[WhatWouldBuffyDo]

Basically cocktail food i guess.
My DH is going away in about a week (next weekend i think) and i want to make him a special(ish lol) meal purely out of appetizers, it's not just for him though, our kids adore bite-sized food (apparently it is so much more awesome than normal food).
We live in Darwin so i would like a good mix of hot and cold, and easy. I'm not the best cook lol. I would have almost an entire day (between 0830 and 1700) for prep type tasks and we generally eat at 1800.

So far i have:
Cucumber wrapped crab with avocado
cheese and prosciutto puffs
asian-style crab cakes
steamed pork buns (I am going to attempt these first in the next day or so and scrap them if they are too hard)

....

And after that, I'm stuck. He has a pretty big appetite so I'll also be making a couple of nice salads. It's not going to be a surprise or anything so i can make things the day prior, I don't want to be trying to cram too much into one day and then get annoyed lol.

Ideas please?

[TopsyTurvy]

Those marinated mini chicken drumsticks? Baked in the oven for 20 or so minutes. Always popular and really easy. Can also be eaten cold if you prefer.

[WinterDancesHere]

Samosas (really simple, my 3yo helps with the assembly)
Spring rolls
Rice Paper Rolls

[FiveAus]

Mini quiches with bread cases.

Sausage rolls....make them really tiny, or alternatively, make sausage scrolls.

Tropical fruit kebabs.

[muggins_00]

Mini hotdogs - bake at home dinner rolls with some nice chevaps (??) or other little sausages

Savoury breadcases - easy and yummy, a bread shell made in muffin tins filled with a cheese sauce with various flavourings. Bacon, onion and corn is popular here.

This post has been edited by muggins_00: 10/02/2013, 05:42 PM

[~kuddlebug~]

Fried mozzarella balls. Yum. You don't need the sauce though if you don't want to!!

http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2011/01/30/f...y-tomato-sauce/

[librablonde]

OP, I noticed all your appetisers so far listed have meat.
How about some non-meat options: soft medjool dates filled with cream cheese, stuffed mushrooms with pesto (from a jar) and topped with haloumi cheese (assemble these in advance and then just pop them under the grill for 10 mins before serving), vegetable samosa and spring rolls (you can buy cheap, frozen boxes of vegetable spring rolls from Coles for $5), mini quiches made with spinach and fetta or pumpkin and fetta...... there's so many options.

This post has been edited by librablonde: 10/02/2013, 05:53 PM

[bunnee]

I made pork meatballs for a cocktail party on the weekend that were incredibly delish. Not a single one was left over. Great on their own or with a dipping sauce. (Soy, chilli or plum would be good)

240g pork mince
1 tbs hoisin sauce
2tsp ginger grated
2 green onions finely chopped

mix all ingredients together, roll into bite size balls, fry in a little sesame oil on a medium high heat until cooked through.

[~Nic~]

I make these spring rolls fairly often, but I normally only get to make half of what the recipe claims it will make as DH eats the filling straight from the bowl on it's own...

18 spring roll wrappers
1 egg, lightly beaten
veg oil for deep frying

250gr uncooked prawns (I buy 250gr of the pre-peeled ones from Coles)
2 teaspoons peanut oil
100gr minced pork
1 clove crushed garlic (I use 2)
1/2 cup finely shredded Chinese cabbage (40gr)
1 small carrot (70gr) grated finely
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (I normally skip this one as I used extra garlic)
2 tablespoons oyster sauce

chop prawns finely, heat oil in a wok or fry pan, add pork and garlic, stirfry until pork is lightly browned, add prawns and stiry fry for one minute. Add cabbage, carrot, ginger and sauce, mix well, cool.

Place level teaspoons of filling on a corner of each wrapper, brush edges with egg, roll to enclose filling. Deep fry in hot oil until browned lightly and cooked through.

Apparently it makes 18... I have never got more than 10 due to DH...

[cuddlebud]

Agree with the meatballs, you can make some in a tomatoey sauce and have crusty bread on the side. Google 'nigella Italian sausage meatballs' they're delish and v. easy if you use a good quality sausage mince.

Other faves of mine are
- mini quiches
- duck rice paper rolls
- grilled chorizo with a seared scallop (just skewered on a toothpick)
- mini potato pancakes with smoked salmon (another nigella one)
- oyster po boy's (these take a bit of work, I use gourmet traveller recipe)

I've never tried pork buns, but David Chang's Momofuku pork belly buns went down a treat last mother's day.

What a lovely thing to do for you're dh :-) you could extend it to dessert an do mini cheesecakes and chocolate fondue too!