Does anyone have any cheap and cheerful starter recipes please?!
Answers: I have little dinner parties every Monday evening. And I am looking for new ideas for starters
Yes I reckon. If you've got the usual stuff in your fridge etc. this'll cost you next to nothing.
Fish sticks ( crab sticks b4 the Trade Descptions Act!) are low fat, nutritious & best of all cheap.
Four per person is about right. Put a little dressing in a bowl ( don't have it? no prob, salad cream or mayo with a spot of tomato sauce is ok).
Cut the sticks into five, add cucumber cubes, chopped tomato. a bit of onion, sweet peppers if you've got 'em, put all into the bowl and combine.
If you have lettuce, serve each on a leaf. If not, no one will notice..
Slices of ham which you roll with a mixture of unsweetened whipped cream+horseradish. Serve topped with chives.
Fresh button mushrooms stuffed with raw sausage drizzled with allegro sauce and baked in the oven.
I love grilling shrimp, and putting them in a leaf of lettuce, and putting a serrano-mint sauce on top. Its a bobby flay recipe, you can prob find it on the food network website.
Everybody loves chicken and dumplings and their really easy to make.
Parmesan crisps
3 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano
Freshly ground black pepper, smoked paprika, or cayenne, optional
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Grate cheese on the small hole side of a 4-sided box grater into a small bowl. Using a tablespoon measure, place cheese in mounds onto a nonstick silicone pad or greased parchment paper-lined cookie sheet. Flatten out mounds with the back of a spoon, making sure mounds are at least 4 inches apart. Season with pepper, paprika, or cayenne, if desired. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 5 to 6 minutes or until golden.
When they are warm and straight from the oven- they are pliable so you can lay them over something - like a can-so that they fold and make like a basket and you can put little fillers in them-like a canape.
large mushroom ,sliced tomatoes ,salt and pepper ,2 crushed cloves of garlic, cover with brie into oven 20 mins
beans on toast good luck
Half a grapefruit. Use grapefruit knife to separate fruit from skin. Remove fruit and cut into wedge shapes and then return fruit to the shell or skin in the same way it came out.
Sprinkle fruit with brown sugar and rum and then grill until hot and the sugar is brown.
This is easy, cheap, quick and very refreshing as a starter.
it's called fried ravioli. At any supermarket they have packaged ravioli , all you do is dip them in egg, cover them in italian bread crumbs and fry them. then any marinara sauce to dip them in. and you have a delicious antipasta
chunks of canteloupe wrapped with prociutto (spelling??) ham. Or buy premade puff pastry, put a wheel of brie in the middle, wrap it up, brush with melted butter and bake in the oven until it is golden brown. Serve that with crackers....it looks very elegant and the cheese is all melted in the middle and tastes great.
Barbequed chicken wings- mix pack of wings with some chicken seasoning, cover in barbecue sauce and bake in the oven, basting with more sauce until golden and sticky-mmm!
Small fruit cup, mostly berries, topped with flavored yogurt. I don't generally like yogurt, but I like this.
Cheap, add a mint leaf for cheer, and healthy, too
Check out this free cooking E-book, it might have what you're looking for.
These are so good. Easy and you may have most of the ingredients in your fridge...
Jalapeno-Chicken Crescent Pinwheels
4 oz cream cheese, softened
? cup chopped cooked chicken
? cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 – 3 T finely chopped sliced jalape?o chilies (from 12 oz jar)
2 T finely chopped green onions (2 medium)
1/8 t salt
1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, mix all ingredients except dough until well combined. Set aside.
Unroll dough; separate into two long rectangles. Place 1 rectangle on long cutting board; press perforations to seal. Spread half of the cream cheese mixture on dough rectangle to within ? inch of edges.
Starting with one long side, roll up rectangle; press seam to seal. Cut roll into 16 slices; place slices, cut side down, on un-greased cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough rectangle.
Bake at 375 degrees for 14 – 16 minutes, or until light golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm. Makes 32 appetizers.
Soup is always a starter than you can make really cheaply. and you can make a really big batch and freeze any leftovers. just google for the kind you like :)
How cheap?
If you can run to a tin of artichoke hearts, drain them and cut them in two lengthwise. Slice a ripe avocado (just before serving or they go funny) and arrange a slice or two of avo and a halved artichoke - pretty side up - on each plate. Dress lightly with cider vinegar or fresh lime and sprinkle with a tiny bit of paprika.
All thanks to my ex for that one!