While most of us love a good party, after the all-out marathon of cooking over Christmas the thought of being a kitchen creative yet again can for some be a step too far.

Many folks just head for the supermarket and load up on party nibbles for New Year. The stores tempt with 2 for 1 offers and multi buy packages, but no matter what you do you still seem to stagger from the shops a lot lighter in the pocket.

Here is a recipe for a really tasty party nibble that ticks lots of those all important party boxes my Filo Flowers With Whisky Mushroom Mousse.

Quick

Easy

Tasty

Pretty

Vegetarian

 Why vegetarian? Well there are a lot of folks out there who prefer not to eat meat at the best of times, but also after the excesses of Christmas some people just like to take a step back from the meat feast and go for something lighter.

 You will need;

1 packet frozen filo pastry

3 tablespoons butter

100g/3 ½ oz button mushrooms chopped

1 clove garlic minced

1 teaspoon fresh thyme chopped

1 tablespoon whisky

2 tablespoons double (heavy) cream

Salt and pepper to taste

Here’s how to make your Filo Flowers with Whisky Mushroom Mousse;

Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and lightly grease 2 x mini muffin tins

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and have a pastry brush to hand ready to deal with the filo pastry.

Unwrap the pastry and stack the sheets together. Cut into 6cm/2 ½” squares. Cover with a damp tea towel to stop the pastry drying out.

Brush one side of a square of pastry with the melted butter and add another square on top at an angle so that the corners are midway between the corners of the bottom square. Butter this square and add a final square on top again at an angle. Add a brush of butter on top and lightly press the little pile of pastry squares into a hole of the prepared mini muffin tins. Do the same with all the other squares.

Bake these for 6 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool before carefully removing from the tray.

Make the mousse filling;

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan and add the chopped mushrooms, garlic and most of the thyme (keep some for garnishing).

Cook on a moderate heat for 5 minutes and then add the whisky and cook stirring for a further 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and allow to cool before blitzing in a food processor until smooth.

Whip the cream until you have soft peaks. Fold this into the mushroom mixture and season to taste.

Spoon the mixture into your filo flower cases and decorate with any remaining thyme leaves.

The dash of whisky gives these nibbles a Scottish touch, in fact this recipe is from my book A Wee Taste Of Scotland. While you might not want to go all-out Scottish with your New Year fare it is nice to have just a wee taste of the land that brought you Auld Lang Syne which will be echoing out around the entire English speaking world tomorrow night.

So whether you are saying goodbye to 2013 and hailing in 2014 on your own, with just the family or with a host of friends or at a huge event I wish you well, much happiness for the coming year, good health and great fortune to you and yours.

Happy New Year when it comes.

Karon x