Seven Christmas Inspirations: Fruit Mince; Ice Cream; Mince Slice; Pudding; Tiramisu of Summer Berries; Cake; Frangipane & Fruit Mince Tart

I’ve had lots of emails after my chat with Kerre Woodham on Newstalk ZB last week asking about the Christmas recipes I featured. I know we’re all planning what to take to friends or what to serve at home over the holiday season, and I thought it would be great to share some of the recipes I use at Christmas. Before you read my 7 inspirational recipes for Christmas which I hope you love, have a look at this photo!

This wonderful Bûche de Noël, a dessert served during the Christmas holidays in France and Belgium, was created by one of our wonderful White Tie chefs – Jen Norriss - and served at a recent function. If this inspires you, the cake itself is a chocolate swiss roll filled with chocolate buttercream and iced to resemble a Yule log…

Now, here are 7 fabulous ideas for you - I hope you love them, too!

Christmas Fruit Mince
Yield 1.5kg
4 Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and chopped
2 cups raisins
1 cup currants
150g butter
2 teaspoons mace
2 teaspoons nutmeg
3 teaspoons spice
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 cups brown sugar
100ml brandy
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
100ml lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer partly covered with lid for 30-40 minutes or until thick. Pour into clean, sterilised jars. Cover when cold.

Christmas Ice Cream
1 cup fruit mince
1 tablespoon brandy
600mls cream
¾ cup caster sugar
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine fruit mince and brandy. Whip the cream with half the sugar until soft peaks form. Beat the egg yolks with remaining sugar and vanilla until thick. Fold in the fruit mince followed by the whipped cream. Pour into an ice cream container and freeze.

Christmas Mince Slice
Base
100g chilled butter
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup flour

Process butter, flour and sugar until breadcrumb consistency and press into lined slice tin. Bake at 160ºC for 10 minutes.

Topping
1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
¼ cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup coconut
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 cup fruit mince
Mix dry ingredients well and add wet ingredients. Place over base and cook for a further 30 minutes. Cool completely before cutting. Dust with icing sugar to serve. An extra egg and more mince can be used to bulk it out.

Christmas Pudding
Makes 2 large or 4 small puddings
500g currants
500g raisins
500g breadcrumbs
6 dessertspoons flour
125g mixed peel
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon salt
500g brown sugar
zest of 1 lemon
8 eggs, beaten
500g butter, melted
1 wine glass brandy
Combine the first 9 ingredients in a large bowl. Add remaining 3 and mix well to thoroughly combine. Divide between 2 greased pudding bowls. Cover and boil 8 hours.

Christmas Tiramisu of Summer Berries
1 large pkt sponge fingers
Marscapone filling
5 eggs, separated
90g caster sugar
500g marscapone
2 tablespoons Marsala
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat egg yolks with half the sugar until pale and fluffy. Fold the marscapone into the yolks, followed by the Marsala and vanilla. Beat the egg whites until foamy and gradually add the remaining sugar beating until soft peaks form. Fold into the marscapone mixture.
Berry Filling
750g raspberries and sliced strawberries (raspberries may be frozen)
½ cup Marsala or sweet white wine
4 tablespoons caster sugar
Combine ingredients and stand for at least 30 minutes.
Berry Sauce
125g raspberries or strawberries
¼ cup icing sugar
Process fruit and sugar until smooth and strain to remove pips. Chill until needed.
In a large glass bowl, layer sponge fingers, berry filling and marscapone filling in that order. Repeat until bowl is full. Refrigerate overnight and garnish top with extra berries and serve with berry sauce.

Christmas Cake
500g butter
500g caster sugar
500g flour
1.5kg currants
1.5kg raisins
1.5kg sultanas
350g peel
250g ground almonds
30g mixed spice
12 eggs
1 orange – rind & juice
1 lemon – rind & juice
Brandy to taste
Grate rinds of lemon & orange, squeeze juice, melt butter.
Place fruit in a large bowl, add rind & juice. Sieve flour, add spice & almonds. Beat eggs & sugar until light in colour. Stir in flour, almonds & spices. Add fruit mix and butter and mix by hand.
Cook 5 ½ hours, 1 hour at 120°C and the rest 110°C-100°C. When cooked leave ½ hour then make small holes all over cake with a skewer and pour in brandy. Leave in tin to cool 24 hours.

Frangipane and Fruit Mince Tart
Serves 6
Pastry
300g flour
100g caster sugar
100g butter
pinch of salt
1 egg
Mix all the ingredients in a food processor. Wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 190°C. Roll out pastry and line a tart tin. Bake blind for 10 minutes, remove blind baking weights and bake a further 5 mins. Cool.
Filling
120g caster sugar
120g butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
120g ground almonds
20g flour
1 tablespoon orange flavoured liqueur (optional)
8 mint leaves, shredded
300g fruit mince
Cream butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients followed by liqueur and mint.
Spread fruit mince over the bottom of the pastry case and top with frangipane mix.
Bake at 180°C for 30 - 40mins serve warm dusted with icing sugar.

Cook them, love them!

Licking the bowl ... STICKY GINGERBREAD

It seems that I am going to be a lot better at teaching my grandchildren to cook than my own children. Probably age has taught me patience but of course we are all so much more aware of the need to teach our children these life skills.



Fortunately, my girls have all turned into great cooks, they say by osmosis, so I am able to enjoy being a guest at their dinner tables. Actually, it’s one of my most favourite things to do in the whole world!

My grandson Mason, is two and we had a lovely day last week baking my favourite gingerbread.

This recipe has been in my book for so long I don’t remember where it came from but it is a pantry staple because of it's versatility.

Great for morning tea, warmed with caramel sauce and ice cream for a quick dessert, served with cheese on a cheeseboard (great with a creamy blue) and a terrific lunch box filler.

It’s a one bowl wonder and a great simple recipe to teach the children. I was quite shocked that Mason wasn’t interested in licking the bowl, so I had to!!

Sticky Gingerbread

180g butter
1 cup water
1/3 cup treacle
2/3 cup golden syrup
2 eggs
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons mixed spice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 teaspoons ground ginger
250g brown sugar
375g flour

Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 9” square tin with baking paper.
Cut butter into pieces and warm with water, treacle and syrup until just melted.
In a small bowl, beat eggs well.
In a large bowl, place the sugar and sift in the flour, spices and soda.
Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the beaten eggs and butter mixture. Mix well to combine.
Pour into lined cake tin and bake 1-1¼ hours or until a skewer inserted in the middle, comes out clean.
Remove from oven and leave to cool. This cake improves on keeping and is great to freeze.

COOK IT & LOVE IT!

Salad Days are here!

I have just returned from a brief trip to the USA and I was reminded how good they are at making salads.

There has been a real turn around with the weather here and with the asparagus season in full swing and the beginning of the new potato season, we have two great vegetables to use as the base of a salad meal. We all love the satisfaction of preparing healthy and delicious dishes!

Don’t just think of salad as a side dish to a meal, think of it as a meal. Who can resist a platter highlighting summer’s bounty – cucumber, crispy iceberg lettuce, crunchy radishes, perfectly cooked asparagus, tiny new potatoes. You can add as much or as little as you like but think - colour, texture, freshness, crunch, protein content and then, of course, a great dressing, as this can be the difference between an average salad and a great salad.

This potato and asparagus salad is great and feel free to add sliced chicken, chopped walnuts, or diced avocado. Let the creative juices flow!

Cook it and love it.

Potato and Asparagus Salad with Tarragon Verjus Dressing

1 kg asparagus
500g new potatoes
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/4 cup fresh tarragon
1/4 cup Italian parsley
2 tablespoons chives, chopped
1/3 cup verjus
1 teapsoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Bring a large pot of water to the boil and briefly cook asparagus for 2-3 minutes. Using tongs transfer to a large bowl of iced water. Drain.
Add potatoes to the pot and cook until tender. Drain and let cool slightly.
In a mini food processor, pulse coriander seeds until crushed. Add tarragon, parsley, chives and process until finely chopped. Add the verjus, mustard and process until smooth. With the processor running add the oil in a fine stream. Season with salt and pepper.

Slice potatoes in half. Place in a bowl with some of the dressing and toss gently. Arrange on a platter with asparagus on top. Drizzle with some of the extra dressing.

CAPE KIDNAPPERS IDYLL - Lemon Salad with Crumbed Schnitzel and Lemon Sauce

I have just had the most fabulous weekend in the Hawke’s Bay with my husband for his birthday treat. The weather was fantastic, the sky completely cloudless for the entire time and we walked for miles over the rolling hills of Cape Kidnappers.

We tend to just get on with our lives and forget about the rest of our beautiful country but we have now made a pact to go exploring whenever we can and visit new places, shop in local farmers markets and soak up the wonderful regionality of New Zealand. I always feel quite envious when I see things growing so robustly in other parts of the country that I can’t grow at home in our Christchurch climate.

On the way home we stayed with old friends in Pahiatua and I was able to forage in the garden which has always been a wonderland of self sufficiency. I get goose pimples when I see so much citrus hanging on the trees so even though I had shopped to the limit over the weekend, nothing was going to stop me from filling yet another bag and bringing home lemons and grapefruit. I am an avid jam maker and my marmalade is in constant demand from my family to the point where two of my daughters’ partners have been known to fight over the last jar in the cupboard!
I truly could not live without lemons and not just for the gin and tonics! My childhood memories are full of lemon curd, lemon meringue pie, lemon chutney, lemon cake. I love that lemons cover all the flavour spectrums from savoury to sweet and so many things are just taken to a whole new level with a squeeze of lemon. Our kitchen at home always has a lemon bowl and the commercial chiller at work always has a case of them on hand.

Yen Ben lemons are the largest crop produced in New Zealand and are exported in huge amounts to Japan. The most common variety for the home gardener is the Meyer lemon which has a thinner skin and slightly sweeter juice. I have just planted two in a sheltered part of my garden and will be lovingly tending to them so that eventually I will be able to pick my very own.
This leads me to share with you a fun recipe that is simply perfect for this time of year. Cook it & love it!

Lemon Salad with Crumbed Schnitzel and Lemon Sauce
Slices of beef or veal schnitzel
Season flour and coat schnitzels then dip in seasoned, whisked egg and coat with a mixture of two thirds breadcrumbs to one third freshly grated parmesan cheese. Refrigerate until ready to cook in olive oil in hot pan.

Lemon Salad
2-3 washed lemons
Salt
1 red pepper
2 telegraph cucumbers
freshly ground black pepper
extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat leaf parsley

Slice lemons as thinly as possible and flick out all seeds. Spread slices on a tray, then sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 minutes. Rinse and dry slices and pat dry. Cut pepper into sections following its natural curves. Peel with a vegetable peeler. Remove all seeds and ribs from pepper and cut lengthwise into very thin slices. Cut cucumber into paper thin slices. On a shallow serving platter arrange a bed of overlapping cucumber slices and top with lemon. Decorate salad with red pepper slices. Grind over pepper, drizzle with oil and scatter over parsley.

Lemon and Caper Sauce
100g butter
Juice of two lemons
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon milk
1-2 tablespoon capers

Melt butter with lemon juice and salt. Mix egg yolk with milk in a bowl, pour melted butter and lemon onto yolks and whisk together. Return mixture to the pan and heat very gently, whisking for 1 minute until sauce thickens. Add capers and keep warm but do not boil or the sauce may curdle.

To make in advance, pour into a warmed thermos.

ON THE SAUCE - Gribiche Sauce

I’ve just had a great day out at the Akaroa Cooking School and it was just what was needed after being shaken about so badly last week. We were able to put all our problems behind us and sit back and be entertained by the lovely Al Brown of Wellington’s Logan Brown restaurant and television documentary ‘Hunger for the Wild’ fame.

Al is a charmer and one of those generous chefs eager to share his knowledge and passion with us all. He achieved great things in the kitchen of Logan Brown and is now concentrating on another book and more television which is fabulous because in my opinion Hunger for the Wild is by far the best food programme produced here.
Al’s food is delicious and we were treated to the best freshest paua I have ever eaten!

I want to share a sauce recipe with you that he served with crab cakes and is simply delicious. I’m stopping by my fish shop on the way home tonight to buy some tuna steaks to serve it with but it also occurred to me that it would be equally good over a large baked potato with a salad for simple quick meal. Cook it & Love it.

Al’s Gribiche Sauce

1 ½ cups good quality mayonnaise (preferably homemade)
4 hard boiled eggs, finely chopped
¼ cup capers, finely chopped
¼ red onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup gherkins, finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped green capsicum
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped chervil
1 ½ tablespoons finely chopped tarragon
1 ½ tablespoons wholegrain mustard
sea salt and pepper

In a bowl, mix all ingredients together. Taste and season accordingly. Keep refrigerated until required. Will keep several days refrigerated.

MONG KOK OR BUST - Black pepper crab

It always pays to do lots of research before you travel, especially if eating is on the top of your agenda!
This lead to us queuing for an hour outside a little hole in the wall restaurant in the back streets of Mong Kok in Hong Kong. I had heard so much about this little Dim Sum Michelin Star restaurant called Tim Ho Wan that from the time we set foot on the tarmac in Hong Kong at 6.30 in the morning, I was on a mission.
With amused husband and eager friend Vicki (pictured) in tow, we dumped our bags at the hotel reception and set off to Mong Kok on the very efficient underground. On surfacing into the hustle and bustle firmly clutching our map, we were approached by a friendly gentleman asking us if we needed help. On seeing our destination he took it upon himself to walk us all the way to the restaurant door. A good ten minute walk!
It was 8.45 in the morning, the restaurant opens at 10am and already the queue was forming!
At 9.45 with the queue well out of sight and around the corner, menu cards were handed out to the first 30 or so people to fill in and then gathered up and rushed to the kitchen. At 10am the doors opened and in we went with eager anticipation to taste the famous pork buns. WOW was it worth the wait! As had been recommended, we began and ended with the pork buns which were totally divine melt in the mouth morsels which had the eyes rolling in the back of my head. On leaving 30 minutes later (it didn’t seem right to keep people waiting longer than necessary) the question was raised should we come back in the evening!

I now had one up on Ann, my Hong Kong sister in law, so she is eagerly anticipating her next trip home to Hong Kong.
She did agree to share with us her fantastic recipe for Black Pepper Crab which I urge you to try. I know it’s a bit of a hassle to break up the crabs but they are simply delicious and you know what? Sometimes things are just worth the extra effort!
Cook it and love it.

Tim Ho Wan is open daily from 10am until 10pm. Address for the intrepid: Shop 8, 2 -20 Kwong Wa Street, Mong Kok.

BLACK PEPPER CRAB

3 medium sized crabs, portioned
2 spring onions
¼ cup black pepper corns
4 garlic cloves
½ teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1½ tablespoons corn starch
4 tablespoons soya sauce
¼ cup flour
canola oil for frying (1/3 wok full)
2 slices of ginger

Cut spring onion into 2 inch pieces and put aside. Partially grind pepper corns in coffee grinder or similar. Add garlic and grind until coarse paste formed (approximately 10 seconds). Place paste into mixing bowl. Add sugar and salt and blend. Put aside. In separate bowl, mix water, cornstarch and soya sauce. Put aside. Dust crab portions with flour.

Heat oil in wok until very hot. Carefully place crab portions into oil. Deep fry by stirring (approx one minute). Turn off gas. Scoop out portions onto draining paper.
Pour out oil leaving 4 tablespoons in wok. Stir fry pepper mix and ginger for 30 seconds.
Add cornstarch sauce mix and stir until it thickens. Add crab and spring onions to the sauce. Stir fry for ½ minute. Add 1 tablespoon oil to final stir.
Serve on banana leaf or similar and eat with your fingers!

Crab preparation.
Buy only live crabs. Place crabs in the freezer for 20 minutes so they go into a state of hibernation. Spread newspaper on floor with chopping board on top. Take the crabs out of the freezer and place crab shell side down on chopping board. Cut crab firmly down the centre into two, effectively killing the crab. Use back of cleaver to knock claws off. Cut string. Place cleaver or knife under shell to open slightly and pull shell off with fingers. Discard lungs and mouthpieces. Pull out and discard soft shell from roe. Wash under tap with coarse brush to remove mud. If large crabs are used then each half can be cut into smaller portions for serving. Smash claws with cleaver.

WHITE TIE WINTER BISTRO – Eggplant spagaloni

I’m still buzzing from our fabulous White Tie Winter Bistro – we had our first one for this year on Thursday 3 June – and it was just wonderful!













We held the event at C4, our favourite roasters of coffee in Christchurch. The roastery is housed in a funky warehouse style building in Lichfield Street with exposed brick, wood floors and industrial strength iron girders in the ceiling. They have a great display of coffee machines, stove top espresso pots, and the world’s best Barbie record player!

Our 80 guests chose from a wine list showcasing Canterbury’s finest on offer – pinot noir from Black Estate, Pegasus Bay’s Semillon and a Crater Rim Late Harvest Pinot Gris to name a few…

Entrees included green olive and anchovy beignets, Malouf’s mushrooms on traditional fried bread and our homemade ciabatta grilled with chopped tomato salad, prosciutto and the award-winning Clevedon buffalo mozzarella.

The mains proved there’s just something about hearty bistro fare breaking through the winter cold, slow braised veal, old fashioned roast lamb, parsnip and carrot mash the way your Nana made it and a sell out crispy skinned groper with a fine ratatouille and gruyere potato croquettes.

And if you thought making decisions was hard, then you really would have been in trouble come dessert time; lemon curd pavlova roulade, a C4 coffee tasting plate including an outstanding brown sugar espresso pannacotta, spiced chocolate bread and butter pudding and rice pudding to end all rice puddings…we had a ball!

Everyone was in party spirits and the noise level was heart warming. The C4 crew jumped up from their table to make coffees on demand while guests from all over the city table hopped to catch up with new friends made at last year’s bistros...

This was an initiative that started last year and it was so successful – it’s given us the opportunity to be our own client, to create a range of contemporary bistro dishes we don’t often have the opportunity to do through White Tie’s events. We create a restaurant for one night in a secret venue, only texting guests 24 hours in advance to let them in on the secret. People are clamouring for seats at the bistros on 8 July, 12 August and 16 September… if you would like to come along and celebrate hearty winter food with friends then give White Tie Catering a call on (03) 365 2837 to book your seat!

One of the dishes we offered was a White Tie twist on pasta – Spagaloni (half spaghetti, kind of half cannelloni!) – a special treat for our vegetarian friends and even a few meat eaters who saw it on its way to other tables. This is a wonderful warming family dish for Winter, extremely cost effective and the leftovers make the best lunch the next day. Cook it & Love it.


WINTER BISTRO EGGPLANT SPAGALONI

Serves 6

2 large fat eggplant
olive oil
thyme, finely chopped
oregano, finely chopped
1/3 packet spaghetti noodles
100g Parmesan cheese, grated
½ cup cream
¼ cup torn, fresh basil
1 x 400g tins seasoned Italian tomatoes, chopped
extra grated cheese and parmesan

Slice eggplant lengthwise ¼ inch thick and brush with oil and herbs. Chargrill both sides and allow to cool.

Cook spaghetti in boiling water, drain and while still hot stir through parmesan cheese, cream and basil. Add a heaped tablespoon of spaghetti to each eggplant strip and roll.

Pour a third of the tomatoes over the base of dish and place rolled eggplant on top. Spoon rest of tomatoes over eggplant rolls and sprinkle with extra cheeses. Bake in hot oven for 15 – 20 minutes until top is browned and bubbling.