Buffet Food To Freeze Ahead

I'm planning a buffet for my wedding reception and I'd like to know what finger food what finger food I can freeze ahead of time. I'd like to just defrost or reheat it on the day. We're doing mainly seafood/fish.

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Answer:

There are several dishes you can make that will freeze well which either need defrosting or reheating on the day. If you choose these and add some fresh salads, potatoes and bread, then you'll be set for your buffet.

The most obvious choice is a dressed salmon. You can easily poach the salmon well ahead of time, freeze it and take it out the day before the reception to defrost. Since you're serving it cold, it's the one of the easiest pre-prepared buffet dishes. For our wedding with 90 guests, we had two large salmon which were easily polished off.

You could also make mini tartlets and fill them with various fillings. If you're not up to making pastry, then most of the supermarkets stock pre-made tartlets, so all you need to do is fill them. Suitable fishy fillings could be a mixture of cream cheese, chili and prawn or cream cheese, smoked salmon and dill. These would work well cold as canapés or if you get slightly larger tart cases, then cut them in half and serve as part of the buffet. An alternative to tartlets is quiche. A salmon quiche would work well on your seafood buffet.

For something hot, you could make fish goujons, where you buy good white fish and cover it in a mixture of breadcrumbs and egg. You can dress it up with herbs, parmesan or chili for some extra kick. You could easily make these in advance, freeze them uncooked and then deep fry them on the day.

You could also try making prawns wrapped in filo pastry. These would also freeze well and cook easily by baking or deep frying on the day. Serve them up with some sweet chili sauce and they'll be yummy. Salmon parcels are also a good idea.

Fish cakes are another good one. There are loads of recipes for fish cakes and if you're making them yourself, you can create mini-ones. Stuart and I regularly make fish cakes from the fish bits on the fish counter at our local fish mongers. It's cheap and you can mix and match the recipes to your taste. They also freeze brilliantly, so are perfect for your wedding buffet. We make tuna, chilli, lime and coriander; salmon and dill and mixed fish with lemon and parsley.

If these ideas aren't suitable, there are a whole of host of different fish recipes on Meals Matter that you can make ahead. Not all are suitable for freezing or for a buffet though, so you'll need to be selective.

All the best