It's the small things: Bill Granger's fun Christmas nibbles

If you ask me, there's no place for canapés at home. Christmas is about indulgence, fun and partying, and there is nothing more depressing at home than little perfect, over-fiddled-with canapés that look like they came from a supermarket party-food collection. In my experience, everyone is happier and more relaxed nibbling on things around the kitchen table, helping themselves to gutsy food; real food.

If you're feeling ambitious, you can make all of these, but even if you just want to do one, it's enough. A bottle of wine and a platter of prawn toast, a few cocktails and beers with a tray of nachos, or even simply some funky popcorn before going out to dinner; that's the kind of party I want to be at!

Bill's restaurant, Granger & Co, is at 75 Westbourne Grove, London W11, tel: 020 7229 9111, grangerandco.com

Furikake popcorn

Furikake is that Japanese seasoning you often see on rice. A combination of dried seaweed, sesame seeds and bonito flakes, it makes for the coolest popcorn.

Serves 4, or 6 if served with other dishes

2 tbsp light-flavoured oil, plus extra to drizzle
80g popping corn
Furikake, to taste

Put the oil and corn in a large, heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Cover with a lid. Shake the pan occasionally over the heat and when you hear the first pops increase the heat, shaking the pan often. Make sure you don't open the lid at this stage. When the popping slows or stops, remove from the heat.

Drizzle very lightly with oil and sprinkle with furikake. Toss well, sprinkle over some more furikake and serve.

Smoky beef nachos with tomato salsa (Laura Edwards)
Smoky beef nachos with tomato salsa

The smoky beef might take a while to cook, but it's worth the wait. It makes these nachos the best I've ever tasted by far.

Serves 4, or 6 if served with other dishes

For the beef

450g stewing beef joint, such as brisket, cut into chunks
2 tsp chipotle paste
5 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp ground cumin
1 ground allspice
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp dried oregano
250ml light lager

For the tomato salsa

1 garlic clove, crushed
250g cherry tomatoes, chopped
1 red chilli, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 small red onion, chopped
Juice ½ lime
Handful coriander, chopped
160g bag plain tortilla chips
250g grated cheddar
1 red onion, sliced
5 radishes, thinly sliced
50g feta cheese, crumbled
Handful coriander sprigs
2 spring onions, shredded

To serve

Jalapeño chillies
Lime wedges
Sour cream

For the beef, preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas3. Place all the ingredients in a casserole dish. Season and bring to the boil over a high heat. Cover and braise in the oven for 2½ hours, until meltingly tender, then shred.

Combine all the ingredients for the tomato salsa in a bowl and season with salt. Set aside.

Grease a baking sheet with oil. Add a layer of tortilla chips. Top with half the beef, cheddar and red onion then repeat. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cheese has melted. Scatter with the radishes, feta, coriander and spring onion. Serve with bowls of jalapeño chillies, tomato salsa, lime wedges and sour cream.

Baked ricotta with spiced flatbread (Laura Edwards)
Baked ricotta with spiced flatbread

I love the lightness of the baked ricotta served on the spiced bread. Try to get the fluffy Lebanese flatbread we used here, although standard pitta also works well – there's enough spice topping for about 4 pittas.
 
Serves 4, or 6 if served with other dishes

For the ricotta

Handful mint leaves, roughly chopped
Handful parsley leaves, roughly chopped
500g ricotta
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

For the bread

2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tbsp honey
1 large flatbread
2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp crushed chillies

To serve

Crudités, such as fennel or celery

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas6. For the ricotta, stir the herbs in a bowl with the ricotta and olive oil. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Now take two 30cm square pieces of baking paper and lay them on top of each other at different angles. Spoon the ricotta into the centre. Gather the paper to form a parcel and secure with string. Put on a baking tray and cook for 20 minutes, taking care that the paper doesn't come into contact with the top of the oven.

For the flatbread, combine the olive oil, garlic and honey and brush all over the flatbread. Scatter with the spices and chilli and bake for 10 minutes until golden.

Open the ricotta parcel on to a board and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Serve with the flatbread and crudités

Baked prawn toasts

Keeping the prawns chunky and baking the toasts rather than frying them freshens up this party-food classic . It also means that your place won’t end up smelling like a chip shop…

Party-food classics: Baked prawn toasts (Laura Edwards)
Serves 4, or 6 if served with other dishes

250g peeled raw prawns, roughly chopped
2 spring onions – two finely chopped and two shredded
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2cm fresh ginger, grated
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp cornflour
1 thick baguette, thickly sliced
3 tbsp sesame seeds
Light-flavoured oil, to drizzle

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas7. Combine the prawns, chopped spring onion, garlic, ginger, egg and cornflour. Season with sea salt and white pepper and keep chilled until needed.

Food stylists: Marina Filippelli and Rosie Reynolds

Props merchandising: Rachel Jukes