SMALL WONDERS

Make festive entertaining a cinch with our impressive, easy canapés

Mini baked spuds with fondue dip

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Toss 750g mini new potatoes with 1 tbsp olive oil and season. Spread out on a baking tray and roast for 20-30 minutes or until tender. Toss with chopped rosemary and dried chilli flakes for the final 10 minutes. To make the fondue dip, put 100g gruyère, 100g emmental, 100ml double cream and a halved garlic clove in a small pan and gently heat until melted. Discard the garlic and serve with the potatoes for dipping. Makes 20.

mini chorizo and cheddar tacos

Use a 5cm round cutter to cut small circles from 4 corn tortillas. Brush with oil then sit in the gaps of an upside-down mini muffin tin and bake at 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 for 8 minutes until crisp. Divide 1/2 a tub of guacamole between each shell then top with finely chopped red onion and red chilli. Fry 50g chopped chorizo until crisp and sprinkle over half the tacos. Cut 50g smoked cheddar into tiny dice and sprinkle over the rest. Scatter over chopped coriander to serve. Makes 16.

Szechuan pepper chicken skewers

Mix 2 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tbsp mirin, 1 tsp crushed szechuan peppercorns, 2 tbsp caster sugar, 2 crushed garlic cloves and 1 tbsp sriracha in a bowl.

Cut 500g skinless chicken thigh fillets into 3-4cm pieces and marinate for 2 hours. Push bite-sized pieces of chicken onto skewers, put on a baking sheet and roast at 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, gently reduce the left-over sauce in a pan until sticky, then glaze the chicken skewers with this for another 5 minutes until charred and sticky. Sprinkle over toasted sesame seeds to serve. Makes 12.

caviar and crème fraîche crisps

Tip a large bag of salted crisps into a bowl, spoon a pot of crème fraîche into another bowl with a serving spoon, open a jar of lumpfish or salmon caviar and let people help themselves. Makes 40.

Miso baby aubergines

Cut 500g baby aubergines in Ω lengthways, lightly score and brush with a little vegetable oil. Heat a frying pan to medium-hot and cook, cut-side down, for 4-5 minutes or until really caramelised and soft. Flip and cook for a minute. Heat the grill to high. Mix together 75g white miso, 2 tbsp caster sugar, 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 2 tbsp grated ginger and 3 crushed garlic cloves. Put the aubergine halves cut-side up on a baking tray, spoon over all of the miso sauce and grill for 5 minutes until charred and the aubergines are really soft. Makes 20.

Pickled watermelon with feta

Cut 1 small watermelon into 2cm cubes. Mix 1 tsp honey, 2 tbsp white wine vinegar, a pinch of dried chilli flakes and a pinch of salt. Add the melon and toss. Chill for 30 minutes. Cut a pack of feta into 2cm cubes. Stick the cubes of watermelon and feta onto cocktail sticks with a leaf of coriander. Sprinkle with sumac to serve. Makes 20.

Beetroot ‘caviar’ blinis

Finely dice 2 cooked beetroots and put in a bowl with 1 finely chopped shallot and 1 tsp sherry vinegar. Mix 4 tbsp crème fraîche and 4 tbsp soft cheese, and stir in 1 tbsp chopped dill and some seasoning. Top 16 blinis with 1 tsp of the cream mix then spoon over the beetroot and finish with more dill. Makes 16.

merguez sausage rolls

Squeeze the meat from 400g of merguez sausages into a bowl and add 2 crushed garlic cloves and a little seasoning. Unroll a pack of ready-rolled puff pastry and cut in 2 lengthways. Take Ω the meat mixture, form it into a long sausage along the longest side and then fold over the pastry to completely enclose. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with nigella seeds, then cut into 3cm pieces. Repeat with the remaining meat and pastry, and chill for 20 minutes. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and cook the sausage rolls on bakingpaper-lined trays for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and golden. Makes 20.