Christmas Cheer

Christmas is a time for eating way too much, but I wouldn't have it any other way! There are lots of traditions in my family and my husband's family, so we do tend to eat the same things every year. I love this and for me, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without roast turkey, glazed ham, pudding and brandy custard.

Both of our families have European heritage, so we celebrate on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. My family are interstate, so one year we celebrate with my family, the other year with my husband's family. This year we are staying in Melbourne, which means I can be a bit more creative with what I make to eat.

This year, we have decided to do a roast duck and a roast turkey on Christmas Eve. The duck was our idea as we eat it quite a bit and love the richness of the meat.  Orange and duck are a match made in heaven, so an orange sauce just had to be made to go with the bird. Duck a l'orange is a bit retro and a bit old fashioned, but I love the flavour. A few years ago I came across a recipe for a simple version of the sauce using fresh orange and marmalade. It gives a beautifully citrus flavour, but also some sweetness and a little bitterness.  Perfect to foil the richness of the duck.  Normally I would make the sauce and simmer the already cooked duck breasts in the sauce for a few minutes to take on some of it's flavour. To serve with the roast, I'm just going to put the sauce in a jug on the side, so people can help themselves.

I have also made this sauce to have with pork fillet, and it is delicious. It would go nicely with some chicken too.

Easy Orange Sauce For Duck

2 oranges

4 Tbs honey

4 Tbs red wine vinegar

4 shallots, finely diced

4 Tbs orange marmalade

400ml chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Zest the oranges into long strips and place in a small bowl. Cover with boiling water and set aside for 3 minutes. Drain.

Cut the ends off the oranges, stand on the end and then using a sharp knife, remove the skin and pith from the fruit.

Cut the orange segments between the membrane to separate them and reserve in a bowl. 

Squeeze any extra juices from the orange into the same bowl.

Heat the honey in a large frying pan over medium heat.

Add the vinegar, shallots, marmalade, chicken stock, reserved orange juice and zest and simmer for about 8 minutes, or until reduced slightly.

Add the orange segments to the sauce and season to taste.

Remove from the heat, cool slightly, then pour into a jug to serve.

If you are making the sauce just before you serve the duck, add any meat juices from carving to add some extra richness of flavour.

Caramel Ice Cream With Speculaas and Fruit

Dessert on Christmas Eve is not set and depends on who has been allocated to make it and what the weather is looking like. Tomorrow night isn't going to be that warm, but when I saw the recipe for this ice cream cake, I just knew that I had to make it.

My Kitchen Stories is a foodie blog that I've been following for a while now, with a collection of amazing recipes. Tania wrote about this caramel ice cream cake a few weeks ago and how easy it was to make without needing an ice cream machine. Not having an ice cream machine, I thought this would be perfect. My husband's family are Dutch, so the flavours were just right. Please check out My Kitchen Stories for some fantastic recipes and wonderful foodie photos.

I made my caramel by boiling a tin of condensed milk for 3 hours, but for an even easier version, you could buy a tin of caramel from the shop.

I am going to serve my version topped with fresh cherries, strawberries and blueberries, with a crumbling of speculaas biscuits on top. I can't wait to try it! From the taste of the mixture when I licked the bowl, this is definitely going to become a regular in our house.


1 tin of caramel condensed milk
400ml thickened cream
150g speculaas biscuits, crushed into chunks

Beat caramel and cream in an electric mixer on medium speed until thick and creamy.
Gently stir through biscuit pieces.
Pour the mixture into a lined springform tin and smooth the surface.
Freeze overnight.
Carefully remove from the tin and place on a serving plate.
Decorate with fresh berries or other fruit, extra speculaas biscuit pieces and whipped cream, if desired.

Cherry Ice Cream

On Christmas Day this year, we have been asked to bring trifle and ice cream. I am not playing around with the trifle, so it is just going to be layers of sponge roll, jelly and poached fresh cherries and strawberries with custard and a topping of toasted flaked almonds.

The ice cream however, is where I can get a bit creative.  Cherries are so beautiful around Christmas time and so nothing could be better than fresh cherry ice cream. I have made this recipe before and it is so easy, especially when you don't have an ice cream machine. It really is like a frozen meringue with cherry pieces throughout. Light and delicious!

300g fresh cherries
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 egg whites

Pit cherries and roughly chop.
Place in a container and freeze overnight.
Place cherries in the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk and beat on medium for a few minutes to break up the chunks.
Add the sugar and egg whites and whisk on high speed for 5 minutes, or until doubled in volume and meringue looking.
Spoon into a a freezer proof container and freeze overnight.

This ice cream can be served straight from the freezer as it doesn't set particularly hard. Make sure you keep it in the freezer on a hot day, so it doesn't melt.

Freshly made, it would also be great as a mousse filling for brandy snap baskets or mini tarts. You could also serve it as an alternative to cream on fruit salad or even very decadent pancakes.

Christmas Cake (without the yucky bits!)

Like a lot of kids, I never really enjoyed Christmas cake and Christmas pudding because of those pesky glace cherries and mixed peel. I still don't really like them and will avoid them if possible in cakes, biscuits or hot cross buns. Why ruin an otherwise good cake with something horrible!

My lovely Mum knew I hated the cherries and mixed peel, so her and my Grandma would make a 'golden fruit cake' at Christmas time, which was just for me (or so I liked to think). This cake was light in colour and rather than all the heavy currants, sultanas, raisins and glace cherries of a regular fruit cake, it contained only a mix of glace apricots, pineapple and pear. It was delicious!

As an adult, my tastes have changed a bit and I now don't mind a heavy fruit cake, but I still prefer Grandma's recipe. I have been making the same cake for years now and decided that I would make a few changes to it this year and see how it went.

This years recipe contains a lot less fruit, so it's more cakey and less dense. It probably won't keep quite as long as traditional fruit cake, but time will tell. Usually the cake is eaten before it has a chance to go stale anyway!

I've also added some dried cranberries for a bit of Christmas colour and some glace ginger, which I love in a fruit cake. It adds an unusual hot, gingery, sweet flavour, which I associate with Christmas. As well as flour, this also contains some almond meal, which gives a nice moistness to the cake too. To top it off, chopped roasted almonds give a bit of crunch. You could equally use toasted macadamias for an Australian twist.

I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do. I still think of my Grandma when I eat a slice with a cup of tea.

Golden Fruit Cake

250g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup currants
1/4 cup dried figs, chopped
1/4 cup glace ginger, chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs
1/2 cup almond meal
1 cup plain flour
3/4 cup self raising flour
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup almonds, roasted and coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 160 degrees.
Grease and line either a 20cm round or square cake tin with 2 layers of baking paper, extending 5cm above the rim.
Soak raisins, currants and cranberries in boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain. Add ginger and fig to the other fruits.
Cream butter and sugar in a bowl of a mixer and add vanilla essence.
Beat in eggs, one at a time.
Fold in almond meal, sifted flour and milk until combined.
Stir in reserved fruits and almonds.
Pour mixture into the tin and smooth the surface.
Bake for about 1 hour 20 to 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. If it starts to brown too much on top, cover with a piece of foil.
Cool in the tin for 20 minutes, before turning out on to a rack to cool completely.
Slice into small pieces and dust with icing sugar to serve.

To store, keep the cake wrapped in a layer of baking paper, then foil, then cling wrap. That will keep it moist and stop it from going stale.

Christmas And Sparkling Shiraz

I love Christmas in Australia, when the weather is hot and all those beautiful cherries, mangoes and other summer fruits come into abundance. I love the fresh herbs and ruby red tomatoes growing in the garden. I love the tradition of still having roast turkey and ham on Christmas Day and of eating way too much. I love the very Australian drink of Sparkling Shiraz to have with my lunch on Christmas Day.

Sparkling Shiraz is as Australian as thongs and laminations, Vegemite and pavlova. It is a wonderful drink and the sweetness and bubbly berry-ness goes perfectly with so many foods. Turkey, ham and duck are great matches. If you've never tried it, make sure you track one down.

Tonight we are having a Grant Burge Sparkling Shiraz Cabernet as the December wine from The Fabulous Ladies' Wine Society Wine Club.  I have had plenty of Grant Burge wines in the past, but never the Sparkling Shiraz, so I was really looking forward to this one.

Grant Burge is a winery from the Barossa Valley in South Australia, which has been producing table and sparkling wines since 1855. Located 80km north of Adelaide, the Barossa is a beautiful area of rolling hills, vineyards, fine food and wine. The winery produces a number of different levels of wine, with Barossa reds being a favourite. White wines also feature highly, particularly those with fruit from the neighbouring Eden Valley.

Given that we'll be having plenty of turkey next week, tonight I thought I'd match the sparkling Shiraz with some great Australian lamb.  Red wine and red meat always go well together, so why not add a bit of sweetness and a few bubbles!

I was given a bunch of some beautiful fresh mint from a friend's garden the other day and decided that mint, lamb and sparkling shiraz would be the perfect combination.

With amazing fresh herbs, truss Roma tomatoes and asparagus, I have put together a simple but amazing salad to showcase all of those beautiful flavours. Part Greek, part Middle Eastern, part Australian, it is a wonderful blend of amazing food and cultures.

The Grant Burge Sparkling Shiraz was inky black in colour with plenty of spice and blackberry flavours. There was also some plum and cherry notes too. The sweetness and berry-ness matched perfectly with the lamb, complementing the crisp nutty coating. Nuts and berries go well together, don't they?  I was worried that the salty feta and olives would be a bit overpowering, but because the feta was nice and creamy, it all balanced out. Sweet tomato, fresh mint and peppery rocket were the perfect combination of flavours.

I'd definitely recommend this wine, especially on Christmas Day. Even on Christmas Eve, New Years Eve or any time you want something a little bit different and a little bit fancy. To be drunk with a full meal, some prosciutto and fresh bread, strong cheeses or just on its own. Perfect.

Nut And Seed Crusted Lamb

1 lamb backstrap, cleaned of fat and sinews
1 Tbs sesame seeds
1/4 cup flaked almonds, toasted
1 tsp lemon myrtle flakes
A good grinding of salt and pepper

Combine sesame seeds, almonds, lemon myrtle, salt and pepper in a mortar and pestle.
Gently crush the almonds and combine all the flavours.
Generously sprinkle the lamb all over with the seed and nut mixture.

Heat a fry pan on medium high heat with a good drizzle of olive oil.
Depending on the size of your lamb and your frypan, you may need to cut the fillet in half.
Cook on one side until the coating is golden and the lamb sealed. Turn over and cook the other side.
You still want the lamb to be a little pink in the middle.
Set aside to rest in a warm place, covered with foil.

Tomato and Asparagus Salad

3 truss Roma tomatoes, quartered
Half a bunch of asparagus, woody ends snapped off
A handful of rocket leaves
50g feta, cut into cubes
A handful of black olives
A handful of fresh mint leaves, torn
Extra virgin olive oil
Verjuice

Pour boiling water over the asparagus in a heatproof bowl and leave for 1 minute. Drain and refresh under cold water.
Place asparagus, tomato, rocket, feta, olives and mint in a salad bowl or on a platter.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and and a dash of verjuice to taste and gently combine.

Rocket Pesto

Our vegie garden is coming along nicely at the moment, but the thing that just grows and grows is rocket.  There is so much there and no sooner than you pick some to use in a salad, it's back again! There have been plenty of rocket, pear and parmesan salads in the eat quaff laugh household of late!

I decided that the only way to use up a whole lot of the rocket was to make a pesto. Pesto is generally made from basil, but you can really make it using any herb or leafy green. Coriander pesto with a bit of chilli is one of my favourites.

This time, I used rocket and toasted cashews, along with the regular garlic, parmesan and oil. Our rocket is quite peppery, so I didn't need to add any pepper, but if you're using younger shop bought leaves, you might want to add a bit. Instead of lemon juice, I used some verjuice. It adds a similar acidity, without being too strong.

The batch of rocket pesto that I made was more than enough for a couple of meals. If I had been organised, I would have sterilised some jars to store it in, so that it would keep for a bit longer. If you do this, make sure you cover the top of the pesto with a thin layer of olive oil, so that it doesn't oxidise. You'll still need to keep it in the fridge and use it within a few weeks, but it does store for longer. Alternatively you can actually freeze pesto pretty well. Great when you want a simple pasta dish but don't have the time to be making the sauce from scratch.

Given that I had so much pesto, I managed to get two meals out of it, with a little bit left over. The first dish was a side to go with some ocean trout. I roasted some home grown 'cranberry red' potatoes and then tossed the pesto through them while they were hot. They were delicious!

The second meal was a simple pesto pasta, with a slight twist. Before tossing the pesto through the cooked pasta, I fried up a sliced chorizo until crispy and added that to the mix, with a dash of the pasta cooking water to loosen. The smoky paprika in the chorizo was great with the peppery rocket. Sprinkled with some extra grated parmesan, it made a simple dinner a little bit more special.

You could really get creative with pesto and use it for so much more than just a pasta sauce. Marinate chicken with it, spread it on toasted sourdough and top with goats cheese or feta, mix it with ricotta and use as a stuffing for rolled chicken or pork. You are only limited by your imagination!

Rocket Pesto

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, coarsely chopped

4 large handfuls of rocket leaves

3/4 cup cashew nuts

1 Tbs oil

2 Tbs verjuice

Salt to taste

Start by toasting the cashews. You can either do this in the oven at 180 degrees for about 10 minutes or until browned or in a dry frypan. Allow to cool.

Place garlic, cashews, parmesan and rocket in a food processor and blitz until coarsely chopped. Slowly add the oil and verjuice and blitz again until it's the desired consistency. I like my pesto to still be a bit chunky, but you might prefer it smoother.

Add salt if you need it and adjust the flavours with extra rocket, oil or verjuice as needed.

And To Drink...

This Plantagenet Omrah Rose from Great Southern in Western Australia was a lovely drop. There was plenty of red berry and plummy flavours with a bit of sweetness, but essentially a dry finish. It matched perfectly with the rich ocean trout and pesto potatoes, but also with the pasta with chorizo. The saltiness and spice in the chorizo and the peppery pesto were complemented by the slight sweetness of the wine. While the weather wasn't particularly warm the night we had this wine, to me, Rose is always great on a hot day when you want something with a bit of body, but also nice and refreshing.

I'll definitely be looking out for this Rose again, and other wines made by Plantagenet. Western Australia, particularly Great Southern, produce some wonderful red and white wines. Now to get over there to try some!

Another Way With Tuna

It seems that I've been cooking a lot of tuna lately! I love how versatile it is and how you really can substitute it for a meaty dish. Last week I shared with you a baked tuna, today it's something a bit more simple.

Tuna steaks don't take long to cook, so are perfect for a midweek meal when you want something quick and easy. They cook faster than a regular steak, particularly because you want the middle to still be rare. Just make sure you don't over cook them. You only want half a centimetre at most cooked on each side. Any more than this and the fish will be dry and horrible. If you don't like tuna, or can't get it from your fish shop, you can substitute with any other sort of fish. Preferably use a firm fleshed fish, if you can.

Teamed with a sweet carrot puree and some wilted greens, you have a very colourful dish! I added some chopped roasted beetroot to my greens because I had some left over, but you could also use dried cranberries too. They both add a bit of sweetness to the greens, which can be bitter, depending on which sort you use. The red and green also look lovely, so if the weather isn't particularly warm for Christmas, it could be a good vegie choice!

The carrot puree can be made in advance and then just heated in a saucepan or the microwave when you're ready to eat. It doesn't take very long, but tastes great and looks lovely in a coloured bowl on the table.

There has been much Christmas cheer of late in the eat quaff laugh household, so no wine for us to go with the tuna tonight. If you are looking for a tipple, try a Riesling or unwooded Chardonnay. You want something light and fresh that is still nice and fruity, but not overpowering. Given that the tuna is quite meaty, a wine with a bit of complexity and depth would be perfect. I'm sure you'll be able to find something that matches!

Tuna Steaks With Carrot Puree and Mixed Greens

2 tuna steaks, about 1.5cm thick

Salt and pepper to taste

A drizzle of olive oil

4 carrots

50g Persian feta, marinated in oil

2 Tbs natural yoghurt

A bunch of mixed greens (rainbow chard, silver beet, spinach etc)

Chopped left over roasted beetroot or a handful of dried cranberries, coarsely chopped

For the carrot puree -

Peel and trim the carrots and chop coarsely.

Cook in the microwave or in a saucepan of water on the stove until soft. Drain and cool slightly.

Transfer to a food processor and whiz with the feta, yoghurt and enough of the marinating oil to make a thick consistency. Season to taste.

For the greens -

Wash and coarsely chop your selection of leafy greens. Remove any really thick bits of stalk which might be a bit woody.

Heat a frying pan with a drizzle of the feta oil and cook the greens until they begin to wilt. 

Throw in the beetroot or cranberries to warm through and season to taste.

Add an extra drizzle of the oil to serve, if you like.

For the tuna -

Cover the tuna steaks on both sides with a grinding of salt and a very generous covering of ground black pepper.

Heat  a frying pan over high heat with a good drizzle of olive oil.

Sear the tuna for about a minute on each side. You want about 0.5cm of cooked fish on either side, with the middle nice and pink.

To serve, place a creative blob of the carrot puree on the plate and then the tuna on top. Decoratively place the greens on top of the tuna. Enjoy!

Beetroot Baked Eggs

I love it when a completely random combination of what's left over in the fridge actually works!

This week I was left to my own devices while my husband was out at Christmas drinks. I figured it was a good opportunity to use up the bits and pieces that were in the fridge and try to create something delicious.

I loved baked eggs and they often feature on our weekend breakfast menu or on weeknights when you want something quick, easy and filling.

This beetroot baked eggs was delicious and only took a total of about 20 minutes to make and cook. It was perfect on a cool night, when I wanted something hearty and filling but without too much fuss or effort.

This recipe only used a few ingredients and not a lot of skill. The sweet, earthy flavour of the beetroot was beautiful with the creamy feta and the runny eggs yolks mixed through. The extra dash of pomegranate molasses added some syrupy sweetness. I did mean to top it all with a few pieces of smoked salmon, but completely forgot! They would have been great too. You could equally add some prosciutto or crispy bacon at the last minute as well.

I made only enough for one serve, so you just need to double or triple it for more people.

Beetroot Baked Eggs

1 beetroot

2 tsp pomegranate molasses, or to taste

A knob of butter

Salt and pepper to taste

50g of creamy feta, chopped

A handful of parsley, chopped

Smoked salmon, prosciutto or crispy bacon (optional)

Toast to serve

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Chop the stalk of the beetroot and peel.
Grate the beetroot and place in a saucepan with the butter, pomegranate molasses, a dash of water and salt and pepper to taste.
Cook, covered, over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the beetroot has softened and some of the liquid has evaporated. Make sure there is still some liquid left so it's not too dry.
Tip the beetroot mixture into an oven proof ramekin or small dish and make two indents for the eggs.
Crack an egg into each hole, place the dish on a baking tray and cover with foil.
Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the white is set and the yolks are still runny.
In the last few minutes, throw the feta on top of the dish to warm it up a bit.
Take the dish out of the oven, sprinkle with the parsley and an extra bit of cracked black pepper. If you are using smoked salmon or prosciutto, add that to the top now.
Serve with hot buttered toast.

Baked Tuna

I think I've told you before that we are trying to eat more fish in the eat quaff laugh household. Personally, I would eat salmon every day, but the man of the house isn't such a fan and would prefer to have anything but.

Tuna is another fish that we do have quite often and it seems to keep everyone happy. Seared on the outside so that the middle is still pink, it is great crusted with cracked black pepper or sesame seeds. Rather than cooking the tuna like a steak, this dish quickly sears the outside and then bakes it in the oven. Because you use a big piece of fillet, rather than individual slices, it tends not to dry out and you get all the amazing fishy flavours melding with the sauce ingredients. Just ask your friendly fishmonger for  a large piece of fillet, if they don't have any on display.

When you feel like seafood, but want something quite hearty and filling, then this is your meal. This time around I have used red wine, but I've also made it with white wine and it's equally as good. It really depends what you have on hand, what's open at the time or what you feel like drinking! Being so versatile, you can really make more or less the same recipe into different tasting meals. When the weather is cold, serve with mash and some green beans or asparagus, when it's warmer, maybe some fresh crusty bread and a rocket salad. Just make sure you don't waste all those delicious juices!

 

Baked Tuna

 

600g piece of tuna fillet, preferably all one thickness
A drizzle of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, thinly sliced
2 French radishes, finely chopped
2 tsp small capers
500g fresh tomato, coarsely chopped
200ml red wine
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
A handful of fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
Season tuna all over with salt and pepper.
Heat a drizzle of oil in a frying pan over high heat and sear the fish on all sides until golden.
Remove from the frying pan while you make the sauce.
In an ovenproof pot with a lid, heat another drizzle of oil and gently fry garlic, shallot and radish until softened.
Add the capers, tomato, wine and thyme and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the tomato starts to break down. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place the tuna in the middle of the sauce, cover with a lid and bake for 5 minutes.

Take the pot out of the oven, carefully turn the tuna over, re-cover and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes. You want the centre of the tuna to still be pink and moist.
Remove from the oven and allow to rest for a few minutes to finish cooking.
Place the tuna on a serving plate and spoon the tomato and juices over the top.
Sprinkle with the chopped mint and serve.

 

 

And To Drink...

This dish really goes against the 'white wine goes with fish' principle, due to the tuna fillet being so meaty. You could serve it with the red wine you cooked with, a white wine, or something in between!
We decided to have ours with a Rose, as there wasn't any of the cooking wine left! It was the remains of a bottle we'd had the night before.

The 2012 Lethbridge Rose was actually perfect with the fish. It had a little bit of sweetness, but was heavy enough to balance the meatiness of the tuna and the acidity of the tomatoes and capers. There were plenty of red berry flavours and a little bit of spinciness. On a warm night, having a chilled wine was perfect.

Lethbridge Wines are located in Lethbridge, which is 30km northwest of Geelong. We have gone down there for the last two years at vintag,e in February or March, to pick the grapes on their Friends Pick days. It's a lot of fun (and not too much hard work) and it's very satisfying to know that you've helped in the making of their wines. We've even had the chance to stomp the grapes in the barrels. It was very messy, but we loved it, especially the kids!

Please check out their wines, if you can. The premium reds and whites (named after the winemakers children) are wonderful.