December is the time of year for gathering with friends and family, and reminiscing about the year just passed (and the year ahead). If you are lucky, it will be over dinner and that champagne you have saved for a special occasion (although I’m a firm believer that champagne is always appropriate when meeting friends).
If you are like me, then December will also be your busiest time of year, both professionally and personally, and although you may want to have your friends over for some drinks and party food, you might just not have the time to prepare a banquet.
Here are some of my very simple, but very tasty party foods, which are perfect for having with some bubbles, and also can double up as starters for a larger meal. With the quiche and vol-au-vents, you can of course make your own pastry, but you can also buy it, and spend the extra time perfecting your party trick.
I use St Tola goat’s cheese in my quiche, as it’s creamy and has a beautiful flavour. Picked crabmeat is available in most supermarkets and fishmongers (just be sure to run it through your fingers to remove any lingering shell), and the confit duck leg can be substituted for any other protein (or a vegetarian or vegan alternative).
Jack Reynor: ‘We were in two minds between eloping or going the whole hog but we got married in Wicklow with about 220 people’
Forêt restaurant review: A masterclass in French classic cooking in Dublin 4
I went to the cinema to see Small Things Like These. By the time I emerged I had concluded the film was crap
Charlene McKenna: ‘Within three weeks, I turned 40, had my first baby and lost my father’
Recipe: Goat’s cheese, red pepper and caramelised onion quiche
Recipe: Crab vol-au-vents
