Your Starter for 10

Sounds wonderful, but two meat dishes? Isn't that too heavy? I always like a light soup, then the meal and a small portioned dessert afterwards. It can be hard if you have a whine list with it too. Fish is generally light, but to follow with beef I think that would get too heavy. You don't want your guests to feel bloated and overstuffed. I don't think they'd have a good time. I don't eat lamb so not sure how that meat digests, but I am not a big fan of beef because after you eat it, it just sits there and reminds you you're not the pants size you think you are. LOL!

Hi Pikey, Why not try some tiger prawns with sweet chili sauce they can be delicious and very easy to prepare. I am not a lover of fish so I don't have any other ideas, unless it is cheese and pineapple on a stick, but then that is not fishy

Are you able to get hold of high quality salmon, tuna and other really fresh fish? If so and you and your guests are somewhat open to all types of foods, then sashimi styled fish cuts can be an excellent starter. They aren't overly filling, melt in your mouth, are light in flavour and also cleanse the palate. Presentation wise it can be fantastic as well! Side bowls of dark soy, shaped mounds of wasabe, grated stringy carrot and radish alongside and also very thinly sliced slivers of ginger! (Preferably pickled) You can prepare cooked fish alongside as well in small long and thin pieces (skin on and crisped) and grill them while brushing with teriyaki sauce for a slightly sweet addition to the whole platter. Any fish with a good oily skin is perfect. If you have access to all the ingredients above, then this might go down well I reckon!

I love beef. For general, most people would love beef than lamb. I never have a party like American style, so I am sorry for the helpless. I always order most food from other place and make a little myself, if needed. However, if you asked for choice of Lamb or Beef, then I would say Beef. Have fun and good luck

I don't sophisticated, lol. How about shrimp? Is it considered a light food, I'm not really sure. Maybe a nice breaded shrimp (pop corn shrimp) would be a nice starter. It's hors de voures... ey. Sorry my french isn't all that good, and if hors de voures isn't french then I guess my languages aren't all that good. http://entertaining.about.com/od/horsdoeuvres1/Hors_Doeuvres_Appetizers.htm Maybe this will help? Scroll down, there's a coconut shrimp recipe.

Um, is prawn cocktail a bit 70's? I still love it though. I don't see it on the menu very often nowadays, but when it's there I do like to have it! And when I was growing up I used to feel very sophisticated ordering this, lol! It is very light and fresh, so meets your criteria. Otherwise you could have smoked salmon; that's very sophisticated and light. I don't like it myself, () but I know lots of people do. Or if you wanted to be really sophisticated you could have caviar, lol! I'm sure you'll get some much more exciting suggestions than these, I know there are lots of creative mylotters out there who are geniuses in the kitchen!

i would very much like a prawns dish in cocnut gravy or else,i also like to have a medium sized promfret(fried) with a dash of lemon and onions also.i guess there is lot of difference in our food cultures ,any meal without rice is considered incomplete.

I think you can't go wrong with a prawn cocktail but you would need 10 stemmed glasses or sweet dishes. My second choice would be some lovely salmon vol-au-vents. It would be perhaps easier to have something that can be prepared in advance, so my next suggestion would be salmon pate. Bon appetite!

You KNOW I cannot answer this sweetheart! I would try of it were anything OTHER than fish! xxx

Sounds like a fun night. I would recommend a light crab salad served over a crisp bed of lettuce. I don't have a great recipe to share. I have a favorite that a local gourmet grocery store makes ~ I pick it up for special occasions such as this. I'll serve it for your visit to Texas.

I favor bacon-wrapped scallops. They are delicious! They were on close-out at my grocery and I bought two boxes but I wish I'd bought more. They are also fairly low calorie and I'm sure I can get them more dietetic. Another good thing is a mild fish like Talapia. Make stuffing out of crabmeat or diced shrimp, minced onions and cheddar cheese. Wrap the fish fillet around it and bake till done-you'll hold it together with toothpicks, of course. When done, insert more toothpicks and cut into bite-sized pieces. Serve on a colorful piece of lettuce sprinkled with red cabbage or shredded carrot for color.

Not too original, but I'm a big fan of shrimp cocktail. OR how about crab stuffed mushrooms? Save room for the lamb...

Whale Blubber Sorbet with Crusty Crustacean Dippies ... very suspicious indeed! I hope this is sophisticated enough for you. If not, you can always nuke a few fish fingers (courtesy of that gourmand, BirdsEye) and whack a slice of lemon on the side of the plate. It's worked well for me for 30 years ... not that we've had a dinner party since that first time ...

Hey p1kef1sh How about a salmon pate or even a salmon mousse to start with? Don't ask me how to make it cos as you know I can't cook but I might be able to look a recipe up for you in one of my many cook books sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust!!

I wouldn't go with sophisticated starter if lamb or beef is the main course. maybe fish stick and salad? or a little bowl of clam chowder? can't think of anything lighter than that at the moment. I am aching for seafood :)

Hi p1key, Salmon mouse would be lovely for a starter, garnesh with lemon and parsley, can I come, sound like you all going to have a great time, whose doing the cooking? I expect you will be helping 'The Boss' enjoy yourself. Hugs. Tamara xxxxx

Not you but your BOSS will welcome your friends.

Do you have puff pastry available in grocery stores there? You can make lots of great looking (and easy) snacky-type starters with it. Here's one recipe you might like, although it's not really fishy. http://www.puffpastry.com/recipedetail.aspx?recipeID=27307 (link is for information purposes only). Poke through the website and you could probably find other interesting ideas.

I'd go for something relatively inexpensive but with big flavor. Like maybe smoked salmon, sliced paper thing, served on some bruschetta. Maybe brush it with some cream cheese spiked with lemon zest for a really fresh, intense flavor. As far as it being sophisticated, I don't know about that. My friends would rather have a 99 cent double cheese from Mcy-Ds lol For the main course, I think a beef dish would be better than lamb, because it's cheaper and lamb isn't really enjoyed by everyone.

I'm not big on crossing dishes, but a shrimp cocktail would work in this case because it won't be too overly powerful on the pallate. You could do escargot, if you wanted (not fishy mind you, but a very lovely first dish if you are serving lamb or beef). You could go non-fish completely and start with a French Onion Soup. It's very sweet, yet light and will cleanse the pallate for the remaining dishes. Namaste-Anora