Canapés

Everyone should have a few decent canapés in their cooking repertoire – an excellent way to welcome guests and make the occasion more memorable. The key is to maximise visual impact and flavour without having to do huge amounts of work. It should also be a recipe which is easily scaled up to suit the number of diners.

Sigara Böreği

Feta Cheese
Mint
Oregano
Fresh chives
Fresh dill
Lemon Zest
Filo pastry
Honey for drizzling (optional)

Roughly chop your herbs and combine with the cheese, lemon zest and pepper to taste
Cut the filo pastry into 10cm strips
Layer 3 sheets of the pastry on a surface, brush with butter in-between all the sheets and on the top
Spoon about a tablespoon of the filling on the pastry and roll up
Continue until you run out of either pastry or filling
Deep fry until golden brown (3 minutes)
Drizzle with honey and serve

Arancini

You will need:
200g Leftover risotto, cooled and set straight from the fridge
50g plain flour
2 eggs, beaten
100g Panko breadcrumbs

The risotto must be fridge cold or you wont be able to roll it. You can use disposable rubber gloves or dampen your hands if the mixture is too sticky
Roll the rice into small balls
Break an egg into a bowl and whisk with a fork
Coat in the flour and shake any excess off
Place the balls into the egg, coat and place into the breadcrumbs
Repeat the egg and then the breadcrumb again for a wonderfully crunchy finish
Put these balls into the fridge to set up and preheat your deep frying oil
Fry these for about 5 minutes on 190C
They will be very hot, so leave to cool for a minute before serving as the molten cheese would burn the inside of your mouth

Steak & chips

You will need:
Buffalo steak
Celeriac
Creme fraiche
Horseradish (ideally fresh)

Cut the celeriac into thin matchsticks.
Deep fry at 190C for a few minutes until golden brown and crunchy
Season with salt as soon as they come out of the oil and leave to cool and finish crisping up
Combine the creme fraiche with a pinch of salt and freshly grated horseradish to taste, pour into a piping bag and keep in the fridge until needed
To cook the meat, pour a large glug of oil into a pan, season the meat on both sides and pop into the pan
Fry only for 1-2 minutes a side for a rare finish
Leave to rest for 5 minutes.
Thinly slice and you are ready to plate up
Grab a few chips, wrap in a slice of meat and top with a dollop of the creme fraiche