Alfresco Christmas |
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Menu
Seared Crayfish Tails with Marinated Cucumber
Spanish-style Barbecued
Chicken Breasts
Spicy Grilled Vegetables
Asparagus and Mozzarella Salad with Cranberry Dressing
Chocolate Mince Tarts with Honey Glaze
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Setting the scene:
Seared Crayfish Tails with Marinated Cucumber
Large prawns or scallops would also work well for this recipe.
As with all dishes in this Christmas menu, it can be cooked indoors on the stove if preferred.
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Marinated cucumber:
½ telegraph cucumber
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons liquid honey
1 tablespoon champagne vinegar (or white wine vinegar)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Crayfish:
50g butter, softened
½ lemon
3 crayfish tails, halved
3 limes or lemons, halved
Micro greens or baby salad leaves for garnish |
Preheat barbecue (use a grill pan if cooking on a stovetop).
Peel cucumber into ribbons using a vege peeler and place in a bowl (discard the seedy core). Combine oil, honey, vinegar and dill and season with salt and pepper. Pour over cucumber, gently toss together and set aside to marinate.
Mix butter with a squeeze of lemon juice and season with salt. Brush mixture over crayfish flesh. Place tails flesh-side down on barbecue and sear 4-5 minutes until opaque and firm. Sear lime halves on grill, cut-side down, until coloured.
To serve, place a crayfish tail on each plate and surround with a swirl of drained cucumber ribbons and a few small salad greens. Accompany with a seared lime half for squeezing. Serves 6
Spanish-style Barbecued Chicken Breasts
A tasty oil-based marinade ensures these stay moist and juicy as they cook.
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3 chicken breasts
½ cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 orange, juice and finely grated zest
6 slices Parma ham or prosciutto |
Halve chicken breasts to make six even-sized portions. Combine oil, garlic, paprika, orange juice and zest and season with salt. Reserve 3-4 tablespoons of marinade and pour remainder over chicken. Toss to coat and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight in the fridge.
Wrap a slice of Parma ham around each chicken portion and tuck in ends to secure. Preheat barbecue (or grill pan) and cook chicken over medium heat, basting with reserved marinade, until golden and juices run clear, about 10 minutes each side. Remove from heat and set aside for 5 minutes to rest before serving. Serves 6
Spicy Grilled Vegetables
This delicious marinated medley is likely to become a barbecue favourite. Using canned beetroot is a great time saver.
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24 baby potatoes, washed
2 medium red kumara, washed
4 parsnips, peeled and cores removed if woody
18-20 baby beets, scrubbed (or 450g can baby beetroot)
½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons each: brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, sweet chilli sauce
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 red onions, peeled and cut into large wedges
8-10 baby fennel bulbs (optional)
½ lemon
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Cut potatoes and kumara into even pieces (leave skins on). Cut parsnips into same-sized pieces. Cook potato, kumara and parsnip in boiling water until just tender, 5-7 minutes. Drain and cool.
In a separate saucepan, cook beets until just tender. Drain and cool. (Omit this step if using canned beetroot.)
In a large non-reactive bowl, combine oil, brown sugar, vinegar, chilli sauce and caraway seeds and season with salt. Add vegetables (including onion but not the fennel), toss to coat and set aside to marinate for 30 minutes. Blanch fennel briefly in boiling water with a squeeze of lemon juice. Drain and set aside.
Preheat barbecue (or a grill pan). Place vegetables (not fennel) on grill plate and cook until tender and coloured, 10-15 minutes. Arrange in a serving bowl, garnish with blanched fennel and drizzle over some of the leftover marinade. Serves 6
Asparagus and Mozzarella Salad with Cranberry Dressing
We used buffalo mozzarella in this Christmassy-coloured salad but a tub of bocconcini would be just as good – or try feta. The dressing can be made a day or two ahead.
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½ cup fresh orange juice
1 cinnamon stick
1 cup dried cranberries (Craisins)
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar or verjuice
24 spears asparagus, blanched
1 buffalo mozzarella, torn or cut into bite-sized pieces
1 big bunch baby watercress
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Combine orange juice, cinnamon and cranberries in a small saucepan and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in oil and vinegar. Stand for at least 15 minutes to allow flavours to infuse.
Arrange asparagus and mozzarella on a platter, drizzle cranberry dressing over and top with watercress. Serves 6
Chocolate Mince Tarts with Honey Glaze
This scrumptious, easy dessert can be made as one whole tart to be served in wedges if preferred. Small tarts make lovely gifts accompanied with a jar of the spice-studded honey glaze.
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2½ sheets ready-rolled sweet shortcrust pastry
3 eggs
¼ cup self-raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup dark chocolate chips
2 cups fruit mince (warmed briefly in microwave if stiff)
Icing sugar and thickened or whipped cream to serve
Honey glaze:
1 cup liquid honey
2 tablespoons brandy
1 cinnamon stick
2 x 15cm strips orange peel (no pith)
1 whole star anise
6 whole cloves
Dash of grated nutmeg
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Preheat oven to 200°C. Line 10 greased tart tins (about 10cm diameter x 2cm deep) with pastry and chill.
Whisk together eggs, flour and vanilla until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips and mince. Spoon mixture into tart tins and smooth tops. Bake 10 minutes then reduce heat to 175°C and cook until filling is set and pastry is golden, about 10 minutes. Cool before carefully removing from tins.
Honey sauce: combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and warm on the side of the barbecue or on the stove.
To serve, dust tarts with icing sugar and accompany with cream and a drizzle of warm honey glaze. Makes 10
What to drink
Try as I might I just can’t get past bubbles when I’m faced with something as gorgeous as crayfish, so a flute of No. 1 Family Estate’s No. 8 Cuvée ($30) made by the maestro Daniel Le Brun will turn any crustacean into a superlative experience.
To soften the Parma-wrapped, herb-laden chicken breasts, treat yourself by pouring a ripe, tropical chardonnay – Te Mania Nelson Reserve Chardonnay 2007 ($27) is heavenly.
And this may sound strange to some, but a spicy Hawke’s Bay syrah will be just the ticket with a Christmas mince and chocolate tart. Dark chocolate is a winner with black fruits and the spiciness of syrah and the aromatics of the Christmas mince will make a flavour sensation like no other.
Yvonne Marie Lorkin
Web Exclusive Recipe
Hot Glazed Ham with Cider Toffee Apples
Cooking ham on the barbecue gives it a lovely slightly smoked flavour. Ask your butcher for a small ham from the butt end. It will easily serve more than six so just add some more apples to the pan if you want to feed a crowd.
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1 small cooked ham on the bone (about 1.2kg)
Whole cloves
1 cup cider
1 cup apple juice
½ teaspoon ground allspice
6 whole star anise
1 cinnamon stick
3 small red-skinned apples
2 tablespoons butter, melted |
Preheat barbecue (or a grill pan). Remove rind from ham, score fat in a criss-cross pattern and stud with cloves. Sear fleshy sides of ham on hot grill plate until coloured then transfer to a heavy roasting pan on the barbecue. Add cider, apple juice and spices, put hood down or cover pan with foil (or put in a 180°C oven) and simmer for about 20 minutes to heat ham through. Add more liquid if pan starts to dry out.
Halve apples, remove cores and brush flesh with butter. Sear cut side down on the barbecue grill (or in grill pan).
Place ham on a serving plate. Add apples to roasting pan and cook until liquid is reduced to a golden syrup. Spoon over ham and arrange apples on plate. Serves 6 or more
Wine suggestion: A rich, weighty, spicy viognier will be perfect – grab a bottle of Vidal East Coast Viognier 2007 ($19). Yvonne Marie Lorkin
Table, side table and chairs from Bashford Antiques, (09) 361 5142; tablecloth made with fabric from
Trelise Cooper, (09) 366 1964; crockery, cutlery and glasses from The Studio of Tableware,
(09) 638 8082; champagne bucket used as a vase, ribbed serving dishes, glass sauce pot and small frill plates from Chambers, (09) 376 6479; Christmas decorations from Nelson & Co, (09) 579 2023; ribbon paper and fabric used as gift-wrap from Spotlight, 0800 276 222; flowers provided by the National Flower Promotion Group.
Story: Jo Wilcox
Photographs: Kieran Scott
Stylist: Claudia Kozub
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