Christmas Canapes

I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas, with congenial company, good food and manageable amounts of credit card debt.

Ours was low-key but extremely pleasant. All the people we would usually enjoy seeing over the Christmas period are in other countries this year, so it was just us and the cat. The company was definitely congenial.

The food was good too. On Christmas Eve we had drinks and substantial nibbles, and a roast on Christmas Day.

I was feeling like I'd fallen into a bit of a rut with my Christmas nibbles - I've been doing blue cheese mousse with brandied figs, and cauliflower puree with salmon roe for years, it seems. I mixed it up a little bit, without branching out too far.

We had Peter's Yard rye crispbreads with smoked salmon, horseradish cream and some chopped cornichon and capers.

I couldn't completely abandon the blue cheese and brandied figs, so I put them in little puff pastry parcels, along with some pistachios for crunch.

I borrowed Diana Henry's idea for pea pancakes with crab salad, but went much more Asian in the flavourings, seasoning them with coriander, shallots and lime juice.

And I filled little croustade cups with taramasalata and a pile of finely-diced cucumber salad, topping them with seared scallops. We drank delicious English sparkling wine and watched a Harry Potter movie. For me, the ideal Christmas Eve.

Do note the little curl of steam off the middle scallop. Paul is extremely proud of that photo