www.sausagemaking.org

I think I want to come to London for Christmas. What an inspired spread.

Davred - Glad to see you posting again.

Oddley wrote:Christmas is a special celebration, we try to do it with gusto...

Im pagan. We do it on the 21st and call it yule.

This is a kind of Tamarind sauce that is quick and easy to make.

Tamarind Sauce

8 tbsp tamarind Juice
2 cups Jaggery
1 tsp Garam Masala
1 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp Cumin Powder
5 Pitted Dates (finely chopped)
Salt to taste

Mix the tamarind juice with the Jaggery and the spice powders and add salt according to taste.
Add the chopped dates. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to medium/low and cook for 10 minutes.
Allow to cool and mash nicely to a puree.

NCPaul wrote: Davred - Glad to see you posting again.

My nose has always been poking round the corner, but I have been slightly ill.

7 heart attacks.
3 heart operations.
ICD (pacemaker +) inserted.
Various proddings, pokings, and tests.

And just when I was starting to get bored with it all, my kidneys shut down.

Interesting couple of years.

There is of course the favorite chicken nuggets.

Take some chicken breasts and cut them into about 1” squares, Dip in melted butter or beaten egg, roll in golden breadcrumbs. Place on baking tray and cook for about 20 mins at 190C, or until golden brown.
You can deep fry them but I find they are a little oily for party finger foods.

Or bake some new spuds and serve with different fillings.

And of course there are the sooo yesterday (tongue in cheek) cocktail sausages on sticks. Make your own cocktail sausages? Anyone got a recipe for them?

And of course that old standby, cheese squares with ham and pineapple chunks on cocktail sticks.

Pringles and cream cheese is good but don’t put the cheese on until you want to east them as they go soggy.

If you must have sandwiches cut the crusts off and make them small (1/4 slice) and I stick to about 3 to 4 different fillings. Good fillings can be found in the supermarkets as sandwich fillings.

If you make punch make a batch without cranberry juice as if anyone is on rat poison (warfarin) it can have results that are not funny.

To be cont.

cont

Don’t forget that we can make our own sausage meat so we don’t have to buy the sludge that shops sell.

Mini sausage rolls.
Ready to roll puff pastry and our favorite sausage meat. Roll the pastry out thin and cut into about 2” strips. Place a line of sausage meat in the centre of the pastry and fold over to cover the meat. Make a few diagonal cuts in the pastry and brush with milk or beaten egg. Cut to the size you want and cook on 220C for about 15 to 20 mins or until pastry has puffed” and is golden brown.
Serve hot or cold with some sweet pickle.

I tend to use paper plates and have plenty of serviettes handy to wipe fingers on. Don’t forget to have a few bins around for used plates and serviettes. Make them fancy with festive paper taped around them.

Remember that organizing a party is hard work, so do as much as you can in advance and chill or freeze until needed. Try to have all cooking done well before your guests arrive as it looks bad if the host keeps disappearing to the kitchen.

These are hints for those who may not have organized a party before, and are not meant to teach Granny to suck eggs.

If you want to make your own pastry, there's a recipe for my quick rough-puff pastry here:

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/weblog ... =my_weblog

Phil

A favourite in our house and is really easy to make is savoury pastry roll:

Buy a block (or sheet) of puff pastry and open it out. On top of the pastry spread a good layer of tomato puree, sprinkle on the top of that some pre fried smoked bacon chopped up into small bits, on top of that place a layer of grated cheese infused with a small amount of thyme (optional).

Roll the finished pastry up, egg or milk wash and cut into slices of approx 1/2", lay on baking tray and cook on 200c for 20m. Serve hot or cold, really good and very quick to make.

Mini yorkshire puddings:

Foolproof batter which rises EVERY time:

same quantities by volume: plain flour, beaten egg, water and milk in 1/2 and 1/2 quantities, salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a small tins and add mix. cook off for approx 15m @ 200c leave to cool. Place a small amount of horseraddish on top of the YP's and top with a small piece of fillet steak.

Oh god, thats it time to eat not talk...................

Cheers WW

wheels wrote:OK, you win!

It's a bit daft really in one of the most multi-cultural cities in the country with a massive Asian population. However, I can get superb, massive samosas for 18p each!

Phil, I'm a Leicester girl born and bread! And I agree, from a very young age I loved samosas and I've not found any that come close to the ones I used to eat from the Leicester market. And I used to live 5 minutes from the curry mile in Manchester!

Nic

For Christmas in July I did mini stuffing balls and chipolatas wrapped in proscuitto with bread sauce as the dip. My Aussie friends thought I was nuts, but it soon shut them up when they tasted them, and now they are requesting it' an annual event!

My Christmas day nibbles will be going down the Asian route, this was last years spread half Asian half Mediterranean:

http://www.nicandgraham.com/wp-content/uploads/Images/AP/DSCN1768.jpg

Nic

Phil, I'm a Leicester girl born and bread! And I agree, from a very young age I loved samosas and I've not found any that come close to the ones I used to eat from the Leicester market. And I used to live 5 minutes from the curry mile in Manchester!

I lived and worked in the middle east for many years - now thats where you get real samosas - I suppose it was the added flavor of someones bare feet mixing the filling that really did it.

Davred

7 heart attacks.
3 heart operations.
ICD (pacemaker +) inserted.
Various proddings, pokings, and tests

Wow - thats some collection - hope you're doing fine now

Mrs. Northerner wrote:Phil, I'm a Leicester girl born and bread! And I agree, from a very young age I loved samosas and I've not found any that come close to the ones I used to eat from the Leicester market. And I used to live 5 minutes from the curry mile in Manchester!
Nic

Wow, what a small world! I was born in Enderby, and now live near Earl Shilton in a village called Thurlaston.

Phil

It is indeed Phil! Wigston was my last Leicester residence but my first boyfriend lived in Stoney Stanton so I'm vaguely familiar with your side of town!

.....and i'm just down the road in Walsgrave. Thats why I use Claybrooke for my flour (although after a post on here, my last batch was from Shipton - cheaper, but a smaller range)

Amazing!

I used to work in Wigston, Stoney Stanton's only a couple of miles away, and Walsgrave's where my daughter works.

Phil

i like these, chicken bits cut on cubes or strips dipped in seasoned flour then melted butter or beaten egg and then into a crumb mix of fresh bread crumbs and parmasan cheese, cook in the oven at 180oC them a little squeeze of lemon juice. taste great hot of cold