‘The aim is to create dishes that dazzle but can largely be prepped ahead’
This is a nod to retro canapés. It is easy to prep in advance and then fry just as your guests settle in with their drink.
The festive season calls for a certain kind of magic, doesn’t it? The kind that comes alive not just in decorations or gifts, but around the table with your loved ones. As always, the key to a successful gathering is balance: being able to enjoy good food and drink without spending the day in a culinary panic. The aim is to create dishes that dazzle but can largely be prepped ahead, leaving you more time to enjoy it all on the day. This menu delivers on all fronts, pairing light, bright flavours with indulgence, and just enough sparkle to remind everyone it’s Christmas. To start, something to nibble on is essential, allowing you time to work the finishing touches in the kitchen. Prawn and scallop toast – a nod to retro canapés – is easy to prep in advance and then fry just as your guests settle in with their drink. I like to do a mix of scallop and prawn, but you could easily just make them with only one. Both scallops and prawns have a rich sweetness, so I throw in some capers and preserved lemon for an additional bite.
Try too my grilled lobsters and bombe alaska.
Prawn and scallop toasts
Ingredients
- 250g (6) raw prawns, peeled and deveined
- 150g (6) scallops
- 2 spring onions, finely sliced
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
- 10g small capers
- 10g preserved lemon
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
- Handful coriander, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 egg, beaten
- 4 slices of white bread
- 40g white sesame seeds
- 20g black sesame seeds
- 200ml grapeseed oil, for frying
Ingredients
- Finely chop the prawns and scallops and place in a bowl. Finely dice a quarter of the sliced chilli and combine with the ginger, garlic, spring onion, coriander, preserved lemon and capers. Add to the prawn mix, followed by the egg and soy sauce, mixing well to form a rough paste. Place in the fridge to cool and allow the flavours to meld for at least 10 minutes.
- Lightly toast (no colour) the bread so that it is not too soft. Divide the prawn and scallop mixture across 4 slices of toast, spreading evenly so that it just reaches the edges. Combine the sesame seeds and sprinkle all of them on a flat plate. Gently press the toasts face down in the sesame seeds, so that the seeds stick.
- Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat until it reaches 180C. Add the remaining sliced chilli and fry until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.
- Carefully place the toasts, prawn-side down, into the oil. Fry for about 2 to 3 minutes, then flip and fry the bread side for 1 to 2 minutes until golden. Remove and drain on paper towels.
- Trim the crusts off the toast, before cutting into four triangles. Cut each triangle into half, so that you now have eight triangles. Serve immediately, garnished with the fried chilli.
Serves 6-8