Avoid canape fatigue with Hugo Arnold's delicious spoonfuls and appetising morsels
Oh the relief. There you are, glass in hand, chatting away, and out of the corner of your eye you spy food. The party is great, the company stimulating, yet you are desperate for a bite to eat. Something spicy, with a touch of chilli even, or maybe with a sweet and sour theme. It needs to be bite-sized, satisfying and not over-filling.
It is easy to cater a party from the contents of supermarket chill cabinets. Chilled within a millimetre of their existence, these bread or pastry-based morsels are unlikely to deliver much flavour. And that is where the challenge lies - providing party food which excites and stimulates, without a layer of stodge.
Ditch the bread and pastry this year and look further afield for inspiration. Gather your influences from the world over. There is much to offer, but it is worth holding to a course. Too much diversity can confuse your guests.
The southern Mediterranean might be one way to go, using herbs along with gentle spicing. Think about meatballs, koftas and spiced chicken wings. Indian food certainly delivers a punch. Consider kebabs heady with cumin and ginger, maybe with a yogurt dip spiked with garlic alongside. Or how about some chargrilled fish, served on lettuce leaves, with a fresh salsa.
Asian finger food is popular, and soy-infused vegetables and noodles can be wrapped, with a good spiking of coriander, in wonton wrappers. Chicken can be treated with the Asian trio of soy, ginger and garlic.
With all this protein on offer it is easy to overlook the need to provide some substance. One dish at the end can provide the excuse needed to down your glass and tuck in. A Thai curry; red, green, or both for seasonal cheer, can be presented in small bowls. Or a tagine - with preserved lemon and coriander, almonds and raisins - will give guests a flavour of north Africa.
FINGER FOOD
CHICORY WITH CROSIER BLUE AND WALNUTS
2 heads chicory
200g Crozier Blue
handful new-season walnuts
Irish chef Richard Corrigan soaks Crozier Blue in Banyuls wine. I tasted it recently at his new venture in London, Bentley's, and it's superb. If you have the time this is well worth considering. Otherwise, break the chicory into leaves, spoon in the cheese and top with the walnuts.
ROSEMARY ROAST POTATOES AND TOMATO DIPPING SAUCE
1kg floury potatoes
olive oil
1 tbs finely chopped rosemary
1 400g tin tomatoes
6 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
pinch chilli
few sprigs fresh thyme
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
glass white wine
1 tsp paprika
Peel the potatoes and cut into bite-sized pieces. Place in a pan of salted cold water, bring to the boil, then turn off the heat and drain. Toss the potatoes in the hot pan and transfer to a roasting tin. Dress liberally with oil and roast in an oven preheated to 200 degrees/gas six, for 30-40 minutes, turning two or three times. Ten minutes before the end of the cooking time add the rosemary, toss the potatoes and return them to the oven. Season well and serve with the tomato sauce.
Heat four tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and gently soften the onion for 20 minutes. Add the garlic, allow it to colour slightly and pour in the glass of white wine. Allow this to boil off. Add the thyme and paprika, stir to coat and then add the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, reduce the heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes or until thick. You can do this in advance and then reheat it to coincide with the potatoes being ready.
MINI FISH CAKES Makes about 40
2 tbsp butter
250g cod
250g floury potatoes
100g cooked prawns, roughly chopped
4 scallions, trimmed and finely chopped
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Plain flour
Oil for frying
2 tbsp chopped capers
2 tbsp chopped cornichons
2 tbsp of mayonnaise
Season the cod and fry in two tablespoons of vegetable oil for five minutes on each side, or until cooked. Flake the fish with a fork. Cook the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, dry and mash. Stir the butter, fish, prawns, scallions and eggs into the potato and season with salt and pepper. Form into mini cakes and dust with flour. Fry in batches until golden on both sides. Combine the capers and cornichons with the mayonnaise, spoon on to the fish cakes and serve.
QUAIL EGGS AND MIXED SPICE
24 quail eggs
half a tsp each of sea salt, cumin seeds, ground ginger, roughly ground black pepper, and hot or sweet paprika
Place the quail eggs in boiling water for two and a half minutes for soft boiled, three minutes for hard boiled. It helps to use a sieve or large slotted spoon. Pour cold water over the eggs, drain and place in a bowl on a plate. Dot the spices in neat piles around the rim of the plate and pass it round. You can shell the eggs, but half the fun is for each person to do this themselves, as the shells look very pretty.
PRAWN BONDAGE
10 raw tiger prawns
cornflour
1 egg, beaten
handful vermicelli, broken up
oil for deepfrying
sweet chilli dipping sauce
Season the cornflour generously with salt and pepper. Toss the prawns in the cornflour, then in the egg and finally in the vermicelli. Deep fry in oil, and heat to around 180 degrees, until the prawns are cooked - about two minutes. Drain well and serve with the dipping sauce.
SPOON FOOD
(makes approximately 10 teaspoons of each one)
CRAB, CARDAMOM AND GINGER
2 cardamom pods
100g crab meat
half tsp grated fresh ginger
juice of half a lemon
1 spring onion, finely sliced on the diagonal
Crack the cardamom pods with the back of a spoon, extract the seeds and crush them in a pestle and mortar. Add to the crab meat along with the ginger, lemon juice and a seasoning of salt and pepper. Toss well and taste, bearing in mind the cardamom will take a while to come through.
Place on to spoons and top with the shaved spring onion.
HUMMUS AND POMEGRANATE
Pot of shop-bought hummus
Olive oil
2 pomegranates
A little extra virgin olive oil whisked into a tub of bought hummus greatly improves the flavour. Transfer to spoons and sprinkle a few pomegranate seeds over the top. Season with salt and pepper.
ASIAN-SPICED CHICKEN
Vegetable oil
2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts cut into strips
half a green pepper, deseeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 small courgette, cut into thin slices on the diagonal
1 tbsp finely sliced shallots
1 tsp grated ginger
1 dessertspoon sweet chilli sauce
1 dessertspoon soy sauce
coriander leaves, picked
Heat a frying pan or wok, add two tablespoons of oil and stir-fry the chicken, green pepper, courgette, shallot and ginger for two to three minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the vegetables coloured and softened. Remove from the heat, splash on the soy sauce and stir in the chilli sauce. Check seasoning and spoon on to spoons. Top with coriander.
If you're still stuck for inspiration, consider est of Irish Festive Cooking, by Biddy White Lennon, published by The O'Brien Press (€7.95) or Canapes by Eric Treuille and Victoria Blashford-Snell, published by Dorling Kindersley, (€12.99)
A BIT OF BOTH
The following two recipes are from Easy Entertaining, by Darina Allen, ublished by Kyle Cathie, £25
TOMATO AND COCONUT SOUP Serves six
1 small onion, finely chopped
10g butter
2 400g tins tomatoes, liquidised and sieved
400g tin coconut milk
250ml homemade chicken stock or vegetable stock
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
salt and freshly ground pepper
sugar
creme fraiche, fresh coriander leaves and breadsticks to serve
Sweat the onion in the butter over a gentle heat until soft but not coloured. Add the tomatoes, coconut milk and stock. Add the coriander and season with salt, pepper and sugar to taste. Bring to the boil and simmer for a few minutes. Liquidise, taste and dilute further with stock if necessary. Bring back to the boil and correct the seasoning. Taste carefully: the result depends on the quality and balance of the homemade ingredients. Pour into espresso cups. Garnish with a little creme fraiche and some coriander leaves. Serve one or two tiny breadsticks on the saucer.
THAI CHICKEN ON CHINESE SPOONS
Makes 30
450g skinless and boneless free-range organic chicken breasts
50g butter
40g fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed
¼ tsp green peppercorns
1 lemongrass stalk finely chopped
2 red chillies finely chopped
2 tsp lime juice
½ tsp ground coriander
400ml tin coconut milk
2 tsp chopped coriander leaves
salt and freshly ground pepper
30 coriander leaves, to garnish
Cut the chicken into 30 evenly sized cubes. Heat half the butter in a large frying pan and saute the chicken pieces until evenly browned on all sides. Melt the remaining butter in the frying pan and saute the ginger, garlic, peppercorns, lemongrass and chillies. Add the lime juice and ground coriander. Gradually stir in the coconut milk, bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for eight minutes. Add the chicken pieces and continue to simmer for two to three minutes. Stir in the chopped coriander leaves and season to taste. The recipe can be prepared ahead up to this point. Serve on Chinese spoons, each garnished with a coriander leaf.