Holiday season is approaching, which in my family means food. The Christmas Eve menu is discussed months in advance. We had family visiting this weekend so I did a test of a small appetizer plate from tinned fish. The plate has three bite sized nibbles:

• Mussels in escabeche on top of a toasted baquette slice with ricotta
• Sardines on Toast
• Small squid with piquillo pepper sauce

All three required minimal prep. The sauces can be prepped the night before. The only prep that would be required night of is lightly cooking the sardines and squid in a pan. The mussels are good to go straight from the tin. Assembling them onto a platter is quick work as well.

All three were delicious. The squid was the favorite of everyone. Such a simple delightful bite! For the sardines I deviated from the recipe and riffed off of Spanish Pan con Tomate instead of the roasted red peppers in the recipe.

Overall, I'm happy with the results and with a couple minor adjustments I'm looking forward to trying these out on Christmas Eve!