Serve up something stylish

The chefs and founders of restaurant Wild by Tart,

Lucy Carr-Ellison and Jemima Jones absolutely love any excuse to celebrate. For them, the way they show love is on a plate, with crowd-pleasing recipes. ‘Christmas,’ they say, ‘is the only time of year when you can really let go and nothing is too much.’ Their advice for a big event is to ‘get as many nibbles ready as you can the day before, so you just have to pop them on a beautiful platter before your guests arrive. Don’t try to overdo it with overly fancy canapés, as you’ll just end up in a spin. We love serving little tacos or tostadas, like the venison tartare version here. Have all your toppings made, so all you need to do before the party is spoon them onto the crispy bases and serve.’

Venison and pink peppercorn tostadas

Makes 25

To make the tostadas White sliced bread or sourdough; Olive oil

To make the topping 150g venison or beef fillet; 1 shallot, very finely diced; 3 gherkins, finely diced; 1 tsp caraway seeds, bashed; 1 tbsp mirin; Small bunch of dill, chopped; Small bunch of chives, chopped; 1 small red chilli, finely diced; ½ tsp mustard; 1 tsp capers, chopped; 1 egg yolk; Sea salt and pepper

To serve Pink peppercorns; A few sprigs of dill; Chive flowers

(or edible flowers for decoration)

To prepare Heat your oven to 180C. To make the bases, remove the crusts of your bread and roll it as thinly as you can with a rolling pin. Cut out rounds with a cookie cutter, brush with olive oil and bake in the oven for five to 10 minutes until crispy. Store in an air-tight container until needed. To make the topping, trim and remove any fatty bits from the meat, finely chop and mix in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients. To serve, top the bases and scatter with pink peppercorns, dill and chive flowers.