Top Tips, Recipes & Shortcuts for Fuss Free Festive Cooking

If you any of you are like me and working right up to Christmas day, or you are someone who actions a last minute throw together Christmas plan, here are some of my tips, shortcuts and favourite recipes for easy Christmas entertaining.

For that extra flavour boost to you roasts, try an instant easy chefs style jus / gravy – most supermarkets now have naturally flavoured instant gravy mixes either that have to be added to water or are ready to go – there is even a Vegan gravy now available. Many of the companies who make good quality stocks now carry a line of sauces perfect to pour you’re your favourite meats.
Prepare your salad and roasting vegetables the day before – hard vegetables like potatoes, carrots and sweet potato can be peeled and stored covered in water in the fridge. Or go one step further and parboil and partially roast the day before, returning to the oven to crisp up for 15 minutes on the day. Likewise with salad vegetables, asparagus, beans, Asian greens and spinach greens can be blanched in boiling water and plunged into ice water, draining them well they will stay crisp and green for 2 days in the fridge ready to be used in salads or stirred through grains and lentils.
Just throw everything in the oven….Why waste another pot to be washed up when you can whack your greens in with your other veggies that have been roasting away. 10 mins before they are ready trim your green beans but you could use kale or baby spinach, trimmed silverbeet etc and then add them into the roasting pan to finish off for the last 10 minutes (reduce the time if using a leafy green like spinach)

Roast a Turkey Breast (Crown) instead of the whole turkey. Turkey breasts are often large enough to feed a family of 4-5 even more if you are adding it to a banquet or buffet Christmas table. The breast is so much quicker to cook and super easy to slice. Another festive shortcut is the “Turducken” duck stuffed inside chicken stuffed inside turkey, they are all boneless, rolled, tied and ready to cook, and can be easily ordered from your local butcher.
Make the stuffing in advance – use your leftover bread and make use of your pantry dried herbs, nuts and dried fruit
Buy pre-made sauces relishes and dressings – there are so many incredible local companies making delicious gourmet dressings and garnishes that you can simple spoon or drizzle over just about anything. These extra culinary touches is what can take a simple leaf salad into a taste sensation and a definite favourite for Christmas Day.
If a rich hot Christmas pudding isn’t your thing, grab a quality store bought pudding and a tub of your favourite good quality ice cream – chocolate, vanilla, caramel, even mocha would be perfect. Soften the ice cream, crumble through the cake with a splash of grog and freeze in a loaf tin double lined with baking paper or plastic wrap. Allow it to sit out of the freezer for about 5-10 minutes before unmoulding it, cutting it to serve.
Start the lunch or dinner with a cold starter, fresh seafood, a prawn cocktail, smoked or salmon gravlax, you can prepare it ahead of time and on the day you won’t be tied to the stove or oven.
Pre glaze your ham by using a fabulously tangy marmalade or your favourite jam stirred with orange, pineapple, pear or apple juice, you can then just slice the ham and serve it chilled or slice it, cover with foil and warm it in the oven.

Smoked salmon rice paper rolls with a radish slaw and mango, chili dipping sauce

A delicious combination of smoked salmon, crunchy cabbage and radish slaw with a fresh mango sauce brings this recipe to life. A perfect meal for lunch, a quick no cook dinner or easy entertaining.

Serving Size: serves 4 Difficulty: Easy Time Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 0

Ingredients:

8 large round rice paper sheets*
200g pkt or 16 slices smoked salmon
4 red radish, thinly sliced
¼ head of cabbage, thinly shredded ( you may have some left over – use this for a salad)
1 carrot, grated
¼ cup picked mint leaves
¼ cup coriander leaves
Snow pea sprouts for garnish

Mango and chili dipping sauce

1 ripe but firm medium mango, peeled and diced
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce

Recipe Steps:

Place the diced mango into a food processor and pulse until the mango is chopped but not puree. Whisk in the lime juice and the sweet chili sauce. You can add a little sugar if you want it sweeter. Set the sauce aside in the fridge.
Combine the cabbage, carrot and the herbs with two tablespoons of the mango sauce. Fill a wide shallow bowl with room temperature water. Place one of the rice paper sheets into the bowl ensuring that it is covered with water. Let it sit for about 10 – 20 seconds or until softened slightly but not too soggy, transfer to a clean board. Lay a piece of mint onto the rice paper about 4 centimetres from the edge closest to you and then lay three slices of the radish overlapping on top of each other onto the mint; on top[ of the radish lay two slices of smoked salmon then top with a small amount of the slaw salad.
Roll up the rice paper, fold the two sides of the rice paper over the filling and roll up with some of the snow pea sprouts sticking out as a garnish. Repeat with the remaining rice paper sheets. Serve with the mango sauce on the side.

Strawberry & Asparagus salad with quinoa and maple seeds

Enjoy the fresh crunch of this salad using crisp asparagus, juicy red strawberries and nourishing quinoa, a perfect easy recipe to accompany any meal, any time of the day.

Serving Size: 4 people Difficulty: easy Time Prep time: 15minutes Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon of maple syrup
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
150g (1 cup) red or white quinoa
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
2 bunches of asparagus
Handful of fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped
1 punnet of strawberries, hulled and sliced
100g baby rocket

Recipe Steps:

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Toss the seeds with the maple syrup and place them onto baking paper on a tray. Bake them in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden and caramelised, then set them aside to cool.
Meanwhile rinse the quinoa in a small amount of water then drain, add in two cups of fresh water and bring to the boil over a moderate temperature. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover cooking the quinoa for 15 – 20 minutes until the water has absorbed. Turn off the heat and leave covered to dry out a little.
In another bowl combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and add in the thinly sliced white onion. Trim the asparagus by breaking off the stalky ends and, using a peeler, thinly peel the asparagus from the tip to the stalk. Do this for all of the asparagus and then toss these into the dressing with the onion. Just before you are ready to serve, take a small spoonful of the dressing from the asparagus and stir it through quinoa with the picked, roughly chopped mint. Spoon this onto a platter. Add the sliced strawberries and the rocket to the peeled asparagus and onion, pile this on top of the quinoa and then scatter with the maple roasted seeds and serve.

Substitute Ingredients:

You can use honey instead of maple syrups for the seeds
Substitute raw zucchini or carrots instead of asparagus and prepare them in the same way
Most fruits will work well in this salad so try using peaches, apples or pears instead of the strawberries.

Tips:

Quinoa can be cooked up to 1 day ahead and stored in the fridge ready to add to soups, stuffing’s, stews, dips and is a great substitute for rice or pasta.

The acids in the lemon juice will slightly cook the asparagus so there is no need to boil or steam it.

All of the components of this salad can be made ahead of time making it the ideal salad to put together at the last minute.

Whisking olive oil and lemon juice together will create a heavier dressing ideal for grain salads as opposed to just stirring it with a spoon which will keep it light, ideal for leaf salad.

Baked ham glazed with fresh apricots, brown sugar and orange

With a few simple ingredients you can create this delicious glazed ham all year round using the wonderful flavours of apricots, sticky orange marmalade and spices.

Serving Size: serves 16 plus leftovers Difficulty: Easy Time Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS

7-8 kg cooked leg ham on the bone

10 whole apricots, deseeded and chopped finely
½ cup orange marmalade
1 large orange zested and juiced
1 cup (200g) firm packed brown sugar
Pinch of salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
Whole cloves ( optional)
2 cups (500ml) ginger beer

Recipe steps:

Preheat the oven to 190c.

Place the apricots, marmalade, orange juice and zest into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the apricot mixture to the brown sugar, salt and cinnamon in a small pot and cook over a moderate heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture starts to boil. Let it boil for 4 minutes then remove it from the heat and set it aside.
Using a sharp knife cut around the bone at the base of ham. Gently run the knife along the edge of the skin just enough for you to get your fingers under the skin. Trying not to lift up too much fat, run your fingers under the skin lifting it up as you go, eventually loosening and peeling away the skin leaving behind the fat. Discard the skin and neatly trim up the fat. Using the same sharp knife gently score a shallow diamond pattern in the fat going down only 5mm and being careful not to cut too deeply into the fat or the ham meat.
Pierce each diamond with a whole clove and place the ham onto a wire rack in a large baking tray. Pour in the ginger beer and bake the ham for 30 – 40 minutes basting the ham heavily with the apricot orange glaze every 10 – 15 minutes until golden. Carefully remove the ham from the oven and onto a serving tray. Combine the juices from the ham with the remaining glaze and simmer on the stove for 5 minutes until thickened, serve the warm sauce with the sliced ham.

Substitute Ingredients:

Use apricot, fig or any other citrus marmalade instead of the orange
If fresh apricots are out of season then you can use drained tinned apricots
The cloves are always optional, although they are very traditional and lend beautiful flavour, but you can also garnish your glazed ham with slices of orange or fresh apricots

Tips:

There is definitely an art form to cutting or carving a ham especially one with a bone in it. To carve, use a sharp thin long carving knife to cut slices of ham away from the bone, this will ensure you have even slices that are the full size of the ham. Follow the grain of the meat, laying the slices on a platter as you go and working around the bone. Turn ham over and repeat on the other side.

To store a cooked ham pre and post baking, wrap the ham in a calico cloth, or clean piece of sheet that has been soaked in a vinegar solution of ¾ cup of white vinegar with 1 ½ litres of water. This will keep the ham moist and stop it from drying out.

To serve ham warm on Christmas day, you can prepare it the day before. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to bake and glaze it.

Leftover ham on the bone can be covered in a vinegared cloth and then refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. If you are keeping it for that long, rinse out your cloth every 3 days with the prepared vinegar solution, to keep ham moist.

You can keep leftover ham in the freezer for up to 6 weeks although it is perfect to add to soups, scramble eggs, omelettes, sandwiches, salads, pastas, fried rice on pizzas and wherever else you want that delicious smoked flavour.

Cinnamon spiced tea punch with fresh mango, lime and summer berries

Ideal for all occasions, this take anywhere fruit punch is wonderfully flavoured with fresh juicy tropical mango, sweet berries and zingy lime. A perfect party starter, picnic or barbeque accompaniment and only takes minutes to prepare.

Serving Size: makes 2.5 litres Difficulty: Easy Time Prep time: 15 minutes (30 minutes for steeping tea)

Ingredients:

3 English breakfast tea bags
1 cinnamon stick
2 ripe but firm mangoes, cheeks cut, peeled and diced into 1 cm cubes
3 fresh limes, zested and juiced
1L clear apple juice
2 cups fresh raspberries
750ml soda water
Handful of fresh mint leaves

Recipe Steps:

Cover the tea bags and the cinnamon stick with 500ml of boiling water and sit for 30 minutes.
Into a large punch bowl, add in the diced mango, lime juice, zest, fresh berries and mint, cover with the soda water and apple juice and pour in the strained tea leaving in the cinnamon stick.
Top with ice, stir and serve.

Substitute Ingredients:

Use any other fruits in season
Change the tea flavour substituting English breakfast for vanilla, chai, green or your own favourite tea
Grape juice, cranberry and pineapple juice are also great for this recipe

Tips:

Make sure you have a big enough bowl or jug to mix the punch. Many second hand shops will have punch bowls which will give your event a great vintage feel. Mix up the glasses for an eclectic look, or use your recycled jars and serve them with paper straws.

Always balance the sweet with the bitter, taste the punch after making it to ensure that it is not too sweet or sour, adding soda water or more ice will soften the sweetness and fresh lemon or lime juice will add that wonderful refreshing tartness.

Dice large 2cm cubes of mango and freeze them over night to use instead of ice cubes and serve in the punch glasses; likewise you can add a couple of berries into each cube and cover with water to freeze for a decorative ice cube.

Your best friend when making punch is ice. Freeze the tea in a whole block by pouring the cooled tea into a plastic container or large ice cube trays and leaving it in the freezer over night, and then add the whole block to the punch or break it into large chunks with a hammer. When mixed together, this will chill the other ingredients and give a decorative effect to your punch bowl without watering down the punch or melting too quickly.

Think about garnishes in your punch that will add colour and flavour – edible flowers, thin slices of lemon or orange, lovely sliced strawberries or peaches, or whole fresh mint leaves. Keep in mind the size of your glasses and ease of drinking the punch when cutting up the fruit.

The Gourmet Cheese Platter

Creating a deluxe cheese platter is more than a few wedges on a plate, here are some easy tips to create the ultimate cheese platter.

Serving Size: 6-8 Difficulty: Easy Time: Prep time: 20 minutes

Cheese to select from –

1 round of creamy brie or camembert
150 g blue cheese (Optional)
150 g sharp cheddar
100 g ashed goat or sheep chevre
200 g soft washed rind
150 g firm blue
150 g peppered cheese

Tips:

Buy the best cheeses you can afford; the ideal rule is about 25g of each cheese per person, for real cheese lovers you may want to go a little more.

Avoid having too many cheeses as they may clash in flavours; make a selection of your favourites

Garnish your soft cheese with slices of blood orange, tangerine, fresh figs grapes combined with herbs such as rosemary, thyme, sage and honey. Fresh grapes, apples and pears not only compliment the cheese but also offer a palate cleanse between different cheese types.

Consider the textures and flavours of the cheese you are adding to your cheese board. Look at the sizes, shapes, and colours of cheese and what you are putting on the board as this makes the layout both appealing to the eye and the palate. Instead of one type of cracker, have different textured crackers, breads, crisp breads, seeded, fruit and rye breads. These can be displayed on the platters or in baskets on the side. Large sheets of lavosh breads are ideal as they create height with platters and can look quite dramatic.

If you are packing a cheese platter to take on a picnic or transporting it somewhere, taking cheese, fruits and crackers in smaller containers to assemble the platter on site is ideal. Dried fruits, muscatels, figs and apricots are ideal as they can be pre-sliced and eaten in small portions with the cheeses. Pre-cutting some of the cheese is handy to then serve with toothpicks or combined with a grape or piece of fruit. This is easier than having to cut cheese on an uneven surface.

Toothpicks, decorative sticks and individual smaller plates or personal cheese plates are an idea for parties, crackers spread with a brie for example and topped with fig paste is perfect for canapés or platters.

A few general things to remember, keep them simple, accompany platters with fresh fruits, nuts and other ingredients for people who don’t eat cheese and use tropical fruits for colour and vibrancy, berries, strawberries, pear, apricots, peaches, nectarines are ideal, avoid fruits that are high in acid like pineapples and kiwi.

Platters are important as well, use large platters, timber, china or plastic are great depending on the occasion, the important aspect is that you enjoy all of the ingredients you are using and have fun while doing it.

Honey glazed berry Pavlova with lemon curd cream

Not a great baker? Don’t worry this is one of the easiest desserts you can whip up in minutes, and it’s a real showstopper when you bring it to the table. Sticky and sweet with bursts of tangy lemon and fresh berries. All you need to do is mix and serve. Who doesn’t like a great pavlova!

Serving Size: 12 Difficulty: Deliciously Easy Time Prep time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 x ready-made Pavlova
500g fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and halved
500g fresh raspberries
500g blueberries
½ cup honey
1 orange zested
1 lemon zested
200ml thickened cream
1 cup IGA lemon curd
Icing sugar for dusting

Recipe Steps:

Place the berries into a large bowl. Combine the honey in a separate bowl with the lemon and orange zest and stir in 1 tablespoon of boiling water. Allow this to sit for a couple of minutes then stir through the berries.
Beat the cream until it forms stiff peaks and fold through spoonful’s of the curd but not mixing it completely.
Top the Pavlova with the lemon curd cream then pile on the berries, dust with icing sugar and serve.

Substitute Ingredients:

Any wonderful summer fruits such as passionfruit, peaches, nectarines, cherries can also be added to the berry combination.

Tips:

The Pavlova on its own will keep for weeks. However once the whipped cream and fruit are placed on the meringue, the dessert should be eaten immediately as the meringue will start to soften and break down from the moisture of the cream and fruit.

For perfectly whipped cream beat the cream with electric beaters until soft and then continue with a hand whisk until the desired consistency. The cream should be able to hold the fruit and not slide off the Pavlova.

For other interesting flavour combinations try cold-steeping herbs like mint or rosemary in your cream overnight, remove the herbs the next day and whip your cream as usual. Finely grated citrus zest can go in the cream last-minute, as can most spices. You can also blend the whipped cream with sour cream, crème fraiche, ricotta and mascarpone.

Adding different textures also keep a Pavlova interesting, try pomegranate seeds, toasted nuts, and cracked-up candy brittle these will not only look fantastic but also give wonderful crunch.

Roast Turkey with Citrus, Sage and Apricot stuffing

Perfect for a festive dinner, or an anytime Sunday lunch, this wonderfully easy roast turkey recipe seasoned with orange, apricots and fresh sage is something you will want to cook again and again.

Serving Size: serves 6 ( with leftovers for lunch) Difficulty: medium Prep time: 30 minutes Cook time: 2hrs 50 minutes

Ingredients:

4kg Fresh Turkey
2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1 large brown onion, diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
5 fresh apricots, stones removed and diced
Zest and juice of 1 orange
4 cups fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Recipe Steps:

Rinse out the cavity of the turkey and pat dry with paper towel. Place the turkey into a greased baking tray, drizzle a little oil over the skin and season with salt and pepper.
For the stuffing heat the oil in a large frypan, add in the onion and sauté for 2 minutes until transparent. Add in the sage, apricots, orange zest and juice and cook for a further 3 minutes. Combine the apricot mixture with the breadcrumbs, egg and season with salt and pepper.
Fill the cavity with the stuffing, cover the turkey tightly with 2 sheets of oiled foil and roast on the lowest rack for 1 ½ hours, remove the foil and continue to roast for another hour or until the turkey is browned and clear juices flow from the leg and breast meat when pierced with a knife or skewer. Allow the turkey to rest outside the oven for 30 -40 minutes before carving.

Substitute Ingredients:

When not in season fresh apricots can be substituted with 1 cup of chopped dried apricots
For people with gluten free intolerances, use cooked rice, cooked quinoa or gluten free crumbs instead of fresh breadcrumbs
Instead of sage use chopped fresh thyme, basil or parsley
Use 2 tablespoons of marmalade instead of orange juice and zest.

Tips:

For even cooking of a large turkey, place some of the stuffing under the skin of the breasts increasing the thickness of the breasts making it less likely to dry out.

Always test the turkey’s doneness by piercing through where the thigh joins the rest of the bird and if the juices run clear, the turkey is ready.

Loosely tying up the legs will ensure that the stuffing stays inside and will also help with an even cooking all over the bird.

Rubbing the turkey all over with olive oil or melted butter helps the turkey brown evenly and salting it helps to crisp up the skin.

Try cooking the turkey for the first hour upside down, this will drain all the juices into the breast meat keeping it juicy and sit the turkey onto a rack in your tray if you want most of the fat to drain off.

Antipasto salad with torn rosemary croutons

An easy entertaining idea has always been a quick Italian inspired antipasto platter. This recipe brings your platter to life turning it into a fresh salad leaves with crunchy rosemary baked croutons.

Serving Size: 6-8 Difficulty: Easy Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 loaf of crusty bread, torn into 4-5cm pieces
1/3 cup virgin olive oil
2 sprigs of rosemary
Salt and pepper
1 clove of garlic
2 heads of curly leaf lettuce or 1 x 200g bag of salad mix
700g antipasto ingredients including sun dried tomatoes, olives, roasted capsicum, artichokes, roasted eggplant, baby bocconcini
6 slices of thinly sliced prosciutto
100g thinly sliced chorizo sausage
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
1 long cucumber, sliced
½ bunch of parsley, leaves picked
100g block of parmesan cheese

Recipe Steps:

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Place the chunks of bread into a bowl, combine the olive oil, rosemary leaves, garlic and salt and pepper in a food processor and blend to combine, tip this over the bread and with your hands toss the bread with the rosemary oil and the sliced chorizo. Place the bread onto a tray and bake until golden brown about 15 minutes.
Wash and drain the lettuce and place it into a large serving bowl, scatter over the antipasto mix, prosciutto, the salami, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber and with a peeler shave the parmesan scattering this over the top.
Top this with the chunky rosemary croutons and the parsley and serve.

Substitute Ingredients:

With a fantastic salad like this you can do wonders, swap the lettuce with cold pasta, cooked rice, quinoa or cous cous add a squeeze of lemon or drizzle of balsamic for another easy salad idea.

Tips:

Another great idea for a take anywhere dish is to cut the top off a crusty cob loaf and hollow out the centre alternately layering it with a mixture of antipasto ingredients, lettuce or spinach and slices of tomato, shaved parmesan and leaving it to sit in the fridge pressed down for at least 20 minutes, place the lid on and slice to serve

For a delicious tart, lay down a sheet of puff pastry, scatter over the combined antipasto mix and then fold up the edges baking the pastry in a hot over of 200c for 25 minutes until puffed and golden, slice to serve.

For a party favourite, make a basic bread dough, rolling it out and scattering it with a mixed assortment of antipasto ingredients, roll it up like a roulade and slice it in the round baking it on the oven for a take on the pinwheel

When plating up ingredients for an antipasto platter here are a couple of tips –

consider having the items in small decorative dishes so that the oils and flavours don’t all mix together
roll a thin slice of prosciutto around a bocconcini ball and fasten it with a tooth pick; drizzle these with olive oil a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of salt
wrap pieces of marinated eggplant around a piece of sundried tomato and a slice of parmesan cheese and a leaf of fresh basil
open up olives remove the seeds and stuff them with whipped fetta, closing them back up and wrapping them with a basil leaf and fasten with a toothpick
chop together deseeded olives, sundried tomatoes and marinated capsicum with a handful of parsley leaves and serve this onto toasted French stick as a bruschetta topping.

Strawberry & Asparagus salad with quinoa and maple seeds

Enjoy the fresh crunch of this salad using crisp asparagus, juicy red strawberries and nourishing quinoa, a perfect easy recipe to accompany any meal, any time of the day.

Serving Size: 4 people Difficulty: easy Prep time: 15minutes Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon of maple syrup
2 tablespoons sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
150g (1 cup) red or white quinoa
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper
1 small white onion, thinly sliced
2 bunches of asparagus
Handful of fresh mint, leaves picked and chopped
1 punnet of strawberries, hulled and sliced
100g baby rocket

Recipe Steps:

Preheat the oven to 180c.

Toss the seeds with the maple syrup and place them onto baking paper on a tray. Bake them in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden and caramelised, then set them aside to cool.
Meanwhile rinse the quinoa in a small amount of water then drain, add in two cups of fresh water and bring to the boil over a moderate temperature. Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover cooking the quinoa for 15 – 20 minutes until the water has absorbed. Turn off the heat and leave covered to dry out a little.
In another bowl combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and add in the thinly sliced white onion. Trim the asparagus by breaking off the stalky ends and, using a peeler, thinly peel the asparagus from the tip to the stalk. Do this for all of the asparagus and then toss these into the dressing with the onion. Just before you are ready to serve, take a small spoonful of the dressing from the asparagus and stir it through quinoa with the picked, roughly chopped mint. Spoon this onto a platter. Add the sliced strawberries and the rocket to the peeled asparagus and onion, pile this on top of the quinoa and then scatter with the maple roasted seeds and serve.

Substitute Ingredients:

You can use honey instead of maple syrups for the seeds
Substitute raw zucchini or carrots instead of asparagus and prepare them in the same way
Most fruits will work well in this salad so try using peaches, apples or pears instead of the strawberries.

Tips:

Quinoa can be cooked up to 1 day ahead and stored in the fridge ready to add to soups, stuffing’s, stews, dips and is a great substitute for rice or pasta.

The acids in the lemon juice will slightly cook the asparagus so there is no need to boil or steam it.

All of the components of this salad can be made ahead of time making it the ideal salad to put together at the last minute.

Whisking olive oil and lemon juice together will create a heavier dressing ideal for grain salads as opposed to just stirring it with a spoon which will keep it light, ideal for leaf salad.

Luxury Plum pudding with sticky pan peaches and caramel sauce

A spectacular festive dessert doesn’t have to take you hours. The best thing about this recipe is it’s all in the pudding, and that’s done for you.

Serving Size: 8 Difficulty: Easy Prep time: 20 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 store bought Plum Pudding
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons bourbon
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsps. unsalted butter
4 ripe but firm peaches, sliced in half + pits removed
a pinch salt
1/4 cup loosely packed brown sugar

Recipe Steps:

Heavily press the cut side of the peaches into the combined salt and sugar and bring the olive oil and the butter to heat in a heavy based pan. Place the peaches flesh side down into the butter and leave them for about 8 minutes to really caramelise and turn a dark golden colour. Sprinkle in a little more of the sugar and turn the peaches over cooking them for another 5 minutes. Remove them from the pan and set them aside.

Pour the sugar and water into the same pan and bring to a rapid simmer over medium heat swirling the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Without stirring, lower the heat and let the mix simmer until the colour changes to a golden brown, about 5-8 minutes. Turn off heat and slowly stir in the cream until it combines, add in a pinch of salt and set aside until needed.
Heat the pudding as recommended on the pack, slice and serve with a peach half and some of the warmed caramel sauce.

Substitute Ingredients:

Apricots, mango, pears, cherries and apples are also ideal for a technique like caramelising.

Tips:

It is important not to stir the sugar and water when it starts to boil or it will form crystals and may not dissolve properly leaving it grainy.

If your peaches are super ripe, cook them a little less so that they don’t end up to mushy.

For faster ripening, place peaches in a brown paper bag on your kitchen counter.

Choose peaches that have a strong perfume as this means they’ll have a well-developed flavour. Select firm and plump fruit, and store at room temperature for best flavour results. Once your peaches have reached your desired ripeness, then and only then should you place them in the refrigerator.

To prepare peaches, wash before eating or cooking and remove the stone by cutting around the seam of the fruit, twist both halves in opposite directions to separate the fruit and use a knife to gently cut around the stone and remove.

Peaches, like apples and pears, tend to brown after being sliced, to avoid this toss or cover slices with a little lemon juice.

Crackling Pork loin with smashed apple sauce and nectarine salad

Oh how we love crackling! Nothing can be simpler and delicious than this recipe for a twist on your traditional roast pork. Once you have mastered the art to perfect crackling this recipe will be a family favourite.

Serving Size: Serves 6 Difficulty: easy Prep time: 2 hours (allowing the pork skin to dry out in the fridge) Cook time: 1 Hour 40 minutes

Ingredients:

3kg rolled pork loin skin scored
1 tsp coarse salt
2 tablespoons of oil
375 ml chicken stock

For the apple sauce

3 green apples, peeled, cored and cut in half
1 garlic clove, peeled

Nectarine and rocket salad

2 nectarines, cored and cut into wedges
½ red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoon orange marmalade
1 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoons water
Salt and freshly ground pepper
100g packet of rocket

Recipe Steps:

Pat dry the skin of the pork, rub the salt into the scored skin and place the rolled loin into the fridge for at least 2 hours (overnight is better). Wipe over the pork skin with paper towel and rub in 2 tablespoons of oil and another teaspoon of salt. Pre heat the oven to 230c.
Place the pork onto a baking tray, pour in the chicken stock and cook the pork for 40 minutes, then drop the temperature down to 190c, add in the peeled apples and the garlic clove season with salt and pepper and cook for a further hour. While the pork is cooking, prepare the salad by placing the sliced nectarines, red onion and rocket into a bowl. In another small bowl whisk together the olive oil, marmalade, white wine vinegar, water and season with salt and pepper. Set the dressing and the salad aside.
Remove the apples and the garlic from the tray placing them into a bowl and smash them together with a fork. Turn the heat back up to 230c or as high as your oven will go, and cook the pork for a further 20 minutes to really crackle up that crackling. Allow the pork to rest for 10 minutes before slicing it and serving it with the nectarine salad and a spoon of the smashed apple sauce.

Substitute Ingredients:

The spices are an addition to flavour up the crackling but if you don’t like spices you can leave of that step and simply use oil and salt.
Capsicum is a fantastic vegetable that marries well with stone fruit in a warm salad, it also brings beautiful bright colour; or you can leave it out and substitute baby peeled carrots or baby fresh corn.
For a peppery bite in the salad use, rocket, endive leaves or witlof.

Tips:

Warming or roasting apples and nectarines brings out their wonderful summer flavours, you can also grill or barbeque them giving them extra caramelization.

It is really important for perfect crackling to have the skin dry before roasting it, so leaving it in the fridge overnight helps to dry out any extra moisture.

Remember for really moist pork roasts; don’t forget to rest the meat after roasting to keep all of those succulent juices in.

Mango, lime and coconut cream mousse

This mousse is utterly delicious, quick to prepare and good for you too. Bring a little bite of Tropicana into your kitchen using a few simple fresh ingredients; the best thing about this recipe is that nature has done all the work for you.

Serving Size: 6 depending on the size of the servings Difficulty: Easy Prep time: 30 minutes plus chilling

Ingredients

2 large mangoes, peeled and diced
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1/3 cup pure icing sugar sifted
1 tablespoon of gelatine powder
¼ cup hot water
2 x 400ml tins of coconut cream to yield about 2 cups of thick pure coconut cream
1 extra lime, mango and passionfruit for garnish
Good handful of mint
Toasted coconut chips for garnish

Steps

Refrigerate the tins of coconut cream for 30 minutes until chilled. Place the diced mango, lime zest and juice and the icing sugar into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Dissolve the gelatine in the hot water and whisk to combine, then whisk this into the mango and lime mix.
Remove the coconut cream from the tins leaving behind the coconut water and whip this in the bowl of a mixer on medium speed, then increase the speed to high and continue to whip until the cream is fluffy and creamy. Fold the coconut cream through the mango and lime mix and then spoon into glasses or jars for serving. Garnish with a salad of extra sliced mango, lime segments, passionfruit and mint leaves and coconut chips.

Substitute Ingredients:

Lemon juice will also work in this recipe and the mousse can be garnish with a combination of different fruits.
Banana and mango is also another fantastic combination.
Use toasted macadamia nuts, flaked almonds or your favourite nuts for extra crunch and texture.

Tips:

Having a few extra people over? This mousse recipe can be easily doubled or tripled and instead of mangoes, the mousse can also be made with bananas or strawberries.

For a more traditional creamy texture, you can use 1 cup of thick yoghurt and 1 cup of whipped cream folded through the blended mango.