11/2009 18:46

Would something like this do the trick?

chorizo and chickpea casserole www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/chorizochickenandchi_87895.shtml

Avoids the red meat issues with SIL and it's not traditional casserole, so you may get away with it with DH (my DH loves it and he's not normally a casserole person).

Alternatively what about doing the filling for a chicken and leek pie, sticking it in the freezer and putting it in the oven with it's puff pastry top on the day? Or do a fie pie and again freeze the filling?

If you're really keen on going down the buffet route, what would you normally make? Could you do what you usually do and freeze it? (I'm the queen of the freezer, think I get it from my mum who had to build an extension to house her extra freezers!)

CarGirl · 24/11/2009 18:47

Can you get them to bring some things with them are you do the stuff that will keep or be okay out the freezer?

Sparkletastic · 24/11/2009 22:24

All good suggestions many thanks indeed ladies. Chorizo and chickpea thing looks lush although the ILs are suspicious of anything that you couldn't order in a Harvester . DH has royally chuffed me off just now by saying we should go to theirs instead. Despite the food trauma I wanted to be at home after a week away....

OP posts:
thereistheball · 25/11/2009 18:40

Am I too late to answer this? I always think help-yourself meals are more elegant if you only offer one sort of thing, eg a cheeseboard should be a generous lump of one excellent cheese rather than smaller portions of different varieties, because nobody feels able to take a decent-sized chunk. Also, a theme works well even if it's not obvious. And presentation is important.

I would think about doing a huge plate of antipasti with parma ham and maybe one or two salamis, on different plates if you have enough (these are red meat, technically, but you eat them in v small quantities). On a second plate do mozzarella (buffalo, torn into small lumps) which you can drizzle with some olive oil and torn basil, or if you don't have any basil, pesto mixed olive oil, or just olive oil and freshly ground black pepper; on a third plate put a big hunk of parmesan or pecorino (prised from a larger chunk, ie with uneven edges, not cut with a knife - Carluccio's will do this for you if you can get to one) - serve it with a small spoon and pot of honey to drizzle over). You can freeze some ciabbata to serve warm with all this - tear by hand rather than cut with a knife. You can also serve sun-blush tomatoes, caper berries, olives etc, in different bowls. Ask people to bring some fresh rocket and lots of fresh cherry tomatoes, and the basil if they can get it.

If you want to do something that looks 'cooked', ie as if you have made an effort slaving over a hot stove rather than arranging on a plate: before you go get lots of tubs of ricotta, and some lemons (pref unwaxed) and woody herbs eg rosemary and thyme. On the day mince the herbs (leaves not stems) and zest the lemon, then mix into the ricotta with a little bit of lemon juice and lots of black pepper and some salt, to taste. Put into ramekins or a big, presentable ovenproof bowl and bake for 20-30 minutes til warmed through, longer if it's all in one bowl together. Drizzle some olive oil on top, and serve with roasted cherry tomatoes which you can do in the same oven (vine cherry tomatoes can be kept on the vine for extra prettiness), or those sun-blush tomatoes, plus lots of torn bread, and the antipasti. I know this isn't 'from a Harvester' but it is mild tasting, delicious and impressive. Basically it's just bread, cheese and ham - an Italian ploughman's if you like.

Lastly - remember the wine! Hope you have a good time.

thereistheball · 25/11/2009 19:20

Sorry, I've just re-read your OP. No red meat at all? Then you need to have some smoked salmon or trout in there too, or smoked mackerel pate (equal mounts of smoked mackerel and cream cheese, blended with lemon and black pepper).

Also chorizo counts as red meat as it's also made from pork.

Sparkletastic · 25/11/2009 20:09

Oh lordy thank you so much thereistheball - I think I'm going with exactly what you suggest (with smoked salmon or trout for SIL). The ricotta concoction sounds bluddy lovely. I think you are absolutely correct about the large chunks of good things - will be simpler and much more appetising. Just the kind of food I love and the ILs do enjoy their wine so that will all soak it up beautifully. Thank you again!

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thereistheball · 25/11/2009 20:56

Oh thank you. My pleasure.

happysmiley · 26/11/2009 10:38

that does sound lovely, think that will work well

ball, not wishing to be pedantic but pork is tradionally considered white meat

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_meat

thereistheball · 26/11/2009 12:32

Thanks for putting me right on that. I had always thought of cured pork as red meat.

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