I’ve written a little about ‘supper’ before … What does it even mean?! I just like the word, and think it goes with Christmas trees, vintage tunes and fancy drinks. Simple but beautiful dinners with nibbles and dessert either side. Australia doesn’t have snow in December, but we have all the produce of summer, no rules, and the flexibility to make Christmas whatever we want. I think many of us make different food every year, on the whim of whatever we feel like. I know of some local people who might be making nasi ulam with a bounty of Asian herbs and rice stained blue with pea flowers. I love that idea, and weirdly enough, think it sums up Australian Christmas. Continue reading Noodles with prawns, leek and lotus (or potato)
Tag: Christmas
Nougat ice cream cake
This recipe was born from a failure, as my son likes to remind me! You could call it an experiment – because I knew it could fail, but was excited by the challenge anyway. I was trying to make nougat without a thermometer. It’s tricky to know when the sugar is cooked to the right point for the nougat to set and not ooze … Continue reading Nougat ice cream cake
Orange, almond and currant biscuits (and homemade mixed spice)
This year’s Christmas and holiday packing essentials: presents, clothes, a tent, sleeping bags, an esky, cooking equipment, swimming stuff, six jars of sauerkraut and olives, chocolate truffles I’ve been experimenting with, panettone, nougat, potted prawns, Spanish pickled vegetables, drinks (maybe this one), two types of biscuits because one doesn’t seem enough … Yes, that sounds crazy! But the people who are close to me love me, I think 🙂 Continue reading Orange, almond and currant biscuits (and homemade mixed spice)
Cheese souffle + best-dressed French salad
December cooking is the best, isn’t it? Christmas, obviously, plus all those extra get togethers with good friends and family … That feeling it’s the end of the year and time to mark and celebrate it in lots of ways, including through the food we eat. Some of the things that may happen in our house: Continue reading Cheese souffle + best-dressed French salad
Pâté, Spanish pickled vegetables
Lots of things converging here: the homemade olives we are tickle pink with; a Spanish-inspired quick pickle featuring said olives and other puckering bits (and delicious vinagery carrot!); my friend’s mother’s pâté recipe, which is as much a celebration of onion and nutmeg as it is chicken livers. I’ve made these two dishes multiple times through December and January – peasant food that is fit for a Christmas table, or for get togethers and celebrations of any kind. Continue reading Pâté, Spanish pickled vegetables
Peach leaf prosecco (or soda)
This is what happens when you marry a couple of months editing a seasonal and beautiful cocktail book (classy drinks flavoured with all manner of fruit, herbs, flowers and even vegetables), with one’s own crazy obsession with fruit and fruit trees! Continue reading Peach leaf prosecco (or soda)
Green salad with fried almonds and ricotta
The last time we hosted Christmas, we didn’t have children and possibly didn’t have a Christmas tree (or if we did it was nothing I can remember). Now look at us, we’ve got a real tree (thank you, Oxfam) with a smiley angel that my daughter and I made perched on top, and two polka-dot stockings hanging from our mantel. I even make a wreath of kangaroo paws for our front door. Continue reading Green salad with fried almonds and ricotta
Grilled mussels with capsicum salsa
Why open a mussel raw when you can cook it via steam and it will open itself? Because mussels grilled on a barbecue, cooked gently from heat beneath their shells, are INCREDIBLE! They’re rendered so delicate and soft, without any of the tightening that goes on when they’re steamed, and you would swear you were eating something extraordinarily rare and expensive, not something you buy for under $10 a kilo. So we – my husband and I – put up with the slightly time-consuming task of prising them open again and again. (My husband is a champion at it and doesn’t seem to mind the job, so sometimes I leave him to it!) Continue reading Grilled mussels with capsicum salsa
Potato, dill and caper salad
Our family has been exchanging emails about who’s bringing what for Christmas. I love how this day has evolved from the traditional roast meat and veg, to meat with a spread of colourful salads and side dishes spilling over the meat on your plate, pushing the meat a little into the background (well, the way I dish up anyway!). Just quietly, I think the salads and vegetables are the main event. I do love quality ham and roast pork with crackling, but you’ll generally find me hanging out in the trimmings department. Continue reading Potato, dill and caper salad
Chocolate pavlova with cherries
This pavlova has snuck onto the scene as a dessert for the festive season in our family – not as the main event (we’re all pretty wedded to Christmas pudding), but as a dessert for those barbecues and picnics in the lead up to Christmas or for Boxing Day. Continue reading Chocolate pavlova with cherries