Christmas feast

Christmas Menu

• Roast chicken with dukka spices
• Roasted potatoes w garlic & red onions
• Crisp Iceberg salad with feta, cucumber, avocado & walnuts
• Quick Christmas Trifle

 

Roast chicken with dukka spices

1 chicken (1.4kg)
1 lemon, cut into quarters
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cloves garlic, peeled
table salt
1 tbsp Dukka spices
3 tbsp olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Stuff the chicken with the lemon, thyme and 1 clove of the garlic. Truss the chicken with kitchen string to hold its form. Place into a roasting tray and season the chicken with the salt and half the dukka spices and drizzle with olive oil.
3. Place into the oven and roast for 1 hr 15 minutes basting regularly with the fats in the roasting pan.
4. Remove the chicken from the oven and baste with the pan juices and sprinkle with the remaining dukka spices. Remove the chicken from the pan and rest for 10 minutes. Divide chicken into 4 portions and serve
   Note: The chicken it is cooked when you pierce the thigh with a roasting fork at the thickest part and the juices run clear.

Roasted potatoes w garlic & red onions

800g potatoes (King Edward or Sebago)
2 red onions. peeled & quartered
1 head garlic, broken into cloves
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Few sprigs of rosemary (optional)

1. Pre heat oven 200 C
2. Peel and cut the potatoes into chunks, place into a medium sized pot and cover in cold water. Add a teaspoon of salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for 3-4 minutes, drain, place back into the pot and pop on a lid.
3. Shake the pot to rough up the potatoes and tip in to a roasting tray. Add the quarters of onion and cloves of garlic, drizzle generously with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and sprigs of rosemary and place into the oven.
4. Cook for approx. 45 minutes turning occasionally or until golden brown on all sides.
   Note: if you have a big enough roasting pan, place the potatoes onions and garlic around the chicken and roast together.

Iceberg salad with feta, cucumber, avocado & walnuts

1 Iceberg lettuce, washed
1 avocado, peeled & stone removed
1 Lebanese cucumber
½ cup walnuts

½ cup thick Greek style yoghurt
120g feta, crumbled
Juice & zest of 1 lemon
30g parmesan finely grated
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

1. Place the yoghurt, feta, lemon juice, parmesan and oil in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Season with salt and pepper and pulse to combine. Pour 1/3 of the dressing into the bottom of a salad bowl.
3. Cut the salad ingredients into chunks and arrange on top of the dressing. Crumble the feta on top and drizzle with the remaining dressing and scatter with walnuts.
4. Serve.

Christmas trifle

100g Strawberry Aeroplane Jelly
6 mini jam sponge rolls
600ml Pauls Custard
600ml whipping cream
4 tbsp castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla paste
1 can peaches dice in syrup
2 punnets Fresh strawberries, stalks removed & cut into half (optional)

1. Drain the peaches, reserving the syrup.
2. Place the diced peaches into the trifle dish, with half the strawberries and set aside.
3. Empty the contents of the aeroplane Jelly into a bowl and add 1 cup (250mls) of boiling water and stir until dissolved.
4. Pour the reserved syrup into a cup measure and top up with cold water of and stir into the hot jelly.
5. Allow to cool for 10 minutes then pour the jelly over the fruit and place in the refrigerator and set, approximately 4 hours.
6. Pour the whipping cream into a bowl of a stand mixer and add the castor sugar. Whip the cream on a medium speed until the cream forms soft peaks and set aside.
7. Cut each jam sponge roll into 4 and arrange the slices around the edge of the trifle dish. Place the remaining slices into the centre.
8. Pour in the custard to just cover the sponge slices and top generously with cream. Place the strawberries decoratively on top of the cream and serve.

Shopping list

Chicken & Dairy

• 1.4 kg range chicken
• 200g feta
• 100g parmesan
• 1 240g Greek yogurt (small)
• 600ml whipping cream

Fruit & vegetables

• 1 Iceberg lettuce
• 1 cucumber
• 1 avocado ripe
• 2 punnets strawberries
• 1 lemon (small)
• Few sprigs rosemary (optional)
• Few sprigs thyme (optional)
• 1 head garlic
• 800g potatoes King Edwards or Sebago
• 2 red onions

Dry goods

• Dukka spices
• Queens vanilla paste or vanilla essence
• 1 packet aeroplane strawberry jelly
• 1 tin peaches diced
• 1 packet jam sponge rolls
• 60 g walnuts (small packet)

Pantry Items

• Castor sugar
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil