A properly composed banquet menu is the key to any successful holiday. There are a lot of reasons for a real gala dinner. Often you can use the services of restaurants or cafes, but often the organizers of the celebration prefer to stay at home. So it turns out much cheaper, and at the same time, you will definitely be sure of the quality of the products. After all, you can surprise guests with a variety of dishes without going to an expensive restaurant. Consider some interesting and affordable recipes.
Fruit canapes
No banquet menu is complete without a variety of snacks. Canapes are becoming more and more popular lately. This is an appetizer that will help to temporarily interrupt your appetite, in addition, they are very good in the heat, when you do not want to eat a lot. Often fruits are used for their preparation.
To prepare canapes for the banquet menu, we need:
- 2 bananas;
- kiwi;
- 300 grams of grapes;
- pear;
- peach.
Fruits must be washed thoroughly, then put them in a colander and let water drain. From the pear, cut the core, and remove the seed from the peach.
After that, cut the fruit in equal slices, peel the kiwi and bananas. Cut them into medium-sized cubes. After that they alternately string on plastic or wooden skewers.
Shanghai Salad
A mandatory attribute of any banquet menu is a variety of salads. Try to use the most diverse recipes to surprise all guests with some really unusual dishes.
For example, a Shanghai salad would be appropriate for a banquet menu . To prepare it, you will need the following ingredients:
- 200 grams of champignons;
- 150 grams of canned pineapple;
- 200 grams of boiled chicken;
- 150 ml of homemade mayonnaise;
- several lettuce leaves;
- a teaspoon of mustard;
- 4 tablespoons of white sweet wine;
- salt to taste.
Before starting to prepare Shanghai salad for the banquet menu, you can see a photo of it in this article, make sure that you have four vases or small glasses for cocktails at hand. Next, thoroughly wash the lettuce leaves and spread in containers.
We cut the chicken fillet into small slices, salt a little and send directly to the salad leaves. Pineapples are chopped finely and spread on the chicken, without squeezing the juice. In this case, your meat will be very sweet.
Dried champignons cut into plates and put on top on pineapples. Now you need to decorate the salad with a few tricks of whole mushrooms, season with mustard, home-made diet mayonnaise and white wine. Beat this mixture with a fork and water our salad. The dish is ready.
Salad "Neptune"
Another original salad that can often be found on the banquet hall menu is called Neptune. To prepare it for your celebration, take:
- 350 grams of boiled shrimp;
- 350 grams of boiled squid;
- 200 grams of crab sticks;
- 100 grams of red caviar;
- 5 boiled chicken eggs;
- mayonnaise to taste.
Cut the squid into large rings and put in a salad bowl. To them add peeled shrimp.
In parallel, we clean the eggs, separating the yolk from the protein. We do not need the yolk at all for this salad, but the protein needs to be cut into cubes or straws. Now carefully mix the shrimp with squid and eggs. Note that salt does not need to be added.
Dressing the salad with mayonnaise, let it brew in the refrigerator for an hour. Garnish with red caviar just before serving.
Cottage cheese
At holidays and celebrations it is always important to surprise guests. For example, this can be done by making homemade cheese. To do this, you must have at hand:
- liter of milk;
- 200 grams of sour cream;
- 3 chicken eggs;
- a tablespoon of salt.
This amount of ingredients is enough for six servings. First, pour the milk into the pan, salt and put on fire. Separately, beat three eggs with sour cream, so that a homogeneous mass is obtained.
When the milk boils, gradually begin to introduce the sour cream into it, stirring constantly. After about 5 minutes, your serum should separate. After that, discard the cheese in a colander and let the excess water drain.
Serve the finished cheese sliced and cold as an addition to the main dishes or as an appetizer.
Mussels in white wine
The banquet menu, recipes and photos of dishes which you will find in this article is an excellent occasion to surprise your guests with unusual delicacies that you never cook in everyday life. This applies to mussels in white wine.
To prepare this recipe for a banquet menu, you need to take:
- a tablespoon of olive oil;
- onion;
- 3 cloves of garlic;
- 2 tomatoes;
- 700 grams of mussels;
- 100 ml of white wine;
- 2 bay leaves;
- salt and black pepper to taste.
From mussels, first of all, you need to clean off all the excess. Then add finely chopped parsley and onion. In a large pan, in which all the mussels must fit, heat the oil and put onions in it. Fry it for about five minutes until it becomes soft. After that, add the garlic and fry for another minute.
Pour the wine and bring it to a boil, pouring mussels into the pan, do not forget about the spices. Under the lid, cook the mussels for about four minutes at the highest heat. At the same time, it is recommended to shake the pan periodically so that the sinks begin to open.
We transfer the finished mussels to a serving dish, serve with crispy croutons.
Holiday Chicken
You should never forget that it is unusually possible to cook the most familiar products for the banquet menu. A person who loves meat can be impressed with this recipe.
The listed number of ingredients for a festive chicken is enough for 8 guests. It:
- a hen;
- a tablespoon of adjika;
- 2 tablespoons granular mustard;
- salt and black pepper to taste;
- 200 ml of sour cream;
- greens to taste.
We carefully lubricate the chicken with all the spices inside and out. Gently bind her legs and put in the oven. At a temperature of about 200 degrees, it should cook for about 70 minutes, until it turns golden.
After that, decorate it with greens and be sure to serve it hot on the table.
Three Cheese Appetizer
Between the main dishes at the banquet, appetizers that may add additional variety to your menu will be quite appropriate. In addition, preparing them is very simple. For example, we’ll analyze the “Three Cheeses” appetizer. To prepare it, we need:
- 150 grams of mozzarella cheese;
- 150 grams of smoked cheese;
- 150 grams of soft cheese;
- 5 ml of vodka.
All three of these types of cheese are thoroughly mixed in a blender until smooth. We add literally one drop of vodka to the snack, ideally use a pipette for this.
Mix vodka and cheese until airy. After that, let the snack brew for about three hours in the refrigerator. Serve with sliced bread and herbs.
Scottish Woodcock
Almost guaranteed you will be able to hit everyone if you cook the Scottish Woodcock.
This is a special hot and very savory snack, which is often prepared for receptions and banquets when a large number of guests are present. To prepare it you need to take:
- slice of bread;
- 2 teaspoons of butter;
- 2 teaspoons of caviar oil;
- 3 tablespoons of milk;
- 2 chicken eggs;
- 60 grams of canned anchovies;
- a pinch of red ground pepper;
- parsley to taste.
Fry the bread in a pan and grease with caviar oil. Beat milk with eggs and butter from anchovies. Pour into melted butter and knead over medium heat until thickened.
Lubricate the toasts with this mass, and on top decorate with anchovies, parsley and pepper.