Christmas starter ideas

Ysmalari

Ysmalari

Ysmalari

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Joined
2 Jan 2007
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1,013
Location
Wallington
Ok so this year for Christmas day my family are splitting cooking the courses between us and I have the dubious honour of producing the starter.

I've been scouting various recipes online but nothing is really grabbing me; I want to try and produce a relatively elegant and interesting dish but the are a few of limitations:

1. I can cook fairly well but I'm by no means a culinary master so can be a bit daunted by really complex stuff
2. I'm driving down on Christmas day with the ingredients so anything prepared beforehand needs to be easily transportable, oh and ideally I need to be able to buy anything fresh a couple of days before.
3. If I create an horrific mess in my parent's kitchen I will be going home early!

So chefs of La Cuisine, any ideas or suggestions?

Edit: There are no veggies or allergies to be concerned about, but one family member has an aversion to any shellfish besides prawns/lobster
 
I don't ever have a starter at Christmas as it's all about having a huge main!
.... However, based on your criteria I would suggest a scallop dish. Scallops and black pudding or scallops and cooked prosciutto with some kind of jus/dip and a fancy salad.

The above is easy to cook in general, takes hardly any time, easy to cook for quite a few people if you've got a big enough pan and will impress people and make them think you're a culinary boss for doing very little lol.
 
Thanks guys some really good ideas, I'm particularly liking the scallops and black pudding and the Fillo cups options.
That salmon gateau I think I'll save for New Years Eve - two birds with one stone, OcUK never fails to deliver!
 
Gordon Ramseys potted shrimp from great British food is a lovely starter , very tasty and you can make the day before also. My book is 5000 miles away and doesn't appear to be online so maybe someone on here has it
 
We're having some of the guys over from the UK on Tuesday so doing probably our only proper Christmas dinner. We're going for:

Starts/ nibbles -
Smoked salmon, cream cheese & dill blinis
Country paté and pickle french toasts

Main feast -
Turkey, covered in bacon.
Christmas Ham
Pork, port, cranberry and walnut stuffing. With bacon.
Pigs in blankets. Bacon.
Honey roast parsnips
Roast potatoes
Dauphinoise potatoes
Carrots
Purple sprouts with bacon
Braised red cabbage
Chicken wing gravy

Puddings -
Champagne Trifle
Ginger Marshmallow cake

Drinks -
Bubbles
Wine
All of the drinks.

Mmmm.
 
Ordinarily I stick to a liquid starter, but since we were splitting courses up between us it seemed it bit mean for me to just offer everyone a drink ;)

Liking all the ideas though, I've got some time still before the big day so feel free to keep 'em coming!
 
I need ideas too, currently thinking about Christmas themed bruschetta (no idea what would be piled on that) as I want to avoid fish based stuff (just bored of it) and meat (enough of that in the mains)
Obligatory soup dish will be either spicy parsnip or carrot with a kick.

Fistful of Quality Street sounds mighty tempting though
 
Starters on christmas day seems fundamentally wrong to me, very much about a big roast and a good pudding then a nice cheese board if anyones still hungry. But that is just me.

Best I've had in a restaurant at a pre-christmas meal is a very light crab and prawn cocktail.

Or a nice bit of pate would no doubt go down well.
 
Last edited:
Lima said:
I don't ever have a starter at Christmas as it's all about having a huge main!
.... However, based on your criteria I would suggest a scallop dish. Scallops and black pudding or scallops and cooked prosciutto with some kind of jus/dip and a fancy salad.

The above is easy to cook in general, takes hardly any time, easy to cook for quite a few people if you've got a big enough pan and will impress people and make them think you're a culinary boss for doing very little lol.
Click to expand...

This is a good and simple dish. Alternately you could have scallops sitting on a pea puree (make it the day before and just reheat) with bacon. Get some streaky bacon and bake it in the oven on a tray (the day before again) and under a tray so it comes out flat and crispy. Break it into smallish shards and stick one in the top of each scallop. On the day all you have to do is heat the puree and cook the scallops.
 
Had a think a may go down the salmon and some sort of spicy sauce route or maybe the quail and poached pear road (if I can find some quail).
 
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